DUFF & NONSENSE!

The strange case of the missing Prince

No, no, not Prince Harry, he hasn't 'done a runner' - yet!  I am referring to Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 'revolutionary' leader of Saudi Arabia who seems to have 'gone on the missing list'.  I categorise him as 'revolutionary' despite the fact that his philosophy of life is probably somewhere to the Right of Genghis Khan but in Saudi Arabian terms that still makes him a soppy Leftie and therefor 'an enemy of the state'!  Anyway, he began his rule in a blaze of world-wide publicity but suddenly, in the past few weeks, he has disappeared from view.

Various 'meeja' organisations are trying to discover what, if anything, has happened.  Apparently, a few days ago, there were reports of gunfire in or around the main Saudi palace but the authorities batted it all away, in effect saying, "There's nothing to see here, move along!"  Of course, the Iranians are puffing the rumours up as hard as they can - for obvious reasons.  No doubt in due course 'truth will out' and in the meantime I leave you to ponder how much money you would want to be paid to take on the job of being MbS's chauffeur?!

 

A book ramble

This is not one of my carefully crafted and elegantly composed posts - sorry, were you trying to say something? - instead it is a bit of a ramble on the subject of 'books wot I red', or I am trying to read, or I intend to read, or in one case I definitely will not read!  I am only inflicting it on you because I am off to the seaside tomorrow, Sunday, for lunch with some very old and dear friends and the chances are I will not be in a fit state to scribble anything when I get home.

Anyway, back to the books.  As you know, just recently I gave a rave review to The Crusades: The War of the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge.  And it is good, honestly it is, and I am sure the historiography is of the highest quality, but the fact is that it is also deeply depressing.  It is a chronicle of the very worst aspects of human nature.  After a ferocious campaign conducted with maximum cruelty, within a few months of the Christians capturing the city of Jerusalem they fell out with each other and turned their cruelty on their former comrades and co-religionists.  I am persevering with the book but it is so depressing that I open it with reluctance.

Happily, a friend gave me a book I would never have bought for myself by a lady writer whose name I know well but whose books I have never tried.  I refer to Ms. Margaret Atwood and her book Hag-Seed.  I have only read the first few pages because I really wasn't sure what it was about but within minutes I was chuckling, then laughing out loud.  It is based on a loony, egotistical director of Shakespeare who runs a theatrical arts festival somewhere in Canada.  Being a nutter, he obviously runs the enterprise on the Fuhrer princip and he is shocked and outraged when his deputy manoeuvres him out of the job and takes over.  I can't wait to get further into it, and by the way, any resemblance between me and the leading character is entirely co-incidental!

Finally, a book I definitely will not be reading is the latest WWII history from that superb historian, Antony Beevor.  I have copies of many of his other books and cannot fault them for either fact or judgment but his latest is on the topic of the Arnhem campaign.  That, if you will excuse the allusion, 'is a topic too far'!  By and large, Montgomery was a superb fighting general but he made his fair share of mistakes and Arnhem was a colossal failure and what made it worse was that the fault lines were perfectly clear beforehand.  Alas, it was 'Monty's equally colossal ego that blinded him to the obvious.  I still admire the man and I really don't think I can bear to read about this tragic disaster again.

Anyway, happy reading to you all and if you have any recommendations let me know.

 

So there's the problem, where's the answer?

Below I sketched the general outline of the Arab/Israeli problem and I have often wondered if there was a solution but "answer came there none"!  Like Lewis Carrol's poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter" - and not forgetting what happened to all the little oysters! - the ultimate tragedy is embedded in the situation.  Frankly, in the Israeli/Palestinian situation, tragedy is almost the only certain outcome because, of course, the political impasse is now concreted into solidity by outside powers with their own implacable imperatives. 

Whilst I would dearly love to be rid of the whole festering problem, particularly as my own country played such a large role in setting it up, there is now no escaping it.  The inexorable rise of Islamic militarism is a threat to us all, not just Israel.  The only slight ray of light is that the Islamic side are now riven with the very worst type of divide - internal religious schism from which there is rarely any quick escape.  So alas, both Israelis and Palestinians are trapped not only in their own fight to the death but also between that of the Sunnis and Shi-ites, and holding the ring and urging on all-comers are the so-called 'Great Powers'.  Frankly, I think it is impossible to foresee anything other than a tragic outcome. 

It is entirely right to beware the politician intending evil but, as this situation indicates, it is also very necessary to be exceedingly careful when a politician intends good!

 

Conscience is worse than a nagging wife

Regular readers will know of my abiding admiration for the Jewish race.  Of course, like all of us, they have their faults and weaknesses but, dammit, it is impossible not to admire their intelligence which has been honed, I guess, by the desire to exist despite several thousand years of persecution and a world-wide enforced diaspora.  It is entirely understandable, with that history, that the Jews yearned for a return to what they consider to be their homeland in Palestine.  It is also understandable that a considerable number of non-Jews, many of them in high positions of political power, and all troubled by their consciences given the never-ending, historical cruelty meted out to Jews, threw their weight behind the idea of a Jewish homeland.

It was worthy but was it wise?

This irritating question has niggled away at the back of what passes for my mind for several years because whilst it may have brought joy to Jews, equally it brought extreme distress to Palestinians.  This morning, Melanie McDonagh at The Coffee House, sums up the moral and political dilemma:

[W]hen it comes to the founding of the state of Israel 70 years ago, the inescapable fact is that it was founded on the expulsion or displacement of over 700,000 people, Palestinians who had next to no involvement with the persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust which gave urgency to the question of a Jewish state. They did not intend to vacate their homes for the founders of the new state; they left terrified, but, by and large, fully intending to return. Three, four, generations on, they are still refugees, and the consequences for neighbouring states like Lebanon has been nothing short of catastrophic.

Needless to say, the world has spun on its axis a zillion times since the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and the situation we, and the Jews and the Palestinians face is now unrecognisable to how it looked in 1948 when the state of Israel was founded.

(I am under orders from 'you know who' so I will return to this complex subject on my return later this afternoon.)

 

 

 

Shame, pure unadulterated shame!

The definition of 'shame' offered by the Meriam-Webster dictionary is: "a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety".  Yes, I think that about sums up my feelings which are brilliantly described by Peter Oborne in The Mail today.  He bases his column on the cringe-inducing embarrassment of the apology, finally squeezed out of HMG this week to the Libyan-born Mr. Abdel Hakim Belhaj and his wife.  It is only fair to point out that Mrs. May's government had no part in this despicable action which took place under the auspices of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his utterly spineless Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. 

They and their political/civil service hacks were the ones who, at the behest of George Bush, put pressure on the commanders of MI6 to assist in the kidnap and rendition of Mr. Belhaj and his then pregnant wife Fatima back into the brutal clutches of Col. Gaddafi in Libya where they underwent a regime of torture.  According to Mr. Oborne, three feeble and stupid men at the top of MI6 were mainly responsible for capitulating to Blair's pressure to ensure that Britain supported America in the Iraq war. 

John Scarlett, then chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, was leant on to produce a dossier making a fabricated case for war. And MI6 head Sir Richard Dearlove, despite having no hard evidence from Iraq about any 'weapons of mass destruction', acted as Blair's go-between with Washington, thus aiding and abetting Blair's march to war.

Separately, truly culpable was Sir Mark Allen, who was head of MI6 counter-terrorism at the time of the kidnapping of Libyan Abdul Hakim Belhaj and is said to have claimed credit for this 'coup', handing him over to Gaddafi's torturers.

I feel particularly aggrieved over all this because I swallowed the MI6 line that Iraq had nuclear weapons and I was fully supportive of the war policy.  The reason I swallowed it was simple, I had a great and trusting regard for the integrity of our intelligence service.  Mr. Oborne sums it up superbly:

Perhaps I am a romantic, seduced by the achievements of fictional spy George Smiley, but I want to be proud of an MI6 that upholds the traditional British values of decency, honour and fairness.
Indeed, Smiley's creator John Le Carre once noted: 'The only real measure of a nation's political health is the state of its intelligence services.'

If that is the case, then Britain is currently in a very bad way.

Apparently, Sir Mark Allen, the man mainly responsible for the ghastly treatment meted out to Mr. and Mrs. Belhaj, still struts his self-important stuff in various distinguished organisations and one wonders how long it will take them to recognise the stench that accompanies him.  Equally, perhaps Her Maj might have time after the wedding to consider removing his Knighthood!  As for Blair - 'bang him up'!

 

House Notice:  I'm off to spend the night with 'SoD' and yes, you're right, the word 'Brexit' has been forbidden!

 

One good cartoon is worth a thousand words!

I have been meaning to comment for some time on the poor quality of many of the political cartoons you see these days.  Peter Brookes at The Times is an example, badly drawn but worst of all unfunny!  However, over at the always excellent American Thinker site they have some first class cartoons at the top right of their opening page.  Here's today's effort which made me chuckle.

I'll be back later this afternoon.

 

Never mind Tehran, it was Brussels that Trump punched in the nose

Donald Trump is like a really cold shower, he presses the button and suddenly all sorts of people who should know better are soaked and shivering in the icy water spray.  Suddenly, all those puffed-up, pompous prats who inhabit the golden towers of Brussels have been reminded that their delusions of grandeur are just that - delusions!  The 'Donald' doesn't give a stuff for any of them.  Quite apart from the non-existent treaty with the Iranian thugs, liars and murderers who promptly used the inflow of US/EU cash to pay for their Revolutionary Guards to spread Shia domination, the Iranians spun the talks out for so long they now possess the wherewithal to produce atomic weaponry when they are good and ready.  After eight years of 'Obaman' day-dreaming and European arse-licking, Trump has injected a good dose of real-politik.  

Much was made of Trump's ungracious behaviour when he picked some dandruff off the shoulders of 'mini'-Macron's suit but what he really did, in effect, was box the little lad's ears and tell him to grow up!  Now, 'mini'-Macron, the even mini-er Merkel, Juncker, Oettinger and all the rest of the EU fanatics will have to concentrate what passes for their minds and decide whether they want to stay faithful to Hassan Rouhani (such a reliable friend!) or cling to Donald's skirts!  No doubt they will be aware that to all intents and purposes NATO is dead even if it is not buried, partly, of course, because none of the Europeans ever paid the going rate for it!  In the meantime, Russia under the leadership of a 'wannabe' Czar desperate to earn the title 'Vladimir the Great' continues to push and squeeze at the edges of western Europe to test the weakest spots.  So the EU pipsqueaks leaders need to think very carefully before they go against 'The Donald', an unpredictable man not necessarily given to deep thought before he acts!

 

Well done, Donald!

I am, of course, something of Middle East expert having, as I may have mention once or fifteen times before, spent a year living in a tent on the end of Runway #2 at Bahrein airport some 50 plus years ago!  Thus, I am well  qualified to give a big - even a 'yuuuuuuuge' - thumbs up to President Trump who had the good sense to totally ignore sundry European politicians - including Boris - and confirm American withdrawal from the daft Iranian treaty signed by his clueless, 'peacenik' predecessor.

Ever since it was signed Iran has spread its militaristic influence across the Middle East from Syria to the Yemen, with dire results for all concerned.  Hopefully, the President will follow up his move by imposing some serious sanctions on Iran - and anyone else who supports Iran!  I suspect that the current Iranian government will not exist for too long and their ultra-militant army will take over by force of arms.  The country is broke and the people are really beginning to hurt - so good luck with that one, all you Revolutionary Guards!  In the meantime, Mr. President, make sure you sell plenty of arms to Saudi Arabia - and just keep watching Israel!

Yes, yes, I know that all sounds like simplistic rubbish - because it is - but even so, the fact is that Obama's 'surrender' has allowed Iran to run amok and it is time they paid the price.

 

 

An even lazier day!

Yes, as I self-confessed, I was a bit lazy yesterday but today I am delighted to tell that I am even lazier!  If you are a Brit then you will completely understand - and sympathise! - because, of course, today is Summer!  As any Brit will tell you, usually at great length, our Summers only last a day then it's back to the grey, windy, drizzly rain!  But, today is Summer, with brilliant sunshine such that I actually stirred myself to go to the garage and rescue a reclining chair upon which I lowered my nearly naked body, to the excited consternation of my elderly lady neighbours - well, they deserve a treat from time to time.

