Friday 9 October 2009
Here's Kirsty with news of tonight's programmes:
Tonight it is all about fantasy and reality in Newsnight and Newsnight Review.
Stranger than fiction...
President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. It has been met, in the main, by shock and incredulity. As one US political commentator said, "Perhaps next they'll start giving Oscars not to the people who have made the best movies of last year, but to the people who have the best chance of making the best movies next year."
Mr Obama says he is "humbled" by the award given by the committee for giving America "hope for a better future."
Does he deserve it? Is he a peacemaker - yet? Has he made the weather in Iran, the Middle East, Russia, North Korea, Afghanistan? Our Diplomatic Editor, Mark Urban will be looking at his record so far.
Today President Obama holds the fourth of five summits to plan the next stage in Afghanistan - whether to send more troops of not. And we will be speaking to the author of the book which is said to have the answers to the Afghan problem - read by everyone in the White House, and to PJ Crowley, assistant secretary at the State Department.
Also tonight, will we have the energy or the money to keep the lights on in 2020? Today Ofgem issued a stark warning about energy prices, saying there is a "high likelihood" of increased energy bills, citing a combination of the need to establish energy security, clean coal technology, investment in new energy sources, and further technological advances to deal with climate change. Bills could rise by as much as twenty-five per cent. Paul Mason will analyse why this has happened and what needs to be done.
And we'll be asking the government minister responsible whether they are to blame and what they intend to do to sort it out.
And then on Review at 11pm: welcome to the fantasy factory!
On the thirtieth anniversary of Douglas Adams' best selling book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy we examine how far sci-fi and fantasy have come, and why.
From the geeky fringes of a counter culture, straight into the mainstream, to multi-million dollar Hollywood deals for the best directors and writers. Is the phenomenal success of a series like Flash Forward pure escapism, or a way of holding a mirror up to our dark times, when little of supposed reality makes sense?
We also examine the appeal of the hit film District 9, a mockumentary set in Johannesburg, in which aliens suffer a new apartheid, and are exploited by the city's violent gang culture.
I'll be joined by uber-geek turned Mr Hollywood cool, director Kevin Smith; comic genius Mark Millar - with his new geek turned superhero, Kick Ass; Eoin Colfer who has inhabited the interplanetary homemade weird-world of Hitchhiker's to write the sequel; writer and self confessed geek Natalie Haynes (minus the spots and specs); and award winning author Jeanette Winterson, who loves science, in fiction.
Together we'll discuss our voracious appetite for fantasy.
Do join us.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~51~RS~)
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It is good news, that President Obama of the United States won the Nobel *Peace* Prize..
=Dennis Junior=
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"Tonight it is all about fantasy and reality in Newsnight and Newsnight Review.
Stranger than fiction..."
Tell us/me about it Kirsty, go on.... ;-)
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Examining all the circumstantial evidence it is pretty clear that the only reason why were are in the current threat of power cuts and massive increases in energy bills is almost all down to successive governments appeasing the eco-fascist lobby.
The eco-fascists have long conspired with the UK energy producers cartel to prevent the introduction potentially cheap sources of electricity like the Severn Barrage and energy from waste incineration. The Severn Barrage could provide 5% of our energy base load, likewise the widespread introduction of waste incineration could provide at least 10% of our electricity base load. Waste incineration could transform the indoctrinated theoretical problem of excess packaging into a positive asset, likewise current fly tip problems like scrap tyres. The Severn Barrage ( and not forgetting Morecambe Bay ) plus widespread waste incineration could cut the cost of energy in the UK, the corporate multinational energy cartel do not want that, the eco-fascists are simply their propaganda arm, likewise on Nuclear.
It is not a state secret that the Isle of Man generate 10% of their electricity base load from waste incineration, yet the the Tories never mentioned it once in their alleged conference future of energy and climate debate at Manchester this week. Building incinerators in rural areas would allow any waste heat to be used for greenhouses to grow food plants currently imported by air freight, away from housing any potential smell problem would be almost eradicated. They never specifically mentioned the Severn Barrage either, perhaps hardly surprising to see that the hall was half empty, perhaps due to delegates being sick to death of hearing about useless wind farms.
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OBAMA AT HIS MOST BLAIR
"Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations."
Well if that isn't pure eight-letter-appendages, in the school of meaningless claptrap, epitomised by Tony the Great, tell me what is. It is also reminiscent of Arthur and Ford, trying to bamboozle Prostetnik Vogon Jeltz, from throwing them off the ship into deep space.
In the words of Anthony Aloysius Hancock: "You've all gone ravin' mad."
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#63 from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
I'd be much more interested in knowing what your relative castigated you for rather than your answer to my question about gold, in fact, as I've never dreamt of being very, very rich although, I must admit, I wouldn't mind living in more luxury with enough dosh to be able to concentrate on my favourite activities and which, I'm sure, could potentially lead to earning my living in other ways rather than hard and repetitive slog I've had to do in all my previous jobs. I might as well add, Streetphotobeing, that I could never marry for money and the guy I did marry in the end was one of the most financially hopeless men I've ever known although originally he came from a rather wealthy family with private education, including the French Lycee, and all that.
As for the traitors, well, these days I approach people I'm prepared to cooperate with, or simply help, with prepared caution and once betrayed turn my back to them. I'm not speaking here, however, of male/female affairs. That's a different story altogether. I don't see how I could possibly impose conditions of this sort on a person I might love. No human being really belongs to another, not even children belong to their parents once they begin to think for themselves. It's wonderful when a man and a woman commit themselves to each other and are happy to stick together for life but how often does it happen in reality? Ultimately, in my view, freedom and happiness of the person one loves are more important, however difficult it may be to live through. A relationship either works or it doesn't.
I hope you too have a good evening, Streetphotobeing
mim
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barrie (#4) But Obama just utters lines surely? Someone else writes them do they not? Politics is nearly all theatrics. Obama and his Grey Cardinals don't care about prizes, their audiences care about prizes. So what did the award of this prize really mean? Is it 'don't bomb Iran'?
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from mimpromptu to Streetphotobeing again
Oh, and I wonder how jj is feeling tonight, still funky or desperate?
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WAR AND PEACE (#6)
I think you reinforce the parallel JJ. Your decoding valid; then again, it might read 'don't shoot Barack'.
Moving to the Blair presence in St Pauls, to comemmorate war, I wonder which of his income streams paid his expenses.
How silly can British cultural comedy get before it falls apart?
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In the next few years the alleged eco-fascist inspired science ( on which the man made CO2 link to climate change ship is based ) could be fatally holed below the waterline and slowly sink into oblivion. Now the tree ring experts are challenging the quasi religious science, perhaps Eon has delayed the construction of the new Kingsnorth coal plant as a result. Perhaps if they wait a few years the whole green stock market parasite investment scam on things like carbon capture will be exposed. That is not to say that we should not make more environmentally friendly use of the planet's natural resources, but the current policy direction is sheer lunacy.
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STOP THAT BARRAK-ING (it's Oh-Balma to our ears)
"Other nominees included Adolf Hitler (in 1939: later retracted) Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini. Since nomination requires only support from one qualified person, all nominations do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Nobel committee itself. Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which recognize completed scientific or literary accomplishment, the Nobel Peace Prize may be awarded to persons or organizations that are in the process of resolving a conflict or creating peace." (Wikepedia)
There you go, you cynics; it was he who declaimed 'Yes We Can' thus meeting the above criterion.
Next year it may be Dave Cameraon's turn to win with "We're all in this together", in which case we should all get a share of the prize pietza.
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Hi,
I thought only politicos change a question to provide the answer they want
feel strongly President Obama deserves the Nobel peace prize, a preliminary sketch by someone who knows what they are doing is worth vastly more than a finished art work by someone who doesnt,
President Obama has started the work, and is turning the US back to what it used to, after the nightmare of the Bush years, talking to the despots rather than bombing their people will win hands down,
it is up to the Nobel committee who they award this honour to and why,
re the price hikes in energy, the same now famous radio show with Victoria Derbyshire has also featured (unless it was Nicky Campbells earlier show !) a call from a Postie warning of what would lie ahead for us it the privateers get their way, jam today, and less post at higher prices later,
the Utilities should be brought back into public ownership, as a mate said to me, who was Thatcher to sell back to us what we already owned,
as flawed as her decision to withdraw the protection vessel off the Falklands that gave exactly the wrong message to the Junta...
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Mim
You might be able to guess where I come from getting castigated by the relative.
My mate Anna from Accrington is a bit of a genius. I'm thinking to help her little makume gane and etching in gold fetish endeavours.
Mim something rather problematic has happened to you which may well make the future difficult. I remember what you said about the advice from the doc on the money front. Its in my view a good way to go at least in the short term.
A battle on land starts with a battle won in the mind even if the physical battle is lost. The Persians were defeated a year or so later at the Battle of Plataea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonidas_monument.jpg
Do hope I haven't offended you.
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FAO: Streetphotobeing
I haven't quite yet understood your #12 message but am sending a ditty I've come up on waking up:
Streetphotobeing, I have just had my snooze
Dreaming of ways of how not to lose
My longstanding struggle for justice, freedom and peace
Tonight I am wearing my black coloured fleece.
During the day it was my blue
Delighted to see the same colour hue
Mr Obama wore for his tie
Oh, what a sport he is, this American guy.
