DUFF & NONSENSE!

Farewell, Chuck, I salute you!

Alas, the death has been announced of one of my boyhood heroes, Chuck Yeager, the first man to 'break the sound barrier'.  As a 'nipper', I was fascinated by high speed planes and the race for one of them to travel faster than the speed of sound.  As The Telegraph puts it in its obit of this courageous man:

A B-29 bomber carried the X-1 26,000 feet (7,925 m) over California's Mojave Desert and let it go. Neither Yeager nor aviation engineers knew if the plane - or the pilot - would be able to handle the unprecedented speed without breaking up. But Yeager took the 31-foot X-1, powered by liquid oxygen and alcohol, to Mach 1.06, about 700 mph at 43,000 feet, as if it were a routine flight.

Later, I was 'gutted' to witness the death of another of my heroes, John Derry, the de Havilland test pilot, whose aircraft disintegrated after he broke the sound barrier at the Farnborough Air Show.  Truly brave men, all of them.

 

 

 

The (late) Sunday Rumble

God, life's boring!   Even so, as I have remarked before, many a time and oft (perhaps too oft!), sometimes boring is better than exciting!  Part of the problem for me in this 'Covid' era is that my scientific/medical knowledge is miniscule and even though, as my regular visitors will know, I am never averse to making a prat of myself on all sorts of subjects, virus behaviour, along with sub-atomic particle behaviour is way beyond my ken!  In these sorts of situations I simply dig in and keep my head down!

 

Next Tuesday's US election:  Yet another subject about which I have little to say - let alone forecast!  My sincere hope is that 'The Donald' will win, not because I am a great admirer of the buffoon but simply because an (un)Democrat regime would be a disaster!  Here's hoping!

 

I loathe and detest the National Trust!   'Back in the day', the 'Memsahib' was always eager to visit this or that stately, historic house most of which were run by the National Trust.  Not me!  I could only think of the families who had built them and lived in them for hundreds of years before being forced out by rapacious governments.  Today, The Mail reports that the jumped-up bureaucrat who runs the NT is determined to publicise any of the houses whose previous owners were associated in any way with the slave trade.  Well, I expect it gives the smug, stupid woman a warm glow of self-appreciation even if nobody but her and few Lefty twerps gives a toss!

 

Farewell, Sir Sean, and thank you:   I think that Sean Connery's performances as 'James Bond' were simply superlative!  There is no doubt that he looked the part of an exceedingly dangerous man and his growly, Scottish accent added to the menace.

 

No more rumbles

 

The Sunday Rumble: 25.10.20

Who messed with the clocks?   As if a shuffling, old, 81 year octogenarian wasn't confused enough, somebody's changed all the clocks!  I blame .................... (Fill in your choice!)

 

Brilliant news!   I'm reading again!  Well, it's brilliant for me but given that it is likely to provoke me to even more 'boring-snoring' commentary it may not be so good for you!  I don't know why a year or so ago I suddenly switched off from reading, any more than I know why, equally suddenly, yesterday I picked up a book and started again.  The book was simply the nearest to hand and it is a biography of Abraham Lincoln by Jan Morris.  He/she - yes, he/she is, or was, both despite fathering five children, is a well know writer but this is the first of her books that I have read.  So far I have only just reached Lincoln's 20th birthday but already, knowing (roughly) where he was to ascend, I am fascinated.  It helps that Ms. Morris writes impeccably clear English!

 

The real Boris, er, sort of:   And, unsurprisingly, he is simply ghastly!  That is according to Ms. Lynn Barber who has reviewed Tom Bower's just released, un-authorised biography of our very own 'Dear Leader':

Bower never quite states his own position on Boris, though he quotes zillions of his detractors. Max Hastings — perhaps regretting ever having launched Boris’s early success as a Brussels journalist — describes him as ‘a man of remarkable gifts, flawed by an absence of conscience, principle or scruple’. 

"There’s a pattern to Boris’s life: it’s the casual dishonesty, the cruelty, the betrayal, and beneath the betrayal the emptiness of real ambition: the ambition to do anything useful with office once it is attained."

What have we done to deserve such rat-bag, political leaders?

 

'Lord' Lewis Hamilton reaches the zenith:   Yes, I have promoted 'Lord' Hamilton from a mere Knighthood because today he has become the greatest racing-driver of all time - er, well, until some unknown lad who has barely learned to drive eventually reaches the F1 starting grid.  Whilst Lewis deserves his kudos, his Dad deserves his share.  It was his dedication to his son's early career that sent him on his way.

 

 

  No more Rumbles 

 

 

 

I felt a real prick yesterday!

No, no, no, I don't mean the obscene version of "prick", I mean the real thing, you know, that dreaded 'needle-thingie' that 'Nursie' has such delight in stabbing into your arm - or even more sensitive parts of your body!  So, yesterday, I had not one, not two but three pricks.  The first was inside my mouth - "Oh, the horror, the horror!" - as a Chinese lady dentist 'stuck it to me', so to speak, prior to yanking out one of my molars!  I know you will all be immensely proud of me because I didn't cry, honestly, Mummy!  Mind you, I never got a 'sweetie', either!  You just can't trust those Chinese!  Then it was off to 'Nursie' at my local doctor's surgery where for reasons I can't remember I received another two injections.  Again, no tears - and no sweetie either - typical NHS!

Actually, as an after-thought, isn't the hypodermic needle a superb invention.  We all take it for granted but who first dreamed it up?  And where would we be without it?

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 24.5.20

Cummings or goings!   The 'meeja' are swooning with joy and excitement over the fact that the PM's principal advisor, Dominic Cummings, took his wife and child 'ooop north' to live in a house close to his parents because they feared they might need child care support if they both fell foul of the 'dreaded lurgi'.  CUE: mass hysterics from press and Labour who, of course, don't give a stuff about this pandemic but do care deeply for big headlines and for the demise of Boris Johnson!

And another thing, Boris:   Sell off the BBC, or, if you can't get a decent price for it, then give it away!  It's expensive, it's product is mostly crap and it is definitely a rest home for Left-wingers!  And if they start charging OAPs like me for their garbage then you can forget my vote at the next election!

'Experts' turn on 'experts':   Why am I not surprised?  In a highly fluid condition like a pandemic by a hitherto unknown virus, everyone from presidents to epidemiologists, from prime ministers to maths swots, from journalists to know-nothing bloggers - and I heard that! - will offer their forecasts.  Who to believe?  None of them, although in the end, some of them might be right; instead just count the bodies and keep as clear as possible from strangers!

 

More Rumbles later . . .

 

 

 

The good news continues to seep through the doom 'n' gloom

For a start, the so-called Brexit 'talks' are hurtling towards a concrete wall.  Mainly, I suspect, because of the arrogance and stupidity of the EU's main, er, 'negotiator', M. 'Haughty-Toity' Michel Barnier.  He obviously exists in a parallel universe and seems to think that we are somehow on bended knees to gain favours.  Obviously, no-one has informed him that the British people voted, in a free and fair referendum, to leave the EU - end of! 

Meanwhile, the rule by 'experts' has taken a biff, bash and boff given the hilarious clowning by Boris's former favourite number-cruncher, Prof. Neil Ferguson and his, er, 'team' at Imperial College, London.  Quite apart from him breaking his own instructions by sneaking off for a furtive bonk with his lady friend, it now appears that all his sums were rubbish, too!  This criticism, of course, emanates from Oxford University who are no doubt eager to be acknowledged as the, er, 'real' experts in the field of number-crunching!

Meanwhile, the entire country has been subject to a gross limitation on its freedom, all at the behest of an 'expert'!

 

 

 

 

Once again, er, well, nearly always, I am indebted to my readers

Today it is one of my most regular of regular readers, 'Whitewall', who sends me a link to an exceedingly shrewd article entitled 'The Fallen State of Experts" by Roger Koppl at The Critic site.  It raises several questions the first being, in my personal case, why am I not a regular reader of this site?  Well, I will be from now on, so thanks, 'Whiters'!

I suspect that age has something to do with the amount of scepticism you have towards 'experts'.  The older you are the more experience you have in seeing 'experts' fall flat on their silly faces!  Even so, it is necessary to keep one's bravado in check because when the 'expert' concerned is, say, one's own doctor then it will take an exceedingly brave/stupid (you choose!) man to ignore his advice.

By and large, I do take experts fairly seriously especially if the subject is of exceeding importance.  Even so, whilst I may, reluctantly, follow their advice I do try to keep up with those damned "events, dear boy, events" in order to test their forecasts.  For example, this current 'covi -pandemic' requires no more evidence of its deadliness, however, it is necessary, whilst judging the world-wide effects, to set them in your local context.  'Down 'ere in zunny Zummerzet' the contagion has been minimal.  Consequently I do not follow blindly the instruction of the experts.  Were I to live in London - "Which thank the Lord I don't, Sir" - I would be more careful.

In other words, it is always neccessary to live - or die - by your own judgment!

 

 

 

Testing! Testing! Testing!

The entire country - or at least our 'ruling classes' and the 'meeja' - seem to be obsessed with testing, testing, testing for this damned 'virus-thingie'!  Why?  OK, if you feel ill then it is entirely reasonable to have a check-up to find out what it might be but if, like me, you are the usual rag-bag mix of 'aches 'n' pains' and 'twinges 'n' twangs' then what is the point of being tested?  For a start, it means going to a testing station where, obviously, there is a very much higher risk of mingling with people who already have the virus.  In my totally un-medically trained mind, the very last place to visit is a testing station!  In fact, just yesterday I was forced to visit my local surgery for my 3-monthly jabs for 'this, that 'n' the other'.  I was somewhat reluctant to go anywhere near a surgery but as I have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, one fear overcame the other fear and so I went.  Happily, the 'Nursie' was an intelligent lady and told me to wait outside in my car and she would wave me in when it was my turn. So, in I went, duly dropped my trousers and received 'a prick in the bum' - don't bother, I do the jokes round here!  Anyway, I remain convinced that my days will be ended by a No. 16 bus which, as a former bus-driver myself, is only right, fitting and proper!

 

 

 

Those 'Yerdie-durbles' really are as thick as that puppet chef on TV!

I was intrigued when Sweden ignored the rest of the world and invested the totality of its defences against Covid-D into the hands of their favoured medical guru!  In effect, he did 'a Cpl. Jones' and went around shouting "Don't panic! Don't panic!"  The smug Swedes followed his advice and smirked at the rest of us as we struggled with lock-downs.

Alas for them, the smirks have been wiped off as, according to The Telegraph, infections and deaths multiply:

Finland now counts 72 dead, Norway 150 and Denmark (the by far most densely populated Nordic country) 321. Sweden? 1333. (My emphasis)

What's the Swedish for 'Suckers'?

 

 

 

Well, it's not all bad news!

Yes, yes, I know that there are innumerable tragedies worldwide which, in my hopeless, useless way I really do regret but, even so, there is the odd bright spot which lightens the gloom.  For example, sports, arguably one of the greatest bores of the modern world, have been brought to a halt and I, for one, am grateful!

Also, 'social distancing' is now de rigour and as an elderly, grumpy 'old git' who positively avoids as much social inter-action as possible, I am delighted although, given my predilection, I barely notice the difference!  Going shopping into semi-deserted supermarkets where they count you all in one by one and then count you all out, is also a great improvement.  Mind you, it's a pity my local pub has closed because I do rather miss my once-a-week hour at The Tippling Philosopher with my amiable neighbour.

When it is all over, I really must mount my campaign for a statue to be erected in Trafalgar Square in honour of the man who invented the 'Kindle', truly the greatest invention in the history of Mankind!  Who was it, by the way?

 

Peter Hitchens should move to Sweden

Mr. Hitchens, unsurprisingly, was the lone voice in Britain warning us all that the government and its apparatchiks were getting it all wrong with their draconian, 'Big Brother' approach to dealing with this pandemic.  Happily, we have a real-life experiment taking place in 'Yerdie-Durble-Land' (a.k.a. Sweden) by which we can judge the outcomes of the two 'experiments'!