Mind you, I deserve a bit of 'R&R' given my efforts to fight my way across the Middle East through atrocious and ferocious battles in order to reach the Holy Land and Jerusalem.  No, no, I haven't the scars to prove it because I did it all from my armchair - er, the best way to fight a war, actually! - as I read my way into The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge.  I'm only up to page 92 and already I think I deserve the Long Service and Good Conduct medal! 

Incidentally, there was a short pause after I launched my attack because the book, in paperback form, is nearly as thick as it is wide and long.  Holding it with my rheumatic fingers and withered arms takes some doing, and the font size is only just big enough for my tired, old eyes.  Anyway, with the sort of decisive action of which even Robert of Toulouse - read the book! -  would have approved, I decided to blow the expense and buy a Kindle version where you can set the font size you want - please, pretty please, don't rat me out to the Memsahib!

I am only at the beginning of the First Crusade but already my 'gob is well and truly smacked'!  Was there ever a dafter, more lunatic expedition than this?  A journey of thousands of miles, much of it through ultra hostile territory interspersed with battles of such ferocious cruelty that even reading about them nearly brings you to tears.  Not for the first time in my amateur studies of human history I find myself asking, "Why did they do that?"  However, in the case of the Crusades, why did they keep on and on and on doing it?  Of course, I can understand why the Popes and the Catholic church encouraged it but why ordinary men - and women - joined in I cannot comprehend.  It confirms my bleak view that the very essence of most people is virulent stupidity!

Anyway, I can't hang around here, the sun is still shining outside and I need to top up my tan!

 

Confused by Middle East affairs? Just watch what the Israelis do!

Do you find the Middle East confusing?  If so I can welcome you to a 'yuuuuuuge' but, alas, not very distinguished, or even exclusive, club which includes most, if not all, so-called Middle East 'experts'!  Understanding the innate convolutions of this region, of course, is not helped by the fact that virtually all of the main participants are 'born again' lying-liars of the first water!  In addition, many of them are actually, and technically, 'bonkers'!  To make matters worse, what I call the 'outside interferers' suffer with exactly the same mix of ignorance and confusion.

Even so, given the possible (probable?) horrors likely to erupt one of these days, it is important to at least try and understand what is happening and rather than holding up one of your wetted fingers and turning slowly in circles in an attempt to judge from which direction the wind is blowing, I suggest that you simply watch Israel!

If anyone has half an idea of what is going on it is the Israelis and given the fact that they are probably the most intelligent race on earth (which is not saying that much!), and also that they face instant and total eradication if they get it wrong, then my advice is watch what they do!  In particular, watch carefully in mid-May when 'The Donald' will make up what passes for his mind when he decides what to do with the US/Iranian (non)deal first stitched together by that master strategist-not, 'Obamarama'.  

That is when things will become, er, interesting!

 

ADDITIONAL:  For a brief summary of how well the Israelis arrange matters carefully, intelligently and with spot-on accuracy, do read this report from Zero Hedge.

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 15.4.18

Dammit, are those Aussies cheating again?   Well, I mean, they were caught out roughing up the ball in their last cricket match and I wouldn't put it past that Ricciardo fella' to sneak into (Sir) Lewis Hamilton's garage and carve up his tyres prior to the race!  Only kidding, mate, you won a good race and best of all you helped push that damned Hun further down the points which means that (Sir) Lewis is only 9 points off the lead - have a pint of Fosters on me!

 

Sorry for my lateness:   It was all the fault of the international F1 circus which, for reasons beyond my ken, they insist on staging all over the world instead of remaining in Europe.  Today it was in China and thus I was forced - forced, I tell you! - to remain in bed with my radio plugged into my ear to listen to the commentary.  The TV version, thanks to my ex-best friend, 'Rupe' (another bloody Aussie!), is not on until this afternoon.  

 

First the war then the war of words:  Well, actually, in terms of the body count it has been a skirmish in Syria rather than a war but even so this morning all the 'news' channels are full of talking heads simply re-ejaculating the opinions they had when this particular event kicked off.  In some cases, of course, it provided an opportunity for some people to honk 'n' hoot the opinions they have held since they were five years old, for example, J. Corbyn MP, who detests anything that his own country does whilst admiring the actions of tyrants who hate this country.

 

Nikki Sievwright (nee Ross ) R.I.P:   Once again I can only express my gratitude to the dear, old 'Speccie' which digs out these obscure but sometimes extraordinary stories.  This concerns Nikki Sievwright (nee Ross), a former fashion model who married a British army cavalry officer.  He was posted to Ulster and she followed him but, determined to do her bit, she volunteered for the female section of the Ulster Defence Regiment, known at the time as the 'Greenfinches'.  On one occasion she helped capture a terrorist at a checkpoint by finding his real passport hidden inside the knickers of the lady accompanying him!

 

Farewell Milos Forman R.I.P:   Oh dear, sorry to be so gloomy but I could not let the death of Milos Forman pass without mention.  He created two movies (amongst many others) which are up there in my Top Ten and, of course, as I never stop reminding you, there are 40+ films in my Top Ten!  However, Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are simply superb and unforgettable.

 

M***** M***** is banned!    I refer, of course, to the exceedingly attractive lady who has positioned herself on the arm of Prince Harry of England.  Not, I hasten to add, that I have anything against her, just the opposite, in fact, because if she showed the slightest interest in an elderly Brit gent of my vintage, I'd be 'in like Flynn'!  No, the problem is that she is absolutely dominating my daily paper of choice, The Mail, such that each morning I have to turn over at least six pages filled with her comings and goings before I reach any actual news!  Enough is enough, my life already!

 

Beyond belief #7,324,867:   Sometimes, well fairly often, actually, oh alright then, constantly, you come across stories that leave you shaking your head and muttering, "I don't believe it!"  For example, this story in The Mail telling us of a young Jewish man who had volunteered to work at the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam but who was told that he could not wear his 'yarmulke' skull cap in case it threatened "the neutrality of the foundation running the museum!"

 

It took the committee six months to decide that he could wear it after all.  File under: You couldn't make it up!

 

Is he 'Maggie' Macron?   Interesting piece in The Telegraph today spelling out the massive battle facing Pres. Macron in France as train drivers, airport staff, court officials et al, walk out in protest against his efforts to prise the grip of the unions off the French economy.  Bonne chance with that one, Mr. President, and what a pity 'that woman' is no longer with us to offer you some good advice.  Anyway, I wish him well because, despite it all, I like France and would prefer it to be prosperous rather than being slowly strangled to death by avaricious trade unions.

 

In which I was hit by a Shakespeare troll:   He had an absolutely cast iron theory on the identity of the man who really - you know, really and truly - wrote Shakespeare's sonnets - yeeeeeeees, quite, one of those!  Anyway, I replied politely but doubtfully and - natch! - almost by return I received an obscenity-loaded reply.  Such fun!

 

Some of those Holy Fathers have much to answer for!   You may have noticed that a short while back I was very enthusiastic for a book I purchased on the subject of the crusades but I haven't mentioned it since.  This was due to domestic 'bits 'n' pieces' interrupting the flow.  However, I'm back on it now and it is increasingly clear that Pope Urban II was "a very naughty boy" and has much to answer for, in fact, he's probably still answering!  In the great history of political-religious cons, this is one of the biggest and it is absolutely fascinating and illuminating on the nature of 'the Peeps' and just how stupid they can be!  So no change there, then!  "The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land" by Thomas Asbridge.

 

 No more rumbles today

 

 

The geo-political-grand-strategic thoughts of, er, Cpl. Duff, actually!

You may have noticed, although you may not because what the hell do you care what I think, that when it comes to the counter-attack on Syria/Russia, I have been somewhat elliptical.  I have been rather like that gal who 'wouldn't say yes and wouldn't say no'!  The reason for my reticence was mainly my ignorance - so no change there, then!  The fact is that I remain somewhat doubtful concerning the facts - "Jus' gimme the facts, Ma'am!" - as to what exactly happened in that suburb in Damascus and who, exactly, were the 'perps'?  I'm still not sure!

However, the counter-attack has happened and I am rather impressed.  It turns out that 'The Donald' can, on occasions, be rather subtle - not a word you normally associate with him.  However, he and his military, with a little help from their friends, devised a campaign of just about the right vigour and executed it faultlessly.  Above all, it avoided any 'Rooskies' which means that 'Vlad' and his loonies in the Kremlin have no immediate excuse to counter-attack.  And now we know for sure that they really are looney in Moscow!  Quite what is causing this mental breakdown, no-one seems to know.  Probably it is a combination of those bloody "events, dear boy, events".

The fact, known or suspected by many, is that Russia is an economic and military basket-case.  Amongst those who know it are 'Vlad' and his 'thug-ocracy' hence their eagerness to make trouble where-ever they can get away with it for minimal cost.  Even so, it must be admitted that the wretched, frozen dump is truly 'yuuuuuuuuuuge' and contains zillions of people who, in line with their peasant-like traditions practiced over the centuries simply do what they are told!  Hence, any military interaction with Russia needs to be handled with care and subtlety.

And that, amazingly, brings me back to 'The Donald'!  Only the history books will tell us, eventually, the interchanges and exchanges between the key players, Trump, Macron and May, but the fact is that between them they executed exactly the right action to express their disgust at the unlawful use of poison gas against civilians and they did it in the right timescale, neither leaping in too quickly or holding back too long.   Of course, and he would be the first to tell you in a stentorian bellow, it was President Trump who was in charge and so the praise for this spot-on, subtle counter-attack should be delivered to him.

WHODATHUNKIT?

 

 

Do I detect second, or even third, or maybe fourth thoughts on Syria?

Or perhaps, in the case of 'The Donald', it is first thoughts he is experiencing.  It is, of course, a relief to all of us that his, er, trigger finger is fully occupied on his twitter machine and not available for that 'yuuuuuuuge' red button on his desk!  If, as I suspect (hope?), this Syrian non-event blows over in a gale of hot air I will be much relieved.

Mind you, I would love to live long enough to read the history books detailing the inter-governmental machinations behind this entire farce or tragedy - you choose!  How on earth the snooty mandarins of Her Maj's Foreign Office cope with the explosions emanating from the White House I do not know because it is so far beyond their experience as to be an almost out-of-world event for them and their ultra smoothie existence.  I bet they're going through the smelling salts, or perhaps the extra large gin and tonics,  at a high rate of knots!

I sense that 'Mr. President' is leaning towards a slight change of course now that certain realities are being explained to him.  The fact that any softening of his belligerence will leave him looking like the dummy he undoubtedly is will not bother him in the slightest because self-perception is not his thing!  He is what he thinks he is!

The truth of what happened in Douma will not be known for a long time.  I must say that I am intrigued at the lack of photos of the bodies.  I know that under Muslim law they are disposed of very quickly but even so, all we have seen is films of children being doused in water as a supposed antidote to chemical agents.  Well, maybe . . . !  Anyway, I hope Mrs. May assisted by digging in her leopard-spot high heels and thus giving everyone concerned a chance to think!

 

Mrs May hesitates - again - and I don't blame her

First of all, welcome back to D&N now that Typepad have carried out their 50,000 mile service.  So far the 'old banger' seems to be motoring along quite nicely but 'we shall see what we shall see'!

Now, luckily for you, as the tensions rise over the Middle East imbroglio, you are able to take guidance from 'an old Middle East hand', er, that's me, actually!  Well, I did once spend a year living in a tent at the end of Runway #2 at Bahrein airport having been rushed out there by 'Her Maj' because some jumped-up Iraqi colonel had threatened to invade Kuwait but, of course, when he realised that I was, so to speak, 'on the block', then he rapidly changed his mind!