P.S. I don't think you're likely to offend me, Streetphotobeing, as just having you as my electronic friend I can communicate and share my thoughts and rhyming emotions with is infinitely delightful.
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Do you think there's any chance of our government bringing in such regulations?
http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/29434
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#13 continuation from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
I have now done some thinking about your message but unfortunately cannot remember what I said about the doc. I'm quite happy about the way my mind is working both at the intellectual/logical and creative level and am absolutely over the moon to have been tapping into its taste for not only rhythm & rhyme but also for the nonsense, humour & absurd. I'm also over the moon the way my physical body is doing, what with all the gliding and twirling at Queen's /to a fantastically rhythmical Spanish musical piece this afternoon/.
Plus, I have just watched Kirsty talking to Newsnight's American guests and wanted to say that as far as Afghanistan goes I don't have any firm ideas on how the international troops should be guided. It seems obvious they need to stay in the area for the time being and that they should be supported in the best possible way but otherwise I wouldn't like to pretend to have any prescriptions or even suggestions. It is simply not my area of expertise.
Thank you again, Streetphotobeing, for all the attention you've been giving me.
mim
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Cycling Casualties
Its a long time ( 1993 ) since I was a wagon driver now but I would like to publicize some of my experiences with particularly the lycra clad toe clip professional ( fully paid up eco-fascist leaning type ) cyclists. One favourite trick was to come up level with the tractor unit drive axle ( right in your impossible blind spot ) and then cling onto the tautliner straps to save taking their feet out of their toe clips. You could only see them once you had moved off, themselves wobbling as they let go after an initial tow as far as they dare. It should be unlawful to overtake a goods vehicle on the nearside like it was in Australia back in 1987 when I was out there. Trailers were clearly make " no overtaking " on the nearside, anybody who got squashed undertaking was laughed at by the traffic police. Its all about education really, I would always get as close as possible to the nearside kerb to prevent any cyclist sneaking up your nearside and trying to race you. Now they are theoretically given a green light to do this potentially dangerous practice with some cycle lanes at traffic lights.
Another favourite trick of the lycra uniformed potential eco-fascists was to race you to the narrow bit, then relax and slow down at least 5 Mph. This causes unnecessary fuel wastage and the resultant extra pollution from all HGV's and buses, perhaps to a point where the alleged eco-friendly cyclist actually generates more pollution on his journey than what he would have personally emitted had he caught the bus instead.
Of course the pollution aspect has vastly increased since the introduction of " traffic calming " measures like pedestrian refuge islands, build outs from the kerb on a once wide road perfectly safe for cyclists except the potential hazard of parked cars. If anyone had deliberately set out to design death traps for cyclist it is doubtful that they could have made a better job than traffic calming.
Its the lycra uniformed eco-fascists who cause the bulk of potential danger on our urban roads, civilian pleasure cyclists are hardly ever a problem. Likewise on fast trunk roads, all cyclists should be allowed to use the almost totally deserted footpaths for safety and promoting smooth traffic flow. In towns specific cycle routes running virtually parallel to main routes should be cleared of parked cars on at least one side of the road. It wont be popular with residents but it will save both lives and pollution.
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YESTERDAY NATIONAL POETRY DAY - TODAY NEWSNIGHT REVIEW IS MUTE.
The Poet Laureate wrote a poem for the Today program, on the 2009 theme: 'Heroes and Heroines'. Carol Ann Duffy, wrote a poem entitled: "Atlas" but in Kirsty's piece above, I see no mention. It must fall to me, therefore, to tell you, it is a mess. It has all the signs of being written without enthusiasm. What is more, Atlas was not a hero (as Duffy tells us, three times over, he was a 'very naughty boy' whom Zeus condemns to hold on his shoulders - not the Earth - as Duffy and many others believe, but the Heavens (while kneeling on the earth). Lists of creatures, rivers, mountains and more creatures, make one think this is a transcript of 'Just a Minute'. Surely 'Review' could have had some sport with this?
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from mimpromptu
And to finish off, Streetphotobeing, before further snoozing, I'd like to say that I discovered yesterday that considering all the disadvantages I have to deal with, my financial position is still rather good so I should be fine carrying on with my favourite activities at present while looking for new opportunities in the future.
Have a good weekend, Streetphotobeing, but I should imagine I shall be dittying to you again throughout its duration.
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I was president of Hull Uni's "Sci-fi & fantasy appreciation society" for two years, I consider myself a geek. And the best thing i've ever heard is this by Isaac Asimov: "Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today—but the core of science fiction, its essence ... has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all. "
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He may be president, Nobel Prize winner, superman, deity etc.
But Newsnight still can't spell his name right on a graphics package...pathetic.
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#17 from mimpromptu
Barrie
It is indeed more than regrettable that no mention was made by the Newsnight Review of the National Poetry Day. In fact, I consider it shameful.
But I should imagine you realise why - Newsnight is largely 'driven' by geeks, that's why, and one of them is jj on a rampage of his little private obsessions. If I were Kirsty I would have put my foot down in protest but then again Kirsty is not Madam Mim, is she? Although they did end last night's Newsnight with T. S. Eliot reciting the following lines:
Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire
Consumed by either fire or fire.
Have a good weekend, Barrie
mim
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
What did I say? More ditties. What I think I might do is to keep sending more stanzas of a longer entity revolving around our most recent correspondence and the shenanigans going on at Newsnight as and when they are ready so that I don't feel restrained time wise.
Some of them I might just post to you without any textual explanation.
By the way, I'm quite happy about the message from Barack Obama for the time being and should I have any specific suggestions about one thing or another I'll let him know.
Kind regards
mim
Streetphotobeing, I keep rereading your relative message
And now understand the one on the doc.
There is absolutely no way I could possibly agree
To live for much longer immersed in the foliage
Dead long ago, rotten to boot
Playing his game ‘Oh, what a hoot!’.
I’ll have to find alternative ways
Of getting more rest away from the geeks
And have a few ideas already in place,
More independent from politics we face.
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing, have you read the last of Brossen’s reports
On his and those of jj’s illuminating cohorts?
What breadth of vision of how to proceed
And how to further pursue their bodily needs!
mim
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from mimpromptu to Streetphotobeing:
One thing, you know, I don’t need much praise
For what I’m up to, how I paraphrase
Or how I glide or twirl, whatever I do.
I do have in my attic a rather nice loo.
mim
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mimpromptu (#21) "But I should imagine you realise why - Newsnight is largely 'driven' by geeks, that's why, and one of them is jj on a rampage of his little private obsessions. If I were Kirsty I would have put my foot down in protest but then again Kirsty is not Madam Mim, is she?"
Maybe if you spent less time ego-centrically twirling and a little more allocentrically following Current Events, you'd be less surprised by the quite unremarkable similarities between what I cover in my posts and material being produced by the Newsnight Team and other sources.
Taking a few cues here might help you get a better sense of balance. What I've been offering here has been benevolent. What you offer in return is not, and isn't a sound strategy for improving your peace of mind.
I suggest you put your learning instead of twirling cap on, and that you choose your online friends more carefully.
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To be fair to Obama, it seems he did not seek, or know (but... was the shortlist secret?) about his gong. Hmnn.
Not sure tying to 'rig' US foreign policy is very smart.
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing, it is quite amazing
How much learning can be done by twirling
And how much twirling can be done by learning.
Sturdy balance is required and the head clear
Not to bump into those who are standing near.
It’s just an example, Streetphotobeing,
How amazing learning by twirling can be,
Or the other way round.
In the UK we still have a pound.
mim
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WHAT ABOUT THE 'G' WORD THEN?
There was a really engaging piece (package?) on 'Today' where two 'otherish' blokes discussed a word of recent - once removed - televisual offence (allegedly).
I was struck by the Manglish used by one of them. He was using the 'clamped jaw' version of English, albeit with a full command of grammar and syntax, plus an extensive vocabulary. On the Kirsty Scale, he scored quite low (10 is incoherent) but I had to concentrate somewhat, nevertheless.
If an ethnik speaking Manglish applies for a job in - say - fire or police service, where instant communication can save life, with tribunals looming, how should the selection panel decide? By extension, how many of the many 'accidents' in the building trade are 'communication mediated'? Would anyone dare say?
And finally: I want something done about the 'G' word (geek). From now on I suggest they be called: Bell Curve Terminators (BCTs) - much more edgy.
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DEREGULATION, LISBON'S FCHR AND HOW ECONOMIC ANARCHISM IS ENCOURAGED
This, I suggest, requires careful, and critical reading. take none it at face value, but look into all of the assertions critically, and fairly. Look for points which may be just a little economical with the truth, and ask whether it is just conceivable that this may be a way of proscribing statism, i.e economic regulation. Remember, the right-wing is free-market libertarianism not fascism/nazism (they were left-wing). Libertarianism of the Austrian, Frankfurt and Chicago School is another term for anarchism believe it or not. Statism, i.e a planned, command economy, nationally, is, on the other hand Socialism in One Country as Stalin called it. It is in fact, National Socialism. This is what Old Labour strove to build in Britain after WWII as the Welfare State. What demonstrably happens when the markets are deregulated?
