Yes, yes, I know I'm a bit late and you're right, I did have a bit of a lay in this morning but now I have to go off and visit an elderly (ie: even older than me!) relative in her nursing home, so you will have to wait for 'the full Monty'. However, here is an opening 'rumble':
Another total tit runs our armed forces: Dammit, 'SoD' beat me to this one in a comment below but I will have my say. The "total tit" concerned is Mr. Gavin Williamson MP, a young greaser with ambitions far beyond his capabilities who is, God help us, our shiny new Defence Secretary and who insists that he will put the 'Great' back into 'Great Britain' by opening bases round the world. By golly, that will have 'Vlad' shaking in his snow boots, and it will certainly wipe that smug smile off the face of Comrade Xi Jinping-Pong, the 'Dear Leader' of China Inc. Or not!
All this 'whizzy-do stuff' is doin' my 'ead in! Mr. Jeremy Warner, always a shrewd observer, explains some of the impact of the electronic technology revolution which is upending our world as we once knew it. Mind you, it has happened before. I have just finished the chapter in my 'History of England from the Romans to Today' which covers the industrial revolution of the 19th century. Now that really shook things up, not just here but all round the globe. Time to fasten your seat belts!
I couldn't resist nicking this:
Image by Richard Terrell of Aftermath
My thanks to The American Thinker.
"Six Minutes in May":
Written by Nicholas Shakespeare tells the extra-ordinary circumstances in which Churchill became Prime Minister. It opens with 'Winnie' in the Admiralty facing the chances of a German invasion of Norway. The German plan was locked as tight as possible but even so various hints and surmises leaked out.
Made aware of these rumours, British Intelligence dismissed them. As late as 8 April, Military Intelligence issued a paper, 'The Possibilities of German Action against Scandinavia' which 'did not support any probability of a Scandinavian invasion'. At the Admiralty, Capt. Ralph Edwards, the new Deputy Director of Operations (Home) recorded in his diary that the German military chiefs would never allow such 'a mad expedition to sail'.
So no change there then! And yes, some of you may remember that I was once a proud member of British Intelligence despite only being a Corporal. Mind you, Hitler was only a Corporal, too!
I may have to murder Hercule Poirot: I may have mentioned before that the 'Memsahib' is a great fan of TV murder mysteries and so far over the Xmas period Channel 10 has featured non-stop murders most of them investigated by that fat, short-arsed Belgian with the irritating accent. I have watched so many of them, so many times, that I practically know the scripts off by heart! Thus, it may be necessary for me to devise a cunning plan that would fool even Poirot himself and 'off him' once and for all! Alternatively, of course, it may have to be the 'Memsahib' I see to but the problem there is that she is an excellent cook! What's a fella to do?
No more rumbles
Well it is odd that just about all of us in the West worry about the capability of our respective armed forces against external threats. All the ships, planes, bombs and bullets combined can't change the fact that the Enemy of the West is already within each one of us and has grown stronger over the last few generations. The more disparate people we let in, the stronger this Enemy becomes. Without commonality there will be no comity. Bad ideology and bad policy run by a corrupt self dealing political class that seems Hell bent on cultural destruction as a virtue.
Posted by: Whitewall | Sunday, 30 December 2018 at 13:44
Wow. You realize tech has changed communications in fundamental ways. What's next, acceptance of human influence on climate?
Big changes have happened before, but that doesn't mean they're all equal. The industrial revolution played with our heads, but it wasn't specifically designed to play with our heads. There's a lot of sport made here about the Russian influence on the last American presidential election. All it displays is an incomplete understanding of how it worked.
It turns out that about 40% of what's on the internet is fake stuff being performed by bots (software robots). The best news reporting done on the subject recently was done by the NYT, which shall not be directly linked here. So, the American Libertarian magazine 'Reason' instead:
https://reason.com/blog/2018/12/27/on-the-internet-nobody-knows-youre-a-bot
You see, David, that explains one reason I like your old-fashioned blog. The commenters here are probably real to some extent. And you post stuff like that Pelosi illustration. It's impossible to look at without slapping a knee. Whatasensahuma!
Posted by: Bob | Sunday, 30 December 2018 at 18:33
Welcome to Zummerzet! ...
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/brexit-made-leave-uk-after-2352901
SoD
Posted by: Loz | Monday, 31 December 2018 at 08:16
"The commenters here are probably real to some extent."
Except for the one known as "Bob".
Posted by: backofanenvelope | Monday, 31 December 2018 at 08:56
As for murdering Poirot. I think you'll find the BBC did that with the dire ABC murders shown last week.
Posted by: Raymond Routledge | Monday, 31 December 2018 at 09:12
Welcome to Zummerzet!
The young lady will leave a definable country to return to just a continent? The same thing if I lived in Britain and decided not to return to the United States, a definable country, but return to North America.
Is there a legal route for someone like her to become a legal citizen of Great Britain? Not just deplaning at Heathrow and claiming 'well, here I am'.
I don't know the rules for British citizenship. It should be challenging and a bit difficult if done legally. Becoming a citizen should be regarded as a privilege, not an entitlement.
Posted by: Whitewall | Monday, 31 December 2018 at 11:59
SoD, it's her choice, so good luck to her.
By the way, I tried to cut that part of your other comment which contained a barely disguised obscenity but, alas, the whole comment disappeared. Will you ever learn?
Posted by: David Duff | Monday, 31 December 2018 at 12:14
Out of all of them, Amber Rudd is, was, and always will be, more than worthy of the "King Canute salute".
Shame you zapped the lot, it was a cracker, even if I say so myself.
Never mind, there's plenty more where that came from.
SoD
Posted by: Loz | Monday, 31 December 2018 at 15:19
"Except for the one known as "Bob"
We'll all admit "backofanenvelope" is much more convincing.
Posted by: Bob | Monday, 31 December 2018 at 19:35