So, today we have more of the 'same-old-same-old' - different actors, of course, and a different plot line and with some added ramifications but it all sounds boringly similar.  The 'Trumpeter' is sounding off in his usually bellicose manner, and his new best friend, mini-Macron, is eager to join in.  Meanwhile Mrs. May hesitates, she is considering, she is weighing pros against cons, she is 'working the angles', or, of course, it could be that she is just 'frit'!  Well, if it is just 'frit' then she is absolutely right!

Ever since Suez in 1956, Britain has stumble-bummed its way into the Middle East with mostly disastrous results.  Not the least of the difficulties is working out who are your enemies and who are your friends.  Usually, it turns out that we do not have any friends at all!  Today, we have an added ingredient in the mix, a hostile nuclear-armed power with international reach run by a half-mad, ex-secret policeman with delusions of grandeur.  I'm not saying that given Putin's involvement with the despicable Assad that he shouldn't be punished but perhaps a better way would be to offer as much arms and ammunition to his opponents on the ground, even if, as is certain, they turn out to be just as bad as Assad.  If Putin is eager to strut his stuff around a war-torn dump like Syria then let him!

 Needless to say, the very best enemy of Assad is right next door - Israel!  Now that the utterly useless 'Obamarama' is fully occupied practicing his golf swing, now is the time for America to pitch in and help their armed forces in every way possible.  The growing signs of a 'hands across the desert' relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia is very welcome and needs to be encouraged.  So take your time, Mrs. May, and try holding Donald's hand again and giving it a stroke to calm him down before he pushes that 'yuuuuuuuge' red button on his desk!

 

 

Now, about those Crusades . . .

Regular readers will be aware of my fascination with history, not, I hasten to add, that I am in any way an expert on the subject but I simply cannot resist the temptation from time to time to dip into it here or there.  That is a bit like going to the seaside and dipping your toe in the Atlantic because you have an interest in oceanography!

Anyway, today I am reminded of yet another gaping hole in my historical knowledge which is the history of the Crusades.  Of all places to be reminded of that obscurity I did not expect it from The American Thinker which tends to be bang up to date and contemporary which it was in the first article I read by Mr. Rick Moran on the subject of the oldest catholic private school in America, the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.  This no doubt very fine establishment has as its mascot the figure of a crusader Knight.  However, the total PC drips who run it have decided to banish the poor old Knight because, you see, diddums, those naughty Knights did horrid things to Muslims and to Jews and probably to anyone else whom they didn't like the look of!

Unusually, this essay provoked a response from the Deputy Editor, Mr. Drew Belsky, who in a footnote pointed us to an article he had written back in 2015 which, whilst it admits that there was more than enough murder and misery produced by both sides there was a (sort of?) defence for the Christian, or to be precise, the Catholic, Crusades. In my ignorance, what can I do except to wave my white flag of neutrality and promise to try and find a sound history on this obscure subject.

 

MbS is THE man to watch

An excellent article at The American Thinker by Monica Showalter on the progress - and yes, it looks as though it really is 'progress' - of Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), the leader of Saudi Arabia, as he makes his way across the dangerous territory of American TV channels!  He faced up to some keen questioning on the 60 Minutes show and according to Ms. Showalter he did very well.  I will not attempt to précis her article but it is well worth reading - not least because it is rather heartening and hopeful. 

Chin meet chest, chest meet chin!

'Gobsmacked' is the only word that comes anywhere near my total 'shock 'n' awe' at the activities of 'MbS', er, that's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the royal leader of Saudi Arabia.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's one that sums it all up:

That is Prince 'MbS' sitting under a picture of Jesus Christ in the company of the Coptic Pope in St. Mark's Orthodox Coptic cathedral in Cairo!  That noise you just heard is your chin hitting your chest!

According to Mr. Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has extended an open invitation to Copts to visit Saudi where they will be treated as guests:

... the signal that they are to be treated as guests is vital. Arab culture places a tremendous emphasis on being a gracious host, and re-classifying Copts from the category of “infidels” worthy of scorn and persecution to welcome “guests” is powerful:

I can only hope, and perhaps pray to Allah, that the security detail protecting 'MbS' is of top quality because not satisfied with cuddling up to the Copts, he has agreed a joint deal with Egypt to build an entirely new, $10 billion city at the top of the Red Sea where Egypt, Israel, Jordon and Saudi Arabia's borders meet:

It is planned to be a free city or open city, where Saudis can live a fully modern 21st century life, freed of religious regulations that will be gradually relaxed elsewhere in the Kingdom. In addition, nationals from Jordan, Egypt and Israel can enter and work there in planned high technology investments. Its isolation from the rest of Saudi Arabia will allow it to be different, and to become a magnet for Saudis – males and females – who wish to be free of the shackles of pious Muslim life.

There are only two possible outcomes open to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.  Either he will become one of the greatest men in human history, or someone will shoot him!  Alas, I lack a God to pray to but he has my very best wishes for a long life!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 25.2.18

 

So, farewell then, Billy Graham, er, who were you?   His name is very familiar, of course, but 'over here' he never made that much of an impact.  The whole notion of free-lance preachers 'hoopin' 'n' hollerin' fur Jesus' was simply too, too American!  As far as I know, which isn't far, he was never involved in anything horrendous and if he became a tad too 'palsy-walsy' with sundry politicos and presidents, well, that's the American way.  Also, I do admire his intelligence in deciding decades ago never to allow himself to be alone with a woman not of his family - shrewd fella'!

 

Naughty 'Winnie'!   So apparently Winston Churchill was "a very naughty boy" after all!  In so far as I have ever thought about it - not much! - it has always struck me as slightly odd that 'Winnie' never seemed to put himself about a bit with the ladies.  Mind you, given that 99% of his life was immersed in politics, most of it of the highest seriousness, I suppose it's not that surprising.  However, today I learn that he did have a little fling with the rather elegant Lady Castlerosse.

It didn't last that long and it's slightly interesting that he indulged in his naughtiness in the early '30s when his political career was somewhat in the doldrums.  [But see additional below]

 

Pheeeeew, another "fine run thing":   I hardly slept last night because yesterday evening my Kindle started playing up.  Don't you just hate it when 'techie-thingies' go wrong, you know, like the lead breaking at the end of your pencil, that sort of thing?  But when they are really, really 'techie-thingies' I am distraught and helpless and, yes, you're right, hopeless, as well!  I know that if I don't get lucky after I have pressed every button on the 'techie-thingie' I will have no choice but to ring 'SoD' - yes, I know, I know, 'the horror, the horror'!  He, of course, will get all grumpy and shout down the 'phone that he told me how to do all that last time!  However, in proof that old Billy Graham was right after all when he assured us all that there is a God, Amazon sent me yet another advert for something or other but I noticed in the small print that there was a "Contact Us" button, so I clicked it more in desperation than hope.  Well, heavens to Betsy and all that sort of thing, I followed their suggestions and - lo, my Kindle is working again!  So, now I can look forward to pressing on with Richard Lamb's book "Churchill as War Leader".

 

Dumb or dumber?   I refer to the students of Oberlin High School in Oberlin, La, who, according to The Miami Herald, saw that one of their fellow pupils had written the symbol for a square root in his exercise book and they took it for a diagram of a

gun and called the police who then searched the student's home.  What can one say, except "Duh!"

 

'Me no go no where'!   Perhaps the least surprising news so far this year is that Mr. Xi Ping Pong, or whatever his name is, is determined to be 'Luler of the Universe' forever and ever, so help me Mao Tse Tung!

 

And no, he is definitely not waving goodbye, not for at least another 25 years.  To know him is to love him and you better believe him when he says he has ways of making you love him!  And to think that I once had slight hopes for his leadership of China, ah well, no fool like an old fool!

 

Happy anniversary, Matt:   The very best cartoonist of them all, 'Matt' from The Daily Telegraph, is celebrating 30 years of 'chuckle production' at the newspaper.  The main thing about his cartoons is that they are deadly accurate but above all, funny!  Here is a prime example from the days when, God help us, 'Cleggy' was deputy prime minister.

 

 

Gillard's gone and Australia regains its common-sense:   Julia Gillard, of course, was the incomprehensible PM of Australia, a defect  which, in a way, was a relief because it meant that grumpy old Brits like me couldn't understand most of the balderdash she used to spout.  Amongst it, I now learn, was a decision to cut all contacts between Australia and the Israeli intelligence services.  Apparently, they had been "very naughty boys and girls" and used fake Australian passports in a plan to bump off a Hamas thug.  Happily, sanity has returned to the Aussie government who have publicly thanked and praised the Israelis for an intelligence tip-off last year that saved hundreds of lives in a foiled plot to bring down an Airbus A380 due to take off from Sydney.  Aussie/Israeli relationships are back in the groove.  Hat tip to The American Thinker.

 

No, no, 'Winnie' was a proper gent!   The story up above which I lifted from the 'Sunday prints' has been roundly slapped down by Andrew Roberts who has been engaged for the last four years in writing a biography - another one?! - of the great man.  You can read it at The Coffee House.

 

I must be a masochist:   Why do I do it?  It was only a few weeks ago that I finished a book detailing the utterly disastrous and unbelievably stupid campaigns, in Gallipoli and then later in Norway, rammed through by the late, not-quite-so-great, Winston Churchill.  Now I am reading something of the shambles he organised in France on the outbreak of war, and in the Med whilst trying to deal with the French fleet.  Yes, I kind of knew about it but not in so much detail.  When I become PM I may have to dig him up and have him shot for gross incompetence! 

 

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

In which Cpl. Duff politely, very politely, disagrees with Col. Tim Collins

Col. Tim Collins, former commander of the Royal Irish Regiment, needs no introduction from me.  He was the man who made the memorable, and impromptu, speech to his troops in 2003 prior to the invasion of Iraq.  I attach a copy of it at the end of this post.  However, after, of course, requesting 'permission to speak, Sir', I must express my doubts over his views that the 1917 battle of Passchendaele was a victory.  It was necessary because it helped to take some of the pressure off the beleaguered French.  Also, it inflicted gross casualties on the Germans, just as it did on us, but they could ill afford the losses where-as we could at least take some comfort from the imminent arrival of American troops.

As I have often repeated on this topic, the essential problem in WWI was how to get an infantryman across 300 yards of open ground against fast-firing artillery and machine guns firing at the rate of 600 rounds a minute?  There never was any solution to this conundrum - until the tank was invented.  Alas, this came too late and the technology was above the competence of the day.  Also, there was no time to work out sensible tank/infantry tactics.

I understand, and sympathise, with Col. Collins' irritation with what he calls the "Blackadder" view of the war but, exaggerated though it be, there is much truth in it.  By and large our commanding Generals were useless, as was most of our political leadership.  The constant drive to attack, attack again, and then attack some more, was unthinking stupidity of the highest order.  The plainly obvious indications were that in early 20th century warfare, all the advantages were with the defence, not the attack.  Had we adopted that approach and concentrated our efforts on increasing the strength of the navy so that our embargo grip on the throat of the Germans was even fiercer, the war might have ended earlier and with much lower allied casualties.  The 'Just Crack On' school of military (non)thought survives to this day, as we saw in Afghanistan.

Here is Col. Collins' impromptu speech to his troops in 2003 which is a fascinating read although I suspect that parts of it might have made some of his troops gulp!

"We go to liberate, not to conquer.

We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own.

Show respect for them.

There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly.

Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send.

As for the others, I expect you to rock their world.

Wipe them out if that is what they choose.

But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory.

Iraq is steeped in history.

It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham.

Tread lightly there.

You will see things that no man could pay to see

- and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis.

You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing.

Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country.

Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you.

If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day.

Allow them dignity in death.

Bury them properly and mark their graves.

It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive.

But there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign.

We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back.

There will be no time for sorrow.

The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction.

There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam.

He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done.

As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity.

It is a big step to take another human life.

It is not to be done lightly.

I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts.

I can assure you they live with the mark of Cain upon them.

If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family.

The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please.

If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer.

You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest - for your deeds will follow you down through history.

We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our nation.

It is not a question of if, it's a question of when.

We know he has already devolved the decision to lower commanders, and that means he has already taken the decision himself.

