Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Press. Release.
The two words in the above headline might well be found on the launch pad for the Cruise Missiles that we are punting into Libya.
They might also be attributed to Obama's speech last night regarding this latest tawdry affair. The tone of what he said certainly had 'press release' written all over it.
For all the intelligence behind the smart bombs that are deployed in modern warfare, there seems to be a breathtaking lack of strategy.
Would America and the West honestly be happy to leave Gaddafi in power, albeit emasculated?
It wasn't so long ago that he was fingered as the evil murdering thug behind the blowing up of Pan Am 103.
I fear it won't be long before we experience another black day looking for yet another black box.
And if it's found, it won't reveal anything that we don't already know.
They might also be attributed to Obama's speech last night regarding this latest tawdry affair. The tone of what he said certainly had 'press release' written all over it.
For all the intelligence behind the smart bombs that are deployed in modern warfare, there seems to be a breathtaking lack of strategy.
Would America and the West honestly be happy to leave Gaddafi in power, albeit emasculated?
It wasn't so long ago that he was fingered as the evil murdering thug behind the blowing up of Pan Am 103.
I fear it won't be long before we experience another black day looking for yet another black box.
And if it's found, it won't reveal anything that we don't already know.
If you give someone like Gaddafi a bloody nose, one bloody knows what to expect in return.
Monday, 28 March 2011
Professor Brian Cox. Star geezer or stargazer?
Both actually.
His latest series, Wonders of the Universe, is what the BBC is all about.
Or is it?
I would like to produce my own series. A series of analogies in which we address fundamental issues such as:
· the astronomical salary of Mark Thompson, their Director General
· the moonshine he spoke in that famed interview with Baroness PD James (follow link below)
· the paranoia that their executives suffer lest mere licence payers discover their pull of gravity on our pool of money
Maybe they should stop awhile and ask themselves:
“Is there anybody out there?”
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Empathy. Sympathy. Can someone please ignite my apathy?
Don’t get me wrong. I am as livid as the next person when it comes to cuts in public spending.
I understand your pain.
(That last sentence sounded so much like Tony Blair, please remind me to remove it from my final draft.)
But to march in protest against the cuts is akin to remonstrating with a doctor who is treating a knife wound inflicted by some crazy madman.
Just as the doctor’s treatment is necessary to stanch the flow of blood, the cuts are essential to avert the stench of a rotting economy.
We are attacking the wrong people.
By all means go after the knifeman. Use all means to go after the bankers.
But never forget, whether you march or not, we are all in this together.
Like thump we are.
There are certain bankers who are both sunning themselves and mooning at us at the same time.
Indeed, it is no coincidence that tax havens are invariably found in the most beautiful parts of the world.
Where better to visit your money?
But however much you may resent the predicament we now find ourselves in, to resort to violence is playing straight back into the hands of the very people whom we protest against.
Why, for example, should a large corporation not do its damnedest to avoid paying tax when so much of it is used to fund the lives of those knuckleheads who form the gristle of these rent-a-mobs?
Good people of the march I beseech you. Let's have a march within a march and strike out (metaphorically) against those who are determined to ruin your march.
Well, that's the march dealt with.
Thank goodness it's nearly April.
I understand your pain.
(That last sentence sounded so much like Tony Blair, please remind me to remove it from my final draft.)
But to march in protest against the cuts is akin to remonstrating with a doctor who is treating a knife wound inflicted by some crazy madman.
Just as the doctor’s treatment is necessary to stanch the flow of blood, the cuts are essential to avert the stench of a rotting economy.
We are attacking the wrong people.
By all means go after the knifeman. Use all means to go after the bankers.
But never forget, whether you march or not, we are all in this together.
Like thump we are.
There are certain bankers who are both sunning themselves and mooning at us at the same time.
Indeed, it is no coincidence that tax havens are invariably found in the most beautiful parts of the world.
Where better to visit your money?
But however much you may resent the predicament we now find ourselves in, to resort to violence is playing straight back into the hands of the very people whom we protest against.