Now, ask yourself, why might the EU (Poland and the Czech Republic are the last two EU-27 states still to ratify the Lisbon Treaty and the Czech Republic still has a quibble) be so eager to proscribe national socialism (think Old Labour not baby gassers)? Why does the BNP elicit such hissy-fits from all three main British parties when many of its polices are remarkably like those of Old Labour?
What do articles like that provided off the title of this post really seek to reinforce, and why? What were the 'allies' really trying to do after WWII, and what is 'freedom and dignity' if the diversity in our behaviour, our interests etc is largely driven by the proteins expressed by our genes?
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barrie (#28) "And finally: I want something done about the 'G' word (geek). From now on I suggest they be called: Bell Curve Terminators (BCTs) - much more edgy."
Sadly, the cosmopolitan anarchists have already expropriated that role!
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from mimpromptu
My imagination is running wild, Streetphotobeing.
There must be magic out there.
Oh, what shall I wear, what shall I wear?
mim
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And Barrie what about the five and half thousand deaths and serious injuries in the NHS, are they due to Manglish?
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Also Barrie have you ever heard of this site? http://www.patientopinion.org.uk/
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Why do we promote/ecourage advertising for charities for children in need in Africa etc when their TFRs are way above replacement level, and ours are way below replacement level! It's stupid! It's like paying for rods for our own backs if not biological extinction. It's a case of primitive brain functions over-ruling higher brain functions aka stupidity.
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I have been a newsnight junkie for years. Ms Wark's interview on the power problem was by far the worst I have ever heard (and there is competition)The subject is significant for all of us and the usual good intro Paul Mason (he's a gem) was then wrecked by getting two politicians into the studio and not even attempting to listen to what they had to say. Interruption interruption interruption seems to be the motto. KW's views are of no interest at all and her persistent attempts to put words into the chaps' mouths spoilt the whole thing. And it might have been a good idea to have an impartial expert like the man from the regulator who had been on he news earlier. Or is it that a genuine expert wouldn't want to waste his time?
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ARE THEY ON DRUGS?
A while back I quoted David Miliband verbatim who said at the Labour Party Conference that the starting of New Labour's politics was that all men and women were created equal. But the fact is, that isn't Old Labour's starting point at all. That's Trotskyite/Anarchist. They were sent into Russia in 1917 to wreck the country, by the Germans! What is New Labour doing?
This nonsense is why Michael Young (who drafted the famous 1945 Labour Party manifesto which created what we came to know as the Welfare state) was so critical of Tony Blair's misappropriation, and misuse of the term meritocracy which he coined in the 1950s! Old Labour begins with the understanding that people are not born equal, but that a place in society can and should be found From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". Marx understood Darwin!
It is anarchists or Trotskyites who make out that everyone is the same or equal and these are deregulators/wreckers states, not builders. That everyone is equal or the same simply is not true, as anyone who can use a ruler or their eyes (are these going to be banned soon as discriminatory/biased?) should know!
Why are we being harassed by peculiar people like Harriet Harman who does not appear to understand the nature of diversity and yet is Minister for Equality?
Are they on drugs?
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hallatrow (#35) Kirsty is from that inspired but lost generation which was misled by anarchists into believing that truth could be pursued via 'argument'. In fact, argument just causes confusion and error.
Today BBC news reports of a demonstration in Manchester against Islamic Extremists. Meanwhile, DATELINE with Gavin Esler covered, amongst other issues, our enemy The Taliban. The problem is that the Taliban are fighting off what they consider to be Satanic Liberal-Democracy. It is the Liberal-Democracies which went on Jihad to Iraq and Afghanistan and which now threaten Iran! It is Liberal-Democracy which is slowly killing off its own people via chronic, below replacement level, fertility rates. Check out all Liberal Democracies and their TFRs! The only attacks upon the Liberal-Democracies is when their forces go on Jihad to other countries in order to spread their economic anarchism in the name of 'freedom' or blow-back domestically in the wake of Liberal-Democratic Jihad! What sort of freedom is demographic self-extinction?
People need to wake up to who is peddling this anarchism. It was done in 1917, it was done to Russia in the 1990s and it is now being done again to the USA and EU - it shows up through a cursory examination of statistics assuming population base rates. Anarchism may be an alien concept to some - but it is in fact Libertarianism.
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WOE WOE AND THRICE WOE (#30)
Plenty of cause for weeping there JJ. I have read 'The Blank Slate' - after watching Pinker on the web. I must re-read the chapter on m/f, as Murray prompts - especially as I could not help feeling Pinker has an underlying agenda that bends his stance here and there?
Will such insight EVER mediate British governance? Can anyone imagine grabbing the attention of Brown, Straw, Miliband (either) Benn, et al, with scholarship that urges SELF-INSPECTION? Quick - let's bomb someone to take our minds off it.
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energy is a privatise the profit socialise the 'investment' game.
the energy regulator is a joke. despite a collapse in energy prices there has been no pressure to stop the exploitation of the british people.
it was gordon who blocked every bill to bring a feed in tariff. so almost uniquely the uk is near the bottom of the league.
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SEND THREE-AND-FOURPENCE, WE'RE GOING TO A DANCE (#32/33)
What a can of worms Lizzie - it almost doesn't bear thinking about. Your link smelt fishy to me - did you get this far?
PASTED FROM SITE: "Like lots of web sites the basic service is free. But it turns out that hospitals and primary care trusts and lots of other organisations are happy to pay a modest annual subscription to make using Patient Opinion even easier. Doing this means that it becomes very easy for them to post a response and they can direct stores to 'just the right manager' in the organisation. Subscribers can compare how they are doing and generate reports.
Having contracts with many different NHS and private sector providers means that Patient Opinion can remain financially independent of any particular organisation."
It looks a bit Weasely to me. I think 'cherchez la quango' is in order.
I 'sampled' 'PALS' when John was beiNg ill-used by the NHS, and did not feel they were MY troops. I get fed up with mediators and fudges.
I hope the above jaundice is not offensive - none intended.
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HIERARCHICAL GOVERNANCE AND DERANGED LEADERS. (#39)
Westminster game-playing elevates nutters. Looking at the last few decades, this can not be in any doubt. By my observations, and those of Chris Mullin (that seem to confirm) Brown is a Jekyll and Hyde split (hence his reported warmth in personal matters and surly, raging, Machiavellian 'joy', in matters political).
Once at the top in a hierarchical system, absolute power over the careers of those below (who are rising spawn of the same system anyway) controls their behaviour. Attempted coups are very risky.
THIS IS NOT DEMOCRACY. IT IS NOT HEALTHY. IT IS NOT CIVILISED. IT IS FEUDAL. BUT IT IS SELF-PERPETUATING WHILE WE FAIL TO
SPOIL PARTY GAMES.
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in a post christian west, in the search for the sacred, the role of the novel is to save the soul and heal the state.
kirsty, the famous website slayer, seemed to enjoy saying geeks too much? but then the yapparrazzi often do use words like bullets fired from trench clearing machine guns?
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barrie (#38) "Will such insight EVER mediate British governance? Can anyone imagine grabbing the attention of Brown, Straw, Miliband (either) Benn, et al, with scholarship that urges SELF-INSPECTION? Quick - let's bomb someone to take our minds off it."
They know it only too well, they must do. Murray is not low profile amongst politicos. They just ignore it as it is a most inconvenient truth for Liberal-Democracy, i.e the New Left Anarchism aka free-market libertarianism which has ruled our waves for decades.
I'm just hoping that a few (naive?) readers hear will see how and why this is definitely the case. Surely some can see how their state has been sold off as 'inefficient' whilst be rendered so through bad recruitment and retention? Surely they hear the promises to sell off assets which are 'not needed'? It's all spun so craftily well, and, like the doctors who were effectively paid off in the NHS to keep them quiet, so are those in HMG and its opposition(s).
It's quick sickening. If you bring up race you are vilified, even if you are doing so to highlight how minorities are abused in this predatory game........
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erratum (#43) "readers here will see how and why
For the modus operandi of how some of our public sector agencies (e.g Probation) have been 'sabotaged', look into how recruitment quotas/targets were made a function of local ethnic minority population rates. That is, targets were set so that if it were the case that the local area (e.g. London) was X% of a group, then ethnic minority recruitment was to reflect this. That assumes that mean IQ of all ethnic groups is the same, and of course, it isn't. The consequence was/is dumbed down public services - i.e inefficiency which can them be privatised or otherwise got rid of...
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IT IS MY RIGHT TO BE ARRESTED BY A UNIFORMED OBSESSIVE BLOGGER (#44)
Recruitment as described by JJ, only makes some sort of sense (though a sort that doesn't stand scrutiny) if an 'ethnicity assessment' is done before engagement.
Suppose a fight breaks out in a pub between three types of ethnik, a lesbian and a man in a gorilla suit . . . The fact that the local police have, brilliantly, hired relevant officers, does not make them available for any one incident. And that is before we get onto the IQ of the 'gorilla'.
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#40 from mimpromptu
Barrie, when I worked at St George's I thought PALS were doing rather well with keeping on the side of the patient. The messages from the Chief Executive, especially in the last few months that I was there, always emphasised good care of the patient well and above governmental instructions. I e-mailed him just before leaving to thank him for his support and he very kindly responded wishing me all the best for the future which I thought was rather lovely. He obviously didn't feel too grand to communicate with me.