If we survive the first strike we will survive the attack.

As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there.

Our business now is North.

 

This one could run and run, my life already!

There's nothing quite like a really rich, stinky-poo, political/legal brouhaha, provided, of course, it is somewhere far from home.  Now, as y'all do know, there is no keener (if not strictly kosher) supporter of the state of Israel than me.  However, I have never quite warmed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - not, of course, that it is necessary to 'lurve' political leaders - and it is true that I silently cheered him on when that ineffably dim-witted prig, Obama, tried to come on all superior.  There is, I suppose, only one key measure of an Israeli prime minister and that is whether or not he leaves his embattled nation more or less secure than when he took office.  I would judge, from this distance and looking "through a glass darkly", that he has been successful.

However, it appears that in other areas he may have been "a very naughty boy" and the Israeli police have urged that criminal proceedings should be taken against him.  The final decision will rest with a man who possesses the  most Jewish name since Shylock, the Attorney General, Mr. Avichai Mandelblit, who was hand-picked for his legal job by, er, well, Mr. Netanyahu, actually!

"Oi vey, my life already!", I can hear him muttering!  This is the stuff of a truly great play, and if only God had seen fit to make me a great writer, as well as a great director and actor - and I heard that! - I would dearly love to write it.  But of course, the final act has yet to play - watch this space!

 

Feeling cheerful? I'll soon put a stop to that!

I was looking at a map of the Middle East this morning.  Not a pretty sight!  

I was prompted to it by an article over at The Coffee House by Mr. Seth J. Frantzman (no, me neither!) who informs us that President Trump is not alone in his ridiculous tweeting habit.  Apparently, that thug, Recep Erdogan, who runs Turkey these days, has taken exceptional displeasure at a tweet by the Foreign Minister of the U.A.E., a certain Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed.  Here's a photo of these two, er, 'lovelies' taken in happier, non-tweeting days! 

 

Alas, young Abdullah forgot his diplomatic niceties and recently tweeted to the effect that Turkey had committed a war crime in 1916 - shockin'! shockin'! - and the Turks were not amused!  The Mayor of Ankara threatened to rename the street in which the U.A.E. embassy is situated after some Turkish military commander from the Ottoman era.

 

Of course, this diplomatic hissy-fit is merely part of a gradual re-alignment of powers in the Middle East which, quite apart from national egotisms is further bedevilled by fundamental - and I do mean fundamental! - religious differences.  As I have mentioned before, my knowledge of the Middle East is limited to the end of runway #2 at Bahrein airport where I lived in a tent for nearly a year in the early '60s with occasional forays across to what was then called the Trucial Oman states to 'play at soldiers'.  Needless to say, like so many Englishmen before and since, I instantly turned into a desert-lover!

 

I assume that buried somewhere in the Foreign Office there are some Middle East swots who actually have a detailed knowledge of affairs in that perpetually blood-soaked region.  Mind you, as you can see from my map, it is a colossal area and apart from the actual delineated nations, there are swarms of sub-groups most of whom, these days, are exceedingly well-armed as well as ferocious.  My advice, as 'an old Middle East hand', is just keep the hell out of it - but be nice to the ones with oil!

 

 

A question to which I have no answer

Why are you not surprised?  Is my abysmal ignorance on so many matters a bit of a give away?  Ah well, your favourite oracle must remain silent on the latest example of rampant Trumpism in which he has let it be known that he intends to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to put American tax dollars where his mouth is by building a new embassy in that city.  Thus, the question arises, in the words of those great historians, Sellars & Yeatman, is this "A Good Thing" or "A Bad Thing"?  No more than three volumes are permitted by way of answers!

Frankly, I'm not sure.  In a virulently anti-Trump blog I grace with my presence from time to time, they say "Even Russia, along with Palestine, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Morocco, Kuwait, and Iraq, opposed Trump's decision".  Well, I'm tempted to say that if that bunch of corrupt, murderous rascals are against it, then I am tempted to be for it.  Another complaint is that somehow, in some way, the, er, "peace process" will be disrupted, to which one can only reply, "What peace process?"  

I leave it to my wise readers to tell me what to think! 

 

 

I say, it's gone awfully quiet . . .

I had nothing to say yesterday - waddya mean ya never noticed?  Not because I was overly busy, or because my computer-thingie was broken - although it is playing up a bit and, of course, my IT manager is away in Czechia trying to drink the place dry, but the fact is that there is not much happening in the world.  'Fat Boy Kim' has gone very quiet possibly because, at last, he is feeling the 'yuuuuuuge' weight of China pressing on him.  I keep picking up the odd item here and there in the media to the effect that China has stopped this, that or the other in its dealings with North Korea and so perhaps 'Fat Boy' has realised which side his noodles are buttered, er, if you catch my meaning!

The other news, or to be precise, lack of news is that emanating from 'The Trumpeter'.  I can't remember the last 'tweet' of his to reach the headlines.  Happily for him, or at least his PR people, the rabble of media 'honkers 'n' hooters' are totally focused on Hollywood and/or - and this is incredible - themselves!  'Hoonoo' that so many of those famous TV faces with their serious demeanour, smart suits and coiffed hair-styles whose words we depend upon for an analysis of current affairs were actually raving, drunken sex maniacs?  And then, of course, there are those peculiar, slimy and very smelly fish that swim in the foul waters of Washington and who have been exposed as suffering with terminal greed.

I look further abroad for signs of trouble  but even the Middle East seems to be in a catatonic state of shock after that young 'A-hab the A-rab' tipped the hitherto solidified state of Saudi Arabia on its head.  Oh, I'm sure there are many things going on below the surface but no-one seems to have a clue as to what they are let alone what the results will be.  Likewise, Europe is like a badly designed automaton whose clock is running down but still continues trudging round in circles because its German mechanic is otherwise occupied.

So, it's all very peaceful - which is ominous!  Still, at least it has (temporarily!) stopped me from droning on and on and on.   

 

The Sunday Rumble: 19.11.17

Brace up!   Yes, I do realise that, like me, you have just stumbled out of bed and swallowed your toast as you shuffled round your kitchen in your 'jimjams' with a mug of tea clutched in your hand - oh, alright then, coffee, if you are American - and having slumped down before your computer, the very last thing you want to look at is this photograph, but 'Man Up!', you don't come to D&N for a good time, er, in fact, I'm not sure why anyone comes to this blog at all but that, perhaps, is a question for another day, in the meantime cast your eyes on this delicious photo:

Warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it?  Sublime young love!

Now, for goodness sake, mop up the tea/coffee from your keyboard!

 

Zimbabwe: Out of the frying pan into the ovens!   So, that nasty mass-murderer and thief, Robert Mugabe, has, well, not so much been overthrown as politely shown the door.  And on the streets the mugs the people are celebrating which is a bit odd given that the man who is taking over is - wait for it! - another mass murderer and thief, Emerson Mnangagwa, who made his name (if you can call it that) by overseeing the slaughter of tens of thousands of Ndebeles in Matabeleland.  Well, good luck with that one, Zimbabwe!

 

"This most Marie Antoinettish of monarchs-in-waiting":   Ouch!  Now, if I was Prince Charles ("Which thank the Lord I'm not, sir!"), I might burst into tears at that cruel - but spot-on accurate - jest.  Thank heavens that Julie Burchill is unlikely ever to write anything about me!

Prince Charles wearing traditional Saudi uniform (image: Getty)

Alas, poor Charles, being an archetypal "straight-backed chinless wonder" (© John Osborne from Look Back in Anger) has earned a lashing from Ms. Burchill because one of his early letters has come to light in which he displays some vintage, one might almost say, 'rotting', anti-Semitism.  I will not attempt to paraphrase darling Julie - I wouldn't dare! - but do read her piece, it is the equivalent of one of those lashings that our Arab friends enjoy so much.

 

Pure, undiluted acid - delicious!   I just 'lurve' The National Review.  Normally it provides a serious commentary, mostly on American politics, but occasionally, perhaps provoked by the stinking swamp, they lose their 'cool' and just let rip!  Today, Mr. Kevin D. Williamson has had his muzzle removed and been let off the leash.  Alas, whilst he obviously has a deep and abiding detestation of Mr. Steven Mnuchin, who is Trump's Treasury Secretary, Mr. Williamson forgets his gentlemanly manners and stomps all over Ms. Louise Linton, Mr. Mnuchin's third wife who, whatever else she is, is gorgeous!

 As The Sun (We love it!) put it, it obviously shows that Mr. Mnuchin has a good eye for figures!  Anyway, I will leave you to check the link and enjoy Mr. Williamson's obliteration of the lady but as a taster, this is what he thinks of Mr. Mnuchin:

Mnuchin, formerly of Goldman Sachs, is pure Wall Street malignity in concentrated form, a guy who looks like he was born wearing a blue suit and braces. And that, in itself, is okay: A little Scrooge McDuck–style sphincter-clenching is kind of what you want in a Treasury secretary. But Mnuchin is not satisfied to be a pure example of one kind of awful: He has to adulterate his Wall Street awfulness with Hollywood awfulness. You’ll see his name in the credits of a few big-budget movies (including the recent Wonder Woman film and The LEGO Movie) and on a bunch of campaign-donation checks written to Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Kerry, Al Gore, Kamala Harris, and other erstwhile friends of Wall Street. But movies are where his heart is.

Crikey!

 

Better watch out, the US Navy is about!   In view of the multiple collisions involving ships of the 7th Fleet - there have been five so far this year! - it is being proposed that all US ships must have a rowing boat in front of them carrying a sailor with a loud hailer!  According to Mr. Rick Moran at The American Thinker, the reason for this spate of collisions is not at all clear but I have a sneaking suspicion that our favourite American ex-matelot from deepest Arkansas may be a conduit for some of Barney Magroo's hooch produced 'up in them thar hills'.  Only a suspicion, mind!

 

 

No more Rumbles today

 

Feeling cheerful? I'll soon put a stop to that!

Well, actually, it's not me, it's the editorial in this week's 'Speccie' that will bring on the 'glums'.  Referring to the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular it would appear that we, that is, the West, 'huffed and puffed and blew the house down' but alas, now we realise that we have neither the means nor the energy and certainly no will-power to build it back up.  Thus, whilst the ISIS gang have been forced, well, actually it now appears that they were bribed, to depart from their last strongholds, it also appears that Baghdad and Tehran are all set to form a Shi'ite alliance.

As the 'Speccie' reminds us, it was precisely this threat of Shi'ite dominance that kicked off the Sunni revolt in the first place.  Apparently, in the course of the, er, 'campaign', the Americans had dropped so many bombs that they were actually running short of ammo! Today, of course, the Americans are facing up to the prospect of a truly serious war, perhaps even nuclear serious, with 'Fat Boy Kim and they need Middle East distractions like a hole in the head.  As for our puny  British efforts, following the last gasp exertion of the Iraq war, it is plain for everyone to see that Britain is no longer a serious military power.  In that 'collapse of stout party' scenario lies the ingredients for a 'Good News/ Bad News' discussion, however, the fact is that the inexorable decline of British military power has been on-going since, well, we can all argue about the exact date but certainly for very many decades.  If our 'in-glorious leaders' could accept the fact and come to terms with it we might save some face and, more important, some money and blood.

 

Taxation - Arabian style!

So it was just the money he was after!  Why am I not surprised?  I refer, of course, to Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), the new, young, dead good-looking, ruthless ruler of Saudi Arabia.  Having shocked the world by seizing and locking up in a luxoury hotel dozens of the richest men in Arabia, which means some of the richest men in the world, I wondered what he was going to do with them?  I suspected - hoped? - that perhaps there would be a parade to a nearby scaffold where various limbs and appendages would be chopped off, er, after removing the gold rings and the Rolex watches first, of course.  But no, according to Zero Hedge, it was just a good, old-fashioned robbery, or putting it more politely, a tax demand, er, with menaces!  Again, according to Zero Hedge, the takings - I use the word advisedly - could amount to $800 billion.  Crikey, with a budget due next week, I hope old 'Phil 'the Pill' Hammond and his pen-pushers in the Inland Revenue don't get any ideas like that!

