THAR she blows:
“The good news is, if this sucker blows, global warming is not going to be a problem. “
This images indicates Yellowstone earthquake from the past week. One of the most intense siesmic “swarms” in the national park’s history has been shaking the north end of Yellowstone Lake. Since Dec. 26, 900 quakes, 111 measuring magnitude 2.0 to 3.9, have been recorded. Image by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Spotter: Greg Laden’s Science blog
Philip Stephens in the FT on Gaza and Israel:
For all the provocations, the Israeli leadership’s willingness to see so many Palestinians killed speaks to fearfulness above strength. To assert the right to retaliate against Hamas is not to say that it is just, or wise, to shell large swathes of Gaza. Mr Olmert might have recalled his own words: “A prime minister must ask himself where best to direct his own efforts. Are [they] directed toward making peace or are they directed constantly towards making the country stronger and stronger in order to win a war?”
OH spots a busy day at the Ministry Of Trollism:
Our Great Leaders desire to know all about us. They love us so much they have to hear what we have to say at every moment. To this end they plan to collect all our Emails and have a look at our conversations. I imagine rows of Righteous computer operators going ‘Awww, isn’t that sweet? They sound almost human’ as they trawl through the mountain of drivel that passes down the wire each day.
The EU bigger penis and Viagra mountain…
SIGNS of intelligent life wanted:
The Orwell Prize - SPECIAL PRIZE for blogs
Running alongside the Book Prize and Journalism Prize this year, submissions… close on 14th January 2009, for all work published for the first time in the calendar year 2008… The Orwell Prize rewards those who achieve George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. Entries should therefore be of equal excellence in style and content.
And, remember, you are being watched.
Spotter: Tim Ireland
WHY Don’t You:
Well this is certainly an interesting marketing technique, and kudos to Dentyne gum for trying something original: Dentyne.com now only allows users 3 minutes to browse their site (with a giant timer keeping a countdown) before the website goes into lockdown and suggests that you go outside and “get some face time.”
And make a tortoise out of cheese on sticks and half a hollowed out water melon before you go, like on Why Don’t You.
JETT Travolta - Owen Thomas rounds-up the blather…
OBAMA is in power, soon, and the Americans are doing what Americans do - branding:
How white people can cope with the end of White America
The Atlantic Monthly really depressed us this week. In addition to predicting the demise of the New York Times, it is warning about the End of White America. WTF? What are we going to tell our blue-eyed nieces? Where are white people supposed to go? Iceland is bankrupt!
The slick lines, the easy rhetoric, the shiny suit, the good teeth - Obama’s above all just another American leader…
Mads Gilbert is no fan of America or Israel. He’s a medic working in Gaza. Says Adrian Monck:
But that very commitment, which motivates him to journey to war zones (he’s been to Burma and countless other places), makes him a difficult witness. Or, at the very least, not a neutral observer. Does it make him a shill for terrorism, or an apologist for Hamas? I don’t think so, but his moral compass is pointing one way. But without his - to my mind - flawed moral certainty would Gilbert put his life on the line?
High-Profile Doctor in Gaza Called an ‘Apologist for Hamas’ - Fox News
Norwegian Doctors in Gaza: Objective Observers or Partisan Propagandists? - Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
Mads Gilbert - Doctor, Pundit, Shill for Terrorism - Harry’s Place
VOTE Brain for the web awards.
No, I’ve no idea how they work, and there is real dross on the list. But she’s good…
Well, you can’t vote for Anorak. Another time, maybe…
CNN and a faked Gaza video:
“Now, more 12 hours later, even the empty video page is gone. Now, the link takes you to a text-only story with no evidence that a video ever existed. So, the video was questionable enough that it had to be removed, but the story supporting the fradulent video stays? That’s not bad journalism, that’s out and out propaganda.”
JEWS in the UK - is it so bad?
According to the Government’s Young Muslim Advisory Group (which contains a member of the totalitarian and racist Socialist Workers Party):
In the current political climate there is a real danger that young people who witness the impotence of institutions that are supposed to be protecting innocent life, will turn to other organisations in an effort to make their voices heard and the violence stop.
Well, they’re right. Muslims are attacking Jews on the streets of London, and wherever they can find them.
The argument here is that the Government must calibrate its policies in a manner that minimises the risk that British Muslims will attack or murder their neighbours. If they do not, them British Muslims will attack defenseless British Jews in the street.
And, apparently, it will be the Government’s fault.
A few nutters who don’t get enough sex and football can spoil the mix that makes London a great city? No.
DIZZY looks at loan sharks:
Iain Dale has posted about a report that has been released by Grant Shapps called “Payday for Loan Sharks” which details home credit company charging interest rates from 100% APR to 10,000% APR.
I think it’s worth taking a step back here for a second and clarifying something, these people are not loan sharks. Loan sharks break your legs when you don’t pay. These people are bastards, absolute bastards in fact, but they are operating within the law.
For me personally, none of what Grant Shapps has revealed is new news really. I’ve been living in South-East London in the poorest postal districts of the country for the past decade and doorstep lending with insane interest rates but within the Consumer Credit Act laws has grown at a massive pace.
The only way to resolve these sort of issues really is to implement some sort wholesale reform of the Consumer Credit Act. That might mean implementing a moving ceiling interest rate on consumer credit agreement that tracks the base rate of the Bank of England.
This might seem like terribly left wing of me and anti-market, but as it stands currently there is nothing that legally stops these companies operating like this. High interest rates for those with poor credit history are a reality of course because of risk, but likewise, crucifying someone financially with an APR of 1000% is just nuts.
There needs to be a balance struck really that allows companies to operate with higher rates of interests for those with poor credit, but also doesn’t impact on the market for that business too much. This sort of thing might only need to be temporary if it was coupled with greater education of personal finance in schools.
Clearly you should not legislate for stupid people, however, there is a problem of exploding personal debt in the UK, and at the bottom end it is happening because the CCA provides the scope for legal money lending to the poorest in society on these sort of scales. Perhaps therefore some sort of legal ceiling caps should be implemented with a sunset clause to allow for pesonal finance education to filter through the system?
Buy now, pay later. Isn’t that Gordon Brown’s message to us all..?
Your writer recalls a house clearance job many moons back in Clanricarde Garden, a street within throwing up distance of Kensington Palace. The rooms at the top of seven flights of stairs was packed with magazines. A maze. And at the end a soiled mattress propped up on back copies of Escort and assorted jazz mags. A hard-day’s work enlivened by myself and my fellow drone leaving a magazine on the third floor landing and turning the page on each visit. With a ruler…
They said we would control nature:
The first British baby genetically selected to be free of a breast cancer gene has been born and is “doing very well”, University College London has said.
Cloning?