Why, for example, should a large corporation not do its damnedest to avoid paying tax when so much of it is used to fund the lives of those knuckleheads who form the gristle of these rent-a-mobs?
Good people of the march I beseech you. Let's have a march within a march and strike out (metaphorically) against those who are determined to ruin your march.
Well, that's the march dealt with.
Thank goodness it's nearly April.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Thursday, 24 March 2011
First we bring Gaddafi in from the cold
Then we give him a bloody good roasting.
All makes perfect sense to me.
Anyone got a problem with that?
All makes perfect sense to me.
Anyone got a problem with that?
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Monday, 21 March 2011
Wrong. Wrong. And wrong again.
I can get my mind around most things but often struggle when it comes to getting it around the minds of others.
Take the present dilemma in North Africa.
There are many people – maybe you are among them – who believe that because we didn’t do anything about Zimbabwe, we ought to keep our noses out of Libya.
By implication – and they are right – we should be taking action to stop Mugabe. But because we have been wrong not to, they would prefer us to be wrong again.
Never mind the fact that Gaddafi is gunning down his own people.
Just let him get on with it and let him get off with it.
Just let him get on with it and let him get off with it.
If you can get your mind around that one, then yours is a better mind than mine.
I can take a disaster zone, a war zone and even The Twilight Zone
At a push, I can take oxyphenbutazone. But, no matter what they tell
us, I can't take Boyzone.
us, I can't take Boyzone.
Sunday, 20 March 2011
I've just sent a stinker of an email to my local MP
Still don't know how it ended up in my Scent Box.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
How the West was one
There seems to be a general consensus among our fine upstanding leaders in the West that Col Muammar Gaddafi's evil ways must end.
And so say all of us.
To let him off the hook would send the wrong message to dictators everywhere.
Can't argue with that one.
But hold fire.
No, I'm not only talking to Gaddafi. I'm also addressing Cameron, Obama and their hypocritical cohorts.
What kind of messages have we sent Mugabe for all his atrocities?
Atrociously, none. At least none that has carried little more than a veiled threat.
But then, Zimbabwe has no oil.
Ironically, what has proved to be Mugabe's good fortune has also turned out to be his impoverished people's misfortune. The West are just not interested.
The only weaponry that we have ever rained on Zimbabwe are a few sanctimonious soundbites.
It's what I call fartillery*.
Yes, it might be full of wind but so far it has failed to put the wind up Mugabe.
Libya is different.
Not only do they have oil, they are in a volatile region that lubricates the entire western economy.
But my argument is not against stopping Gaddafi. Quite emphatically, he needs to be stopped in his tracks.
My contention is that we should also stop Mugabe.
There is a just cause for both, but different reasons.
Just let's be honest about it, there is even conflict in conflict.
* http://bestwhispers.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/fartillery/
And so say all of us.
To let him off the hook would send the wrong message to dictators everywhere.
Can't argue with that one.
But hold fire.
No, I'm not only talking to Gaddafi. I'm also addressing Cameron, Obama and their hypocritical cohorts.
What kind of messages have we sent Mugabe for all his atrocities?
Atrociously, none. At least none that has carried little more than a veiled threat.
But then, Zimbabwe has no oil.
Ironically, what has proved to be Mugabe's good fortune has also turned out to be his impoverished people's misfortune. The West are just not interested.
The only weaponry that we have ever rained on Zimbabwe are a few sanctimonious soundbites.
It's what I call fartillery*.
Yes, it might be full of wind but so far it has failed to put the wind up Mugabe.
Libya is different.
Not only do they have oil, they are in a volatile region that lubricates the entire western economy.
But my argument is not against stopping Gaddafi. Quite emphatically, he needs to be stopped in his tracks.
My contention is that we should also stop Mugabe.
There is a just cause for both, but different reasons.
Just let's be honest about it, there is even conflict in conflict.
* http://bestwhispers.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/fartillery/
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