 

A delicious Saudi stew

Well, I call it 'delicious' but I suppose it depends whether you are chewing it, or it is chewing you!  In the wee small hours of last night I was listening to the estimable Stephen Sackur who conducts many of the interviews in the HARDtalk series on the World Service of the BBC.  Mr. Sackur is worth listening to because, whilst he always remains polite, he is also exceedingly persistent in pursuing answers to his questions.  Last night he was interviewing Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and political exile currently residing in London.  If this link works you may be able to hear it:

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csvps8

As I have remarked recently, the revolution - and I use the word deliberately - that has taken place in Saudi Arabia is truly jaw-dropping, and as far as I know, it came out of what appeared to be an empty desert without any warning!  The 'perp', so to speak, is Crown Prince Mohammad bin Saud, usually referred to as 'MbS'.  I have always thought of the ruling class in Saudi as a gerontocracy but 'MbS' is a mere stripling of 32.

With incredible daring (and possibly some humour!), 'MbS' has locked up scores of the richest and most powerful men in Saudi Arabia inside the most luxurious hotel in Riyadh.  Apparently they may face charges of corruption - surely not!  Or, of course, some of them might be released eventually with the help of a generous/eye-watering contribution to certain coffers not a million miles from MbS himself!  Who knows?

Apparently claims are being made that 'MbS' is determined to bring down the religious autocracy which has gripped Saudi Arabia since - well - since forever, I guess.  Of course, and here the irony is delicious, he will do so by autocratic means!  Perhaps his policy is best summed up in that famous line from 'Teahouse of the August Moon' which depicted, post WWII, American efforts to teach the Japanese democracy: "They're gonna learn democracy if I have to shoot every one of them."  Like all revolutionaries, 'MbS' is shrewd enough to conjure up a threatening foreign foe and given the religious differences between Shia and Sunni then Iran is the perfect choice.

Please, dear reader, do not groan too loudly when I describe the forthcoming adventures of 'MbS' as truly Shakespearean! 

 

Sometimes I just yearn for the Cold War

Well, life was so much easier then!  The 'Rooskies' were bad, the Yanks (and little us) were good and everyone else had to choose sides.  But that was then, and today is, well, to quote a favourite expression of this blog, "a bugger's muddle" and no-one is quite sure of anyone or anything.  For example, take the Middle East in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular.  Now, if ever a society seemed set in orthodox, religious and conservative concrete it was Saudi but, as we are just learning, that was then and now is, well, I'm not sure what it is!  However, I am deeply grateful to Mr. John R. Bradley, a tremendous Saudi Arabian swot - poor chap! - who has written a fascinating article in this week's Spectator.

Apparently the iconoclast responsible for shifting the Arabian earth on its axis is Mohammad bin Salman (MbS), the 32-year old crown prince.  Amongst his, er, accomplishments is allowing women to drive and permitting men and women to mix socially after sacking the entire religious police who were responsible for enforcing those restrictions.  In addition, and more dangerously, he swooped on the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh which, hitherto, had been the luxurious base for all the mega-zillionaires of Saudi Arabia in which they conducted their nefarious transactions.  Apparently, MbS, had his security forces surround the place, turf out any foreign visitors but lock and seal all the entrance/exits so that now the Ritz-Carlton is the most luxurious prison in the world!

Perhaps most critical of all his actions has been his decision to ally himself, discreetly but effectively with Israel to form an anti-Iranian pact.  Apparently he has been helped and/or encouraged in this by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law.  Say what you like about 'The Donald' but he seems to have a clearer idea of Middle East possibilities than 'Obamarama'!

 

 

 

Pretty 'stoopid', Priti!

What is it with these politicians, of which Ms. Priti Patel now stands - just! - as a typical example of brainless stupidity?  Did she really think that old 'Bruiser' Boris would allow her to go tramping all over his patch?  And what did she think she would achieve with all those rich, tough, Israeli practitioners of truly real-politik?  Their entire lives have been spent ducking and diving, and when necessary, fighting and killing to keep the state of Israel in being.  Did she really believe that a graduate of economics from Keele 'university' would be able to play them along?

And what impeccable timing - not!  Just as Mrs. May is desperate to demonstrate that she's the boss, Ms 'Pathetic' Patel offers herself up as a candidate for execution.  They don't actually go in for chopping off heads these days which, in some ways is a pity, because Ms. Patel wouldn't miss hers given that there appears to be nothing in it!

 

 

'Is this a missile which I see before me?'

I was intending to write something useful and informative on the history of the Balfour Declaration - well, a man may hope, may he not?  At least, given my self-declared ignorance of the subject, it would have been brief!  Of course, in my usual thieving way I would have helped myself to most of an article at The American Thinker by Michael Curtis who seems to know where-of he writes - and I do urge you all to give it a read.  At the delicious centre of this extra-ordinary act by Lord Balfour, aided and abetted by that Welsh wizard, Lloyd George, was a nice mixture of altruism allied with self-interest.  I learned one thing that amazed me and that was the friendly agreement signed up to by both Chaim Weizmann and Emir Faisal ibn Hussein, soon to be king of Syria and then Iraq, which encouraged the establishment of a home for the Jews with the rights of all to be safeguarded.  Alas, that didn't last long!

So here we are today, virtually a hundred years on, and a great deal of blood has flowed under the bridge!  Today we read that the Israeli Air Force is conducting joint aerial war exercises with nine other countries.  Meanwhile, that bastion of conservative Arab solidarity, Saudi Arabia, is roiled in an internal conflict in which some of the most powerful - and richest - of their citizens have been arrested.  At the same time, it is reported that a ballistic missile was intercepted on its way to Riyadh which, according to Saudi sources, originated from Iran.

It seems to me that there are two questions to be asked and you will not be surprised that I am unable to answer either of them!  First, in the language of those master historians, Sellars & Yeatman, was the Balfour Declaration "A Good Thing" or "A Bad Thing"?  Secondly, what the hell is going on in Saudi Arabia?  Answers on a postcard, please!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 5.11.17

I may have to go back to bed:   Crikey!  I shuffled up here to my eyrie in my jim-jams, opened my computer-thingie only to be immediately immersed in American history - and my cup of tea is now cold!  I then, so to speak, hesitantly stuck a finger into the 20th 21st century by attempting to accept a Kindle loan book from the generous TBH but that didn't work - why am I not surprised?!  Apparently they do not permit inter-national book lending but there again, 'whoonoo' you could even lend Kindle books? Well, Big Henry did but he's a real swot.  Then I took a degree course in American history by reading all your comments to the post below and the result is that I need another quick nap!  Alas, SWMBO has other ideas but rest assured "I shall return"!

 

There is a God:   Just as I finished putting on my winter woollies ready to go out in the garden - it began to rain!  What can one say except, "Oh dear, what a pity, never mind!"

 

Sand storms in Saudi Arabia:   What the hell is going on in Saudi?  Zero Hedge provides the nuts and bolts but putting them together to form a coherent structure is beyond me.  From my distant and woefully ignorant view, Saudi has always seemed to be set in concrete but suddenly the behemoth has started to move.  Quite where it is going no-one seems to know.

 

Bugger! Now the sun's shining!   Bloody English weather  . . . back later.

 

Sorry to ruin your lunch:   But now it begins!  At long last Clinton inc. faces exposure.  The FBI have now released hundreds of internal documents relating to their, er, 'investigation - both of them! - into 'Hillbilly's habit of sending classified information via her totally insecure private e-mail device.

Former FBI Director Comey let her off twice saying, in effect, nothing to see here, move along!  Of course, that was prior to the election in which it was supposed that she would sweep to power but, golly-gosh and whodathunkit, she lost!  Now the GOP-controlled Senate Judicial Committee will really-really try not to dribble over these papers as they work out what to do with her. "Let me count the ways"!

 

More "Grant" reviews:   Over at The National Review, one of my favourite American political sites, George Will reviews Ron Chernow's bio of Ulysses S. Grant.  He favours it immensely, not just for its fair assessment but also for its 'readability' which, he suggests (and he's a very naughty boy!) is lacking in much of contemporary American history writing.

 

Who needs Guy Fawkes?   These days the Tories are proving more than capable of wrecking the House of Commons all on their own without the need for barrels of gunpowder.  I suspect, nay, I fear that the 'Corbynistas'  are poised to dance triumphantly on the ruins as they get their chance to ruin the entire country.  Cheers and make mine a large one!

 

Anyone want a headache?   If so then I can oblige in three words: The Balfour Declaration.  On this anniversary there have been various articles on the subject both for and against and the only characteristic they share is that they all give me a headache!  However, as you all do know, I am the giving-sharing type and so I invite you to discuss the pros and cons in the commentary, er, but don't look for any guidance from me - I haven't a clue!

 

What goes around comes around #7386:  I am obliged to the snappin', snarlin' curmudgeon who runs I Hate The Media which I read daily.  Today he offers this:

 

In case you missed it:   Well I did but happily Peter Hitchens featured it on his blog.  A live debate on the pros and cons of the Russian revolution between him and the increasingly fatuous George Galloway who, needless to say, declined to wear a poppy.  Worth a watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Z3D8S4Qqo&feature=youtu.be

 

 No more Rumbles today

 

 

When he's right, he's spot on!

I refer to that 'ginger ninja', that bellowing bully boy, that honker 'n' hooter, Donald Trump, aka, incredibly, as the President of the United States.  I have, by and large, refrained from commenting on his presidency thus far because I have no idea where he's coming from, let alone where he wants to go!  I simply tighten my seat belt and close my eyes.

Even so, some things  stand out with clarity and deserve a roar of approval, such as his recent decision to dump the corrupt, useless and virulently anti-Semitic UNESCO organisation.  Stephen Daisley spells out the reasons in an excellent article at The Coffee House.  Personally, I wish 'The Donald' had carried out his threat to walk out of the entire UN farrago altogether.  All it does, as far as I can tell, is to provide a veneer of respectability to sundry crooks, robbers, mass murderers, fanatics and anyone who wishes ill on us in the west - and we pay for it.  Well, as the late, great W. C. Fields once said, "Never give a sucker an even break!"

ADDITIONAL:   No sooner had I written the above when I read an article by the combined editors of the National Review(NR) whose collective views I take seriously because they really are independent thinkers and know where-of they speak.  I never could understand Obama's policy towards Iran, especially the 'deal' that allegedly tied the nuclear hands of that lunatic government.  The mere fact that Obama and his media chorus praised it so highly was enough to raise my doubts.  Equally, Trump's decision to dump it down the toilet has produced squeals of concern from the usual suspects.  

In effect, the NR view is that it was a long-overdue action but much will depend on how it is executed:

Trump’s speech, appropriately, addressed much more than the nuclear deal. In frank terms, he made the case against the terroristic theocracy in Tehran and described its threat to the U.S. and the region. He sketched in outline a strategy to pressure the regime on all fronts, especially focusing on the nefarious role of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. All of this was to the good, although much will depend on execution; the administration doesn’t yet have a strategy to check Iran’s growing clout in Syria, and we must remember that the regime has the ability to hit back against us, both in Syria and in Iraq.

Go to it, Mr. President, but watch those foreign policy wonks like a hawk!

 

 

Sometimes burying your head in the sand is sensible

For some time now I have been aware of ominous signs - and please note the plural form. Each taken singularly would produce my usual shrug of the shoulders and a muttered, "What will be, will be".  After all, I have lived through sundry disasters which, whilst being a bloody nuisance at the time, eventually sank into the past and life went on.  Also, I must confess that being elderly and therefore lacking that natural swagger the young enjoy it may just be that I am feeling my frailty.  Even so, and allowing for the tricks that memory plays especially when you have decades of the damned things to remember, it seems to me that Shakespeare's line was exceedingly apt, "When troubles come, they come not single spies but in battalions".  Or to put it another way, for most of my life it was just one damn thing after another but today we might get the lot in one big hit!