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#41 from mimpromptu
Barrie
Although I understand completely what you mean by SPOIL PARTY GAMES /in fact, I'm probably best 'qualified' to understand, what with the raging gorilla, etc/ I'm still resisting going as far as that hoping that Gordon and Pete crack up soon enough giving way to a rethought form of democracy in this country. Your idea about as many independents as possible sounds quite good but I wouldn't recommend total abandonment of party divisions as I'm sure that would lead to complete chaos. There is no way, anyway, of avoiding the greedy and power hungry whatever walk of life one is engaged in.
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
My imagination was still running wild this afternoon. When sitting at the tables opposite the ice rink I thought I saw Leonard Cohen driving along Queensway but he never appeared so I must have been mistaken. In fact, although there were quite a few people on ice when I got there I did manage to move around his 'Villanelle For Our Time', 'There For You', 'Lady Midnight' and 'The Partisan'. I was going to stay after 2 pm to do more but it was too crowded.
mim
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from mimpromptu
Barrie
Unless the gorilla is stopped I'm not going to play any active part in politics from now on. I'm sure they'll carry on trying to use me but I'm going to put quite a bit of resistance to their attempts.
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from mimpromptu to Barrie and Streetphotobeing
I've just posted some of our most recent correspondence to Barack Obama and David Cameron boiling down really to there being limits to everything.
mim
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NEO-LABOUR AND ITS NEO-CONSERVATIVIST ANARCHISM
barrie (#45) Here's some evidence from one area, just in case you have nothing better to do. Those who have been keeping an eye on the Home Office at the time may wince a bit, given the 'unfit for purpose' saga, but the same was the case across other departments I suggest. New Labour has not been all it seems to some perhaps?
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BLACK SPOT FOR BLIND PUGH
Perhaps today's revalations about " tears in his retina " are a signal that Gordon Brown himself is putting the country first by seeking an excuse to resign without forcing an early general election ?
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MORE LIKELY GOING FOR THE NELSON VOTE THAN THE JIM 'AWKINS (#52)
But it could explain why, with all his monetary wizardry, and close connections stateside, he didn't see the crash coming.
Most likely his Weasel Tank has computed he can get some popularity advantage through this announcement. The Captain has super-glued himself to the wheel. Steady as she goes. The ship is in stoic hands. Set course for the White Cliffs. Etc.
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COMPLETE COLLAPSE OF STOUT PARTY (#51)
Oh JJ! That is exactly the sort of data that fuse my brain. I could see it, but it meant little to me. Put it down to IQ . . .
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
I find it difficult to explain but Queensway's was swarming with men endowed with moustaches today, round every corner, right, left and centre. They were there in force. On one of the chairs opposite the ice rink when I arrived. Then I looked right, another one was sitting outside 'Waffles' followed by several cars with number plates including no 52 and driven by more men with moustaches. And inside the rink, of course, that's 'normal', standing there probably waiting for Madam Mim to skate up to 'him' and give him a pat or a kiss, something like that anyway. On Friday when David Cameron was delivering his speech a moustacho man had a camera in his hands filming and a roundish young man whose name begins with j. ostensibly pulled out a small bottle of water making sure I noticed, and so and so forth. Week after week, day after day sprinkled with boys/men with blondish hair wearing glasses, and so on and so forth. Week after week, day after day. Gordon and Pete found themselves very able and attractive spokesmen. Bravo! And it's been going on for years now. If not in one place than another.
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from mimpromptu and not you
Madam Mim has a feeling in her bones
Madam Mim is feeling
An evolutionary chain skipping
It’s a secret, however, how
She’ll deal with the cow.
It’s useful to her to be called sacred
When dealing with the hatred
That’s entered her DNA
With visits to the V&A.
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from mimpromptu to Streetphotobeing
It used to be gremlins and now it is geeks,
They all like to display the well nuded Greeks.
Madam Mim does not find it exciting
Be they bronze or in marble it is not enticing
To awake in Madam Mim’s any real feelings
And it is not for Madam Mim anything revealing.
A doubt has crept in into her soul
Whether this is it, Streetphotobeing,
With yet one more down who’s to her appealing.
I know it’s not jj who is in fact you
He’s led by the nose being made a fool
But for how long is it going to last?
Madam Mim’s changing, she is changing fast.
Madam Mim never liked the game
The whole thing to her is far too much tame
She’s been playing along to make someone well
Now the job is done she bids her farewell.
Unless she is confronted direct and outright
The time may have come for another flight.
It is just possible she may never catch
A man who really is a real match.
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barrie (#53) "Most likely his Weasel Tank has computed he can get some popularity advantage through this announcement."
Yes, that seems likely - still when your party's wrecking ('deconstructing') the nation, it's hard to think how else he could secure any brownie points.
As to my example of how things were awry not just in health-care but elsewhere, see the 'snapshot' Workforce Profile Report Issue 3 of the demographic profile of the NPS workforce as at 31 December 2005
and look at the first page on the targets as well as the gauges on page 12/35.
Bear in mind that in the USA, the Black American IQ mean is 85 and that of East Asians is about 105 relative to White Europeans/Americans with mean of 100). Hispanic Americans (high and breeding fast as they are Catholics, in California, USA's first failed state?) is between that of White Americans/Europeans and Black Americans. If one assumes that 100 is the mean and that probation work is professional, a group mean of 85 means that only about 16% of such a group will have an IQ above 100, and only about 2.5% will be above 115. Just for balance, Indian Britons do better in tests and school SATs, than White Britons (although this population is a selective elite which migrated to the UK as doctors, business-people etc after India's independence and Uganda's problems in the 70s. This was not the case with respect to the other two South Asia groups migration, who came mainly from poor areas of Bangladesh and Pakistan).
As I see it, minorities and targets (see above) have been used to clobber Public Services in the interest of free-market anarchism (state-wrecking), and anyone who points to the realities, be that about the dire effect on health-care, criminal justice or education delivery etc is made to feel guilty for just pointing out what are the facts and logic, namely, that groups are not equal in their parameters of cognitive ability and ignorance of this impacts on work, Public Service efficacy and safety, not to mention the economy (GDP etc) :-(
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from mimpromptu
Madam Mim would like to confirm that her IQ ranges between 50 and 55.
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Mimpromptu (#55) Are you a fan of The Village People and/or TinTin media? Are you getting enough sleep? Maybe you are twirling too fast?
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
I'm ready for more twirling and may I write to you again from Queensway.
Hope you have a good day
mim
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it's not actually about education - it's about personality.
corporations do not need language proficiency - it is now quite frowned on in the corporate sector to be pedantic about spelling and grammar.
and corporations certainly do not need 'knowledge'.
corporations do need technical skills but this is overshadowed by the need for 'account managers' etc. who grease the wheels of 'trade' and the merely perfunctionary data handlers.
the end result is the same, but the divide between global elite and local servile communities (autonomous communities in Brussels terminology) will not be about IQ but about emotional intelligence, communication skills, etc. ....unless the current explosion in broad-spectrum autism can effect a cultural revolution - mim's well on the way!
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FULL SPECTRUM MALE-BRAIN AUTHORITARIAN DISORDER (STATISM)
wappaho (#62) "unless the current explosion in broad-spectrum autism can effect a cultural revolution"
Methinks that's how high verbal (feminized-brain?) folk like Simon Baron-Cohen would like to pathologize real scientists and other male-brained persons (aka geeks!) Anyone who disagrees, well, just remember what those evil statist Germans and other gentiles got up to through their love of technology and order! ;-)
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From mimpromptu
kill me now then jj
what are you waiting for?
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mimpromptu (#64) Is that a Roberta Flack line? ;-)
I'm not very good at the metaphysical stuff, barrie's the one who's good at that, although I fear if you keep it up, you may serve as a potent conditional inhibitor on that front ;-)
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
For anyone who may be interested in reading this, here is David Blanchflower's take on Mr Cameron's speech
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Streetphotobeing
I'm outside Queen's waiting
For the ice to be resurfaced
Before further engaging
In gliding and twirling
mim
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i was thinking more of the neurodiversity movement which posits the re-emergence of pre-patrifocal traits http://www.shiftjournal.com/?p=59
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Has newsnight been good this week? I've missed alot of news..is Camaron Prime Minister now.
The 'other half' phoned me up the other day to tell me: the fella I watch on the tube has just walked into the building; apparently she said "hello Jeremy"..and he gave her a smile back. She told me Jeremy is very handsome. I told her thats because he went to Cambridge, she was somewhat puzzeled so i explained to her if Boris Johnson had not gone to Eton but to the local comprehensive, Boris would be collecting trollies at the local tescos (an easy image to imagine) This puzzled her even more. I said "Jeremy could so easily have been a drunken bum and not so handsome but for the good fortune of a top-end education". There was a long pause...I told her to remember to feed the fish and then hung up.
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wappaho (#69) I had a look at the link. It's nuts. Trust me.
Genes make proteins which make bodies. That's what diversity is about:- polymorphisms and their expressions. Some groups have more than their fair share of some polymorphisms (from BRCA1 & BRCA2 to CYP21), a result of inbreeding aka endogamy - a gene-barrier. This shows up in a higher frequency/prevalence of some behaviours (traits) and disorders in some groups. We call these stereotypes sometimes.
