“ Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't.”Anon
“ One of the best ways to keep peace is to be prepared for war.”George Washington
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Quote of the day
NUT suggests pupils 'lured' into UK armed forces
It is their conference week - and the UK National Union of teachers (NUT) in the form of Catherine Brennan, have raised their skirts and are showing their anti military unmentionables in public.
They are attacking the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for giving careers advice in schools, alongside banks and the local council, marching in the opposite direction to the current New-Lab stance claiming pupils are being 'lured' into joining.
Mealy mouthed Steve Sinnott, the NUT general secretary briefed that he was ‘concerned’ youngsters from ‘poorer backgrounds’ were being targeted.
"Youngsters from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have more limited opportunities in life than youngsters from better off backgrounds.
"It's simply a fact. I am not saying that youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds cannot get something from a career in the military."
There is an apparent subtext here that one might suspect may indicate a certain masked antagonism and contempt.
He rather betrays his prejudices in that he seems absolutely unconcerned about those ‘youngsters’ from what he presumably feels are probably ‘better off backgrounds’ enticed into Sandhurst… I don’t suppose he is suggesting that they can’t get something from a career in the military either.
They are attacking the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for giving careers advice in schools, alongside banks and the local council, marching in the opposite direction to the current New-Lab stance claiming pupils are being 'lured' into joining.
Mealy mouthed Steve Sinnott, the NUT general secretary briefed that he was ‘concerned’ youngsters from ‘poorer backgrounds’ were being targeted.
"Youngsters from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have more limited opportunities in life than youngsters from better off backgrounds.
"It's simply a fact. I am not saying that youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds cannot get something from a career in the military."
There is an apparent subtext here that one might suspect may indicate a certain masked antagonism and contempt.
He rather betrays his prejudices in that he seems absolutely unconcerned about those ‘youngsters’ from what he presumably feels are probably ‘better off backgrounds’ enticed into Sandhurst… I don’t suppose he is suggesting that they can’t get something from a career in the military either.
Monday, 24 March 2008
Quote of the day
“ You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time."Abraham Lincoln
Brits no longer believe fad diet claims
It seems Britain is becoming disenchanted with the claims of fad diets. Over the last 5 years sales of slimming products have dropped by a third. This may also hold true for low calorie and reduced fat products, as growth in that market appears to be plateauing.
After years of trying diets, with no discernable signs of success, people finally seem to have stopped believing the diets' claims anymore.
Mintel, the market research people state: "Attitudes to dieting have become more negative with a higher proportion of consumers believing that they are hard to follow, confusing and may be harmful."
This may be more promising than it seems. If the public are wising up about fad diets maybe they are also capable of learning the same lessons about politics. What with two of the major parties (New-Labour and Lib-Dem ) manifesto promises now clearly proven to be, like the diet’s claims; “Not subject to legitimate expectation”
Frankly, if they cannot be held to their promises, at least to a reasonable extent, then there is little point in voting for them at all. Especially when Parliament's power and relevance diminishes with every new ‘treaty’.
Of course, by now, many of us will have realised that the most reliable way of loosing pounds, at least from your pocket, is not by means of a New-Fad diet, it is to vote New-Labour. It will not be your waist you are watching, so much as their waste and ineptitude - your wallet loosing weight ;-)
After years of trying diets, with no discernable signs of success, people finally seem to have stopped believing the diets' claims anymore.
Mintel, the market research people state: "Attitudes to dieting have become more negative with a higher proportion of consumers believing that they are hard to follow, confusing and may be harmful."
This may be more promising than it seems. If the public are wising up about fad diets maybe they are also capable of learning the same lessons about politics. What with two of the major parties (New-Labour and Lib-Dem ) manifesto promises now clearly proven to be, like the diet’s claims; “Not subject to legitimate expectation”
Frankly, if they cannot be held to their promises, at least to a reasonable extent, then there is little point in voting for them at all. Especially when Parliament's power and relevance diminishes with every new ‘treaty’.
Of course, by now, many of us will have realised that the most reliable way of loosing pounds, at least from your pocket, is not by means of a New-Fad diet, it is to vote New-Labour. It will not be your waist you are watching, so much as their waste and ineptitude - your wallet loosing weight ;-)
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Jersey Boys Review.
A brief plug for Jersey Boys. Mrs CFD and I went to see it the other day. Most enjoyable it was too.
Jersey Boys is of course the sort of thing where you know largely what you are getting. Lots of Four Seasons songs and Frankie Valli - Still much depends on how well the thing is done.
In this case it was most excellent. I am reluctant to single any one of the cast out in particular, as they were all very, very, good - But it must be said that Ryan Malloy does a very good Frankie Valli and there is a certain resemblance also and Glenn Carter made a memorable Tommy DeVito.