Today, in The Daily Telegraph, we have an informed view from Mr. Fraser Nelson, the editor of the world's greatest weekly magazine - and y'all know what that is! - and it is worth reading because, his wife being Swedish, - lucky fella'! - he has intimate knowledge of the country.  

There is, still, no lockdown there. Shopping centres remain open, as are most schools and firms. Many work from home, many don’t – all are at liberty to choose. When I called a friend in Stockholm to ask about the Swedish experiment, he was on his way to a book launch. He’s still taking his sons to football matches and is proud that Sweden is keeping calm and carrying on. To him there is no Swedish experiment: it’s the rest of Europe that is experimenting – by locking down economies in response to a virus which may prove to be no more deadly than flu.

Crikey!  Anyone know what the Swedish is for 'hoodathunkit? 

Whoever wins this 'argument' it is worth remembering that in the beginning Boris stuck to his libertarian principles and held out for Swedish-style laissez-faire, until a report from the 'brain boxes' at Imperial College London warned that such an approach would lead to a holocaust.  When considering the pros and cons of this debate it is worth acknowledging the colossal financial Armageddon that will face this country over the coming years - and guess who will have to pay!  On the other hand, there is the (final) price that will be paid by 'zillions' of ordinary people depending on which strategy is adopted.

Pity the poor politicians - oh go on, try!

 

 

Watch the 'Yerdie-durbles'!

There is always something intrinsically eccentric about the 'Yerdie-durbles', a.k.a.: the Swedes.  For a start, there is their incomprehensible language with which one puts up if only because their girlies are delicious and their schnapps is pretty good, too!  

I am also admiring - albeit from a distance! - their eccentric approach to this damned, impertinent virus.  Unlike the rest of us who have submitted without a murmur to draconian 'rules 'n' regs' imposed by our governments of which 'Big Brother' would be proud, the 'Yerdie-durbles' simply said the equivalent of 'Bollocks to the Bishop' and continued blithely on their way.

Does anybody know the Swedish for "Good luck with that one!"?

 

 

 

So, what is there to say . . . ?

'Sweet Fanny Adams' is the only answer I can come up with which is absolute torture for a self-important, opinionated, old bore like me!  Politics has withered on the vine and the only subject of what passes for news these days is that damned 'bugaboo' which dominates all the headlines.  Even so, there was one small headline in The Telegraph that caught my eye this morning.  They are running a daily total of infection and death stats in the UK.  Are you ready for a shock?  Then read this:

Total Infections in the UK:  1543

Total deaths in the UK:  55

Eh?  What?  Is that all?  But I was expecting to have to step over the bodies in the streets when I next ignore Boris's order for me not to leave my home because I'm 80 years of age!  (Oh yes, Boris, and are you going to do my shopping for me?  Thought not!)  I urge you all to read Gavin Mortimer's excellent piece at The Spectator today in which he revisits Samuel Pepys' plague diaries of 1655.  Now, that was a proper plague and a half!  Don't worry, you won't catch anything!

 

 

 

"Don't panic, Capt. Mainwaring!"

'Thus spake' the ineffable 'Cpl Jones' always as a prelude to him taking off in a welter of panic!  Happily - so far! - there appears to be little sign of panic amongst my fellow subjects despite the floods of grim warnings rising upwards above our ankles.  'If the bugs don't get'cha then the market crash will!' seems to be the favourite song of the moment.  Even so, as I look about me, I see no signs of panic - yet! - and I hope and believe that the phlegmatic will win over the panic!

The only appropriate tune to whistle as we, so to speak, 'dodge the bullets' is, of course, "Que sera sera", what will be, will be!  Just do the sensible things and follow the advice of the medical experts - not because they are always right but the chances are that they know better than anyone else!  So far, it seems to me, Boris has hit exactly the right note - truthful but calm and sensible.

Well done, Boris, it is not usually your lip that is renowned for its stiffness but keep it up!

 

 

Do pay attention, Donald, or this virus could bite you in the bum!

I have a strong suspicion that the President's knowledge of bacterial science is very near to my own which is, of course, miniscule - in fact tinier than one of those damned, pesky 'bugaboos' that bite you - or do something! - and then kill you!  I cannot think of a quicker way to nod off to sleep than attending a lecture on the subject!  Even so, Mr. President - and the same thing applies to you Boris! - it is absolutely crucial that you seek and follow advice from the best 'brainiacs' in the bacterial world.  

If the response to this threat is mishandled the results might be devastating, not just for the 'Peeps' who catch it but even more so for you, Mr. President, and the remainder of your single-term presidency!  Of course, 'as any fule do no', the likely cretins to replace you as President in November are even dimmer than you and likely to make an even bigger hash of it than you could manage but that will not deter the 'Peeps' from exacting their revenge!  Of course, for some time there will be no means of stopping the infection spread dead in its tracks but even so you must be seen to be active and intelligent in the way you lead your country in dealing with it.

Cut back on the 'honkin' 'n' hootin'' and the golf and demonstrate that you are applying a firm and reasoned grip!

 

 

For God's sake, America, get a grip of your (non)judicial courts!

I have, many a time and oft', taken a swipe at what is laughingly known as the American 'justice' system - and yes, I know ours isn't that terrific but, by and large, bit by bit, it gets on with it and comes to a decision.  Not so 'over there'!  

It is now nearly ten years - TEN YEARS! - since that global warming fraudster, Michael E. Mann began legal proceedings against the National Review [NR] magazine (and Mark Steyn) when they published criticism of his so-called 'scientific proof' that the world was warming. 'Prof.' Mann instantly re-acted with a legal attack against both which, interestingly, both recipients eagerly awaited their day in court.  It's a good job they didn't hold their breath waiting because, as the NR makes clear, nothing, absolutley nothing, has moved on in the glutinous swamp that is the American court system.  As the NR puts it:

A few days before launching his lawsuit against what he called “this filthy organization,” Michael Mann wrote that there “is a possibility that I can ruin National Review.” Nearly a decade later, we are still fighting his attempt to do precisely that.

[…]

We’ve said we’d use every tool and argument at our disposal to defeat Mann, and that’s what we’ve done. Mark Steyn posted the blog item in dispute in July of 2012. Mann sued in October of that year, and we filed our first motion to dismiss in December of 2012.

When that was denied by the trial court, we filed a motion to reconsider. When that, too, was denied, we appealed to the D.C. Court of Appeals — twice. This brings us to 2014. After oral arguments, the Court of Appeals sat on the case for two years. Then, the court denied our appeal. This was in December of 2016. Because the opinion had myriad obvious flaws, we petitioned for a rehearing. Incredibly enough, the court then delayed for yet another two years. When the court finally issued an amended opinion, all it did was add one footnote and amend another.

In some desperation - and who can blame them? - the NR reaches for a Churchillian quotation to express its rage at the utter uselessness of the American courts:

So far, the courts have, to quote Churchill, elected to “go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.” They brushed past the anti-SLAPP statute that was designed to prevent this from happening. Our hope is that the same won’t happen with Section 230, which is also meant to protect the free-speech rights of online publishers.

It is a matter of considerable irony that the only “malice” that the discovery process has uncovered is that exhibited by Michael Mann. When planning his suit, Mann described National Review as a “threat to our children,” beholden to “greedy fat cat corporate masters.” His stated intention was to bring us “down for good.” Needless to say, this is not how a country with a First Amendment or a culture of free speech is supposed to work. It’s past time that this suit is dismissed as incompatible with both, and a failure on the facts and the law.

For Gods sake America, get a grip, I'm losing faith in you!  This might happen in Russia but . . . !  And I bet Atticus Finch didn't have to put up with that sort of terminal sloth in his court!

 

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 02.02.20

Peter Hitchens is spot on:   Because Hitchens writes a column for the Mail on Sunday, his opinions are frequently repeated here - well, waddya expect from me - originality? - so today I have decided to quote one of his comments in full:

When a man tried to steal one of the few copies of Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral, it was lucky that American tourists were on hand to help catch him.

Americans still revere our great charter. Most British people these days have never even heard of it, and would respond to cries of ‘He’s trying to steal Magna Carta!’ by asking: ‘Trying to steal what?’ 

Once again, I am happy to say, 'God bless America'!

 

There will be no change to EU hostility:   I don't altogether blame them, after all, we did walk out of their, er, 'exclusive' club!  However, if you think, or hope, that now we are gone, relations will improve - 'faggetaboutit'!  If anything, their venom will increase and the chances of a trade deal are minimal and shrinking.  In fact, they will take every opportunity to inflict damage upon us and I trust that 'DomBo' are busy preparing for WTO trading arrangements.  Mind you, I suspect that 'les euros' do not quite understand the damage we could return on them, were we so minded!

 

Bercow keeps on digging:   According to The Mail, Bercow has claimed that he was the target of anti-Semitism by Tory MPs but never by the Labour party whose anti-Semitism is public knowledge.  Also, he claims Boris cheated at a tennis match between them although, given that Bercow won 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, it doesn't look as though Boris was very good at it! 

 

Jeremy Clarke moans about Heathrow:  In this week's 'Speccie' he re-iterates its many faults, most of which I recognised decades ago when I lived near the dump!  When, eventually, I moved 'down 'ere to zunny Zummerzet', I made use of Bristol Airport which, by comparison, was delightful.  But bloody-bloody time moved on and a few years ago I realised that it had become a mini-Heathrow.  It was about then that I decided never to fly abroad again - EVER!

 

So-called "Smart Motorways":   For the benefit of my foreign visitors, on British motorways always - but ALWAYS - the inner lane is reserved for broken down cars and their unfortunate passengers thus allowing other cars to whizz by at speed.  Then some mentally retarded 'pen-pusher' decided that because the motorways were becoming so crowded, the inside 'safety lane' should be opened for normal traffic.  I'm not sure what the death toll is so far but it is mounting.  Perhaps we could tie that retard to a rubber post in the 'new' lane and see how long he lasts!

 

'Kindle':   The greatest invention ever - until the "Beam me up, Scotty" device is perfected!  As an almost non-stop reader, I still cannot quite believe that I can carry around with me 50+ books in a tiny plastic case which fits into my pocket.  Hoorah for the 21st century and all those four-eyed 'wierdoes' who put it together.

 

Islamist nutters:   They really are as 'thick as planks'!  I mean, time after time they choose the dimmest, most useless ways to slaughter us non-Muslims and end up dead themselves.  Is Mohammed impressed?  I doubt it!

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

Good to see you again, Mr. Fumento!

A pleasant surprise for me today to come across Mr. Michael Fumento again after many years.  Described in The American Thinker today as a "master debunker", I will never forget his lonely tirade against the massed ranks of the 'PC brigade' back in the days of AIDS.  Desperate to avoid pointing fingers at homosexuals the mainstream 'meeja' twisted themselves in knots to emphasise that AIDS was as much a heterosexual disease as a homosexual one in order to avoid accusing careless and promiscuous homosexuals.

Virtually alone, it was Fumento who 'stated the bleedin' obvious', that if you make a regular habit of inserting your penis, without protection, into the anal passages of numerous men on a regular basis, you are likely, eventually, to catch a very nasty disease!  Cue an avalanche of hostile, or perhaps 'hysterical' is a better word, attacks against him from the 'PC brigade'.  In the end, particularly in medical/scientific matters, 'Truth will out" and he was right and the homosexual lobby was wrong!

Apparently, he is now commenting on this new virus attack emanating from China and is attempting to insert some facts into the hysterical garbage that is already mounting.  Well done, Mr. Fumento!

 

 

I have been waiting patiently for this!

Like everyone else I have been shocked and worried by the Australian bush fires calamity.  I had my suspicions - based on nil expertise! - but kept them to myself.  Today, they are confirmed by an article at The American Thinker from which I will quote extensively but urge you to read the whole thing - particularly if you are Australian!

No one denies the fires were made worse by dry conditions resulting from a drought and record hot temperatures. But, as measured by the amount of forestland destroyed, the 18 million acres for this year’s fires pale in comparison to the 290 million acres burned to the ground during the 1974 bushfire season. That’s equivalent to the size of France, Portugal and Spain combined, and the 1974 fires occurred years before anthropogenic global warming theory suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the 1980s. 

