The Sunday Rumble: 17.9.17

Who rules?   The (yet to be consummated!) 'mother of my children', as chosen, er, by me, actually, Ms. Janet Daly, has produced yet another acute analysis of the political scene in today's Telegraph following the hand-grenade lobbed into the Tory party by 'Boing-Boing' Boris on which I commented yesterday.  Her article is well worth reading.  It is particularly harsh on the effete and ineffectual leadership of Theresa May.  Boris has held back for some considerable time now during which the lacklustre Phil Hammond and his fellow 'Remoaners' have chipped away at the foundations of Brexit leaving David Davis and his fellow negotiators looking rather like Gen. Gordon and his lost army in Khartoum!  It is time for the militant Brexiteers to re-assert their authority which, I would remind all the excitable, verging on hysterical, 'Remoaners' who infest my comments section, is the democratic will of the British people as expressed in a scrupulously fair referendum.

 

Time and energy:   Fear not, this is not going to be another of my stumblebum efforts to enter the mysterious land of physics and philosophy.  Rather it is an explanation of my somewhat hit 'n' miss contributions to this blog in recent weeks.  As I have indicated before, the 'Memsahib' fractured her ankle and remains more or less bed or armchair bound.  Thus, a whole world of domestic duties has reverted to me, and yes, you're right, I'm not much bloody good at it!  On top of that an elderly (ie, even older than me!) relative who lives in a care home has been hospitalised which has required regular visits.  Whilst I have recovered from my hernia op, I still have my arthritic twinges and twangs which added to everything else produces severe tiredness.  So, instead of sitting here and creating endless witty, wise and sophisticated commentary - I take a nap instead!  (And I heard that muffled cheer!)

 

He did it again!   I refer, of course, to that splendid British gentleman of the first order, (Sir) Lewis Hamilton who has just romped home as winner of the Singapore Grand Prix.  Happily, the god of F1 racing ensured that that damned Hun was biffed out of the race which means that (Sir) Lewis now enjoys a 'yuuuuge' lead in the championship table.  Jolly good show!

 

The 'yurdey-durbles' let me down:   As I may have mentioned before on this blog, but only about 37 times so stop moaning, whilst I am not much of a 'telly-viewer', I do have a fondness for BBC4 on Saturday evenings when they feature foreign-made TV films of murder and mayhem.  Usually, those made by the 'yurdey-durbles' (that is, the Danes, Swedes or Norskies) are of excellent quality.  Last night was the first two episodes of a Swedish effort which, with the aid of my 'do-flicker-thingie', I actually managed to record.  I watched it, or some of it, this morning and it was total crap!  It's a good job (Sir) Lewis won this afternoon because I was in a foul mood!  Dammit, it now means that for the next few Saturday evenings I am going to have to talk to the 'Memsahib'!

 

The mind boggles:   I am grateful to The Mail on Sunday for this story which, whilst reducing me to giggles, also leaves me wondering ... how? ... why? ... what was he doing?

A man who stuck his penis in a dumbbell weight spent three hours surrounded by firefighters who sliced him free with power tools.
Angle grinders, a saw and a hydraulic rescue tool usually used to prize crash victims from vehicle wreckage were used to smash the 2.5kg disc on Friday.
This was after doctors were unable to remove the weight following the mishap at a gym in Worms, Germany. 

 

What's the Holodomor?    We have all heard of the Holocaust, almost to the point of nausea, but no-one mentions the Holodomor.  In the mass killing stakes, the Holodomor ran the Holocaust a close second.  It was Stalin's effort to eliminate the Ukrainians but lacking German expertise he used the old-fashioned method of mass starvation.  Approximately 4.5 million people died as a result.

Credit:  Theodor Innitzer/Alexander Wienerberger

Of course, neither Hitler nor Stalin achieved anywhere near the subsequent record of Mao Tse-tung which is roughly estimated to be around 40-70 million people.  However, as James Bartholomew points out in The Telegraph, whilst the Holocaust remains engraved on our consciousness the others are forgotten or simply remain unknown because no-one teaches them any more.  Mr. Bartholomew suggests that the time is due for a museum of communist atrocities to act as a constant reminder.