Today I fear there is a gathering of various "troubles" any one of which could be disastrous but if they arrive all together the result could be cataclysmic.  The leader in this week's Spectator confirms my worst fears.  It seems obvious even to an economic illiterate like me that this government simply lacks the guts and even the knowledge to face up to the advancing financial tsunami.  I was no fan of George Osborne as Chancellor but he did make an effort to cut the eye-watering over-spend of his government with the eventual aim of reducing government borrowing.  He never achieved it but, dammit, he tried.  Today, it seems to me that they are making no efforts at all and because many of the big nations are in a similar fix then sooner or later, I suspect sooner, this gigantic 'Ponzi scheme' will collapse under its own weight of borrowing and wreak havoc.

Then there is America!  Since WWII it has been a bulwark in world affairs.  It's power might not always have been exercised wisely but by and large it was on the side of the angels and stood up to the powers of absolute evil.  But that was enabled because it had a functioning government.  Today, under Trump, the government of the USA is 'walking wounded' and, alas, many (but not all) of the wounds are self-inflicted.  Over at the NRO, 'The Kraut', with his usual wisdom, seeks to comfort us by suggesting that whilst Trump is a self-inflicted stress test, the fundamentals of the American constitution are, just, holding up under the strain.  I hope he's right but it seems to me from 'over here' that America is in turmoil and there is still nearly four years of it to go.  Not, I hasten to add, that 'the madness of King Trump' is the sole cause.  The Democrat party and their lickspittles in the media have, if possible, gone even madder!  Where will it end?  I don't know but I fear for America.

Needless to say, a divided and distracted America leaves the global playing field wide open to those nations eager to rule over it.  Increasingly China flexes its not inconsiderable muscles, followed by all the 'wannabe' bully boys like Russia, North Korea and Iran.  And yes, you're right, 'it's being so cheerful as keeps me so young!'  In the meantime, I must just finish digging that hole in the sand ready for my head!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 9.7.17

Sometimes there are simply no words:   The media are reporting on an incident involving a Muslim woman, presumably a mother, carrying a small child in one arm - and a bomb in the other - which she detonated.  Beyond belief!

 

Can't wait to read this one:   Via the good - nay, excellent! - offices of Arts & Letters Daily, I have come across an article by Arnold Kling (no, me neither) at the National Affairs site.  The heading reads: How Effective Is Economic Theory?  Good question, can't wait to read the answer!

 

Oh God! Another week of plink-plonk:   Yes, it's the Wimbledon season again and, my God, tennis is a total bore!  And it's so slow!  There has been talk of speeding things up a bit by, for example, only letting them bounce the ball twice instead of 23 times, making it a one shot serve not two, or doing away with net calls.  I would insist that they go back to "the good old days" and do away with all those chairs and umbrellas these 'athletes' laze about on between games. Either let them stand for a minute or better still just make them change ends and get on with it!  Oh, and topless tennis for the ladies - natch!

 

Nor am I that keen on all those 'rugger-buggers':   Alas, even after 78 years I still haven't got the hang of rugby.  I became mildly interested in the All Blacks vs. the Lions but, alas, I couldn't watch it because my ex-best friend, 'Rupe', had snaffled it onto his eye-wateringly expensive TV channel.  Thus, I had to listen to the radio commentary provided by TalkSport but it might just as well have been in Mandarin because I couldn't understand a word of what they were describing.  Just one bunch of testosteronic hearties bashing into another bunch - such fun!

 

Should she go or should she stay?   That is the question facing Mrs. May and her Conservative party.  Instinctively, one feels that after such a monumental balls up, she should go and go quickly.  However, that would free up the Tory party to indulge in extremes of stupidity as they all fight like cats in a sack to produce a new leader.  That, of course, would play right into the hands of 'Jezza' and his Comintern - please note that I have not placed inverted commas round the word Comintern because that is exactly what the leadership of the 'Labour' party has become!

 

A proper pukka gent of the first order:   I give you, Major Nana Kofi Twumasi-Ankrah of the Household Cavalry who has just been appointed as an equerry to 'Her Maj'!

 

According to The Telegraph, he moved here from Ghana with his family in 1982 and attended Queen Mary University and then the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.  Even if only armed with a furled umbrella, I think I would rather have him on my side than in opposition.  Well done, Major!

 

AN ABSOLUTE DEFINITE MUST WATCH TONIGHT:   This is another of the 48-odd films which are in my Top Ten!  It stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney and if that makes you think it's another light as a feather comedy not worth ten minutes of your time - then think again!  It's called 'Gravity' and it is absolutely terrific.  It's on ITV2 at 7.00pm.  Set your recorders - that's an order!

 

A Shropshire lad? Well, maybe!   Good old 'Arts & Letters Daily' does it again!  This time they have nudged me into memories of A. E. Housman and his curious collection of poems known as "A Shropshire Lad".  I still remember my instant attraction to them as a young schoolboy so I was delighted to follow their link to an excellent article in The New Yorker which attempts to get to grips with this strange, prickly scholar whose poems  have become synonymous with 'Englishness' even if he hardly ever set foot in Shropshire!  Well worth a read - and then give the poems a try as well!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

The real war

This post continues from the last in which I urged caution in exactly how we re-act to Islamic terrorism on our shores.  I start on the basis that it is always necessary to treat governments with suspicion - especially one's own!  As our current election has shown, and as the last American one confirmed, our politicians are not very bright.  Of course, it's easy to be condescending because as private subjects (or citizens), we are not required to wrestle with the complexities of various desperately intricate policy decisions which we leave to the politicians.  However, when those decisions begin to shift the parameters of individual liberty then "we the people" (to quote a phrase) need to be exceedingly alert.  That is not to say that nothing must be changed to deal with new circumstances, our own people being slaughtered on our own streets is intolerable and, to quote yet another well-known phrase, "something must be done!"  However, it is critical that whatever legal or political changes ensue they must be intelligent and they must produce results, not further and greater problems. 

In the meantime it is necessary to keep an eye on the larger picture far outside the shores of this 'septic Isle', so it is extremely useful that The Spectator has reprinted an article by Douglas Murray first published on 2014 which points to the very heart of the Islamic problem - the war, and it really is a war, between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran.  The timing of this reprint, which is an absolute 'MUST READ', is impeccable given the somewhat startling news in the last two days that Saudi has taken extreme measures, short of war but only just, against Quatar and other Gulf States.  The attitude of the West to this coming conflict is, to say the least, exceedingly tricky.  Under Obama, the USA backed Iran and the Shias but now Trump has shifted to the Saudi side.  There is, it seems to me, a rank and ignorant outsider, little to choose between them.  But, dammit, that's what politics is all about - choosing!  Happily, sort of, our input is, and will remain, minimal - but that will not save us from the tsunami that might arise.

 

 

Hard a'starboard, 'Admiral' Trump!

Well, whatever else you can say about 'The Donald', he's not afraid to take decisions!  Of course, like just about every other President, one cannot be sure of the wisdom until all those bloody "events, dear boy, events" work themselves out.  Whatever, from now on it's farewell Iran, hello Saudi Arabia!

How much easier life was back in, er, 'the good old days' when one simply dismissed all Muslims as scallywags and one just got on with the job of bossing them all about.  Now, one has to choose which particular scallywag to support and which one to denigrate.  Obama had his eight year 'love in' with the Persians and a fat lot of good it did him.  In their usual dextrous fashion they relieved him of oodles of cash and did nothing in return.

Anyway, now it's the Saudi's turn to bask in the American sunlight but at least they seem to be willing to pay for it which is extraordinary given that American fracking will eventually force them into bankruptcy!  So from now on it's 'up the Sunnis' and 'down with the Shias', er, or is that the other way round?  I dunno but I'm sure 'The Donald does!

 

The Sunday Rumble: 21.5.17

Aaaaaargh, it's that wedding again!   I shuffle up here to my attic, switch on this computer-thingie in order to read the Sunday papers (without which, of course, I would have no opinions about anything) and all I see is page after page after page telling me about 'The Wedding' - which is the one thing I already have an opinion on!  My dears, the whole thing looked ghastly and the 'yuuuuge' number of kiddie-winkies let loose to inflict their mayhem obviously required the use of several Tasers!  Sorry to be grumpy but obviously my invitation went astray in the post so I am not inclined to be generous!

 

The vicar's daughter reminds us of biblical truth:   'The good lord giveth and the good lord taketh away' - or something like that, my biblical studies, like the rest of my studies, were never very good.  Anyway, that Mrs. May, having come on as more socialist than Aneurin Bevan suddenly whips out her cosh and gives us poor, old-age pensioners a whack.  Apparently, the £300-odd quid that that nice, well brought up, Mr. Cameron used to send me and the missus every winter to pay for a sack of coal to keep us warm in the winter, is to be stopped.  I am shocked, I tell you, shocked!  Come back, Dave, I never meant to call you 'dim'!

 

That Peter Hitchens 'is a very naughty boy':   It's worth reading him in The Mail on Sunday because it saves you the trouble of taking a cold shower!  After dishing out various kicks and punches aimed at our sloppy thinking he ends his commentary today by providing a tip as to who is up and who is down in the 'Power Stakes'.  He suggests that you should watch and note who visits whom.  The one who visits is the junior, as in President Macron visits 'Mutti' Merkel, and 'The Donald' visits the king of Saudi Arabia.  'Nuff said!

 

"The horror, oh, the horror":   There is some advantage in living in a rain-swept, chilly island when you consider that yesterday, in 'San Fran' (where else?) they had a "Summer of Love" parade in which the participants were stark naked.  And no, nothing on earth would induce me to publish photos of the event.

 

Fox is fuxed:   A few years ago when I was able to contribute to the upkeep of my 'ex-Best Friend', Rupe, and his sundry wives, I used to be a keen watcher of Fox News.  One of my favourite programmes was called "The Five" in which five commentators discussed current events.  Obviously, Fox being Fox, most of them were Right-wingers but they always had a 'stat-Leftie' present in the somewhat unlovely shape of Bob Beckel.  I liked him because he raised grumpiness to new levels.  He was also, on occasions, quite funny but his disdain for all things conservative was often vituperative.  Last week, this doyen of the progressive movement was fired - for making racist remarks to a black employee  Simply too, too delicious!

 

Oh no - say it ain't so!   Having ducked and dived my way through the saturation coverage of Pippa's wedding, suddenly a thought occurred - Harry and Meghan are probably next!  I think I may sail round the world on one of those titchy sailing boats!

 

Find that brolly fast!   The Met Office is forecasting a heatwave - and we all know what that means!

 

Tragedy or farce?   There is a small story in The Telegraph concerning a South African hunter who was crushed to death by an elephant.  He was a professional hunter leading a party of his customers when they blundered into a herd of elephants which went berserk.  One of them lifted the man using its trunk but was then shot and in collapsing crushed the man to death.  I confess that at first I smiled but then I learned that the man had five children and so I gave myself a slap!  What do you think?

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

Obama gives Macron a French kiss - eeeeeew!

Does this pompous poke-nose have nothing better to do these days except interfere in other nations' elections?  Has he learned nothing from our Brexit referendum in which he raised his snooty nose and told us Brits that we would be at the end of the queue if we had the temerity to ignore his sonorous words?  Needless to say, he received the traditional 'archers' salute' by way of reply!  Actually, I'm surprised he has the time given all that golf he has to play, plus ultra-long holidays in swank joints in Hawaii despite his expressed worries for his daughter who is 'home alone' in 'Noo Yawk'!  Plus, of course, he has been busy cashing in all those hefty cheques he earned 'boring for America' at the behest of sundry 'zillionaires'.

Mind you, I forgive him everything for the example he has set for nouveau riches everywhere!   Take a look at the proposed 'Barack Obama Presidential Center' which, of course, is absolutely and definitely not a vanity project, oh, dear me, no, this will be a "transformational project for this community".  The community concerned is the South Side' of that haven of peace and tranquillity, er, Chicago, actually - yeeeees, quite! 

 

'Still 'n' all', as they say 'over there', if this, er, 'transformational project' manages to bring down the local murder rate to somewhere close to that of, say, Baghdad, then it will all have been worth while.  Mr. Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker (who is, of course, a very naughty boy!) is very taken with the, er, whiteness of it all. 