Of course, bush fires have occurred in Australia with regularity for millennia and long before Europeans moved in.  

According to Australian forester and former acting fire control officer Ian McArthur, climate change did not cause the current crisis:

“Long unburnt fuels [dead trees, tall grass, undergrowth, etc.] in national parks are the primary cause. Basic fire management states that a fire needs oxygen, a heat source and fuel. The only one of those that can be manipulated is fuel. The more fuel, the more intense the fire, the harder it becomes to suppress the fire.”

There is nothing anyone can do about two of the three essential elements of these wild fires - heat and oxygen.  However, there is much that can be done about the third essential ingredient, fuel i.e. dead trees, tall grass, undergrowth, etc.  

In commenting on the cause of the fires, Ms. Devine wrote that “blaming climate change is a cynical diversion from the criminal negligence of [Australian jurisdictions] which tried to buy green votes by locking up vast tracts of land as national parks, yet failed to spend the money to control ground fuel and maintain fire trails.” (Fire trails are roads built in forests to provide emergency access to firefighting equipment and personnel.) [My emphasis]

At this point, 'enter stage Left', and I do mean 'Left', the 'Greenie Brigade'!

Burning ground fuel in the cooler months was standard fire prevention practice, until progressive bureaucrats in Australia’s state and federal governments began vigorously opposing controlled burns in the name of “biodiversity.” According to Frank McKee, senior fire control officer in Boyne Valley, it’s next to impossible to get all government departments to agree to hazard reduction burns on state-owned land. “You have to jump through hoops so high it’s ridiculous,” McKee said.

'It's the same the whole world over', well, as far as California, anyway:

Unless natural ground fuel sources are controlled, there’s not much that can stop a wildfire from consuming vast tracts of wooded land during hot, dry and windy conditions. (That’s a major reason the recent wildfires in California were so devastating: in support of “biodiversity,” a succession of Democrat governors created an inferno-in-waiting by refusing to clear the state’s forests of an estimated 130 million dead trees.) [My emphasis]

My advice to my 'Aussie mates'  is quite simple - burn as many 'Greenies' as you can, er, but only in the wet season!

 

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 26.01.20

A cheerful start - for a change!   Until this morning I had never heard of 'The Windermere Children' but apparently it is the subject of a programme on BBC2 tomorrow night.  It tells the story of 300 or so Jewish children rescued from German concentration camps at the end of the war and relocated to a new camp near Windermere in the Lake District.  Gradually they were rehabilitated mentally and physically following the unspeakable horrors through which they had - just! - managed to survive.  You can read about it here:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/the-true-story-of-the-ww2-holocaust-survivors-who-became-the-windermere-children/ar-BBZkPGS?ocid=spartanntp

 

Go, Rupe, baby, go!   Excellent news this morning  to the effect that my 'ex-Best Friend Rupe' Murdoch is planning to open a new radio station to compete with the BBC's Radio4.  Yes, I know the ads will be irritating but I would rather put up with them than listen to the tendentious, 'woke' crap that emanates from Radio4.  Incidentally, 'Rupe' is my best ex-best friend because years ago he ramped up the price of his TV news channel forcing me to leave.

 

The 'Heffalump' in praise of John Profumo:   He, of course, was the naughty boy caught out in the early '60s for his dalliance with the equally naughty Christine Keeler.  I always remember him because, before his fall from grace, I actually met him - for about 3.5 seconds!  I was in a bed in the RAF hospital in Bahrein - no, no, not sick, just skiving and making the most of the most minor of injuries - and as Minister for War he was inspecting the base.  Anyway, he shook hands and wished me well.  I mention all this because the 'Heffalump' has a kindly and forgiving article about the man in The Telegraph today.  Profumo,  was blessed with a superb and wise wife in the form of the film actress Valerie Hobson.  Whatever else, you have to say that he had good taste in women!

 

Oh dear, when 'allies' fall out!   I am a regular follower of both The American Thinker site and The National Revue site.  Between them they give me a Conservative overview of the American political scene.  The Thinker from a very pro-Trump point of view and the NR from a much more doubting and critical standpoint.  Today, The Thinker takes a swipe at The Revue and thus neatly summarises the divide in the conservative view of President Trump.

 

I told you they were 'psycho-babblers'!    For years now I have sneered at what I always refer to as "psycho-babblers".  I am not suggesting that everything they say is tripe, for example, there are, I believe, broad categories of mental states that can - with care! -  be grouped together to aid recognition and to allow some serious scientific enquiry and even treatment.  However, much of what is spouted on the subject is self-serving crap!  Take for example the late David Rosenhan, a 'psycho-babbler' of the first order, as detailed in a book review in this week's Spectator.  Read it and weep!  That phoney Freud has much to answer for.

 

'Theodore Dalrymple' gives Prince Harry a slap:   The volume of words spewed forth in recent weeks since the birth of Harry's and Meghan's son is monumental.  As you would expect, most of it was piffle but thanks to 'TakiMag' the shrewd and highly intelligent 'Dr. Dalrymple' has published his take, not on the birth itself but on the name chosen by his parents for the new 'nipper' - Archie.  Even I, resolutely uninterested as I am in the doings of this, er, particular family, raised an eyebrow when it was announced.  As per usual, Dr. Dalrymple puts what pass for my thoughts into clear, straightforward words.  Give it a read!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble 12.1.20

In which Peter Hitchens agrees - with me!   Well, obviously, that is a whopping great misdirection - or lie, if you prefer! - but I can with accuracy say that in his column today he repeats sentiments expressed by me a few days ago.  I expressed my hope that Labour would succeed in ridding itself of the ignorant loonies who infiltrated it and then took it over completely.  It is critically important because, like every other democracy, we need a functioning opposition, never more so than now when we have a government run by the, er, eccentric 'Boris & Dom' team.  Get a grip Labour and get your act back together!

 

Poor Harry, the Prince who chose exile:   Or, to be more accurate, perhaps, the Prince who was nagged into exile!  Alas, I fear an Edward/Wallis Simpson future for him.  On the surface, no doubt, it will be very exotic as he and Meghan 'cruise' the 'sleb' circuit, well, to begin with, anyway. But "that old common arbitrator Time/ Will one day end it".  Looks and youth will fade, money will shrink, invitations will wither; new, fresher, younger 'slebs' will capture the headlines and then the dread question will be asked - "Meghan who?"

 

More Hitchens!    And no, I am not apologising because he is a writer I much admire.  Today, in The Mail, he demands to know what has happened to the film "An Officer And A Spy" based on the superb novel by Robert Harris which detailed the disgusting campaign which eventually brought down Alfred Dreyfus, a totally innocent French army officer who just happened to be Jewish.  The film won 'yuuuuuge' plaudits when released but then more or less disappeared.  Mr. Hitchens suggests that the fact that it was directed by Roman Polanski, a self-confessed paedophile, is the main reason for its banishment from our screens but he also points out that if we are to be denied access to artistic creations simply on the basis of the artists' disgusting behaviour then we will lose a lot;

If so, what should the BBC do about the sculptures by Eric Gill, which adorn its London HQ? Gill’s sexual crimes were so horrible that I will only say they included incest.

As for the much admired surrealist painter Salvador Dali, his private life (by his own account) was cruel and disgusting beyond belief. Should his pictures be removed from the world’s galleries?

Whilst we wait for commonsense to apply, read Harris's book - it is superb!

 

Taki is still a very naughty boy!   As I keep telling you every time I mention his name.  To be fair, this time it is one of the writers at his magazine who is the naughty one.  I refer to Mr. Jim Goad (No, me neither!) who has provided us all with his choice of the 19 most annoying people of 2019.  To give you the flavour, this is his view of #1: Pete Buttigieg, a 'wannabe' Presidential candidate:

1. PETE BUTTIGIEG
Hey, it’s “Mayor Pete”! He’s the first millennial homosexual mayor ever to make a serious bid for a major party’s nomination. He has never had an original idea in his life, and the only reason he’s gained any traction is because he’s an anus-nuzzling bone-polisher. Blacks don’t like him, Hispanics don’t like him, and radical homos think he’s too boring. Whenever this smarmy little vole starts pontificating about some policy issue or another, all the entire world can think about is that later tonight, he’ll be batting around his husband’s testicles as if they were ping-pong balls and his tongue was a paddle.

Er, well, yes, if you say so Mr. Goad!

 

Look but don't touch!   There is a very 'swotty' article in The Telegraph which suggests that just looking at something alters its state of being.  This might help to explain it for y'all.  

 

Oh, come along, do buck up, it's all very simple really. If you are not sure whether something is a particle or a wave, just look at it!  See?  That quantum physics is dead easy, really!

 

Sound the trumpets, beat the drums!   It looks as though ex-Cpl. Duff might be re-joining the Colours.  Apparently, our (so-called) Ministry of Defence has let it be known that they wish to attract old soldiers back to military service.  They are desperately short of recruits, mainly, I guess, because the delicate youngsters of today are failing to volunteer.  Anyway, I stand ready to return, er, just so long as someone can give me a hand with my back-pack, allow me time for a nap in the afternoon and bring me a hot cocoa at bedtime.

 

No more rumbles

 

 

I am a self-confessed ignoramus!

'Waddya mean ya noo already!'  I have confessed on these pages before the sad fact that after five years in senior school I failed my maths, physics and chemistry exams.  I never saw my actual marks but my guess is that they were atrocious!  I would like to blame my teachers but the fact is that it was my inability to concentrate for more than 5 nano-seconds at a time.  Even so, it is curious that long after I had left school, I suddenly became utterly fixated on quantum physics.  I read - or, to be honest, tried to read - as many books as I could get on the weird and wonderful world that (sort of) exists at the sub-atomic level and even volunteered to attend lectures on the subject.

Of course, eventually I let the subject drop because it began to seem like reading Shakespeare in Chinese!  In the end, we all have to admit our limitations.  However, this afternoon the ashes of my previous fascination were rekindled by a superb essay at The Times Literary Supplement by Samuel Graydon - and 'no', me neither!  Whoever he is, I can tell you that he is a superb writer on what is, not very arguably, the most hideously difficult subject in the world!  Suddenly, all those names I sort of 'hero-worshipped' back in the day as I struggled to make sense of their phenomanally complex theories, came back to me.  What can I say except, 'Sorry, chaps, but I did try'.  Sometimes, just for a split micro-second I would understand and be truly amazed but then - bingo! - it would go, sometimes at the speed of light.

Even so, I urge y'all to give Mr. Graydon's essay a read and just see if 'it presses your buttons', too!

 

 

 

 

Another good reason to privatise the BBC

Well, the number of good reasons to privatise the BBC grows exponentially but Matt Ridley adds a few more.  Did you know, for example, that there is a BBC rule that if anyone on air suggests that global warming is tosh then a global warming mouth-dribbler MUST be given a following slot.  In Mr. Ridley's example, he was invited on to the Today programme when Charles Moore was guest editor for one day.  Mr. Ridley's well-supported scorn for global warming nonsense is well known so he was followed on air by Sir David King, former government chief science advisor. As Mr. Ridley points out, Sir David is a qualified chemist, while he is a qualified biologist!

I sat there open-mouthed as he beautifully demonstrated my point with one exaggeration after another. He said that Europe’s dash for diesel had nothing to do with greens, when green pressure groups pushed actively for it. He said that we will see 1-2 metres of sea level rise this century, when the current rate of rise is 3.4 millimetres a year with no acceleration (or 0.3 metres per century). He said that all of Greenland’s ice cap might melt and could cause 5-6 metres of sea level rise, though at current rates of melting, Greenland’s ice cap will be 99% intact in 2100. He said that wild fires were being caused by trees dying out because of rising temperatures, rather than a failure to manage increasingly luxuriant vegetation in fire-risk areas leading to a build up of tinder. He said scientists are agreed that Calcutta will have to be moved, when the Ganges delta is actually expanding in area, not shrinking.