 

I knew Mozart and I had something in common:   Unfortunately it is not musical genius!  Apparently, Mozart treated himself to a pet starling and, as I told you before on this fascinating blog - and I heard that! - I am particularly fond of starlings, especially the family of Stan and Stella Starling and their children Stephen, Stacey, Stephanie and Stewart!  I am proud to say that they all make frequent use of my birdbath and are thus the cleanest starlings in 'Zummerzet'.  Alas, I can't say that they are particularly musical, they seem to chatter rather than sing.  Even so, I love them all because they are such characters.  Mind you, I am running out of first names beginning with 'St' so all contributions are welcome.

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Loz]

Don't worry, Gaffer, it's quality not quantity that counts!

You were a master of shit stirring back in the 80's when you used to take me to those CND meetings and start rolling grenades around!

Not sure we could all cope if you were to up the pace. Fluffbun already thinks I'm having an affair, but I just show her the phone with it's poo-brown shade and she laughs and says, "It's your Farda" (Czech pronunciation), "You can spend as much time getting stuck into him and his Brexiteer mates as you like!". And then, "When our dual citizenship comes through, you can waft your Czech EU passport at him and crank him up even more!"

Btw, judging by my visit to her on Friday, the NHS seems to have sorted Ba out at last. However, they've admitted it was the Donepezil they prescribed that set her ticker off and landed her in Yeovil hospital in the first place. Bearing in mind she doesn't have Alzheimer's, provably so per the MRI scans from last year and now the scans from last week, wtf did they think they'd treat her for it anyway using Donepezil?

Half decent lawyer would have some NHS heads on pikes along Yeovil High Street.

But oh, I forgot. Join the queue ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36327310

And this inveterate abuser and executioner is BoJo's Brit paragon of virtue, worthy of leading the gene therapy industry and consuming a dollop of BoJo's imaginary £350m a week.

One of the many things I like about Ba is she hallucinates. Sits there are sees faces in the walls, carpets, snakes, people, the lot, all harmless. And I'm like, "Whoaaa! Where? Where's that, can I have a look!?" And I share some of my experiences with her while we sip on tea and munch cream cakes.

It's something called "Charles Bonnet Syndrome". Google it. Not one of the NHS "professionals" I've spoken to had heard of it. So they threw her in the Alzheimer's heap, stuffed her full of Donepezil, and gave her a heart problem.

Whaddaya think, y'all, "No win no fee"?

Ah well, that's one thing to look forward to with old age - free tripping, no LSD required! But in Blighty today, I'm not sure anyone would notice the difference.

SoD

[Loz]

Jeez, just rummaged through the drawers, basement and finally clamped my hands on it!

See, all this hallucinatory stuff is getting me right back into it.

Shoved it onto the CD player and gave Fluffbun the fright of her life!

Pink Floyd, "Piper at the gates of dawn" ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Piper_at_the_Gates_of_Dawn

There's something for everyone: -

(1) For auntie Ba and SoD, and our imaginary friends ...

"Lucifer Sam"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbIMx2MYNXk

"Lucifer Sam, siam cat.
Always sitting by your side
Always by your side.
That cat's something I can't explain.
Ginger, ginger, Jennifer Gentle you're a witch.
You're the left side
He's the right side.
Oh, no!
That cat's something I can't explain.
Lucifer go to sea.
Be a hip cat, be a ship's cat.
Somewhere, anywhere.
That cat's something I can't explain.
At night prowling sifting sand.
Hiding around on the ground.
He'll be found when you're around.
That cat's something I can't explain. "

(2) For BoJo, erstwhile "king who ruled the land", and his imaginary friends ...