How all that whiteness will do over the years, as soot, grime, brutal winters, and acid rain take their toll is unknown. Future generations will get to draw their own conclusions.

 I suppose, given the news that Iran has just increased its defence budget by 145% courtesy of Obama's kindness/'stoopidity' (you choose), then the fact that within a generation it will look like one of Valerie Jarret's slum blocks will indeed be a tribute to this former Chicago community advisor!

 

 

History writing at its very best

I have finally reached the end of Dr. Christopher M. Bell's excellent history entitled Churchill and the Dardenelles and I cannot recommend it too highly.  Even thinking about how much sheer, hard, slogging graft it must have taken to plough through the volumes of documentation involved is almost enough to send me to bed for a week!  Not, mind you, that it was hard work reading it, on the contrary, Dr. Bell's pellucid prose remained crystal clear even as he strove to summarise even-handedly disparate events from disparate witnesses.  The book is an example of history writing at its very best.

 

When, in an earlier post, I mentioned that I was starting to read this book, I offered my opinion (as an ex-Corporal!) that anyone who thought that in 1915 they could drive warships 60-odd miles up an exceedingly narrow waterway against opposition on both banks was utterly bonkers.  Having read Dr. Bell's book my opinion is confirmed and the only surprise is that the mythical Field Marshall's baton which is said to reside in the knapsack of every soldier was not offered to me formally during my otherwise less than conspicuous service! I hasten to add that Dr. Bell is more circumspect in his conclusions.

Yesterday was ANZAC Day so it was an appropriate time for me to complete the reading of this book.  As Dr. Bell makes clear, Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, was not a prime-mover in the landing of troops in Gallipoli and the gross slaughter that ensued could not be laid at his door but, of course, it was his naval adventure that set the scene and after that it was a classic case of "events, dear boy, events!" taking over. 

What is even more fascinating than the actual combat was the even more 'bloody combat' that ensued as all the leading actors strove after the event to justify their decisions and actions.  The book offers a truly masterful summary of the differing versions by different 'actors' which were offered up, especially by Churchill, to justify their parts in the tragic disaster.  Today we talk of 'alt-truth' and 'fake news' but do not under any circs think they are just a modern phenomenon.  Churchill, in particular, was a master of it!

If the art, and craft, of war and politics fascinates you, as it does me, then read this book.

 

 

Churchillian madness

Following my introductory post a few days ago on the subject of the Dardenelles campaign in 1915, I have moved with agonising slowness to Chapter 7 of Christopher M. Bell's excellent book "Churchill and the Dardenelles", in fact, I am almost as slow as the Royal Navy's approach was to this enormously ticklish operation!  The first thing that is worth studying is a map of the area:

 

 

Now regular readers of this blog will be aware that I write on naval affairs with all the expertise of an ex-Corporal - yeeeeees, quite!  So, I am entirely happy for any ex-matelots to correct me.  Anyway, the idea was to sail some British battleships and cruisers up those Straights and into the Sea of Marmara and then, all being well, on again into the Black Sea to join hands with our Russian allies.

 

Be honest - 'wotcha fink?'

 

Well, my reaction was and is that the whole scheme was utter crackpot lunacy!  Both sides of the Straights had forts and heavy gun emplacements built along them, plus hundreds of lighter and more manoeuvrable army howitzers, to say nothing of a huge collection of mines and, just to add another defensive 'delicacy', built-in and camouflaged torpedo tubes on both banks.  Did Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, with all the experience of a junior cavalry officer(!), seriously believe that the Navy could fight those ships through that obvious death trap?  Well, yes, he did!  What is worse is that virtually none of the senior Admiralty staff, including no less a figure that Jacky Fisher, was prepared to scotch the madness at the very beginning.

 

So the momentum built in the full knowledge of the fact that the Navy only had half a dozen converted trawlers to act as minesweepers and around 4 - 6 aircraft to act as spotters for the ships guns attempting to hit targets they could not see.  Fisher's opposition grew as the operation hit the obvious brick wall to which it was steaming but he still lacked the determination to resign as First Sea Lord.  Even so, it became clear that the only way to force a passage through the Straights was to deploy the army mostly on the northern bank in order to clear the gun emplacements - and there began the greatest tragedy of this useless farrago.

 

I will report again when I have advanced beyond Chapter 7!  In the meantime, buy the book, it is grim but it is illuminating.

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 9.4.17

Jolly Good Show!   Yes, I am delighted to report that that awfully decent British chap, Mr. Lewis Hamilton, held off that damned pushy Hun into second place at the Chinese Grand Prix.  Unfortunately, due to my falling out with my ex-best friend, Rupe, because of his exorbitant charges, I was unable to watch the race on TV this morning but the BBC did an excellent job via the radio commentary.  And for the third day running we have a cloudless, sunny morning - hoorah!

 

Sod's Law will strike!   Apropos my last remark above, I have just been sitting on my patio drinking my coffee (and it's only April, for God's sake!) and the 'Memsahib' remarked that the sunshine had brought out so many insects including some beautiful butterflies.  Being a miserable Brit, of course, I instantly responded by reminding her that next week temperatures will almost certainly plummet and rain, if not snow, will certainly fall and kill off all the insects.  She simply rolled her eyes which I think was very disrespectful!

 

"Churchill and the Dardenelles":   Just bought this book by Christopher M. Bell which has received rave reviews.  To be honest, I know very little of this campaign (or mega-cock-up, if you prefer) so I am looking forward to learning something.  I gather that the author had to hack his way through a jungle of myths and lies and distortions in order to reach some sort of balanced judgment as to who was to share the blame.  Mind you, there is some sardonic humour to be had from the fact that even a hundred years ago, 'fake news', spin and good, old-fashioned lying were still the weapons of first resort!  I will provide some further commentary as I work myself into the book.

 

Dan Hodges tells it the way it is:   If you are a member of the Labour party, either an MP, or a local party official, or just a card-carrying member, then you should resign the whip, tear up your card, cancel your membership and stop your payments to the party.  Why?  Because, in effect, and following the farrago of the anti-Semitic Ken Livingstone being let off with a caution, today's Labour party is no better than Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts.  Read it and weep!

 

And if one cold shower isn't enough, try this:   Peter Hitchens in The Mail re-enforces the fact that so far there is absolutely no 'proof positive' that Assad was responsible for the chemical attack that prompted 'The Donald' to loose off dozens of rockets.  In fact he goes further by emphasising that most of the information (I wouldn't call it 'news') emanates from the murderous rascals who control the locale where the 'attack' took place.  Does 'The Donald' know something we do not, I wonder?  Or did he just get out of bed on the wrong side again?

 

Oh no!  Now I will have to choose!   Dammit!  I have only read the introduction to the Dardanelles book I mentioned above and already it is clear that I will have to choose between two of my 'heroes'.  To be honest, I had forgotten that Jackie Fisher was First Sea Lord at the time and he is one of my all-time 'heroes' because he, almost single-handedly, succeeded in dragging the Royal Navy into the 20th century.  Now I learn that he and my other 'hero', Winston Churchill, were at daggers drawn over the Dardanelles fiasco and each spun furiously against the other.  Who to choose?  Better finish the book first, I suppose!

 

I almost forgot The Good News:   How could I have let this slip by without a comment and a bloody big 'HOORAH'!  Justice Gorsuch has made it on to the Supreme Court.  Now all we need is for Justice Ginsberg to catch a cold and retire and the Republicans can lock down a conservative majority on the court for decades to come.

 

No more rumbles

 

 

Don't do it, Donald!

Before I make my main point, here's a question that is niggling away at the back of what passes for my mind.  Why is using gas as a weapon considered to be more evil than using high explosive?  I admit that I, too, find it repulsive but I can't quite work out why.  Anyway, the usual 'shlock-horror' news reports have followed Assad's decision to use it in an attack on his own Syrian people.  The other question that hovers is why?  It has provoked the 'The Donald' and, I would guess, 'Vlad the Impaler', too.  Where's the gain?

Two writers, Stephen and Shoshana Bryen, ponder the question at The American Thinker but come to no convincing explanation.  Assad's murderous attack came shortly after an American announcement that they were pulling back on confrontation with Assad in order to concentrate on their main aim of destroying ISIS.  The Bryens suggest that with American pressure off, Assad was fearful that 'Vlad' would ditch him and perhaps let his country "cantonize" into separate ethnic regions just so long as Russian bases were safeguarded.  In any event, Russian support for a separate Kurdish autonomy must have irked Assad enormously.

Now, Assad has provoked 'The Donald' into almost warlike fervour which will push 'Vlad' back into his arms.  At least, that's the theory, or one of the theories, to explain an act of seemingly total irrationality.  'The Donald' needs to think his response through very, very carefully which will not be easy considering his tendency to lose defence advisers at an almost weekly rate!  I can't help wondering if he is already pissed off with this politics lark which is already proving exceedingly tricky.  Yes, he enjoys the pomp and circumstance but for how long will he put up with the sheer intractability of the problems he faces?

 

 

A Texas 'Sheikdown'!

According to A E-P in The Telegraph, those 'good ol' boys down Texas way' are at it again.  'Ahab the Arab' tried flooding the market with oil/gas in order to drive down the price and put those pesky Texans with their cheap-as-sand shale gas out of business but, alas, American technology came to the rescue and those 'cowboys' simply produced the stuff even cheaper!

Now, 'Ahab the Arab' plus his partner in crime good friend, 'Vlad the Impaler', have done their very best to cut oil/gas production in order to drive up the price.  As a perfect example of the truth in 'ur wee Rabbie's' famous poem,  “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley”, the 'good ol' boys of Texas' kept on innovating so that now their oil and gas is even cheaper and they have now discovered that there are zillions and squillions more of it than had ever been thought possible.

The Opec oil cartel is waking up to an unpleasant surprise. Shale output from the Permian Basin in Texas is expanding faster than the world thought humanly possible.

The scale threatens to neutralise output cuts agreed by Saudi Arabia and a Russian-led bloc last November, and ultimately threatens to break their strategic lockhold on the global crude market for a generation.

"People just don't seem to realise how big the Permian is. It will eventually pass the Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia, and that is the biggest in the world," said Scott Sheffield, founder of Pioneer Natural Resources and acclaimed 'King of the Permian'.

What can one say to our Saudi and Russian, er, friends, except possibly "Oh-dear-what-a-pity-never-mind!'?  And by the way, memo to 'St. Theresa of May' - must remember to be awfully nice to that 'good ol' boy' in the White House even if he grabs you by the, er, you know what!

 

The Sunday Rumble: 5.3.17

Bumps in the Brexit road:   Nothing produced more sniggers from me than the prat-falls executed by the heavenly chorus of doom-laden hysterics who foretold the end of the world as we know it if we voted for Brexit.  We ignored them, or most of us did, and guess what - the end of the world was postponed!  Even so, it would be an equal folly to assume that divorce from the EU will not entail some collateral damage.  However, as we stumble-bum our way to freedom, let us not forget the increasing adversities that would have been inflicted on us had we stayed in.  In fact, such is the parlous state of the divided EU today that it is not beyond possibility that by the time we reach the end of our 'negotiations' there may not be an EU for us to leave!

 

Mind you . . .   To be fair, given the fact that the 'Shinners' and the 'Proddies' are about to kick off on round 193 of their never-ending punch-up, and that the 'Jock Nats' are eagerly looking for an Anglo - any old Anglo will do - to head butt, one cannot be absolutely certain that there will be a United Kingdom left to walk out of the EU!

 

I thought the Jews were smarter than that!   I was surprised - well, mostly because I had never thought about it before - to learn that the state education system in Israel, and particularly in East Jerusalem, was strictly divided on ethnic and religious grounds.  Needless to say, the Arab controlled schools concentrate their efforts on producing as many Islamic militants as they can, for example, the recent wave of knife attacks was traced back to such schools.  Far be it from me, a goy, to advise the Israelis but surely there must be a better system. Gidon BenZvi at The American Thinker has some suggestions.