The Prince Edward Theatre was packed to the gunnels, in significant numbers with persons of a certain age, old enough to remember the songs when they first came out.
One gets the impression the cast were really enjoying themselves and the positive feedback they were getting from the audience.
As mentioned the cast were effectively a really good tribute band and turned out a star performance, with many old favourites such as ‘Walk like a man’, ‘Sherry’, ‘Rag doll’, ‘My Mother's Eyes’, ‘Big girls don’t cry’, ‘Bye, Bye, Baby’, etc. etc. Combined with a potted bigraphical history of the group, acted out as a background to the songs.
The theatre were touting the cast CD for £16 and the original artist CD for £22. A little pricy given that the CD of the original US cast is available for £8.98 on Amazon. I might have coughed up £10 or £12.
There was a well deserved standing ovation at the end of the show.
If you even vaguely like this sort of music, ‘my hand to God’ you should enjoy the show.
Jersey Boys is of course the sort of thing where you know largely what you are getting. Lots of Four Seasons songs and Frankie Valli - Still much depends on how well the thing is done.
In this case it was most excellent. I am reluctant to single any one of the cast out in particular, as they were all very, very, good - But it must be said that Ryan Malloy does a very good Frankie Valli and there is a certain resemblance also and Glenn Carter made a memorable Tommy DeVito.
The Prince Edward Theatre was packed to the gunnels, in significant numbers with persons of a certain age, old enough to remember the songs when they first came out.
One gets the impression the cast were really enjoying themselves and the positive feedback they were getting from the audience.
As mentioned the cast were effectively a really good tribute band and turned out a star performance, with many old favourites such as ‘Walk like a man’, ‘Sherry’, ‘Rag doll’, ‘My Mother's Eyes’, ‘Big girls don’t cry’, ‘Bye, Bye, Baby’, etc. etc. Combined with a potted bigraphical history of the group, acted out as a background to the songs.
The theatre were touting the cast CD for £16 and the original artist CD for £22. A little pricy given that the CD of the original US cast is available for £8.98 on Amazon. I might have coughed up £10 or £12.
There was a well deserved standing ovation at the end of the show.
If you even vaguely like this sort of music, ‘my hand to God’ you should enjoy the show.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
Quote of the day
“ The greatest menace to our civilization today is the conflict between giant organized systems of self-righteousness -- each system only too delighted to find that the other is wicked -- each only too glad that the sins give it the pretext for still deeper hatred and animosity.”Herbert Butterfield
More threats, allegedly from bin Laden.
A video has been released purportedly from bin Laden. Purportedly, because graphics and computers have come a long way.
For the moment lets go with the idea it really was him though. He is apparently comparing Danish cartoons of Mohamed to the crusades - one is tempted to intemperate language here...
From this one might be forgiven for assuming he is so disconnected from reality that he is incapable of distinguishing the difference between marks on paper and an actual physical conflict, where real people get really injured and killed.
It seems he even blames the Pope - given that only 3% of the population of Denmark is Roman Catholic this is a bit disingenuous, even for bin Laden. Either that, or he is simply displaying contemptuous ignorance; “All you Dhimmies look the same to me”. Given that he visited Europe to sample the’ high life’ as a teen though, probably the former.
Two percent of the Danish population is Moslem, almost as big as the Roman Catholic influence; maybe he ought to commit suicide to get revenge (fingers crossed).
By extension he blames all of Europe, clearly he has problems with rational categorisation.
He nebulously ‘threatens’ a “reckoning”. This of course allows him to claim credit for almost anything at all, as the likes of his organisation have to take what targets they can get.
The weakest targets that no decent human being would consider, even then they need to launch many plots for one to succeed. Still as the IRA once famously observed of the British Government: “You have to be ‘lucky’ all the time, we only need to be ‘lucky’ once”.
Going down this route means they have to be able to justify killing innocent people. They seem to do this by claiming they are not innocent on religious grounds. So that makes it all right then. They don’t seem to consider that they may equally well be bound for eternal damnation, viewed by other religious grounds.
The thing to remember is that you are more likely to be killed, or injured, every time you get behind the wheel of a car. Yes it does happen and if it is you personally, or someone you know or love involved it will have a massive, in the former case possibly terminal, impact.
This risk and many other risks of daily life do not stop the majority of us carrying on with our lives as per normal and does not significantly alter our behaviour. Hopefully nor should the likes of these threats.
For the moment lets go with the idea it really was him though. He is apparently comparing Danish cartoons of Mohamed to the crusades - one is tempted to intemperate language here...
From this one might be forgiven for assuming he is so disconnected from reality that he is incapable of distinguishing the difference between marks on paper and an actual physical conflict, where real people get really injured and killed.