And so on and on and on and it is not confined just to Sir David and the BBC:

What readers of newspapers and listeners to the radio do not see is the sustained and deliberate pressure put on editors to toe the alarmist line on climate change. Take Bob Ward, who works at the London School of Economics, where his salary is paid by a billionaire, Jeremy Grantham. Ward is not employed to do research, but to “communicate” climate science. He chooses to interpret this as a duty to put pressure on the media to censor people like me. He complains to the Times almost every time I mention climate change, often getting his facts wrong, and kicked up a huge fuss when the Times, after publishing half a dozen of his letters declined to publish another one.

I am shocked, I tell you, shocked that the Maldives have the effrontery to continue to exist years and years after the 'experts' told them they were doomed.  Then there was that total prat, Paul R. Erhlich, who used to feature constantly in these, er, distinguished columns, who warned, with my emphasis:

“The battle to feed all of humanity is over.” He later went on to forecast that hundreds of millions would starve to death in the 1970s, that 65 million of them would be Americans, that crowded India was essentially doomed, that odds were fair “England will not exist in the year 2000.” Dr. Ehrlich was so sure of himself that he warned in 1970 that “sometime in the next 15 years, the end will come.” By “the end,” he meant “an utter breakdown of the capacity of the planet to support humanity.”

Well, England is still here and, amazingly, so is Dr. Erhlich!  Mind you, for a full-on 'gloomster-doomster' of the first order, he did provide us all with a huge laugh when he accepted a bet with Julian Simon which you can read about on Erhlich's Wiki entry and which he lost - BIG TIME!

The real threat to all of us are 'experts'!

 

 

 

 

Australia! Make this man your Prime Minister!

I refer, of course, to Mr. Craig Kelly (and no, hitherto, me neither!) who is a Member of your House of Representatives.  This exceedingly diligent and sharp-eyed fella' has just caught out your tax-payer funded 'Greenie collective', aka: Bureau of Meteorology in outright lies.  According to the ever diligent Mr. Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker this 'collective of lying liars' have been

. . . altering graphs showing the number of very hot days so as to obscure the fact that 1952 had more of them than recent years and adding a newly "discovered" hot day to a more recent year to make it appear that they are increasing.

 

 

But, hey, with a few adroit clicks on their 'lying-liar, do-flicker-thingie', they changed the story to fit their own agit-prop:

 

 

I would suggest to my Aussie friends that they now raise the temperature at their 'Bureau of Make-it-up-as-you-go Meteorology' by burning it to the ground!

NOTE:  Don't worry, your usual Sunday Rumble will follow when I have had some 'brekkers' and sorted out all these bloody clocks which seem to have gone wrong overnight! 

 

 

 

There are lying-liars and then there are global warming so-called scientists

As if anyone, apart from poor, dim, Greta Thunberg, needed reminding that all allegedly 'scientific' statistics confirming alarming increases in global temperature should taken, not with a pinch of salt, but a bucket full!  Especially so if you are relying on the 'Environment Canada' outfit who give every appearance of being manned by graduates from the University of East Anglia (UEA) who were caught a few years back tossing out any stats which failed to support their theory that the end of the world is nigh!  

According to Mr. Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker site "mere actual, historical data that might raise doubt about the extent of purported warming over time must be thrown out and replaced by “models” of what the “scientists” think the historical temperature record must have been. [My emphasis]  

Thanks to the persistent investigation of a Canadian reporter we learn:

Canadians already suspicious of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax are likely be even more suspicious given a report by Ottawa-based Blacklock’s Reporter that Environment Canada omitted a century’s worth of observed weather data in developing its computer models on the impacts of climate change.

The scrapping of all observed weather data from 1850 to 1949 was necessary, a spokesman for Environment Canada told Blacklock’s Reporter, after researchers concluded that historically, there weren’t enough weather stations to create a reliable data set for that 100-year period.

You couldn't make it up - although they can - and do!

 

 

 

Now, about this 'God thing' . . .

My e-pal Malcolm Pollack posted an interesting comment following my idle words on the subject of religious belief - and my total lack of it!  Anyway, it has provoked me into further thoughts on, er, well, the beginning of it all!

'In the beginning', to quote a phrase, there was nothing - or to put that more clearly, there was 'no thing' of any sort, either material or immaterial in the sense of forces such as energy, gravitation, heat and light, etc.

Then there was something, and again to make that clear, suddenly there was 'some thing', although exactly what it was I do not know, particle or energy, you choose!

Needless to say, it is impossible to define the prime cause for the sudden appearance of 'some thing' but obviously it must have been something of super-human power and once 'created' it was a case of "Hey-ho and off to the races!"

Eventually, after a few zillion-trillion years during which all those naughty particles were pushed and pulled this way and that by those damned restless energies, disaster struck - Mankind developed!

Almost immediately - well, not really "immediately" because nothing in this long-winded tale is immediate, Man began to fashion ideas to explain the apparent 'miracle' of it all.  These ideas stemmed partly from observation and experience, and partly from all sorts of other motives ineluctably linked to the exceedingly complex nature of Man.  Because so many of the facets of 'creation' seem magical, even today, then many of the theories put forward were, shall we say, highly imaginative.  

It also became very clear, very quickly, that these almost magical explanations for what seemed then, and now, to be miracles, seized the imaginations of people and those able to propagate such ideas quickly obtained real power over their fellow humans.  Frankly, I lack both the brains and the learning and, most of all, the inclination to work my way through all these theories and decide if one is a better explanation than another.

Suffice to say that 'I ha'e ma doots' about all of them!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 21.7.19

Well, it is Sunday today!   So that makes it right, fitting and proper for me to introduce a bit of Christian news.  Regular readers will have noticed that religion, by which I mean a belief in God - any God! - does not figure heavily in these unholy columns for the simple reason that I do not believe in a God.  Even so, I have some sympathy towards Christianity if only because I think Jesus Christ, if he ever existed, had some sensible suggestions on how to conduct one's life.  Thus, it has been painful over recent years, particularly those years in which that total prat, Justin Welby, has been running the Church of England, to see it decline and fall into a slough of useless inanity.  Obviously, I am not qualified to offer knowledgeable insight into its failings but I 'know' a man who does.  He is Mr. Dennis Lennox over at The Coffee House who spells out the miserable details.

 

Now the 'peacenik' doves are coming home to roost:   The Iranians have ripped the gossamer cloaks of duplicity off the shivering weakling that is the British armed forces.  Decade after decade, irrespective of which government was in power, all three services have been put on 'starvation rations' as their ranking in the political list of priorities has fallen steadily lower and lower.  Of course, none of that has stopped our politicians 'strutting their stuff' on the world stage as though we were still in possession of an empire.  Today, the Iranians have well and truly humiliated us.  It can only be a matter of time before the Argentinians do the same!

 

Dammit!  Peter Hitchens had already pulled the trigger:   And, of course, his aim was infinitely better than mine!  No sooner had I scribbled the 'rumble' above than I clicked on to his article in today's Mail on Sunday:

Having wrecked the schools, the police, the courts and the Civil Service, destroyed the married family and debauched the economy, the slow-motion British Revolution now plans to ruin the Armed Forces, the last truly conservative institutions left standing after 60 years of upheaval.
At the end of this process, the Army, Navy and Air Force will still exist in outward form, but they will be useless for the purpose for which we have them – fighting the enemy.
Instead, they will produce plenty of annual reports showing how sexually equal and inclusive they are.

Yes, that about sums it up!

 

Yes, it stuck in my craw, too:   In the past week I have waxed lyrical on the subject of the 'American' effort to put a man on the moon.  It was an epic effort but whilst watching the old newsreels showing the Apollo teams pursuing their mission, there was one constant irritation - the fat, smug face of Wernher von Braun who, by rights, should have been strung up as a war criminal, as should most of the other despicable Nazi engineers who were smuggled out of Germany to help the Americans in their determination to design and build rockets to reach space.  As usual, the indefatigable Tom Bower tells the whole sordid story in The Mail on Sunday. 

 

Not all bad, that Phillip Hammond:   Of course, he deserves an eternity in Hell or Liverpool, whichever is worst, for his pro-EU views but he has earned a 'merit badge' for doing what few Chancellors ever do, that is, reducing both debt and the deficit and thus making the Brit economy fitter for the purpose of getting out of Europe.  Not that he intended it for that purpose, of course!

 

This is disgraceful, where are the diversity police?   Below, courtesy of The American Thinker site, I give you a photo of the American team at the International Mathematical Olympiad which shared top place with China:

Yes, indeed, five of them are of Asian stock and so it's obvious that the white guy is a 'stat whitey' only inserted to provide a veneer of racial fairness!  This racial inequality must be corrected and more 'Whiteys' plus, of course, the odd 'stat black', along with a Native American, must be included in the next team of mathematical wizards.  Of course, that might result in America finishing equal 75th in the competition alongside Somalia but - dammit! - we must have racial equality!  To be serious you can read more about this competition if you click on this link.  I didn't dare ask where Britain came!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 7.7.19

Not frightfully diplomatic, Mr. Ambassador!   Apparently, Her Majesty's Ambassador to 'the court of King Donald' has opened his mouth and let his belly rumble although, to be fair, he was doing so confidentially to his 'boss' in London, Sir Mark Sedwill.  Personally, I wouldn't send my laundry list to that Europhile rat because it is surprising to see how often confidential docs leak to the press via his department.  As to what Mr. Ambassador said concerning 'King Donald', well, it's hardly news, is it?  Everyone knows that he is an exceedingly eccentric character whose mood depends on which side of the bed he errupts from each morning.  Even so, this constant leaking from Whitehall needs to be stopped and firing Sedwill would be a good start.  I hope you are reading this, 'Boing-Boing'!

 

'Go git 'em, boys'!   The "'em" I refer to are the exceedingly nasty Seamus Milne and Karie Murphy, bag and dagger carriers for the utterly despicable Jeremy Corbyn.  Happily, the knives are now out for them as increasing numbers of senior Labour party figures are determined to prise them out of 'Jezza's private office where they control his every move.  I don't know much about Ms. Murphy but Seamus Milne is, without doubt, the most despicable man in the corridors of power!  He is so far to the Left that that he makes Trotsky look like a decent chap!  Read Dan Hodges' column in The Mail for 'further and better particulars'.

 

Now, about this fox-hunting lark:  Poor old Jeremy Hunt put his riding boot in it last week when he suggested that he would like to make fox-hunting legal again.  Instantly, a flock of animal protection fascists supporters came out screaming their opposition and their determination to help the poor, little 'foxie-woxies'!  As for me, well, I am as torn up as the average fox is once the hounds catch them!  I hate killing animals for 'fun' but on the other hand there is nothing like seeing a pack of hounds trotting down the road - as they often did in the next village to mine - with what looked like a hundred tails a-wagging.  Equally, there was a time when on Boxing Day, I used to go over to another nearby village to see the local hunt go off and it was a magnificent sight.  Even so, the ending is usually exceedingly messy for the fox but, on the other hand, so is the ending of all the chickens and lambs that they kill and eat!  I remain pathetically neutral.

 

Are the Dems going bonkers?   I ask, hesitantly, because from 'over here' their list of candidates to run for the Presidency looks as though it could fill the Rose Bowl Stadium in California!  Who are all these people?  I follow American politics fairly closely for a foreigner but I have never head of 80% of them and those that I do know of include an old ege pensioner, a proven serial liar, a hopeless old Trot who makes 'Jezza' look like a Tory and sundry dim-witted adolescents who appear incapable of even telling us the time!  'The Don' might not be the brightest light on the Xmas tree but even he could see off that collection of 'no-hopers'! 

 

In case you are interested:   Which I very much doubt that you are but the other day I mentioned that my daily visitor stats, for no particular reason that I could fathom, suddenly doubled for two days.  Needless to say, that didn't last and I am back to the usual desultory 400 again.  Actually, that makes me feel more comfortable!