"Matilda Mother"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahn_fVEF9e8

"There was a king who ruled the land
His majesty was in command
With silver eyes the scarlet eagle
Showers silver on the people
Oh Mother, tell me more
Why'd'ya have to leave me there
Hanging in my infant air
Waiting?
You only have to read the lines
They're scribbly black and everything shines
Across the stream with wooden shoes
With bells to tell the king the news
A thousand misty riders climb up
Higher once upon a time
Wandering and dreaming
The words have different meaning
Yes they did
For all the time spent in that room
The doll's house, darkness, old perfume
And fairy stories held me high on
Clouds of sunlight floating by
Oh Mother, tell me more
Tell me more
Aaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaah "

(3) The NHS and the UK medical profession, our not so imaginary friends, unfortunately ...

"Take up thy stethoscope and walk"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRgrE22fW6A

"Doctor doctor!
I'm in bed
Achin' head
Gold is lead
Choke on bread
Underfed
Gold is lead
Jesus bled
Pain is red
Are goon
Grow go
Greasy spoon
You swoon
June bloom
Music seems to help the pain
Seems to cultivate the brain.
Doctor kindly tell your wife that
I'm alive - flowers thrive - realize - realize
Realize. "

Maybe this trip back to the seventies ain't so bad after all.

And maybe there'll be a Golden Haired Thatcher to clear up the mess in a decade or so - the Brit Bonaparte or Stalin you actually want.

SoD

[Whitewall]

David you have my sympathy on the care front. Some years ago my wife managed to break a bone in her leg which put her in one of those boot contraptions for nearly 6 months. At the same time, her mother was in a care home because of dementia and immobility. Care homes are an answer to some problems but the introduction to other problems. We, and for a long time-I had to drop by to make sure my mother in law had been fed by staff who would cut corners on patient care if they learned family did not drop in too often. By 'fed' I mean with a spoon. Like feeding an infant.

Hang in there!

[Peter G]

Oh no. You have to do it now. A slight majority of the voters decided you would so you have to do it. And in the future if they decide it was a gift mistake to leave you will have to live with that. That's about the time I will expect you to damn the will of the people. Now I think you don't really have a clue what you are up against and in exactly the same way Trump doesn't have a clue what he is doing. Which is why he hasn't achieved a damn thing and won't. It is simply unachievable. I see the same strange thought processes at play in both the Trump and Brexit camps. Both believe that other people, whole nations in fact, will put aside their own interests to make America, or Britain Great again. Whatever that means and few have even a vague idea. Interesting development yesterday though. Whitewall wrote of this English based hegemony that was to include Britain and America and Canada and Australia. In fact included about every predominantly white country where English is spoken but none of the non-white countries like India. That omission was no accident. It never is. You know who else proposed a trading pact that was to include the rich and predominantly white countries of the world? Bernie Sanders, that's who. He was preaching to the same choir.

[Whitewall]

"Just out of curiousity whitewall, is there anything in your language that you think might persuade anyone in Europe that Britain would be a reliable partner in defense or intelligence sharing? Or incline them to take your economic interests seriously"

That was your question yesterday which I answered yesterday. On intelligence matters, the same list of countries currently share intelligence matters and after Brexit they will continue to. The Continent will also benefit from this and vice versa.

[Whitewall]

David, join the Memsahib in watching "Midsomer Murders" reruns! Good viewing and you won't have to talk so much as a side benefit;)

[David Duff]

SoD, you are in danger of achieving the hitherto impossible by out-waffling the utterly tedious PeterG. My readers are not interested in the finer points of Barbara's condition so please keep them to yourself!

Equally, I would guess, most of my readers, as well as me, have positively no interest in the half-witted, illiterate ravings of some dope-head rock 'singer' so please do not inflict them on us again!

[Richard]

"And in the future if they decide it was a gift mistake to leave you will have to live with that. That's about the time I will expect you to damn the will of the people."

That's it in a nutshell young Pompous. This democracy thing makes things so awkward for the poor politicians, knowing that they are accountable to electorates who will remove them from their well paid jobs if they don't like what they're doing. It would surely be better to gradually ditch the big D and then they would be able to do what they liked without the embuggerance of anything more than the occasional Russian style show election.

Wait a minute though. That wonderful chap Juncker has just given his EU state of the Union speech in which he has revealed his vision of a new centralised EU with a powerful new President, its own centralised tax raising powers and even its own centralised military. And all this is going to be done without any kind of democratic mandate being sought from those oh so annoying electorates.