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well, that's a vote in favour of high quality education, then? but if you saw JP's 'who do you think etc.' you'd see that he is descended from quite strong moral fibre - his great grandmother had the choice of being a bum (actually a prostitute) or joining the sally army and she chose the latter, rose high in the ranks too.
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wappaho (#72) "well, that's a vote in favour of high quality education, then?"
Can you expand on that a little? I don't follow.
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from mimpromptu
quite a lady, she was, JP's grandmother
he must be proud of her
and his grandad from the other side of his family, if I remember correctly
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The Human Rights Act
And how bad it is for the English...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6292414/Revealed-courts-let-dangerous-foreign-criminals-stay-in-Britain.html
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#65 jj
Do you mean the one accompanied by water pipes and a humming nose/moan from the cool place?
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ecolizzy (#75) Although the EU Lisbon 53 Article FCHR is 'red-lined' by Britain, who knows what will happen once Lisbon is finally ratified by the Czech Republic as the 1998 HRA only has 18 Articles and we derogate from some.
Some are also trying to swing this. It's not what it seems I suggest. To some it's a way of making the tenets of liberal-democratic libertarianism next to impossible to challenge. Many will not see how alas.
The right to run a (big) business hides a multitude of sins, as we all should have seen long, long ago, not just in recent times. :-(
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correction to #76
I meant to say noise
besides, ('60) I thought my ditties were worthless, my twirling too fast and my female IQ not good enough? I'm afraid there are too many differences between us. How about finding another girl? Have you checked whether Madonna is free to do some pole dancing for you?
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impromptu (#76) Nope. I am not literally referring to that stuff one puts in one's central heating system to get rid of odd noises! I am referring to social/peer pressures - e.g. political correctness. That is, the sorts of noises emitted by the likes of thegangofone and Harriet Harman etc.
Come to think of it, maybe there is a similarity to that stuff which causes noises in central heating systems!
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing, I am just listening
To a passionate singer who came from Brussels
Jacques Brel was his name used to composing
His own music as well as his verse.
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#81 jj
you've been revealing quite a few secrets about yourself recently
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mimpromptu (#78) I think you must be confusing me with someone else. I'm not one of those people after you, nor do I have any secrets. I'm just not that way inclined ;-)
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HYPED/CYNICAL SHOW BUSINESS AND HYPED/CYNICAL POLITICS
BBC and ITV are now competing for media ratings via faux-PC issues. We have fake/contrived race/gay Strictly/X-Factor 'controversies'. Wasn't all this sort of thing supposed to be long over?
The sort of gullible people taken in by The X Factor etc and its obviously contrived/formulaic emoting now appear to be moving into Newsnight territory, sadly :-(
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ISRAEL NOT GOING TO ATTACK IRAN UNDER CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES
Good. Iran is a bit bigger than Gaza (10x population of Israel), so there probably wouldn't be much left of the Israeli military if it ever attacked Iran (alone) one suspects?
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#82
so why did you say a few weeks ago that I was earning my living by sex?
what do you mean by 'central heating' rather than water pipes as I called them?
why and who are you threatening in the paragraph at #63: 'Methinks that's how high verbal (feminized-brain?) folk like Simon Baron-Cohen would like to pathologize real scientists and other male-brained persons (aka geeks!) Anyone who disagrees, well, just remember what those evil statist Germans and other gentiles got up to through their love of technology and order! ;-)'?
did you have anything to do with Newsnight Review geeks last Friday?
why do you think Kirsty finished the programme saying 'may the geeks with you'?
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#85
oh, and why are you so concerned about my sleep pattern? I don't think I've mentioned anything about it on these pages.
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#85 & #86 continuation of -
And 3 more questions if I may:
1. It's sometimes difficult to see whether you are on the right or the left of Britsh politics? Do you have a friend on the right whose initials are DM?
2. Do you think you are sexy?
3. Some time ago you were saying something about demographics and your intention to defend it. Was it anything to do with a friend of yours whose initials are JGr? Are you all geeks?
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NEW LABOUR AND YET MORE MISLEADING 'RACE' CONTROVERSY
"Last month, Peter Hain's cabinet colleague John Denham warned of "parallels" between rightwing groups protesting in Muslim neighbourhoods and Oswald Mosley's incendiary marches through Jewish areas of east London in the 1930s."
When Mosley and his group marched throught East London, they had communists/anarchists in mind (here Trotskyites not Stalinists), not Jews per se. This Hain line is a classic subterfuge, i.e hiding one political identity behind another, here a coterminus (anarchist and Jewish) membership shared by many (but not all) Jews (see Hansard 1919), Most people have a hard time with classes, and that difficulty is exploited by some....
Ashley Cole would be classed as Black British by all government departments accoding to the standard HMG 16+1 ethnicity coding scheme.
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mimpomptu #86 "why are you so concerned about my sleep pattern?"
I am making some helpful suggestions as to what might account for your bizarre, if not paranoid, posts to this blog.
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
I wonder whether you’ve had a good weekend.
Today I twirled to Salif Keita, who would be nice to have as friend.
He is an albino with a golden voice
His ‘Sosie’ album was my today’s choice.
After Salif I danced to Brel
It did feel good. ‘Did it look well?’,
I wonder to those who saw me gliding,
Waving my arms as well as twirling?
One lady told me she did enjoy it.
It’s good to hear some comments to it.
I had some pains around my bowels
And should be careful about my vowels.
mim
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mimpromptu (#86) "so why did you say a few weeks ago that I was earning my living by sex?"
I didn't.
Like so much else that you post, you just misunderstand what you read, and falsely attribute what you imagine to others.
The rest of your post is more of the same.
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#91
ah, well, I was hoping you'd answer my questions one by one
When I used to listen to Europe1 I remember them talking about getting rid of rivals one by one, quite a lot in fact.
There is an expression in Polish which in direct translation would read as 'to lie into live eyes' but I think it would be better rendered as 'to lie straight into the eyes' or something like that.
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mim what was it like living under communism in Poland? Or were you a child and don't remember?
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#93 from mimpromptu
ecolizzy
It was awful and extremely hard. My family always included kids in most of the discussions so we were brought up well aware of everything. There were different factions within the family with some of the younger generation siding with the left while others were church goers, etc, and as usual I was right in the middle of it, torn apart by all that while obviously loving them all. I won't go into all the details here, however. Sometimes I was allowed to go church and sometimes I wasn't and so it went, etc. I learned to adapt to each situation as it arose and that's why perhaps I feel I have an open minded attitude to things but, as you can see for yourself, I've found myself in this country to be put upon by a few individuals trying to change me which is an absolutely hopeless attempt.
Poland being Poland, despite all the difficulties of everyday living, my blood and extended family didn't allow themselves to be suppressed in being themselves and the Polish spirit was always well & kicking.
However, it wasn't always easy to deal with institutional establishments and I remember being punished at school for being honest about my family pre-war past, for example.
I could go on and on about the dreariness of communism, about its predilection for victimisation, etc, etc.
I love freedom ecolizzy, both for myself and others, especially those I like and respect and do not like putting conditions on my friendships and closer relationships. They either work and they do not, and I've learned to be able to move on from those that don't.
Thank you for asking,eEcolizzy, but could you just tell me whether you know Jezza personally?
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing, it is now Monday
Neither a Wednesday is it nor Friday
But it is a new day, it being Monday
Hoping to meet you one lovely day
Be it Birmingham or be it London
Let’s keep preserving our bon ton.
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jj
I wonder whether you're awake? If you are, perhaps you could answer me at least one question out of all the others that you have avoided so far with your skilfully working brain?
Do you believe you are sexy?
And - Are you feeling funky just now?
After all, it's not much to ask for, is it?
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#94 continuation from mimpromptu
ecolizzy
It was only my mum and dad that belonged to the workers party in their youth. My dad was a true idealist but really more of a dreamy intellectual than anything else and with his stories he talked my mum into the marriage. I can't remember whether he stopped being a party member or not but I think he did and, whatever, he died a very broken man. I have previously written about him on these pages, I think.
My mum definitely gave up on the workers party and joined the Solidarity movement. She was very brave indeed when it came to it and I was terribly scared for her while having to deal with all the crap while studying Russian. My position at the University may have been compromised by the fact that my academic reference came from a South African Professor who immigrated with his family to this country and who may have been a 'communist', but I'm not sure. He was a friend of mine's dad. She is now a well known writer and playwright. I met her again at the French Institute a few years ago but she cut me off one evening, probably for talking too much about my French Professor[Personal details removed by Moderator].
I hope this explains the confusion about my political background. As you're probably aware I used to be a member of the Conservatives in this country but have decided never to join any party ever again but of course do have my own political preferences though they largely depend on the human factor of those who represent this or that movement.
Right from the beginning I thought I could trust Barack Obama for example and I think my intuition was right. It takes a great man to listen and to draw conclusion from constantly evolving ideas and circumstances. In some ways I've had less direct contact with the Polish Prime Minister, Mr Donald Tusk, but I also trust him. There are a few other political leaders I appreciate and I have mentioned them before anyway. It is the issues that count most rather than this or that political party.
Hope you have a good day, ecolizzy
mim
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#97 an anecdote
When I first went to school at the age of 7, while still living with my parents in Warsaw, I remember an aunt of my dad's giving me 20 zloty to buy a religious textbook so I could attend religious classes run by the Church. My parents confiscated the money and I was not allowed to join the other kids. Sometimes some of them called me a jew.