It seems he even blames the Pope - given that only 3% of the population of Denmark is Roman Catholic this is a bit disingenuous, even for bin Laden. Either that, or he is simply displaying contemptuous ignorance; “All you Dhimmies look the same to me”. Given that he visited Europe to sample the’ high life’ as a teen though, probably the former.
Two percent of the Danish population is Moslem, almost as big as the Roman Catholic influence; maybe he ought to commit suicide to get revenge (fingers crossed).
By extension he blames all of Europe, clearly he has problems with rational categorisation.
He nebulously ‘threatens’ a “reckoning”. This of course allows him to claim credit for almost anything at all, as the likes of his organisation have to take what targets they can get.
The weakest targets that no decent human being would consider, even then they need to launch many plots for one to succeed. Still as the IRA once famously observed of the British Government: “You have to be ‘lucky’ all the time, we only need to be ‘lucky’ once”.
Going down this route means they have to be able to justify killing innocent people. They seem to do this by claiming they are not innocent on religious grounds. So that makes it all right then. They don’t seem to consider that they may equally well be bound for eternal damnation, viewed by other religious grounds.
The thing to remember is that you are more likely to be killed, or injured, every time you get behind the wheel of a car. Yes it does happen and if it is you personally, or someone you know or love involved it will have a massive, in the former case possibly terminal, impact.
This risk and many other risks of daily life do not stop the majority of us carrying on with our lives as per normal and does not significantly alter our behaviour. Hopefully nor should the likes of these threats.
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Quote of the day
“ There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”Robert A. Heinlein
Hike in UK alcohol duty is bigger than advertised
I was out of the country, enjoying the benefits of a less punitive tax regime, for Gordon Brown’s darling glove puppet’s first (and hopefully last) budget.
I was pleased ;-) along with the health fascists at the British Medical Association (BMA), to see the "large rise", on top of the already outrageous levels of taxation imposed on alcohol by the glove puppet - They have been so effective on curbing alcohol abuse to date that much more of the same is a sure recipe for success.
The huge price hike in duty on alcohol (six per cent above inflation), 55p on a 70cl bottle of spirits coupled with the increase of 14p in the duty on a bottle of wine is bound to stop the quality single malt whisky fuelled drunken binges of retired colonels and vicars in our high streets at weekends. Not to mention the sparkling wine fuelled thuggery so prevalent in our towns and cities.
Of course it is a moneymaking exercise. The last thing the state wants is for us to cut back on buying alcohol as this would eat into their revenue. It makes a nice fig leaf for gouging levels of taxation to wave at the naive though - and an excellent excuse for ever more intrusive measures of social control.
It’s the gift that just keeps on giving because every penny increase in duty allows a corresponding increase in VAT, so that 55p headline increase is actually a hike in the Government’s cut of over 64p per bottle and that’s just the hike, not the total taken. Oh and don’t forget you already paid tax on the money you are being taxed for spending, when you originally earned it.
But we should all feel hap-happy about it because… Ahh! it’s allegedly going towards a good cause - towards ending “child poverty” by 2020.
New Labour are unlikely to ever have to actually live up to such a distant target. Though it would be nice to believe they might be slightly more effective at it between now and when they finally get kicked out of power, than the pathetic showing they have managed to make on this moving target to date.
I was pleased ;-) along with the health fascists at the British Medical Association (BMA), to see the "large rise", on top of the already outrageous levels of taxation imposed on alcohol by the glove puppet - They have been so effective on curbing alcohol abuse to date that much more of the same is a sure recipe for success.
The huge price hike in duty on alcohol (six per cent above inflation), 55p on a 70cl bottle of spirits coupled with the increase of 14p in the duty on a bottle of wine is bound to stop the quality single malt whisky fuelled drunken binges of retired colonels and vicars in our high streets at weekends. Not to mention the sparkling wine fuelled thuggery so prevalent in our towns and cities.
Of course it is a moneymaking exercise. The last thing the state wants is for us to cut back on buying alcohol as this would eat into their revenue. It makes a nice fig leaf for gouging levels of taxation to wave at the naive though - and an excellent excuse for ever more intrusive measures of social control.
It’s the gift that just keeps on giving because every penny increase in duty allows a corresponding increase in VAT, so that 55p headline increase is actually a hike in the Government’s cut of over 64p per bottle and that’s just the hike, not the total taken. Oh and don’t forget you already paid tax on the money you are being taxed for spending, when you originally earned it.
But we should all feel hap-happy about it because… Ahh! it’s allegedly going towards a good cause - towards ending “child poverty” by 2020.
New Labour are unlikely to ever have to actually live up to such a distant target. Though it would be nice to believe they might be slightly more effective at it between now and when they finally get kicked out of power, than the pathetic showing they have managed to make on this moving target to date.
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