Just think Pompous. If you were a genuine Frenchman (as opposed to a French Canadian mongrel) you would be sitting pretty, resplendent in your blue with yellow stars armband in a plush subsidised EU office, with minions at your beck and call, whilst annoying people such as commentators on the long forgotten D & N blog would be undergoing re-education in purpose built facilities especially created for them by a beneficent EU.

[Bob]

I had to help watch my father in a nursing home. Be assured our so-called private medical system made at least as many mistakes, a few of them nightmarish.

In the '90's Roger Waters of Pink Floyd had a good grip on the zeitgeist in 'Perfect Sense Part II' from 'Amused to Death'. The setting is a war game sportscasted by Marv Albert, who in real life was afterwards convicted of sexual assault and fired from NBC. The secret to life must include being an entertainer, though, because he was rehired two years later.

It's a beautiful day
And today we except a sensational match-up
But first our global anthem:

Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense

And here come the players
As I speak to you now the captain
Has his cross hairs zeroed on the oil rig
It looks to me like he's going to attack

By the way did you know that a submarine
Captain earns 200,000 dollars a year
Oh that's less tax Marv less tax
Uh thank you Emery
You're welcome

Now back to the game
He fires one - yes!
There goes two - both fish are running
The rig is going into a prevent defense
Will they make it
I don't think so (sounds of detonation)

Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense

[Whitewall]

Richard,
That centralised military idea mentioned by Juncker...did he say what the purpose of it would be?

[Loz]

"Equally, I would guess, most of my readers, as well as me, have positively no interest in the half-witted, illiterate ravings of some dope-head rock 'singer' so please do not inflict them on us again!"

Ooh, you little ol' hypocrite!

You spent however long raving about "Rock 'n' Roll" by Tom Stoppard, in which Syd Barrett, author of all those songs, was a central part in the story.

SoD

[David Duff]

No, SoD, he was NOT part of the central story which was concerned with the State imposition of Left-wing mantras which allowed no dissension from any individual, you know, the sort of thing that Herr Juncker wishes to install over all of Europe!

[Peter G]

Sure whitewall the Europeans are bound to trust you now that you have made clear you're at war with them and they are scumbags. To be honest I don't think they will make it that far in discussions. The May government will fall if they name an amount that Britain will pay to leave the EU. It isn't the EU not negotiating. They have set out their formula and British negotiators have criticized that but they don't dare offer an alternative calculation or the Rhesus-Monkey wing of May's government will fling poo. Hence Boris the Spider's insistence they talk about neat stuff for Britain and ignore the hard stuff. Now why should the Europeans help you out here? This is also why Britain wants to play the security card now. The question is, if that is settled, what is it worth if Britain doesn't get what it wants? It is worth exactly nothing. Here's another question. Does anyone think there is some genetic predisposition to running intelligence and security operations that is uniquely British? I don't. If they decide to allocate resources to those functions they can easily do it themselves. Many European nations are very good at it already.

Frankly the whole attitude of the Brexiters is such that any European would be a fool to trust their promises of mutual defense and security. You very evidently hate their guts, you're as far away from any security threat as you can get. They would have to be crazy to trust your word on this. Ask the Poles you say? No, ask the Czechs. That's a better example. And you didn't even hate them in order to abandon them.

[Loz]

Coming to a town near you: "The Brexit Holodomor", by Jeremy Corbyn, sponsored by 52% of the population, with a cast of country-bumpkins and hard-lefties ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/16/need-museum-communism-else-risk-repeating-terrors/

SoD

[Loz]

Just seen you've added the article to the Rumble already.

One story, two spins.

SoD

[Peter G]

Oh I will answer that one for you whitewall. Ever since Britain joined the EU it fought valiantly to keep the military as national functions and to stop the EU from organizing its defense properly. Now that you are leaving they can do that. The British only wanted that to magnify their utility within NATO and within the EU. But now that you are leaving they absolutely cannot trust the British to honor commitments. So this is just their way of telling you what they think those commitments are worth. Not much.