When I was with my grandparents we always went to church and what I liked most was being with other people together in a peaceful place singing and listening to sermons given by a lovely priest making me ponder on ethical issues in particular. Those coupled with frequent conversations on ethics with my grandparents have largely formed my ethical outlook. I don't believe in God anymore and my views have evolved since my childhood but the main core of my ethical make up remains untouched.
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from mim to Streetphotobeing
5½ hours into this Monday
Let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a crap day
Well, to the contrary I hope it is,
With Madam Mim left in more peace
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And one more anecdote from mimpromptu
As it is now so long ago, about 25 years, I think, I suppose I can safely reveal the story behind my reference for SSEES, the University of London.
I knew my writer friend through another friend. They met up at Dartington, Devon, where they studied Drama. As at the time I didn't know any established intellectuals, I asked my friend's friend whether her dad could kindly write the reference for me. He agreed under the condition that I cook him a nice meal but more on the lean side because he had some problem with digesting fatty foods. And what did I do? I cooked a beef casserole with lots of double cream, wild mushrooms and dill. So, unfortunately, I didn't really conform to his request, which I still feel guilty about, but nevertheless he must have written my reference as I did get accepted to study Russian at SSEES.
P.S. The Professor and his daughter came along for the meal to [Personal details removed by Moderator]to a flat which I shared with a sculptor John Roberts who used to teach at City & Guilds but who is no longer with us. I still have some photos of his work, among them a sculpture of an angel but I don't think he thought I was one of those saintly creatures.
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from mimpromptu
I've just read on one of the Polish websites that there is an interesting exhibition on at the V&A at present. Something to do with 1001 nights.
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DO THEY HAVE ANY CONCEPT OF ARROGANCE?
Listening to the dominant one of the Clinton Duo, Telling Afghanistan and its leader 'how things must be', I am moved (from my position on the high ground) to write to my local paper demanding that when 'her down the road' gets a new bloke, that they live properly and stop their kids attacking my fence.
Do Clintons (and Milibands, too, for that matter) have ANY CONCEPT of arrogance beyond their station? PLEASE BBC can we have some philosophical/psychological analysis of politics, both home and 'global' (such an apt term for pure global-ocks).
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SOMETIMES THE INNOCENT QUESTION IS VERY REVEALING
Hi Ecolizzie! Just the one word of comment: 'Nice!'
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mimpromptu (various) This is not Facebook! Please try to learn the difference between allocentric vs egocentric thinking/writing, and try to take a hint from the removal of personal details by the moderators.
ecolizzy (#93) "mim what was it like living under communism in Poland? Or were you a child and don't remember?"
That's (remarkably) like asking a Conservative (anarchist) what it was like living under Old Labour in the 40s, 50, 60 and 70s. As I understand it, Solidarity was a Trotskyite movement. Freedom from the nanny) state = cuts! ;-)
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#103 Barrie I'll get me coat! ; )
#104 JJ Hee,hee, read Barries comment! ; )
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Thanks mim, no I'm not a friend of JP, I like ordinary people not celebs. Do you miss your home country?
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HHHmmm what makes you think the west has had it? With China quietly working away without any fuss or human rights rubbish, look what they are achieving.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8301826.stm I've also noted they are doing exactly the same in Central and South America. As India and China have such massive populations, I can see us sinking very quickly into the mire!
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barrie (#102) "Do Clintons (and Milibands, too, for that matter) have ANY CONCEPT of arrogance beyond their station?"
No. Why do you ask ;-) They are narcissists. Narcissists crave 'narcissistic supply' aka attention. Politicans and media celebrities are cut from the same (DSM-IV Axis II Cluster B in the extreme) cloth which treat others as means to ends. Note how the news media cover their meetings just like they cover Hollywood awards events? Note how the politicians pose for the cameras? Note how we don't hear what they talk about, just that they had interesting talks etc !
It shows who they are pitching their products to. The gullible, and they/we are legion in their eyes, and they/we are growing...
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#104
honestly, jj, the rubbish that you peddle on these pages! mind boggles!
+ you've confirmed that you're one of the moderators, are you not?
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#106
ecolizzy
Barrie is right, you've served a great purpose in what's probably the final clearance of my ethico-political background.
Do you consider jj as an ordinary person? It's obvious he is not a celeb and never will be.
There's many a celeb rendering kind services to ordinary people. One day I might be able to give you more details.
I still think you know Jeremy Paxman, otherwise you wouldn't be calling him Jezza. In fact, I may know who you are but still have 2 women in mind.
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oh, ecolizzy, I forgot to answer your question about me missing my country.
Yes, I would like to visit my family in the not too distant future but with my mother and grandpa passing away it is not of great urgency. I'm in regular touch with the the rest of them by phone anyway.
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Lizzie - re. the link to criminals avoiding deportation, 'The findings demonstrate how criminals are using the 1998 Human Rights Act to avoid being sent back to their homelands' - I think it is important to note that the demonstration is not so much about what [i]criminals[/i] are doing, rather it is about what structures - expertise and networks - are now in place to help immigrant groups colonise British territory - that's the aim isn't it? - why on earth do we continue to expect that immigrant groups (who are in any case told it is OK/better not to be English) should feel any sense of duty or loyalty to a nation state that they have villified publically in their 'homelands' for years.
re. living under communism - thanks for your story mim, I agree with Lizzie that it is really interesting to hear about personal experience as well as Grand Theory. I've asked a few people too. I had a Czech au pair for a while but she trembled when she was asked to recall her experience - she said you couldn't even trust your own family not to report you, it was that bad. I worked in Romania and they said it wasn't that bad at home, but intellectuals/academics had to go for a walk to talk in park spaces etc. to avoid raising suspicion. In Macedonia - which I think maybe was more of a benevolent dictatorship - they said they loved Tito, everybody was happy and safe, no-one locked their door and everyone had work and listened to western radio stations. In Macedonia the first thing they asked me was my age and salary - taboo questions under capitalism, valuable information etc. So, Grand Theory often hides the diversity of reality.
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ecolizzy (#105) I know, but just remember, this ego-centric behaviour thrives on 'supply' of any sort. :-(
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and a good example of the structures I was talking about can be found in the blogosphere - after the demo outside a mosque recently i googled to find out more about it and what i found was a plethora of islamic sites mobilising to oppose the demo. same again today - if you google the demo in manchester the first site that comes up is this http://www.iengage.org.uk/component/content/article/1-news/562-anti-edl-demo-in-manchester - talk about dogs and tails!
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from mimpromptu
ecolizzy
Some time ago you mentioned you had children. I would suggest that they become your absolute priority, whatever your relationship with jj. He'll betray anybody trying to attain his goal, even if it's just for fun to prove his masculinity.
As I offered before, if you ever get into absolute pits I'd be happy to talk to you, if only for the sake of your children.
mim
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from mimpromptu
wappaho
The worst times in Poland were under Stalin when many innocent people were put in prisons, murdered, etc. After 1956 things did get better. The Soviets were too scared of the Poles to impose total dictatorship over the 'unruly' nation and so we were allowed to go to church and move freely within the country without the need to register travels and the like. Also, quite a few people were allowed to visit the West although one never knew whether one would get a visa or not. I was lucky and nobody ever asked me to cooperate with the communists.
Within my family and among our friends there was never any fear of being betrayed so we talked freely about everything and when our relatives who had come to this country after the war visited we never suffered any untoward consequences.
But I've just remembered about my grandpa. Having spent the war years in France working for the Red Cross, on his return, he was approached by the secret services trying to scare him and even asking him not to wear his French beret. He never reported on anybody and never joined the PZPR, the workers party, i.e. My grandparents helped quite a few young people from underprivileged backgrounds to complete their education and even set up a harvest festival in a country city, so to speak, where they ended up living after the war for quite a few years. I understand the festival is still thriving.
I think my post could be improved stylistically but am sending it as it is.
mim
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wappaho (#112) "I agree with Lizzie that it is really interesting to hear about personal experience"
You can never be sure that personal accounts are what they appear to be. They are often fabricated/exaggerated for attention. What appears to be 'Grand Theory' is often just description of behaviour/events, which tends to be more accurate in the end. Sadly, people are not very reliable witnesses, even of their own behaviour, much of the time. It should be clear from mimpromptu's posts that much is fabricated/false. The reason for that is poor reality testing. Take what you are told with a pinch of salt.
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Stalin, like Hitler, was not liked by Jewish Anarchists/Trotskyites. He was very bad for entrepreneurship aka business.
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from mimpromptu to wappaho and ecolizzy
In one of my posts I mention my parents belonging to the party but I'd like to add that neither of them, to my absolute delight, feature on the so-called Wildstein list of treacherous agents.
Funnily enough, we lived right opposite the Polish 'KGB' headquarters where myself and other kids would sometimes gather edible mushrooms which were then fried for us in butter by our parents. I don't think the lawn exists any more as they've built an underground station nearby but the cinema we used to go to is still there.
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#117
No, jj, I'm telling the truth. As you seem to have so many contacts, why don't you get in touch with the Polish authorities, check and then report. You've fabricated my image me into somebody/something I'm not and have never been and it may have become a bit of surprise to you the way I've evolved, particularly in the last year or so, what with my ice-skating and ditty writing.