 

Thank God all that female football is over!   I should be honest and tell you that I lost most of my interest in male football some time ago so the chances of me becoming hooked on a ladies' version are minimal.  I cannot offer a proper criticism for the simple reason that I have never watched a match.  Somehow, I lacked the energy to press the required buttons on my 'do-flicker-thingie'! 

 

Two superb TV programmes on last night:   The first told the story of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.  Truly that was the greatest human achievement of all time!  Not just the courage of the astronauts but also the unbelievably immense concentration of brain-power that provided the ways and means.  I salute all those involved.  The second programme was a history of the British aviation industry from the end of WWII to the 1970s.  I felt part of all that, not because I took part because I was only an Air Cadet in the mid '50s but because I loved those "magnificent flying machines" and hero-worshipped all those test pilots who flew, and sometimes perished, in them. I was desperate to become an RAF pilot when I grew up but some bloody-bloody medic checked my eyes at school and told me I was red/green colour blind.  So instead of flying them, I ended up being thrown out of the back of them with a parachute.  "Life's a bitch - and then it rains!"

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 23.6.19

Apologies and all that:   Yes, sorry about my going a.w.o.l. on Friday and most of Saturday.  No alarums or excursions, just a host of this, that and the other with an added dash of idleness - so no change there then!

 

When reality exceeds parody:   I refer to the less than delightful couple who live next door to 'Boing-Boing' Boris and who carefully recorded his domestic row before calling the police - and then reporting the whole thing to 'The Guardian'.  It turns out that they are both 'theatre people, darling', although neither of them seem to have, er, 'created' even a ripple of interest in that precious niche.  Needless to say, they are both 'Jezza'-worshipping Lefties which explains why their first port of call was to 'The Graun'.

I only republish their photograph just in case they ever become your neighbours - in which case I would urge you to sell up and move.  Mind you, as per usual, 'Boing-Boing' deserves the 'brown stuff' coming at him from all directions for being such a twerp - again!  For God's sake, man, eat your humble pie and go back to the 'missus' and try to concentrate on running the country!

 

The 'Quacks' are usually right:   Nobody is more sceptical of the 'Divine Right of Quacks' than me because, of course, they are merely human beings with all that that implies.  Even so, I always follow their instructions for the bleedingly obvious reason that they have the expertise that I totally lack.  Yes, of course, sometimes they get it wrong but on the whole, by and large, they get it more or less right.  If you doubt that proposition then let me ask you if, in the event of a faulty water-pipe in your bathroom flooding your house, would you call a carpenter or a plumber?  I raise the subject because of a story in The Telegraph today concerning the death by cancer of a 38-year old mother who resolutely refused the normal treatment and instead relied on:

"a vegan diet of mainly raw fruit and vegetables, supplemented with turmeric, seaweed and spells in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. She sought help at a clinic in Mexico, where therapies included placing her feet in a basin of water that supposedly drew toxins from her body."

You couldn't make it up but those scoundrels who propagate 'alternative' treatments do it all the time.  

 

I am in 'luuurve' with Condoleezza Rice:   Yes, to the best of my somewhat 'iffy' memory, she was a pretty sharp Sec. of State and was always an exceedingly attractive lady, so I enjoyed a good chuckle at her response to a black professor of English:

Condoleezza Rice was approached by a professor of English and asked to recommend a book by a black woman, to round out the racially and sexually sensitive curriculum. Rice said, “How about my The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army, 1948–1983?” 

Nice one, 'Condo', baby!

 

The same old, same old:   I know this will test the patience of my intelligent readers but, please, try and read this through to the end and then my summary:

The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot.

Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard of temperatures in the Arctic Zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes.

Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed that the Gulf Stream was very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.

Very few seals and no white fish are found in the Eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring have never ventured so far north in the old seal hunting ground. Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt the sea will rise and make most coastal cities uninhabitable.

You must take this seriously because it was published in The Washington Post, no less, and several other distinguished newspapers.  The only teensy-weensy problem is that the publication took place in, er, 1922, actually! My thanks to Jack Helner at The American Thinker.

 

'Boring-snoring' but he won - again:   Yes, (Sir) Lewis Hamilton cruised to victory at the French Grand Prix most of which I napped through!  Still, what an incredible driver he is!

 

Trump's somersaults:   It is not necessarily 'a bad thing' for a POTUS to change his mind but when it is on a matter of war or peace then changing the Presidential mind 10 minutes before the first shot indicates a troubling lack of fore-thought and planning.  Thus it has been with the American/Iranian stand off and whilst I suspect that the decision of the President to holster his six-gun was right it was, in the words of a truly great General, "A fine run thing"! 

 

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

Richard Dawkins confirms he is a 'dork'!

I have been convinced that Richard Dawkins is a 'dork' since he first published his ludicrous book claiming that genes are "selfish".  Genes, of course, are simply a collection of nucleotides which float about in a living body and assist in some bio-chemical processes.  To describe them as "selfish" is idiocy of the first order.  

As confirmation of my opinion, The Telegraph has republished a recent Tweet by the less than distinguished professor:

Under-age people can’t vote. Whatever our criterion for thinking them unqualified (eg insufficiently developed reasoning powers or knowledge) there must be some adults less qualified than some under-age people. Is age the only practical threshold or could others be devised?

Notice his repeated mention of "unqualified" and "qualified" plus, of course, "reasoning powers" and "knowledge".  Now who, I wonder, does 'The Dork' have in mind to set the examination of voters in order to decide on their levels of knowledge and understanding and there-by their right to vote?  My guess is that he would wish to be 'Examiner-in-Chief' but, alas, someone should tell him that anyone who believes that a lump of chemical 'goo' is "selfish" instantly disqualifies himself!

 

 

 

Who turned the heating up?

As all my regulars here at D&N already know, my knowledge of science can only be described as lamentable.  Even so, I do deserve an 'E' for effort as I try to keep half an eye on scientific matters, particularly when I suspect that some of them are, shall we say, less than scientific and more political!  Thus it is with so-called Global Warming.  My mentor in this abstruse subject has always been Mr. Anthony Watts ever since I discovered his site "Watts Up With That".  Way back in the day I came across his site and admired his somewhat different approach to all this AGW panic.

Instead of worrying about the stats produced by 'Warmer' fanatics, he concentrated on the means by which they obtained these stats, that is, the actual measuring devices themselves.  Helped by an army of volunteers from across America, he was able to show that many of these devices had been 'on site' for decades but, unknown or ignored by the 'Warmers', it was evident that the immediate surroundings had changed radically.  What had been a virtual 'green site' in the '40s was now surrounded by concrete and bricks and reflective windows, to say nothing of the myriad air conditioning units pumping out their warm air in the immediate vicinity.  The stats confirmed the panic of the fanatics but they were 'false flags'.

Needless to say, the science has moved on to increasing levels of sophistication including satellite readings.  Here are the main measuring organisations with their exceedingly varied estimations of exactly - er, sort of - how much global temperatures have increased in degrees/centigrade per decade:

AIRS: +0.24 (from the 2019 Susskind et al. study)
GISTEMP: +0.22
ECMWF: +0.20
RSS LT: +0.20
Cowtan & Way: +0.19
UAH LT: +0.18
HadCRUT4: +0.17

Which climate dataset is the right one? Interestingly, the HadCRUT4 dataset, which is managed by a team in the United Kingdom, uses most of the same data GISTEMP uses from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Historical Climate Network. Among the major datasets, HadCRUT4 shows the lowest temperature increase, one that’s nearly identical to UAH.

The other problem with the 'AIRS' reading is that it is based on only 15 years of measurement, far shorter than the basic minimum required of 30 years.  As Mr. Watts reminds us:

The 15-year period in this new study is too short to say much of anything of value about global warming trends, especially since there was a record-setting warm El Niño near the end of that period in 2015 and 2016. [My emphasis]  The El Niño event in the Pacific allowed warm water heated by the Sun to collect, dispersing heat into the atmosphere and thus warming the planet. Greenhouse gas induced “climate change” had nothing to do with it; it was a natural heating process that has been going on for millennia. [My emphasis]

As that well-known climate scientist, er, Prince Hamlet put it, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 24.2.19

In which Peter Hitchens makes up my mind for me:   Dammit, there are so many things going on about which I should be able to analyse and then take a reasoned position but, dammit, I never quite get round to it!  Take this problem of Ms. Shamima Begum, for example.  Should we strip her of her British identity and leave her and her baby to rot in the 'fester-pit' which she chose, or not?  Immediately you enter a multi-handed dilemma - on the one hand this, on the other hand that until you end up turning in circles.  Thus, yet again, I am grateful to Mr. Peter Hitchens in The Mail for making up what passes for my mind for me.

If we allow politicians to strip Shamima Begum’s citizenship from her, they will get a taste for it. And so will our own, home-grown mob. And those who think they are leading mobs always end up discovering that they are, in fact, being chased by them. That never ends well.

Sorted!  Thanks, Mr. Hitchens … again.

 

You never stop learning:   And that is why I am signing on at my local Technical College for a course in 'Tapology'.  This is an unbelievably complex science but I must master it given the decrepit - 'decrapit?' - state of my waste disposal system since those 'Brainiacs' at Taunton Hospital zapped me with their 'death rays'.  I now visit sundry toilets a day - and night - and consequently wash my hands on an almost non-stop basis.  Or at least, I would if only I could get the hang of these bloody, new-fangled taps some 'smart-arse' has designed and which defy logic as to how you may extract water from them!  This morning I made use of my friend's bathroom and was faced with a beautifully sculpted tap which appeared to be totally solid.  I tried to twist it and turn it and in the end thumped it but all to no avail.  In the end, I found out that the sculpted top which made it appear solid was in fact hinged and if lifted that produced water! Grrrrrrrrrh!

 

Stand by, Master Thomas Cromwell, I am about to visit you:   I mentioned a few days ago that I was about to launch into Diarmaid MacCulloch's 'yuuuuuuuuge' history, "Thomas Cromwell: A Life".  Of course, the rest of the world has already done that and enjoyed it by reading Hilary Mantel's novels and the very successful TV series.  I avoided them, not because I doubt Ms. Mantel's skill but I am always chary of fictionalised history as opposed to real scholastic history.  You only have to check out  the historical nonsense perpetrated by that country bumpkin from Stratford to know what I mean!  Anyway, I will let you know in due course what I make of it but, given the size of it, I may be some time!

 

Joke of the day - week? - month? - year?   According to the very naughty boy who runs Zero Hedge, some satirical magazine/site 'over there' has suggested that the lying, little 'scrote' who, with the help of two hired black guys, invented an incident in which he was racially assaulted, has been offered a job by CNN "after witnessing his skills at fabricating a story entirely out of thin air."

 

Hmmmn, got that one wrong!   I vaguely remember that when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first appeared as the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia and indicated that he would ease the harsh rules and regulations governing the ladies of his land, I expressed some hopeful remarks that perhaps - maybe - possibly - things might change for the civilised better in that ghastly land.  Then he slaughtered that dodgy Saudi correspondent, and yesterday, on a visit to China, he offered some mitigating excuses for the fact that the Chinese government had imprisoned millions of Uighur Muslims and slaughtered thousands of them.  With a friend and co-religionist like that, who needs enemies?!

 

No more rumbles 

 

HOORAY! Another day off 'skool'!

Er, well, not 'skool' exactly but hospital.  As I told you earlier, Wednesday was a horror story when I awoke to see a whole half inch of snow covering everything which - natch! - resulted in the entire country grinding to a halt.  Thus, despite my valiant efforts to reach Taunton I only made it as far as Yeovil, normally only 20 minutes away, where I became stuck for an hour before returning home.  So, not really a day off but today I opened the curtains to see a whole inch and a half of that filthy white stuff, whilst the BBC warned me on my radio that the end of the world is nigh.  Good, I thought, and instantly returned to bed!  Fortunately, my 'death ray' treatment appears not to be too time critical and although I am supposed to be 'zapped' every day, Monday to Friday, it doesn't seem to matter if I miss the odd day.  So, on my 'day off', I was able to have a leisurely breakfast and read the Daily Mail which for once was quite interesting, especially the book reviews.

