A politician states 'the bleedin' obvious'! And that, of course, can be very brave or very 'stoopid' - or both! I use the Americanism because the politician concerned is Rahm Emanuel who is, of course, 'Hizzonner' the Mayor of Chicago. I am grateful to my e-pal, 'Whitewall', who sent me a news report of the event which has now been picked up elsewhere. In effect, 'Hizzonner' suggested that the underlying cause of the insane murder and wounding rate in his city is due to the lack of discipline and family values in the mainly black under-class - WHODATHUNKIT? Well, most people actually who are not members of that particular social group! Needless to say, ten tons of brown stuff have been poured over his head and really, it couldn't happen to a nicer chap!
Aretha Franklin R.I.P. I know virtually nothing about the late Aretha Franklin and that includes her 'song book'. Of course, because of her death I have heard extracts on various media outlets but, alas and alack, 'I was not moved withal'! Her sort of gospel singing simply does not touch me and yes, I realise that might be my loss but there you go! Now, for me, there is no other than the late and truly great Ella Fitzgerald, she didn't just melt my heart, she made it dance!
Peter Hitchens lays about him with a 12" ruler: And quite right, too!
If, on social media, I point out (as I have done) that man went to the Moon in feet and inches (as he did), that Europe was liberated from Hitler yard by yard and mile by mile (as it was), while the fences of concentration camps were measured in metres and the rations in the gulag doled out by the gram and the litre (as they were), it takes days for the abusive fury of the metricators to die down.
I am asked constantly in shops whether I want a kilogram of this, or half a litre of that, and my reply is always the same, "Sorry, I don't speak the language."
H.M.S. 'Big Lizzie' sets sail for America: Ooops, sorry, Ma'am, that should have been H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, of course! By Brit standards this ship is 'yuuuuuuuge' so let us hope they do not park it next to one of those American behemoths because, for sure, the 'Big Don' will be tempted to tweet that his is bigger than ours! Also, I understand that they are going to land some aircraft on it so we must all pray that the zillion dollar waste of space does not turn topsy-turvy!
The mysterious Ms. Hathaway: That's Anne Hathaway, of course, who was lucky enough to marry naughty Master Shakespeare, er, she was lucky, wasn't she? Well of course she was because she ended up with the second biggest house in Stratford - what more could a wife wish for? Anyway, there has been a book published attempting to define her and her life but as we know absolutely zilch about her, I'm not sure how useful it is. You can read a review of it by Alex Colville at The Spectator.
A load of old historical blx! Via Zero Hedge there is one of the daftest conspiracy stories you could ever wish to avoid. It is all concerned with the late and totally unlamented Rudolph Hess who, in 1941, flew to Scotland and parachuted close to the estate of the Duke of Hamilton. Immediately, he was 'banged up' and remained so for the rest of the war before being returned to Germany for trial where he was 'banged up' for the rest of his life which, unfortunately, he voluntarily ended by hanging himself at the age of 93. Ever since, the conspiracy theorist nutters have attempted to blow the stone cold embers into flames - and have failed. Why do they bother?
No more rumbles today
My dear chap, if you must use these dreadful Americanisms at least spell them correctly. Hizzoner.
Posted by: Timbo | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 10:29
Sorry, sir, I'll hand in my 50 lines later on!
Posted by: David Duff | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 10:34
A tale of our times. A politician speaks the truth and gets crucified.
His error being essentially to sing the paises of family values.
His critics seem to think the fault lies with state for not bringing these kids up well.
The truth is of course that the state is largely responsible for the breakdown of most black families which lies behind so much of this misery. And is also responsible for prohibition which is another poisonous ingredient in the mix.
Posted by: Cuffleyburgers | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 12:52
HMS Queen Elizabeth has already been landing joint aircraft in the Baltic? Or was that another ship?
Posted by: Whitewall | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 13:44
David,
Now you should realize why I wrote "Ha!" when you described Emanuel as "left leaning". He's a conservative Democrat and always has been. He's also one of the most unpopular mayors Chicago has ever had, barely squeaking out re-election against a rival nearly no one had heard of.
And, by the way, there are still 7 US cities with higher murder rates than Chicago's, including two with rates twice as high. The mayors of those, Lyda Krewson of St. Louis and Catherine Pugh of Baltimore are also Democrats, and both cities also have substantial black populations. Somehow, though, they don't get mentioned constantly in right wing talking points. Hmmmm. Why is Chicago not like the others? Could the difference be a certain ex-president didn't start out in politics in either of those cities?
If you're wondering, the answer is "yes".
Posted by: Bob | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 14:40
Cuffleyburgers above is exactly right. The break down in black families was done deliberately in the 1960s which set up the social tragedy of today. It is a break down of family values. No child is born evil. Circumstances created by adults...some well meaning, but most more politically devious have caused this murderous epidemic. Bob is right in that Chicago grabs the headlines because of their mayor and other cities have higher rates than Chicago. But this phenomenon is occurring in cities across America with large black and Hispanic populations for the same reasons. In my region, this murder goes on weekly in cities with low populations of 18k-25k total population. The American southeast holds roughly half the black population and thus most of the black on black murders, but our region accounts for a larger toll than major cities run for decades by only Democrat mayors.
To begin stopping this epidemic of soulless murder, the truth of its root cause must be told and retold. Rahm's 'sin' of speaking it must be repeated.
Posted by: Whitewall | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 15:04
Black families were deliberately broken down by slavers beginning in the early 17th century in the Jamestown, Virginia colony, which also explains why the Southeast still has the largest concentration of black population. Slave families were literally separated when forced to breed on demand and when members were put on the auction block.
Of course the amorality of these practices helped lead to our Civil War. Following that, though ex-slaves were technically free, Jim Crow laws kept them segregated into second-class citizenship and poverty.
The 1960's Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts ended Jim Crow laws in name. However, attacks on voting rights and disparities in education, hiring practices and treatment by law enforcement continue.
Posted by: Bob | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 15:27
Bob, good points though they 'hopscotch' a bit. I know much deeper detail and may tell it sometime. None of this explains the same problem in the Hispanic community.
David, "Why do they bother?" About every two years, a tv program will pop up on the History Channel where some mysterious sighting of an escaped Nazi will be shown without showing anything after all these years.
Posted by: Whitewall | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 16:49
Whitewall,
I'm sure you know much more about history than the above, which was only intended to make a single point, really. The status of Hispanics in America is a lot more complicated, but we can speculate there are some major events behind the social friction. The disputed territories and Mexican-American War, the Cuban Revolution and American business and military intervention across Central and South America being big factors.
More recently the so-called "War on Drugs" and fact that Hispanics have grown from about 6% of the population in 1980 to 18% in 2015 makes them more of a concern to some people. Also, it's been common for both Mexicans and Americans to subjugate Mexican migrant and maquiladora workers. To really explore the subject would take an essay and, as much as I like David, he doesn't pay well enough.
Posted by: Bob | Sunday, 19 August 2018 at 19:22