By the way, I've been in touch today with the Polish Prime Minister to give him a bit of support as there are nighmarish accusations flying about in Poland as instigated by the Presidential representatives who, I've suggested, do not seem to be beyond reproach themselves. It's something to do with hazardous games.
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I don't disagree with GT, but modernism followed GT to the exclusion of PE (personal experience) and now postmodernism follows PE to the exclusion of GT. However, there is a dialectic that runs through the universe - macro/micro, self/other, wave/particle, random/selected, whole/parts etc. GT tells us what is happening and PE tells us what it feels like. We need both in order to make sensible policies.
'Well!' she announced with dramatic irony, rather more loudly than was absolutely necessary for comfort, 'If you're going to rubbish my favourite theory, why should I expand on anything?', and with one swift move she put down her knitting, her book and her broom, and went to hear the music play. Later that evening she recalled her, perhaps unfair, admonishment of the old dragon-professor and rang her back, 'Privilege is the bathwater, Quality is the baby', she said. There was silence and then the phone clicked as the professor replaced her receiver.
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mimpromptu (#120) "No, jj, I'm telling the truth."
You describe what you think, but that is not the same as telling the truth. The way that you think is undisciplined, so what you believe is often false. You do not appreciate this, nor will you take helpful instruction or feedback. Instead, like so many others who behave the way you do, you go looking for support for your personally self-destructive status quo or try to shoot the messenger. This is why people will treat you as 'odd'.
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wappaho (#121) "I don't disagree with GT, but modernism followed GT to the exclusion of PE (personal experience) and now postmodernism follows PE to the exclusion of GT. However, there is a dialectic that runs through the universe - macro/micro, self/other, wave/particle, random/selected, whole/parts etc. GT tells us what is happening and PE tells us what it feels like. We need both in order to make sensible policies."
Read chapter 6 of 'Word and Object' (1960) (it's hard work, austere, but worth it), and perhaps look up Meehl on 'Clinical vs Actuarial' judgement. Science and rationality advances at the expense of personal experience. In fact, personal experience is often just second hand/rate science. This is good advice ;-)
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#122
jj
I know I'm odd because I don't fit into any specific category. I've just watched Derwishes dance their beautiful dances so I could fit in with them but they may not have contacts that I have and they may not be writing ditties the way I do. I could, in fact, fit in with quite a few environments and clubs and the ones I've joined in the last year are not in a hurry to chuck me out. I'm odd because I'm different which doesn't mean I'm not an ordinary person who likes to have exchanges with so-called ordinary people. I don't consider myself as an attractive woman, for example, and yet I seem to be drawing attention as one. That's probably because I'm odd, as you say, but then perhaps there are a few other reasons why this is so.
It hasn't turned out 'forever' jj and you just need to accept it. There is no other way round, I'm not your object, I don't like your theories and I don't like what you represent. I see it, in fact, as claptrap.
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So we're about to start a new round of the government selling of assets to help pay down the publis sector debt. What a surprise - see my entry on last Thursday's NN blog at no. 75. I didn't need to be a genius (and indeed, I am not!) to predict that one! This time round, the government does not appear to be even trying to disguise this as other than what it is. We will reach a point where we have nothing left in the car boot to sell. I know, what about selling off London to the Chinese on a long lease to give them a foothold in Europe.
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#121
wappaho
I couldn't agree with you more on the way you see dialectic, in fact it feels like a combination of intellect and PE /interhuman and emotional/ right up my street. That's how I also perceive/feel Alain de Botton's musings about our place in the Universe though, obviously you are different from each other and I don't know whether you're a writer like him.
mim
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nedafo - of the 16bn that will be liquidated, 13bn is 'not coming from central governmnet' so we could see local councils bought up by russian oligarchs and saudi princes! fits perfectly with brussel's plan for 'autonomous communities'.
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IS IT A HATE CRIME TO HATE HATE CRIME LEGISLATION?
Might hate-crime legislation increase the likelihhod of some groups getting away with predatory behaviour and increasing their hegemony?
Discuss ;-)
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I only know AdB from his TV progs about architecture. Like many academics, his work sits within 'high' english culture and assumes that all english cultures follow the same mores. So, although he talks about 'Status Anxiety' resulting from opening gambits such as 'what do you do for a living?', he ignores the fact that in working class culture, group participation is not initiated with questions about status but through demonstrating affability and camaraderie. and I imagine that in criminal culture - only going by what I've seen on TV, and a bit of logic - you'd be in big trouble if you went around asking that question. so, like in Macedonia, and as ever, language betrays/embodies the ideology.
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mimpromptu (#124) "I don't like your theories and I don't like what you represent. I see it, in fact, as claptrap."
That does not mean that it is not true. That's what you have to take on board. The chances are, like so much else, you just don't understand what you are reading/seeing. In fact, many peole don't learn precisely for this reason, as learning 9behavioural change) always requires that one's expectations (prejudices or prior behaviours) are violated/falsified.
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The Dear Father of A Dead Soldier deserves A Salute.
Blood on tony *HIT HEAD blairs Hands? The Idiot Bathes in the Stuff
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There is Only One Rule or Law.
Dont Get Caught.
If Your Stupid Enough 2 Get Caught You Deserve Everthing You Get.
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#122 jaded_Jean
"You describe what you think, but that is not the same as telling the truth. The way that you think is undisciplined, so what you believe is often false. You do not appreciate this, nor will you take helpful instruction or feedback."
This with most of what you say is just assertion with no evidence. You are trying to indoctrinate and propagandize and are simply seeking to assert your will.
Almost everything that you assert to be true is demonstrably false as has been shown before.
The Holocaust: Nuremburg, contemporary films, confessions, successive war trials, soldiers witness statements and so on - not least the Heidrich "Final Solution" documents and associated efficient notes.
Genetic variation IS greater within a race than between races and that is why the SCIENCE that was behind "The Incredible Human Journey" shows your nasty race "realism" and eugenics and so on is devoid of a logical basis.
Who would take instruction or advice from somebody who believes Hitler was a "peace lover"?
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#104 jaded_Jean
"That's (remarkably) like asking a Conservative (anarchist) what it was like living under Old Labour in the 40s, 50, 60 and 70s. As I understand it, Solidarity was a Trotskyite movement. Freedom from the nanny) state = cuts! ;-)"
Yet the BNP are not a National Socialist movement and are simply a "nationalist" party. They are therefore under your own definitions "anarchists and Trotskyites" along with the huge majority of the population.
Newsnight ran an excellent piece on the Spanish Civil War where it was shown how the Nazi's guided the Spanish fascists to deal mercilessly with the "anarchists and Trotskyites". The social fabric of Spain still bears the marks.
Those sucked in to the English Defence League by the pretty logos and call to nationalism really need to catch up on whether that group is attempting to head towards pseudo SA/SS status.
But people can see them coming.
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#130 leave me alone, jj
there is no one truth, there are as many as there are human beings
although you think you have me trapped you'll never conquer me unless you kill me but then your future would be even more miserable that it's looking now
This is it. I'm not likely to respond to your postings any more however many buttons you keep pressing
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#88 jaded_Jean
"When Mosley and his group marched throught East London, they had communists/anarchists in mind (here Trotskyites not Stalinists), not Jews per se."
You regard anybody who is not a Stalinist or a National Socialist as an "anarchist and Trotskyite".
You neglect to say that you seem to regard Jews as anarchists and Trotskyites by birth and some vague and badly "explicated" notion of Stalin ejecting people in the 1930's.
You also omit to mention that you regard the description by the Nazis and the Black Shirts of the Jews as an "internal political and economic threat" as being valid to this day.
As above you are "agnostic" on the Holocaust.
My recollection is that Jews in Cable Street and the area were very much a target and the Guardian ran a piece not so long back about how they organized and fought back.
That is why the harassment stopped sadly.
Today though I would certainly hope that that kind of racist violence would not be allowed to occur in the first place.
In simple terms you are talking rubbish.
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#130 jaded_Jean
"In fact, many peole don't learn precisely for this reason, as learning 9behavioural change) always requires that one's expectations (prejudices or prior behaviours) are violated/falsified."
Absolute rubbish!
You are a charlatan who does not understand the genetics that are so vital to your notions of race "realism" and eugenics.
You are a charlatan who does not want to reveal that you know full well that history shows there was a Holocaust and Hitler was not a "peace lover".
There are no major academic bodies that would subscribe to your notions in science or history.
Philosophically there is even less substance as many assume the view of Bertrand Russell. National Socialism was in fact simply a replacement aristocracy where opportunist jackdaws accumulated popular policies and manipulated crises to shoehorn themselves into power.
Hence they were more than willing to lie in an utterly amoral way.
But you never really own up to being a National Socialist willingly do you?
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Gof1 - there are some sites that you would do well to check out - the support for international socialism that ironically put Blair in power is not there anymore, middle class liberals and intellectuals are waking up to the fact that their well-meaning ideology has not resulted in the liberalisation of others but in the de-liberalisation of themselves, this is reflected in some very erudite reading on the web that is a far cry from football hooliganism but is being ignored by the media because as jj points out, the ideals of international socialism turned out to be exactly the perfect ideology for neo-cons to exploit. so, even though middle-england will vote cameron in, the same game will continue until we have autonomous communities in europe.