The first one to take my attention was a review of what The Mail calls its "Book of the Week", a history of The (Royal) National Theatre  - I always add in the word "Royal" to their title because that is its proper title even if all those left-wing 'luvvies' hate it and try to hide it.  Mind you, that never stops them racing to the Palace if they're up for a 'gong'!  Even so, if you are a RNT fan, as I am on a selective basis, then this is full of good gossip.  I was rather taken with the semi-comical/semi-tragical story of Daniel Day-Lewis playing Hamlet and walking off stage in Act I because he thought the 'ghost of Hamlet's father' was the actual ghost of his father, the poet Cecil Day-Lewis!  He never returned and his understudy, Ian Charleson, had to take over on the spot!  Alas, the tragedy continued because Charleson died of AIDS eight weeks after the run ended. Heh! Theatre, you couldn't make it up!

More uplifting, in all senses of the word, is a book on the subject of the Apollo moon missions.  I still remain convinced that those missions to the moon are the very greatest pinnacle of human enterprise.  To a lad brought up in the world of piston engine aircraft and growing into another world of jet engines and then into the space age, it was all quite incredible!  According to this review, however, the author does not forget to include the human, and humorous, element of this great adventure:

Gus Grissom […] was initially rejected by Nasa because he suffered from hayfever. He calmly pointed out that, as far as he was aware, there wasn’t any pollen in space. So they let him in.

Oh dear, another two books I must buy.  Does anyone know just how many books you can squeeze into a Kindle?

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 13.1.19

Get fell in, you 'orrible lot!   I trust you all followed my orders and watched the first episode of the TV series that took you inside the, er, 'hallowed halls' of the Parachute Regiment.  Looking back some 60-odd years it struck me as a perfect example of 'everything changes, everything stays the same'.  Obviously the uniforms, the kit and the weaponry were different but the psychological approach to the recruits was the same.  I was worried that perhaps the 'softie, inclusive brigade' might have got to them but no, all the recruits were treated with equal amounts of total shit!  Excellent, so tune in to ITV next Thursday for episode 2.

 

And lo, I am happy today:  Sorry to harp on about my, er, condition which, actually, is perfectly OK especially when I hear about what other people are suffering but this morning I feel great!  Last night I slept like a baby for nearly seven hours instead of the usual getting up and going for a pee every two hours.  Dammit, those 'death rays' might have done the trick already!  I wonder if they will let me off the next four weeks?

 

The uber-PC mob strike again:  I hear that James Watson, one of the three men who discovered the DNA double helix which must have brought untold medical advances to Mankind, has been hounded by sundry self-appointed 'PC Commissars' for remarks he made a few years ago:

He had told a magazine in 2007 he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" as "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - where all the testing says not really".

I have no idea whether that proposition is true or false not least because I do not know what the criteria is by which you define 'intelligence' and how you test it.  Nor do I much care because in my view people are people!

 

Mueller the mule, or the donkey:   And so it goes on and on and on!  As Ms. Clarice Feldman puts it at The American Thinker:

Despite spending millions of dollars, hiring 13 of the most vicious anti-Trump prosecutors available, and having allies in the DoJ and FBI continuing to delay congressional efforts to reveal the machinations of their anti-Trump colleagues, it is increasingly obvious that they have turned up no evidence of any Trump-Russia collaboration. (Something common sense would have indicated at the outset.)

One can only cry to heaven, or Washington, "How long, oh (Lord) Mueller, how long?"

 

A totally useless but fascinating fact:   I have mentioned before my peculiar habit in bed at night - not that one, behave! -  of sticking a radio ear-piece in my ear and listening to whatever is on.  Last night there was a science programme in which some swot informed us about the mysterious lives of viruses.  As the beastly little things can have a devastating effect on our lives I did my best to stay awake and listen.  What struck me enormously was when he told us the size of viruses.  Apparently, if you placed 50,000 of them in a line they would only just cross the diameter of a full stop - like this one.  Crikey!

 

So farewell then, Andy Murray:   A great deal of fuss has arisen over the fate of Mr. Murray, first that he is taking early retirement on medical grounds and second that he had a little cry at his press conference.  Most of it passed me by because first, I think 'plink-plonk' is a totally boring sport - and ladies' 'plink  (long pause) plonk' sends me to sleep!  Also, alas, Mr. Murray comes across to me as a man with whom I would not be over-joyed to share a pint one evening!  That is not to assert that my impression is true, obviously it is not, it is a mere impression.  Even so, crying in public because you can no longer play 'plink-plonk' is pathetic.  Man up, Murray!

 

I say, skipper, steady on!   According to The Mail on Sunday, the captain of a US navy submarine whilst on a break ordered not one, not two but TEN prostitutes to his hotel.  Gosh, those 'Yankee-doodle' sailors are real men!  Apparently, he was later relieved of command and stationed on shore.  Well, poor chap, he probably needed the rest.  I must await the expert opinion of our in-house US Navy correspondent, 'JK', to find out if this is normal behaviour!

 

On Tuesday Britain's 'brown stuff' will hit the fan:   I have avoided the subject of Brexit over recent days n0t just because it brings 'SoD' in here ranting and raving but because frankly I'm bored stiff with it all.  However, beneath my boredom there is an increasing amount of seething fury aimed not just at our useless government but even more so at the majority of hucksters, clowns and crooks who inhabit Parliament.  We didn't ask them to give us a referendum in order to make up what passes for their minds concerning in or out of the EU.  Even so, by a huge majority they did so and received an answer with a clear majority which told them that we wanted OUT!  With the assistance of that vile little toad who sits, or rather, perches on the Chair, they have now shaken British democracy to the foundations of Westminster.  Where it will end, I do not know but I think dangerous times are approaching!

 

No more tonight but I will try my best to tap out something next week as I enter my second dose of 'death ray' treatment!

 

 

 

This might be interesting

I gather from the Daily Mail that a new TV programme is about to start in which sundry 'big names' will choose their 'icon of the 20th century'.  That is, their choice as to who had the greatest influence and why.  The choices will be made from various groups such as politics, arts, science, sport and so forth.  It is an intriguing idea and the choice of the most influential man or woman in politics during the 20th century is extremely tough.

A great deal depends on what is meant by "influence".  Many people, especially Brits, would choose Churchill but actually, in reality, such 'influence' that he exerted was diminished rapidly the day FDR took over - and a good thing to, in my opinion!  Equally, FDR did not so much influence affairs as follow where the power already existed - in the United States of America.  I think - and I must quickly admit that I have not thought this through in detail - that, alas, if it is 'influence' we are talking about, then it's the 'baddies we need to consider, men (or monsters) like the Kaiser, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao and such like.  When you add up how many 'zillions' of people they slaughtered it makes them exceedingly 'influential', if not in a good way!

Science is another area that is difficult to assess and to choose one person who was the most influential in the last century.  In contrast to the 'politicians' it is perhaps the 'goodies' who deserve consideration, particularly those who discovered or invented the means to cure those ailments that had slaughtered Mankind since forever.  No good asking me, I am hopelessly biased in favour of whoever invented the 'death ray treatment' that is, according to rumour, going to save me from 'a fate worse than death' - er, hang on, I thought death was the worst!  Anyway, good luck with that one.

As for sport, of course, there is only one absolutely obvious winner - (Sir) Lewis Hamilton, not that I'm biased, oh dear me, no!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 30.12.18

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 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 21.10.18

There goes Sunday!   I was in quite a good mood when I got up this morning - but then I read a column by Col. Tim Collins in The Mail.  In it, he describes the British Army, in fact, all the British services, as "chubby, drug-addled and right on".  One picture is worth a thousand words!

As usual, the fault lies with that collection of ambitious, smarmy, creeping bunch of wankers who constitute our High Command, none of whom has the guts to tell our effete politicians that Political Correctness might be OK for the Civil Service but has no part in a fighting army.

 

Is it time to reset our opinions of  'The Donald'?   I am not going to indulge in a forensic examination of his two years in the White House but where-as I began by flinching at some of his behaviour and trembling at some of his decisions, gradually, as I have peeped out from behind my fingers, I sense that perhaps, just perhaps, he is getting things more right than wrong.  His re-action to the hysteria over the Saudi murder has been a fine example of real-politik and up in heaven, or perhaps down in hell, the likes of Bismarck and Talleyrand are raising a glass in support.  Still early days, of course . . .

 

The 'Hefferlump' goes all out DD:   No, no, not David Duff but David Davis!  In a brief but pointed article in The Telegraph today, he urges Tory MPs who are hesitating over sending in letters urging Mrs. 'Muppet' to resign, to just get on with it and rid us all of that dim-witted woman.  Somewhat to my surprise, he throws his support behind David Davis as a new Prime Minister.  Well, Boris cannot be trusted and the 'Moggman' would not go down well in the country.  Davis, however, comes across as a fairly normal 'one of us' and his service in the SAS can only help. 

 

This made me giggle:    The American Thinker site is always worth a visit, not least for the witty cartoons they publish:

 Spot on, methinks!

 

Not sure I could cope with this one:   I refer to the latest history book produced by Max Hastings which, normally, I would snap up in seconds.  Alas, the title of this one is "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975" and the prospect of wading through that unmitigated bloodbath is more than I can contemplate.  To be honest, the fact is that it will remind me in the most painful way of how wrong I was to support it 'back in the day'!  It also reminds me that whilst I am fascinated by the war at sea during WWI, I cannot read very much about the 'slugfest' that took place on land.  It shares with Vietnam an enormous casualty list and a cornucopia of stupidity from both the commanders and the politicians and, er, me!

 

"How high the moon?"   'I dunno' but apparently it's getting higher!  Or to be more precise, it's moving away from us, according to Prof. S. Fred Singer at The American Thinker.  He, being a proper swot, offers some scientific explanations but, with all due respect, I put it down to JK's habit, on full moon nights, of hurling empty bottles of 'Barney Magroo's Finest' in its direction as he bewails the loss of all those 'gals' in every port he ever visited!  Well, you can't blame the moon, I mean who wants to live next door to noisy neighbours!

 

Right, pay attention, all you 'Yankee-doodles'!   Your Commanding Officer, er, well, your ex-Corporal, actually, is about to give you your orders.  This afternoon you will stop watching all that 'stop 'n' start' version of rugby you play 'over there' and instead you will retune your TVs in order to watch (Sir) Lewis Hamilton waltz off with the F1 World Championship at the American Grand Prix.  (Actually, that was damned difficult to type given that I had all my fingers crossed as I did it!)  If any of you live nearby and you are handy with a Winchester rifle, please feel free to shoot out the tires of that damned Hun! 

 

(Sir) Lewis, Her Maj will not be amused!   My goodness, what an excellent race!  And what an excellent circuit!  So, decision time moves to the Mexican Grand Prix to be held at a circuit named after the late Rodriguez brothers, both of whom were killed at different times in motor races.  I once knew, very slightly, Pedro Rodriguez, a quiet man but a terrific racer.  Meanwhile, (Sir) Lewis remains poised to take the championship but we will just have to wait!

 

 

No more rumbles today!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 14.10.18

Eeeeks! Who would want to be a POTUS?   Well, if the 'Big Don' was unsure what it entailed being 'Mr. President', he sure as hell is finding out the hard way today.  The whole silly world is 'shocked, I tell you, shocked' over the mysterious disappearance of some Arab journalist called Khashoggi who is, of course, being a journalist and also for working with the 'WaPo', nigh unto sainthood!  The fact that he is a former friend of bin Laden and a dedicated supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood has not yet reached the MSM, particularly the WaPo!  Still 'n' all, as they say 'over there', something must be done, Mr. President, to those horrid Saudi 'murderers' even if it means losing not only a much needed ally but also '$illions' in arms deals which will put tens of thousands of American workers on the dole.  Incidentally, that non-stop cackling you can hear is the Iranian mullahs laughing their socks off, er, they do wear socks, don't they? 