 

Profile in courage? I don't think so!   There is a delicious example of American humbuggery to be found in the granting of the 'Profile in Courage Award' to President Obama.  Older readers will recall that this pompous award was based on the book Profiles in Courage written(?) by the late Jack Kennedy.  Like almost everything in the history of the mostly despicable Kennedy clan, this was a false claim because it became clear much later that it was his speech writer, Ted Sorenson, who wrote most of it - why am I not surprised?  Thus, it is deliciously appropriate that 'Ol Big Ears' is up for this fake prize given the fact that it was his friend and neighbour, the ex-terrorist, Bill Ayers, who wrote most of the book Dreams from My Father.  Read all the sordid details at The American Spectator.

 

 

Trump digs a grave:   The only question is whether he buries Obama in it or himself!  He has openly accused Obama of criminal behaviour without, so far, offering any proof.  That Obama was, and still is, capable of bending, or even breaking, the law is not something that would have me calling for the smelling salts.  Even so, such an accusation should, and must, be backed up by evidence.  So far Trump has not produced any although he has asked Congress to investigate the matter.  Whether they will must be doubtful given the lack of any substantial evidence - so far!  'The Donald' likes to live dangerously, let us hope he doesn't die of it, er, politically speaking, that is!

 

 

No more rumbles

 

 

"To err is human; to forgive, divine"

Thus sayeth the late Alexander Pope and as he was something of a deep thinker and I am not, I will not argue the point.  The phrase came to mind after I read a report on the recent military trial of a young Israeli soldier who shot dead an already wounded Palestinian terrorist who had been subdued fifteen minutes earlier.  The military court convicted the soldier of "voluntary manslaughter" and sentenced him to 18 months in prison, although the prosecution asked for 3-5 years.  The soldier's defence was that he thought the prisoner still posed a threat because a knife he had used was nearby and also he thought the prisoner might have a bomb-belt.

Needless to say, the result has caused a furore and divided the Israeli nation.  It rather reminded me of the case 'over here' involving a Marine NCO who 'offed' a wounded Afghanistan fighter after he had been taken prisoner and who was convicted and imprisoned and is now fighting to have his sentence reduced.

What can you say about such cases?  Not much, unless you were there and had detailed knowledge of the background and the particular incident.  So I will not say much except that, in general, executing PoWs is wrong and anyone who does it should be forced to face the consequences in a court of law.

 

'Yerdy-durby-burbles' stink of humbug

This blog prides itself on maintaining the very highest standards in 'elf 'n' safety' so I strongly advice you all to wear a face-mask to protect yourselves from the stench of Swedish humbug (than which, etc, etc) and also to have a sick-bag handy as you read on.  But first of all, a picture:

 

 

There you have it!  Perhaps the greatest collection of Leftie-Feminist humbugs the world has ever seen.  These stern-faced ladies are all 'Yerdie-durbles', aka: Swedes - oh alright then, turnips as well!  More than that they are the new feminist government of Sweden and they are all highly principled feminists determined, now that they hold considerable power in the Swedish government, to not only uphold feminist policies at home but also to demonstrate them around the world, starting with, er, Iran, actually!  So how did that go then?

Well, here they are slithering ooops, sorry, walking past President Rouhani, all of them carefully covering their hair, wearing trousers and overcoats.

Gosh, what a blow (no, no, not that sort - behave!) that was for feminine freedom!  Unfortunately, it did not go down too well with a truly brave woman, Ms. Masih Alinejad, the leader of a women's rights group:

Iranian women's right activist Masih Alinejad who urged Europeans female politicians "to stand for their own dignity" and to refuse to kowtow to the compulsory Hijab while visiting Iran.

Alinrejad created a Facebook page for Iranian women to resist the law and show their hair as an act of resistance, which now numbers 1 million followers.

"European female politicians are hypocrites," says Alinejad. "They stand with French Muslim women and condemn the burkini ban—because they think compulsion is bad—but when it happens to Iran, they just care about money."

Well, what with them being women and being Swedish it can only be a matter of time before they are given the Nobel Peace Prize.  Now, remind me, who was a recent recipient of that prize, and wasn't he a bit of a girlie?

H/tip t0:

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/02/shameful-hypocrisy-swedens-first-feminist-government

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/02/feminist_swedish_

government_wears_hijab_while_in_iran.html

 

Give the job to Sally Bercow

If we must, I mean, really, really must, have a Bercow in the headlines could we not bring back Sally into the limelight.  She is infinitely better-looking and does it all so much better than that utter twit of a husband of hers and in doing so she usually manages to flash a bit of inner thigh which is quite exciting for old geezers like me! 

 

Frankly, Bercow himself has passed from being a national joke to being an embarrassing national prat of the first order.  His outburst yesterday on the subject of President Trump's forthcoming visit was infantile.  I can't help wondering whether his bad-temper stemmed originally from some recent but yet-to-be-reported naughtiness by his wife, or whether he was worried about what might transpire should Sally meet Donald?

 

 

Whatever, it is long past time that parliament should rid itself of this pompous, insufferable poltroon and choose a new Speaker of the House.  Brendan O'Neill at The Coffee House spells out the rank hypocrisy of the man who complains about Trump's 'racism' and 'anti-feminism'.

Bercow, you see, this supposed hero of the refugees and Middle Eastern migrants temporarily banned from the US, voted for the bombing of Iraq. He green-lighted that horror that did so much to propel the Middle East into the pit of sorrow and savagery it currently finds itself. As his profile on the They Work For You website puts it, ‘John Bercow consistently voted for the Iraq War’. On 18 March 2003, he voted against a motion saying the case for war hadn’t been made, even though it hadn’t. On the same day he voted for the government to ‘use all means necessary’ to ensure the destruction of Iraq’s WMD.

[...]

Bercow was one of the authors of this calamity, one of the signatories to the Middle East’s death warrant, and now we’re going to let him posture and preen against Trump’s three-month ban on certain Middle Eastern migrants?

Is there a factory somewhere that takes in noxious waste, re-processes it and then churns out MPs like Bercow?  If so, we should bomb it!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 29.1.17

Er, not very subtle, Donald:   Although I do realise that you don't really do subtle!  Even so, I agree that Islamic immigration is a potential problem but using a sledgehammer to crack a nut is not perhaps the best solution.  I do hope you will tread a little more carefully when it comes to finance and trade matters., to say nothing of war and peace!

 

'California, off we go':   According to Zero Hedge, the State of California is moving inexorably towards secession.  Whilst Donald threatens to withdraw Federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities, such as LA and San Francisco, the State government is planning to make equal cuts in the money they send to the Federal government!  "There may be troubles ahead ..."

 

You want hash? We got hash!   According to Peter Hitchens at The Mail, if you are in need of a shot of decent hash, then 'you do need to get your arse down 'ere to Zummerzet'!  Apparently the Avon & Somerset Constabulary long ago gave up on the cannabis trade and now they have more or less surrendered on hard drugs, too.  Should you be caught in possession, the local Plods will offer you a three and half hour 'workshop' which, if you accept, means that you will not be charged. "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime!"  Jolly good show, move along, nothing to see here!

 

A smile from The American Thinker:   Not all that funny, I agree, but it's worth it just for a look at Melania's svelte figure!

 Also, rather appropriate given that she is suing The Daily Mail!

 

Let the pipes skirl for the death of Tam Dalyell:   He was a Scottish gentleman of the 'auld school' and a one-man awkward squad who throughout his long parliamentary life was never afraid to come to his own conclusions and then pursue them to the end.  Famously, he went after 'that woman' over the sinking of the Argentinian battleship, Belgrano, during the Falklands war which he designated a war crime, not that her defences were even dented!  Iain Martin over at REACTION has an even-handed summary of his life which is worth reading, including this tale:

Attempting to change the subject and take an advantage, Smith [then leader of the Labour party] asked suddenly why Dalyell had failed the test to become an officer during his National Service. He had been to Eton and was a Baronet. The army usually made allowances for these matters, surely? Smith said he had always wondered what had gone wrong. Tam had served only as a private. Why? There was a long pause. “John, it was something to do with me losing a tank on Salisbury Plain.”

 

Now this is interesting:   Courtesy of Zero Hedge here is a diagram showing the main countries sending and receiving immigrants.

The basic source was the United Nations so whether those charts are 'lies, damned lies or statistics', I do not know. 

 

Shakespeare and the death of Lincoln:   This comes under the heading of 'Whodathunkit' but only because I am an ignorant Limey with very little knowledge of Lincoln, partly because none of you 'Yankee-doodles' ever answer my plea for a Lincoln biography which is detached and not hagiography!  Anyway, I have just discovered that John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, was (along with his two brothers) a distinguished Shakespearean actor of his day.  He had gained much approbation for his performance as Antony in Julius Caesar.  I learned this from a long essay in National Affairs on the subject of American love for Shakespeare which manifested itself last year during the celebrations of his death 400 years ago.  Also, I learned that Chicago - yes, Chicago! - was the national leader:

Chicago rather than London or Stratford-upon-Avon has been the Shakespearean cosmopolis this year. The Shakespeare 400 Chicago commemoration has featured 850 events at 120 locations for an audience of 500,000 people.

I will never be rude about Chicago ever again!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

Nothing so il-became his Presidency as his leaving of it

You were right, I was wrong!  Even 8 years ago as he was about to take over as POTUS, I tried to be kind to Barack Obama.  I assured you, my readers, that he would not turn out as bad as you might fear but fortunately you were shrewd enough to mutter something like "Duffers has lost the plot - and his mind -  and I only read him for his Monday jokes!" or something like that.  And just to rub it in, at the very end of his Presidency, the 'big girl's blouse' has thrown a hissy fit and behaved not just abominably but dangerously and stupidly.  I always thought he was a bit of 'girlie', I remember remarking on his limp-wristed descent of aircraft steps which was always a dead give-away of his feminine side.

But now the bitch in him as come to the fore with his frantic and criminally stupid actions prior to the Trump take-over.  Tossing hand-grenades into the critical Middle East situation was pointless, dangerous and utterly irresponsible.  His crafty support for Planned Parenthood, the baby killers for profit, was disgusting and immoral and merely an excuse to let loose his corrupt (non)Justice Department on Christian organisations who oppose abortion.  Then, in one totally irresponsible hissy-fit, he tried his very best to ratchet up a confrontation between his own country (repeat: his own country!) and one of the most powerful nuclear powers in the world.

Trump should consider banging him and that 'Oirish thickoe', Kerry, into Guantanamo for the next 20 years!

STOP PRESS:  Now The Washington Times is reporting that Obama might try and squeeze his favourite judge onto the Supreme Court in the very few minutes between the end of one Congressional session and the beginning of the next.  It would be an extremely dodgy move and might well fail but would that stop an insane egotist like him?

 

 

I'm beginning to worry about that woman - no, not that one, the other one!

There was never much to worry about with the original 'that woman' but I am becoming increasingly uneasy over her current successor.  As I mentioned before, Mrs. May was a 'do nothing, say nothing' Home Secretary which, given her most famous speech in which she described her own party as "the nasty party", was perhaps "A Good Thing!"

Today she is reported to have laid into the American government in general, and the ineffable John Kerry in particular, for its sudden volte face towards Israel.  However, she has maintained the feeble stance of her own government by supporting the malignant proposition before the Security Council.  Presumably she thought she could hide behind the American veto but when it was suddenly withdrawn by the childish Obama she was left exposed and looking like the prize humbug she apparently is.

The Telegraph reports:

“We do not… believe that the way to negotiate peace is by focusing on only one issue, in this case the construction of settlements, when clearly the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is so deeply complex,” Mrs May’s spokesman said.

“And we do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally. The Government believes that negotiations will only succeed when they are conducted between the two parties, supported by the international community.”

Well, Prime Minister, if you really believe that "focusing on one issue" is wrong, why did you vote for it?  Also, we would dearly like to know what you will do when every vicious little anti-Semite and Islamist extremist in Britain begin their campaign of arraigning travelling Israelis who pass through London on the grounds that they are guilty of breaking international law as laid down by the United Nations?