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mim, remember the dialectic! there are truths out there it's just that humans have trouble finding them. I value what you post because it is human, colourful, historical and entertaining. I also value what jj posts because it is scientific, controlled, theoretical. Somewhere between the two of you I find balance in appreciating theory and experience.
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Newsnight on the expenses is it worth a piece looking at it from the angle of the end of deference - as with the Anthony Sampson analysis?
Clearly there is damage to the standing of the MP's - particularly if they are churlish about paying money back - but does it create a new era of democratic expression where the Ivory Towers of Westminster are reconnected to the general population.
I also assume that those who seek a gravy train rather than public service will be reconsider politics as an avenue.
In general there was nobody manipulating this event - but that was down to the leaker of the expenses details whose judgement proved to be excellent.
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#129 from mimpromptu
You haven't met Alain but I have
You've seen his TV programme but I haven't
So our experiences are different, especially since I'm in correspondence with him as well. But whatever, why I consider Alain's approach to our place in the Universe close to mine is his openness to different ideas and walks of life without, at least it seems to me so, prejudice. I know that he mostly concentrates on the thinking person rather than things like class struggle, etc, but then I don't think he sets out to be another Marx. We can't have too many eco-sociologists around. Life would be intolerable if it were the case.
It's precisely his interest in the thinking and feeling person that appeals to me in his books and ideas. And he is a very good and entertaining writer as well as having the gift of the gab far, far away from jj's 'ideology' that's beginning to weigh rather too heavily for my degree of tolerance.
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from mimpromptu
When I saw the headline of Brown wanting a £16 bn assets sale a thought flashed through my mind about him wanting to sell off the MI6 but I hope he doesn't think that the MI6 is in his hands.
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mimpromptu (#135) "there is no one truth, there are as many as there are human beings"
How do you know that is true?
"I'm not likely to respond to your postings any more however many buttons you keep pressing"
Good. Try not to make references to me either, or I will, when you do, point out your egocentric and erroneous behaviour.
Whilst you constantly endeavour to attract attention to (i.e. advertise or parade) yourself, (in an inappropriate way too), you don't appear to know that you do so, and so don't take responsibility for any of it. That is indeed odd, and it explains many of your woes. You would do well to act on this feedback.
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#139
wappaho
I'm afraid if you don't see what jj stands for I'm cutting off my correspondence with you as well, even if you give me praise.
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I guess the £16Billion sell off is like a large car boot sale......
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mim - i'm not for a minute buying the holocaust denial saga if that's what you think! that's a separate issue, it's ideological not scientific, but jj's understanding of scientific matters is creditable. you don't have to believe that evolutionary psychology is an NYCJ conspiracy to be interested in arguments for and against it's tenets.
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
Madam Mim has not been left in peace
Far from it, the ranging gorilla is having a field.
Why is this country so much immature?
It may, in fact, lose all its allure
To Madam Mim who’s reaching the brim
Who may from henceforth just act on a whim
And become selfish beyond all recognition
Putting her own plans into fruition.
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wappaho (#146) Do you not see how mimpromptu's illogical, overinclusive, inductive, if not paranoid thinking is precisely the sort of behaviour which comprises 'holocaustism'? It's a class of devious/manipulative human behaviour (which I assert is probably more prevalent amongst the endogamous Jewish group but not found exclusively there) which is both highly emotive, 'imaginative' and attention-seeking. It is classic paranoic/narcisistic/histrionic entitlement which is exploited for sympathy, which is then abused in pursuit of hegemonic advantage politically and economically relative to those who provide sympathy (narcissistic supply).
Beware.
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mim if your around family/people that can support and care in an un-patronising way back in Poland and you feel it will be positive sounds like that would be a good option.
I just don't feel this place on here is good for your mind. Skating and the ditty work certainly is.
Didn't see the sci fi thing on review. I don't much care for the zombie type American action stuff. Sci fi stuff still has a long way to go for my taste to be other than a bit of a thrill but on that level I like to watch.
Bit crazy on the gold front, hope it holds or drops a bit so I can get some more at a reasonable price this week.
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"closure to this sorry saga"
Mandy
No Way matie, NO WAY !
You lot are on your way out - crawling.
'On the floor and no more'
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Mistress76uk (#145) I guess the £16Billion sell off is like a large car boot sale......"
As I see it, it's a continuation of a process which has been perpetrated by successive goivernments for decades. Recent events just make them think they have a major excuse, that's all.
Judge governments, politicians and everyone else, by their overall actions and their consequences, not (just) their words/professed ideologies/intentions. The latter is the stuff of spin, and whilst they are experts in crafting that, they can not (so easily) hide their actions and consequences......
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#146 from mimpromptu
jj's scientific view of a human being is total crap because it is based on mechanical laws without consideration of the soul which I suppose is combination of one's DNA, family/social experience and influence/background and whatever else it 'contains', like chemical substances for example. It's far more complex than jj will ever be able to comprehend because it looks like his soul is not able to reach what I would call higher spheres of the human mind and make up.
With regard to Alain de Botton, he is not completely English though he was brought up and educated here. I'm sure he carries in him his Jewish/Swiss/French sensibilities as well. I understand he has received a Legion d'Honneur from the French Government for his contribution to the contemporary culture.
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#149 from mimpromptu
No, Streetphotobeing, things need to be sorted out in this country first. I have a few fresh ideas of how to survive the next few days/weeks. In some of my ditties I'm just indicating the issues that, I feel, need urgent attention.
I do find the whole game immature and have been putting up with it for the reason that I gave the other day. If I went to Poland now I'm sure I couldn't help but talk about the 'game' anyway making them apprehensive and worried. They have enough on their plate as it is.
Thank you though for your advice, Streetphotobeing
mim
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from mimpromptu
Streetphotobeing
With regard to science fiction I'm not at all dismissive of it. It's just I never got into it apart from a story by a Russian writer,Y. Zamyatin 'We', Orwell's '1984' and a couple of films, one of them being a Polish film 'Seksmisja', 'Sex Mission' in translation. You can find more details about it in Wikipedia. I'm looking forward to the time when the most problematic political/security issues are sorted out when hopefully I'll be able to resume reading, etc.
mim
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mimpromptu (#152) "jj's scientific view of a human being is total crap because it is based on mechanical laws without consideration of the soul"
Let's face it mimpromptu, you are a very silly person. What you dismiss is the scientific method, and that's basic to medicine and everything else that keeps us alive these days. You don't know what you are writing about and are a very confused person. What's more, you don't know when to listen and learn, so your silliness (and no doubt confusion and unhappiness) will just continue.
Your silliness is getting very annoying too, and that's a consensus view, I predict. Don't ask how I know that, as to understand, you'd have to to be able to grasp something about the merits of the scientific method over your way of thinking/writing, which is clearly hopelessly ill-educated and probably incorrigible.
People like you and thegangofone don't know when to listen and learn.
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Mim this looks interesting by Polish artist Miroslaw Balka
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8302815.stm
I visited something similar in the eighties at the Ikon gallery in Birmingham called Diamonds Are Forever. (I think) The basement of the gallery was completely backed out, you had to walk in a certain distance to see this tiny twinkly light. For sure it was scary the more you walked in - not to be able to see anything at all, but my friend and I did it. Id have thought health and safety would have something to say about it these days.
Tell use something jj apart from talking the same old stuff on here day in day out what do you do? Is that it ?
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Just seen it - Brown has to pay back 12k what a disgrace !
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streetphotobeing (#156) "Tell use something jj apart from talking the same old stuff on here day in day out what do you do? Is that it ?"
What does anyone do, day in and day out, other than the same old stuff?
What a silly question. What you should focus on, is what is said. Have you learned anything about group politics yet and how it all works?
Did you learn anything from this or this?
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streetphotobeing (#157) "Just seen it - Brown has to pay back 12k what a disgrace !"
They're just trying to make the dumbed down electorate believe that by sorting out their petty cash problem by putting their 600+ House in order, they can in fact sort out the 175,000,000,000 a year deficit which their masters, the bankers, created for them. It's a waste of news time.
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jj
Why do you waste your time on here, who do you think you will influence? isn't it silly and futile ? It is isn't it, I mean you've been doing it day in day out for god knows how long and who is influenced by you other than with laughable unease at your views. Barrie and maybe a few others. Worth the effort or a silly waste of time to those who have common sense ?
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streetphotobeing (#160) Do you think you are the only people here or elsewhere? Do you think I do it to influence people? Why? Is that why you post here?
You make too many assumptions. Why do you exist? ;-)
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'Why do you exist?'
Since the age of 17 Ive had a very clear sense of what is in my blood - I'm a documentary photographer. I also have excursions into other area's such as jewellery design, drawing and the study of early photographic process's such as the daguerreotype. Here's one I made earlier. It uses red light to develop a polished silver plate sensitised by iodine which produces a light (blue - ultraviolet end of spectrum mostly) sensitive surface. The resolution is so high that it looks almost three dimensional - as if it really exists in front of you when the plate is lit at an angle and reflects a black plane. But if you look directly into it you just see yourself - your own reflection, meaning that we cant really be objective on most subjects outside science - our judgments will always get in the way :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42833216@N05/3971255823/
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to show off JJ
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