 

Enough, my life already!   I have today issued an edict from here in Chateau Duff that henceforth all Royal weddings are forbidden!  Or at least, the details are to be withheld from all media outlets.  If I see one more utterly tedious story about the latest Royal nuptials I will go mad, I tell you, mad  . . .  Oh, and that goes for 'Strictly Come Dancing', too!

 

Les temps perdu:   Sometimes, and on a selective basis, it is nice to revisit past times and I am exceedingly grateful to Mr. Silvio Canto, Jnr at The American Thinker  who reminds us that yesterday was an anniversary of the birth of 'that woman' who was born in 1925.  Sorry, but from my meagre memory of poetic quotations, all I can think of to write is "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive" when Maggie Thatcher's government began.  I am tempted to compare her to the present incumbent but it is too, too depressing!

 

Ah yes, Paul R. Ehrlich, remember him?   No, I thought not and I must confess that I had forgotten him which is a pity because there is nothing funnier than a genuine, er, 'scientific' swot who is always and forever completely and utterly wrong in all his predictions.  I can vaguely remember years ago in my early blogging days sneering at his ludicrous predictions, and cheering when I learned that the late (alas) Julian Simon had won his bet with Ehrlich who, being an apocalyptic, shroud-waving forecaster of the very gloomiest kind reckoned that the price of several different metals, which he chose, used in a variety of industries would rise through the roof due to scarcity and depletion.  Their prices actually fell!  Ehrlich also said that the greatest threat to the population was, er, well, population and that unless strict rules were imposed to control the growth then, well, it was the End of the World!  All total 'blx', of course!

 

Is Australia real?   Oooops, that was rather clumsily put, let me explain before the wrath of AussieD and Andra descends on my innocent head!  Last night I watched half of an Australian movie called "Goldstone".  The setting was in the middle of Australia, than which you could not find a more totally empty place outside of a vacuum!  The long shots showed a zillion acres of nothing, absolutely nothing, but sand and more sand, some rock and distant - very distant - mountains.  Every ten thousand acres or so, there was a single, weedy looking tree but how it got there and how it survived I do not know.  I was reminded of "Waiting for Godot" and any minute I expected Vladimir and Estragon to wander in!  Frankly, being something of a anti-Peeps grouch these days, I was tempted to emigrate.  However, in the film, from time to time in the, er, storyline, a police post would suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere.  Then a bar, equally empty but where its customers would came from was a mystery.  Then, and this made me giggle, in the middle of all this empty nothingness, a 'knocking shop' appeared manned, or perhaps 'womanned' is more accurate, by five oriental girls.  In my admittedly brief meetings with 'Aussies', I have found them to be very sociable, particularly when the beers starts to flow, but the Aussies in this film could barely put more than two words together.  So, my appeal to my Aussie friends, if I have any left, is simple - is that the way things are in deepest, emptiest Australia?

 

Beware La France!   So there was this very decent British chap, wearing bright clothing and cycling along a well-used mountain cycle path in rural France and minding his own business when - bang! - suddenly a local hunter shot him dead!  I don't wish to make light of it because it was a double tragedy for the man on the bike - and the man with the gun.  Even so The Telegraph reports:

It is the latest in a series of hunting accidents in which people have been killed or severely wounded.  Last year a 59-year-old hiker was shot dead by a hunter in the southern Drôme department, and a woman sitting in her garden was killed by a stray bullet fired by a hunter.  In 2016, 18 fatal hunting accidents were reported in France.

Mon Dieu!

 

"O, wad some Power the giftie gie us":   To hear oursels as others hear us!  Yes, I think I need some advice from my old e-pal, 'Jimmy Glesga', on this story of a bust-up on Medway Council when an exceedingly Scottish councillor was asked to speak slower by an English councillor because he couldn't follow the words.  Needless to say, the Jock, originally from Glasgow (need I say more?), went off on one and whilst he didn't threaten to "put ma heed in wi' ma bonnet on' he did become exceedingly cross.  My sympathy is entirely with the other man who is, like me, half Scottish.  I listen regularly to 'TOOOORKSPOOOORT' in the mornings which features the very Scottish Alan Brazil sometimes accompanied by the even more Scottish Ally McCoist.  I would understand more listening to Radio Bulgaria!

 

What's the Chinese for 'I told you'?   Fascinating piece at Zero Hedge reporting that there have been sporadic outbursts of violence by ordinary home-owning Chinese because of the falls in property values.  The government is now scrabbling to do what it takes to stabilise prices but we all know how good governments are at that sort of thing!  Here in the west we are familiar with the ups and downs of market forces but in China where they are enjoying wealth undreamed of hitherto, the anger could be exceedingly rough!

 

'Mutti' Merkel might not feel too well tonight!   According to early reports based on exit polls, the voters of Bavaria just gave her and her party an almighty kick up the backside.  What's the German for 'ohdearwhatapitynevermind'?

 

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

Things could become exceedingly hot for 'the Warmers'

I think the opening paragraph of the report featured in Watts Up With That says it all.  If Michael Mann and his cohorts thought the world is warming, it's about to become boiling hot for them!

Nearly seven years ago, on December 7th, 2011, the Free Market Environmental Law Clinic’s (FME Law) sought public records from the University of Arizona related to the Mann-Bradley-Hughes temperature reconstruction that looks like a hockey stick, and development of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. They refused much of the request and FME Law sued. Now (on September 18th, 2018) legal counsel for the University informed FME Law that they were done, that they would be withdrawing their appeal of the trial court’s decision, end the case and disclose the records.

At last, after seven years of holding out in the bunker which contains all the correspondence between Michael Mann and his key 'lieutenants' in the great 'hockey stick' schtik they have inflicted on us, all will now be revealed.  It should make the East Anglia University brouhaha look like a mere ripple in comparison.

It is quite extraordinary that these so-called 'scientists' have spent 'zillions' fighting like mad to protect their papers.  What on earth have they got to hide?  I don't know, but I can't wait to find out! 

 

A boatload of boobies!

Was it that Einstein fella who said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.  Probably not but who-ever did say it was spot on!  The proof can be found in the la-la-land of global warming where they never learn anything from experience.

Thus, the irredeemably dumb students and faculty of Rhode Island University decided in their wisdom to mount an expedition to the Arctic "to advance understanding of and document the effect climate change is having on the environment and biodiversity in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago".  Of course, we all remember, because we haven't stopped laughing, the similar 2013 expedition backed - natch! - by the BBC and 'The Graun' - to check on the, er, disappearing ice in the Antarctic which ended up trapped in the, er, well, ice, actually!

Obviously news of that fiasco had not yet reached the University of Rhode Island so they, too, launched an expedition to check on the melting ice 'oooop north' in the Arctic and guess what - DUH! - it became stuck in the ice!

Now you know why I do not regret missing a university education!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 19.8.18

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

 

 

 

Why do I NOT like the sound of this?

I heard mention of this on the radio yesterday and I wrinkled my nose but I didn't have time to think about it.  I refer to the decision of the Supreme Court to permit doctors (or 'quacks', as I prefer to think of them!) to be allowed to take the final, life-or-death decision on sick patients in a 'vegetative' condition with no immediate prospect of improvement.  By sheer (and bloody!) coincidence this is exactly the quandary faced by a very old and dear friend of ours whose husband went into hospital for relatively minor surgery which suddenly went wrong and has left him in precisely that condition.

Doctors, of course, are the usual mixture of 'the good, the bad and the ugly' but, despite that, there is a tendency to bestow on them an almost holy aura of righteousness.  That should be resisted, particularly in decisions of life or death.  The fact that this almighty power of life or death has been bestowed upon them by another group of people with inflated views of their own superiority, lawyers of the Supreme Court, does not make it more acceptable to me.  Ms. Melanie McDonagh at The Coffee Shop has a balanced view of the subject which is worth reading.

 

It do bode ill, I tell 'ee!

Actually, I think it's an example of 'Old Sod's Law' at work.  We have just enjoyed - er, we did enjoy it, didn't we? - week after week after week of non-stop, blazing hot sunshine and clear night skies.  Then they told us that a very rare 'blood moon' would appear on Friday night, the like of which has not been seen since Henry VIII chopped the head off one of his wives, or, England won the World cup, I can't remember exactly which but an awfully long time ago!  So last night we all waited with our breath well and truly bated - and guess what? -  'yuuuuuuge' great, dark clouds gathered overhead and we couldn't see a thing!  Then, to rub it in, the Master of the Universe sent us a deluge of rain so we were all soaked as we moon-gazed.  I'll swear I heard a deep, Godly chuckle!

 

Now, about those "creepie-coincidence-thingies" of mine

As regular readers will be aware, I am plagued by a whole series of what I call, and please excuse my technical language, 'creepie-coincidence-thingies'!  So I was delighted to read an article over at the Aeon site by Mr. Cody Delistraty on the subject and significance, if any, of coincidence.  Of course, coincidence is real and occurs constantly but the real problem is whether or not there is any deeper significance in it.  Apparently, that well-known 'psycho-babbler, Carl Jung, believed there was.  Why am I not surprised?!

Of course, any discussion of the significance of coincidence rapidly moves into the subject of statistics and that turns out to be even more 'creepie'!

Or, take ‘the birthday problem’, which simply asks: how many people would you need to get into the same room in order to statistically assure that at least two share the exact birth month and day? Given that there are 365 days in a non-leap year, and that most people you know probably don’t have the same birthday, you might reasonably suppose that you’d need quite a high number to find an exact match. Hundreds, perhaps, and even then you’d be lucky to find two people with the same birth month and day. Statistically, however, you need only 23 people in the room for a greater than 50 per cent (hence ‘statistically probable’) chance of finding two people with the exact same birth month and day. For a 99.9 per cent chance, you need only 70 people.

Now, I find that very hard to believe but, as I have told you all on many occasions, I am absolutely no maths swot!  Mind you, my lack of expertise in statistics probably explains my youthful but brief and disastrous relationship with my local 'Bookie' back in the day!  The significance one attaches to coincidence is somewhat similar to religious belief - you've either got it or you ain't!  Anyway I recommend Mr. Delistraty's article which is fascinating.

 

 

^2..x~Za/876 = Quantum Physics - or not - er, it all depends!

I haven't even started this post and my head hurts already!  I blame that James Gleik who has written a review of a book entitled "The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics" by Adam Becker.  Yeeeees, well, good luck with that one, Mr. Becker, although not to worry because I will probably buy it anyway, partly because I have been literally fascinated by the subject since I first stumbled upon it nearly 40 years ago but also because your reviewer, James Gleik, is one of those truly talented writers who can hold one's hand as he guides you through the lunatic asylum that is quantum physics and who has provided an excellent review.

I trust Baroness Emma Orczy will forgive me for paraphrasing her famous and excellent rhyme:

They seek it here, they seek it there
Those boffins seek it everywhere.
Is it in heaven or is it in hell?
That damned elusive particle. 

I still remain somewhat uneasy in the realisation that above and below and all around my more-or-less known and measured world of causes and effects, actions and re-actions, there exists an entire universe-plus which might be summed up as operating on the 'make-it-up-as-you-go-along' principle!  All of what I might call the 'solid state' of the universe is actually galvanised and energised by zillions, to the power of even more zillions, of 'particles' and 'waves' which defy inspection and which may only be judged by their effects.  As Mr. Gleik puts it in his review:

Wave-particle duality. Everything there is — all matter and energy, all known forces — behaves sometimes like waves, smooth and continuous, and sometimes like particles, rat-a-tat-tat. Electricity flows through wires, like a fluid, or flies through a vacuum as a volley of individual electrons. Can it be both things at once?

The uncertainty principle. Werner Heisenberg famously discovered that when you measure the position (let’s say) of an electron as precisely as you can, you find yourself more and more in the dark about its momentum. And vice versa. You can pin down one or the other but not both.

The measurement problem. Most of quantum mechanics deals with probabilities rather than certainties. A particle has a probability of appearing in a certain place. An unstable atom has a probability of decaying at a certain instant. But when a physicist goes into the laboratory and performs an experiment, there is a definite outcome. The act of measurement — observation, by someone or something — becomes an inextricable part of the theory.