[Whitewall]

Peter,
whatever you say ole hoss. All those unknowables, assigned assumptions and made up straw men are blowing so much hay fever that I am sneezing in my comfy den here in North Carolina. Give it a rest.

[Whitewall]

"Mr. Bartholomew suggests that the time is due for a museum of communist atrocities to act as a constant reminder". Socialism in all its different sub groups murders on a mass scale. It always has and will. There is always a new generation of young and idealistic mules to carry the bloody red banner, only with new terms and excuses and narratives to replace the old failed ones.

[Peter G]

It is very easy to like Loz. He has excellent taste in music for one and that story he related is the most profoundly human I have seen posted here. I disagree mind about using the legal system to correct deficiencies in health care or any other government system. The people who pay the money for settlements which comes from taxes didn't make the mistake. And more people who need the money for health care won't get it because it went to lawyers and settlements. If the problem is the quality of the health care provider then get rid of them and get better ones.

[backofanenvelope]

As the Canadian troll has assured us we are well away from any security threat; may be we could take this opportunity to resign from our position as Airstrip One. If the Americans, and their friends the Canadians, want to fight in Europe, perhaps they could avoid us and our airspace.

[Peter]

While we are posting reminders whitewall let us consider who invented the concentration camp and why. The British did in order to win the Boer war. As to those unknowables and assumptions, it seems to me that the Brexiters committed that sin in epades. They assumed all sorts of things that are turning out to be not true in reality. Fun is where you find it though. At least we can bet on outcomes. And I'll bet the EU will not find sufficient progress has been made on financial settlements, the Irish border or the rights of European citizens resident in Britain to proceed to any other matter. It may have seemed like a bright idea to "accidentally" send out deportation letters. No doubt that sent tingles down many a Brexiter's spine. But it telegraphed the May government's intentions that all the vague horseshit they've been spouting in negotiations is just bullshit. They have no intention of honoring those commitments either. The problem is pretty simple, May doesn't dare offend any of her party factions or her government will fall. David thinks this is cowardice. I call it the greatest high wire act without a net you can find right now.

[Richard]

That's the worrying thing Whiters. He doesn't say.

It is the norm for military personnel to take an oath on enlistment. For example, the U.S. military oath is to the Constitution and the British to the Crown. What none of us know though, is to what or whom any European military oath is going to be made. I suspect, the answer to that one would be very revealing.

In his recent State of the (Euro) Union, Juncker stated that NATO desired an integrated pan-European defence union. This is stretching the truth to beyond breaking point. You should consider that America and Great Britain are easily the two biggest contributors to NATO and the idea of independent European defence forces is an anathema to both because it would remove essential resources and personnel from NATO and weaken it even more dangerously than it is at present.

It should also be recognised that based on current form, the 27 remaining European states would be incapable of reaching agreement over something as basic as the design of an official EU Christmas card, so expecting them to agree on concerted and effective action in the event of (say) a Russian takeover of the Baltic states would be naïve in the extreme.

Your original question remains though. Why on earth does Juncker want his own centralised Euro Army? A number of possibilities exist, and I'm afraid I don't like the idea of any of them.

[Bob]

The confusion of left, right and center socialism is becoming tiresome. Right wing socialism in America includes neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic and fascist groups such as the National Socialist Movement. They want to ethnically "purify" the country through both violent and non-violent means. They also make up the core of Trump's base and he continues to defend them, even though some are now burning their $40 MAGA hats.

Left wing socialists include the Socialist Party U.S.A., which still believes in something like the old central planning model that's already failed in numerous countries.

Closer to the center on both sides of the spectrum are socialists who believe in a lot of things already realized in Europe, like health care as a right, some form of minimum basic income and protection from the likes of the "big banks".

There has always been some centrist socialism in the US, from the Louisiana Purchase to the Homestead Acts to the funding of railroads and track right-of-ways to mortgage deductions to farm and corporate subsidies and so on down a long list.

Europe has a different history, but to imagine nearly all socialism there today isn't of the centrist variety is ahistorical.

[TheBigHenry]

David,

"..., I am running out of first names beginning with 'St' so all contributions are welcome."

St.John, St.Jim, St.Theresa, St.Bob, St.Henry, St.Donald, ...

[Richard]

Er... Pompous,

To say that the British invented the concentration camp may be true, but it is also a gross oversimplification as you fail to say why. After Imperial military might had finally made it impossible for the Boers to prevail on the battlefield, the war evolved into a bitter guerrilla campaign. Mobile Boer commandos employed hit and run tactics and were able to exist because of local support. Kitchener became aware of the situation and employed a number of measures that were to prove successful. He built a network of blockhouses, between which the Boers had to pass which made undetected movement very difficult. He also operated a scorched earth policy. He did this by rounding up the Boer farmers on whom the commandos relied for supply, forcing them to operate in a dustbowl, and he did this by placing them in refugee camps. Eventually, the camps became so crowded that they evolved into concentration camps. Unfortunately, little consideration had been given to the logistics required to sustain the camps with the inevitable result that up to 28,000 white and 14,000 black inmates died of disease and starvation.

While shameful, there are factors here which you have totally failed to consider. Firstly, these deaths were not deliberate, but were a result of neglect and incompetence. On the other hand, the deaths that took place in the Ukraine in the 30s were deliberately engineered by Stalin who used starvation as a weapon. In Hitler's holocaust, the concentration camp was deliberately used as a means of mass slaughter to eradicate the Jews by a mixture of starvation, overwork and the gas chamber. Again, all... of the deaths were deliberately engineered. Secondly, you haven't given a single thought to the numbers involved. Upwards of four million perished at Stalin's hands in the Ukraine, and approximately six million died on Hitler's orders in the Holocaust.

Even you should be able to see that there is a rather huge difference between 42,000 souls who perished as a result of neglect and incompetence under the British and 10 million... TEN MILLION who perished as a result of deliberate policy under Stalin and Hitler. The problem with you Pompous, is that your knowledge of history does not extend any further than the University of Google. When you decide to post, you Google first. When I, David, Lawrence, or anyone else on this blog posts, we reach for a book.

Comparisons I'm afraid are odious While we don't always agree with each other, we are usually able to back up what we say. You never can and on this forum, your ignorance stands out like a beer mat on a billiard table.

[JK]

Sidebar Pompous?

"Sure [...] the Europeans are bound to trust you now that you have made clear you're at war with them ..."

Was that "our making clear" based on your understanding, back when Bob was going on about the threats Trump was making during the campaign to, nuke Europe, or something otherwise?

The reason I ask (you being all omniscient an' all) is that haven't you gathered by now Bob's latest revelation that, politicians on the campaign trail talk bullshit?

All-Knowing has its downsides as you Pompous perhaps best realize, being [presumably] human.

[JK]

Too Pompous,

It just occurred to my feeblemindedness that, perhaps "the invention of the concentration camp" might not've been originated by the Brits but rather, that was mere emulation of the Romans?

Hadrian's Wall was to serve, as I understand it, much the same purpose?

[Bob]

JK,

Sarcasm usually doesn't work in writing. I was having a laugh even if no one else was. Trump never plainly said he'd nuke Europe, but it was played up that way for sensationalism:

'Donald Trump has refused to rule out dropping a nuclear bomb on Europe, saying he is not willing to “take any cards off the table”.

In an MSNBC interview which has already made headline for Mr Trump’s comments on punishing women for having abortions, the presidential candidate said if the US wasn’t willing to use its nuclear weapons, “why are we making them?”'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/donald-trump-refuses-to-rule-out-using-nuclear-weapons-in-attack-on-europe-a6961101.html

[JK]

Ain't it strange Bob that, while you an' I, and (gulp!) even you and Henry (occasionally) are capable, dare I say willing, to "come to terms" as it were that, no matter the subject, while Pompous Greatly seems to live solely for the benefit of Pompous' ego?