I simply do not understand it but at least I am in good company because the likes of Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg and Schrödinger (including his famous cat!) didn't understand it either, although I must admit that their non-understanding was at a very much deeper level than my open-mouthed incomprehension.

 

So it's not just us!

Hitherto, I thought it was just us that produced the likes of floating (just!), multi-zillion aircraft carriers without any aircraft, or the equivalent there-of.  Today I am cheered to read that the 'cousins', as so often in other areas, have done even better and, needless to say, even more expensively by producing a $12 billion aircraft carrier with a propulsion system that, er, doesn't propel.  Obviously, someone is to blame and personally I point the finger at 'JK' who may have been under the influence of Mr. Barney Magroo!

Of course, both these aircraft carrier mishaps raise a question in my simple, Corporal's head, are aircraft carriers worth anything at all today?  You might say in reply that of course they must be useful because the admirals say so.  However, I would remind you that the British admirals of the pre-WWI era, except one of them, Admiral Fisher, resisted the construction of behemoth battleships which  Fisher pushed through and which saved our bacon at the battle of Jutland.  Needless to say, 'yuuuuuuuge' battleships became, so to speak, 'the flavour of the month' in the approach to WWII, especially within the Japanese navy which was 'A Good Thing' because the American carriers sank most of them!

I have raised this question before without receiving any persuasive answers but I still wonder, in this age of electronic warfare, just how useful will aircraft carriers be against foes armed with the latest laser beams and electronic energy 'bombs' that will close down communications?

Jes' askin'!

 

 

Will somebody please infect the sun with acne!

Had a cold, crap Spring so far?  Well, don't say I didn't warn you!  I have lost count of the number of times I have pointed out to you that the sun has cured itself of acne!  Or to put it into slightly (er, very slightly) more scientific language, sun spot activity has virtually bottomed out!  Don't take my word for it - and you really shouldn't given my dismal record at scientific exams! - instead rely on these two boffins, Frank Bosse and Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, who inform us that:

In March our supplier of energy [that's the sun, stoopid!] was more inactive than in the previous months. The sunspot number was only 2,5, which is only 8% of what is normal for this month into the average cycle (month 112).Only solar cycles 5 and 6 were weaker.

They also provide this neat diagram - so useful for us dummies who can't do sums - which shows the record since the 18th century.

Figure 3: Comparison of the previous 24 solar cycles recorded since the 18th century. The current solar cycle no. 24 is the weakest in almost 200 years. Only two other cycles were weaker.

If indeed you are feeling a cold, unseasonal chill I can only suggest that you either throw another politician on the fire, or better still, try vigorously slapping a 'Greenie-Warmer' around, the exercise will warm you up quickly and you will feel better about yourself!  But if you really feel the need to sweat a bit, then start thinking about how life will be under another Maunder Minimum (1645-1715) when from time to time the Thames froze over!

The Dalton minimum in the 400-year history of sunspot numbers, showing the low peaks for solar cycles 5 and 6.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still, it wasn't all bad back then because in 1599, just before the Maunder Minimum set in with a vengeance, old Bill Shakespeare and his mates were able to build the Globe Theatre on the South Bank by sliding the timbers from north London over the Thames on the ice!

 

 

Alfie Evans - the end

For reasons quite beyond my understanding I am unable to add comments to my posts, however, I can (I think/hope!) continue to post, as I am now doing on the fraught subject of Alfie Evans, the infant who has finally died.  Let me begin by suggesting that some of the commentary (yes, SoD, that means you!) is more than a tad excitable.  Some of it is bringing back memories of the 'late and unlamented' PeterG!

Let me remind everyone here that none of us has even the slightest idea of Alfie's condition or treatment prior to death.  As much as one can gather via the press, his brain was, in effect, rotting away.  What caused that condition or what you can do to treat it, let alone stop it, is the stuff of medical bio-chemistry and I would suggest that only a handful of doctors would have any understanding of it.  As we all have to do from time to time, but thankfully not in such a dangerous condition, we can only put our trust in the doctors - because there is no alternative!

We do that during our lives with both fingers firmly crossed because we know - do we not? - that doctors are human, just like us, with their fair share of weaknesses but the great question overhanging our doubts and suspicions is simple - what is the alternative?  Well, there is some sort of a safeguard, one which Alfie's parents took advantage of, and that is to apply to the judges for an over-view.  However, as is obvious, the chances of a judge, no matter how senior in his or her profession, actually over-turning a doctor's decision is virtually nil - and quite right too because they know no more than the infamous 'man in the street'.

The other question which has raised blood pressure all round is the refusal of the doctors to release Alfie back to his home and his parents.  Again, none of us knows exactly what sort of treatment was being administered to Alfie via some diabolically complicated machines requiring trained staff to operate them.  Would this technology and the ability to use it have been available at Alfie's home?  I doubt it.  Usually, in these circumstances, hospitals, particularly children's hospitals like Alder Hey, have facilities that will allow parents to stay close by overnight.

Finally, and this is aimed directly at 'SoD', I would remind him that not only did every court in the UK back the decision but also the European Court of Human Rights!  If we are to enjoy a civilised society then it is necessary to submit to the rule of law - even though we know that from time to time they will get it wrong - because the alternative is chaos.

 

 

"Suffer little children to come unto me"

Alfie Evans cuddling his mother Kate James at Alder Hey Hospital Credit: PA 

I enter this particular moral and legal minefield with considerable nervousness.  To everyone concerned it is, alas, a human tragedy of the utmost cruelty.  Little Alfie Evans has a degenerative neurological disease that is, in effect, 'eating' his brain.  He cannot communicate and it is impossible to ascertain with any certainty whether he is in pain or not.  So far he has been kept alive by the high-tech machines at Alder Hey Hospital where he is confined.  The doctors, in effect, agreed that there is no cure and that the best practice would be to withdraw life support and allow the child to die.  Needless to say, his parents resolutely disagreed and in their distress have sought medical advice and offers of help from overseas.  The matter is further complicated by the fact that the parents are Catholics and now the Pope has intervened.   It all brings back memories of the Charlie Gard case which dominated the headlines last year.

Eleanor Steaful in The Telegraph has a detached summary of the Alfie Evans case but, alas, it merely adds to the complexities as outsiders (like me!) struggle to work out what, in this case is right or wrong.  Part of the problem, of course, stems from the fact that many of us (like me!) find it hard to get past our inherent prejudices and our unconscious acceptance of stereotypes.  For example, regular readers will be well aware of my low opinion of that group of men and women I normally refer to as "Cocklecarrots" who, with the might of the law supporting them, sit in judgment on the rest of us.  Then there is that other collection of 'High and Mighties' who also, on occasions, wield enormous power over us and whom I usually dismiss as 'Quacks'! 

Both the legal and the medical professions share one characteristic, they are enormously hierarchical.  Somewhat like the Armed Forces, it is not done to disagree with your 'superior' officers!  Some (but not all, I agree!) of the senior ranks of lawyers and doctors are imbued with total belief in the expression, "I'm right, you're wrong, just do as you're told!"  Needless to say, the opposite of that state of affairs is to invite a state of anarchy in which every practitioner 'does his or her own thing'!

Then there are the motivations of the non-expert 'outsiders', starting with the parents - and, yes, I realise that in no sense can they be described as 'outsiders' but even so they are certainly not expert and their motivation is obviously skewed.  Even so, their parenthood endows them with 'rights' and their wants and desires must be given due consideration.  Perhaps I am wrong, I frequently am, but I sometimes gain the distinct impression that consideration of 'expert' opinions far outweighs the human feelings of love that imbue most parents.

Alas and alack, all of the above throws not even a glimmer of light on the complexities surrounding little Alfie Evans.  As in so many other situations, it all comes down to 'The Peeps', that is the people, the all too frail, human beings who must bear the responsibility for the outcome.  As usual, they are a mixture of 'the good, the bad and the ugly' and for what it is worth I wish them all the strength they need to make the right decisions.  Above all, I wish young Alfie the best of outcomes in what seems to be a 'lose-lose situation'.

 

 

Come on, Donald, get Michael Fumento out of jail!

I am happy to own up to a long held admiration for Mr. Michael Fumento, a Right-wing writer always ready, willing and able to take on vested interests and movements of mass hysteria.  I first came across him when, alone and, er, 'un-aided', he took on the frantic, hysterical ranks of the AIDS movement which, in a desperate attempt to shift the blame for HIV AIDS off the backs of rampant homosexuals, druggie needle-users and prostitutes and spread it onto the behaviour of normal heterosexuals.  He wrote a book - a brave book given the climate at the time - pointing out that the main cause of HIV AIDS was the constant, repetitive insertion by some, mainly metropolitan, homosexuals of their unprotected penises into the backsides of other homosexual men!  People who pursued their sexual desires in a more normal manner were exceedingly unlikely ever to catch AIDS.  Cue a veritable firestorm of protest from the usual suspects but Fumento was right and they were wrong!

Anyway, I have just picked up from the news that for reasons unknown, Mr. Fumento has been suddenly slammed into jail in Colombia without, so far, any charges being laid.  According to reports, life expectancy in a Colombian jail, particularly for an American, is, shall we say, short!  I know you have other matters on your mind, Mr. President, but perhaps you could manage a 'twitter', or better still, pick up the 'phone to whichever crook is running Colombia today!

In checking my blog's memory banks, I came across this post from November 2007 which was my first mention of Mr. Fumento with whom previously I had swapped some e-mails:

 

Oh, the sweet joy of being right!

If you live long enough, and if you are as intelligent, wise and knowledgeable as me - stop giggling, 'Teabag'! ['Larry Teabag' was a young Leftie who sniped at me regularly] - you will eventually find yourself proved right and a bunch of con-artists and mugs proved wrong. Was it the 1980s or the 1970s that AIDs first appeared? I can't remember exactly but it was certainly a hell of a long time ago. Do you remember the scare stories, the 'Great & the Good' telling us all never on any account to dip our wicks without at least two condoms and a woolly sock for protection? And do you remember how they howled their outrage at the merest hint that it was only druggies, poofters and prostitutes who were at real risk, despite the excellent Michael Fumento writing a book at the time which comprehensively showed that, apart from the constant needle use of drug addicts, it was abrasions to the anal passage, and to vaginal linings, of mostly prostitutes, which were subject to wear and tear, that were the means by which the infection was passed? And do you remember the zillions and trillions of dosh that disappeared down the greedy gullets of UN so-called scientists who kept forecasting the end of the world? And were you one of the mugs who contributed to their enrichment? And do you ever dwell on the thought of, say, how many African villages and South American shanty towns could have been provided with fresh water for the same money and thus saved the lives of too many children to count - and still have change left over? Well, if you did, and you didn't, then you should!

Today, it was announced that the UN, at last, has had to revise its estimates of AIDs drastically downwards. For example, in India they reckoned there were 6m sufferers, that has now been halved - and my guess is they could halve it again and they would still be over!

Apparently, only a year ago some conman, oops, sorry, some cove called M. Peter Piot, a Belgian scientist(!) and boss of the UN AIDs agency since its inception in 1995, warned that the AIDs "pandemic and its toll are outstripping the worst predictions". Can we look forward to M. Piot's resignation on the grounds of either gross mendacity or gross incompetence? Don't hold your breath!

One prize prune pulled this plum from the pudding that constitutes his brain: "Daniel Halperin, an AIDs expert(!) at the Harvard School of Public Health, said Governments face a dilemma. "On the one hand, it would be a mistake to radically decrease funding for HIV. But on the other hand, why not put more money into family planning or climate change?" That's the sort of decisive, clear thinking one would expect from Harvard/Yale/Oxbridge, take your pick! Climate change, so dear to the hearts and wallets of yet another bunch of alarmists with an eye on relieving you of your hard-earned money whilst promising to save you from Armageddon. Their great-grandfathers sold snake oil!

A quick prayer to the Intelligent Designer, or Incompetent DIY-Man: Please, please, please, let me live long enough to see the HAFs (Hot Air Fanatics) similarly shown up.