[Loz]

"I could just cry. Where is the England which in recent history fought so honourably and bravely against suppression, slavery and injustice? Good night. It feels like 1939 all over again. The lights went out for years." - Anonymous letter to the BBC "letters without signatures" service from East Germany, circa 1974 when the service was terminated

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41283012

SoD

[TheBigHenry]

JK and Bob,

I am always willing and able to at least acknowledge a reasoned opinion with which I do not necessarily agree. This is why I am quite comfortable agreeing with Bob on occasion, despite our many differences in the political arena.

[JK]

Well Henry (Bob),

Where I was personally referring was when I placed the comment [paraphrasing; I figger no need to hit the archives] to the effect that:

"Hell is freezing over."

Further I seem to recall, my observation arose from what I took to be your's and Bob's "common backgrounds/understandings" where either Science in general or maybe Theory in particular was concerned.

Whatever Henry. I'd rather figured the two of you would switch to autopilot, even in the event either of you'd stated, "The Earth is flat." Happily I discovered my figuring was, in a word, wrong.

I kinda get some degree of bliss out of, here on D&N, two of whom "I figgered" would never agree on any proposition.

Doubt I'll live long enough to see out of Pompous, any such satisfaction. The actuarials would seem to argue against such occurring.

(Besides - if such were to occur - that'd probably tip me off the edge anyway. No Pompous don't do it! I prefer to keep on thinking my best strategy'd be to keep out my skirmishers in the event Canada invades Arkansas.)

[Bob]

JK and Henry, I'm glad we've come to terms. Mature people should be able to discuss politics without all the rancor.

JK, while I'm at it I'll mention that yes, politicians have always lied, but they haven't always lied as often or outrageously. Seems to me we're in "interesting" times.

Henry, about that St. thing: If declared Venerable I will not run. If canonized I will not serve.

[JK]

Well Bob,

"[B]ut they haven't always lied as often or outrageously."

I'll skip over the first Adams/Jefferson campaign/administration and just hit a couple of my personal exceptions to the outrageous mention:

"He kept us out of war."

But my personal favorite:

“Four More Years of the Full Dinner Pail” ... don't know whether "A chicken in every pot" would actually qualify as a lie. Maybe a steal. I dunno.

[Bob]

JK,

Probably 20-40% of everything conventional politicians say is misleading or outright false (Nixon might have been an exception), but new territory is being covered now. The fact checkers say about 70% of Trump's statements are false, not just misleading. Here are some of the biggest whoppers:

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/byruling/pants-fire/

Btw, I do not hate Trump. I don't know the man and am not daft. Or at least I'd like to think I'm not.

[TheBigHenry]

JK (Bob),

I do remember your "Hell freezes over" remark and I know why that was your legitimate first reaction. When I first joined D&N, my initial impression was that Bob was a troll. For one thing, his politics appeared to be directly opposite to mine no matter what specifics were being discussed. For another, he admitted openly to treating arguments between him and David as "a sport".

But in time I came to the realization that he had reasoned opinions about other issues; even some that I could actually live with! So I decided to take him seriously on issues other than politics, on which topic he is completely wrong :)

[JK]

Well ... shall we three at least, so unusually finding ourselves in however each has in mind "coming to terms" conclude this here evening's production?

I just ate and I'm finding myself exceedingly tard.

(That Bob, is proper hillbillianese "tard" and as I'm satisfied far as Henry's fluency goes I'll tend to your'n later. "Far" however not to be confused with something too gooey.

Have a pleasant night Gentlemen.

[TheBigHenry]

JK,

Back atcha.

[Peter]

This is no doubt going to shock backofanenvelope but American and Canadian engagement in Europe was largely directed towards pulling your chestnuts out of the fire you put them in. But as far as being Airstrip One goes my understanding was planes can actually land in Europe. I am pretty sure, judging by the alarm shown by the British airline industry, that the next air war is going to be fought over arrival and departure slots in Europe. And they get to say who wins.

[Bob]

Henry,

Try to remember I "met" David on another blog on which he was a troll. He wasn't without a sense of humor, though, so we eventually had fun trading barbs.

[TheBigHenry]

Bob,

Acknowledged.