March 31, 2010
Sartorial profiling
Al Arabiya is shocked - shocked! - to learn women wearing headscarves were kicked off a Moscow subway train following the bombing of two Moscow subway trains by women wearing headscarves. Considering this latest incident of HATE - another case of sartorial profiling - we must investigate this atrocity and insult. No woman wearing a headscarf must ever be made to feel singled out.
In Toronto, fortunately, we are above such things.
Yes, such is the real danger. As to commuting to work on the Moscow metro system: You spins the wheel, you takes your chances.
Only tangentially related at this juncture: Russia may unveil new 'super-tank' in summer 2010.
The development of the new tank dubbed "Item 195" began at the Uralvagonzavod design bureau in the early 1990s. Russia will become the first country in the world to have the 5th-generartion MBT if the military commissions the vehicle.
And again: A second coordinated atrocity against Russia.
Cigarettes may contain pig blood
And at a stroke, four billiontytwo filthy souls were barred from Paradise.
No virgins for you smokers!
University of Sydney Professor in Public Health Simon Chapman points to recent Dutch research which identified 185 different industrial uses of a pig - including the use of its haemoglobin in cigarette filters.
March 30, 2010
Is there anything you hold sacred?
Candidate: I do.
Ruler: Do you solemnly swear never to conceal a vital clue from the reader?
Candidate: I do.
Ruler: Will you honour the King's English?
Candidate: I will.
- from the Detection Club Oath by Dorothy Sayers
And: In light of the current fracas over the inalienable right to force your mother, your sisters, your wives and your daughters into a bin-liner, a true prophet and teacher for women.
- Dorothy Sayers, Are Women Human?
Self-esteemism
Theodore Dalrymple and self-esteem (via Quotulatiousness).
Patients, students, take your pick: Your feelings about your mark are a matter of perfect indifference to me. I would, however, be happy to explain how you earned it (as I may have said recently).
Could the feds require Americans to purchase GM cars?
Via Allahpundit, whence the question.
March 29, 2010
Atrocity in Moscow
Female suicide bombers have been blamed for two bomb attacks on the Moscow metro system. One hopes everyone recognizes paired attacks of this kind as an al Qaeda MO.
And the act of murder-sacrifice as the MO of the Temple of Elemental Evil.
The second explosion hit the Park Kultury station about 45 minutes later. Chumikova said at least 12 were dead there.
Expect two things: First, the usual evil retards denouncing the incident as a false flag operation and pretext. Second, for the Russians to go apeshit.
Which is what we should do when this sort of thing happens. In Canada, you are just as likely to get a Canada Council grant, tenure or a sinecure as Governor General.
You rat bastard
Official armourer to Her Majesty the Queen, Terry English's home is filled with vintage film posters of the titles he has worked on.
He also keeps a replica of the breastplate worn by Helen Mirren in Excalibur.
I bet.
'She literally stripped off naked in front of me. Of course, it was strictly professional.'
Level up
A professor at Indiana University has replaced grades with experience points.
I find this notion tempting.
Shoe Polish, Japanese Version
Via Dark Roasted Blend, whence the title.
March 28, 2010
The revolution of lowering expectations
Charles Moore argues after half a century of rising expectations, the revolution of lowering expectations is only just beginning.
This is about more than mortgages and interest rates, it is political.
Which is fine, so long as the revolution is preceded by a word like Reagan or Thatcher. Most revolutions aren't.
March 27, 2010
Electoral fraud
Theodore Dalrymple cites what may be the most costly ballot stuffing scam in British history. Since Labour took office, the National Health Service has taken on 400,000 new staff, one-fifth of all new jobs created in Britain during the period.
A related point: A sidebar on the Left's long march through the institutions.
Meanwhile, in popcorn futures
The United Arab Emirates navy is thought to have opened fire on a Saudi patrol vessel. Does anyone know the Arabic for red on red?
Also, the following tidbit.
But now the UAE, despite its small size, is the fourth largest purchaser of weaponry on the international market in the world.
The Turban and the Swastika
The Turban and the Swastika whole film from Vlad Tepes on Vimeo.
March 26, 2010
How to Write a Thriller
Ian Fleming offers advice to aspiring writers.
We are all fed fairy stories and adventure stories and ghost stories for the first 20 years of our lives, and the only difference between me and perhaps you is that my imagination earns me money.
Image: Ian Fleming often wrote at his desk in the master bedroom at Goldeneye.
Base 22
Former US defense attache, Mark Stokes, now executive director of Project 2049, is probably not the most popular person in Peking these days.
One can quickly understand the reason for Beijing's displeasure. Although the existence of this strategic storage complex in northwest China has been known for years, what has been said in the report about the size - 400 square kilometers, the tunnel complex inside Taibai Mountain, and the railway lines leading to this mysterious fortress is not the kind of detailed information that China is eager to share with the outside world.
Related: China's Nuclear Warhead Storage and Handling System (pdf).
March 25, 2010
For Shaidle Hulud is a fearsome god
The forces of reaction celebrate as Ann Coulter continues her one woman carpet bombing of Canadian received opinion. Five Feet of Fury, Blazing Cat Fur and the inestimable Binks all have further round ups. So too does Mark Steyn by way of saying we need to do more than write the best lines to win this fight.
Pace Mark Steyn, I still hand the day to Sean McCormick with the following special to the Flea.
If it had been Shaidle speaking last night, the extra security would have been deployed for the sole purpose of making sure that Kathy didn't start waterboarding hippies. And you know that she would, too. Hell, when she faced down a bunch of rabid muslims in TO, the only reason she left was because the police were freaked, not because she was. The woman has guts.
She's more or less what you'd get if you cross bred Maggie Thatcher with a PMSing pitbull. I mean every word of that as a compliment, too. Can we, like, start a religion based on her, or something? She's worthy.
Sean M.
p.s. Here's a list I've been working on...
Shaidlefreude: Kathy taking vicious delight in the PC discomfort of a progressive.
Shaidlety: The exact opposite of subtlety, but with a habanero pepper on top.
Shaidleism: Virtual polemicism reduced to a pithy and memorable one liner. The verbal equivalent of a sheet lightning enema.
Shaidulhu: Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Shaidulhu T'ranna wgah'nagl fhtagn.
Shaidlefreude, FTW!
(With a gold star for the correct Mythos spelling of Toronto.)
Update: Thanks to Ed Driscoll for giving the Flea the nod for quote of the day.
There is a reason they all left Canada
In which the Flea is delighted to answer a question for Ann Coulter.
At least that shows good judgment
Tunku Varadarajan on David Frum and "Polite-Company Conservatives."
North of the border we just call them "Canadian Conservatives."
Via Ace, adding re. Frum (and the remainder of the Canadian retardentsia).
Less intellectualized: Jonah Goldberg condemns "spot the boob job" features, links Supermodels, then and now.
Jihad is not just a public relations problem
When the people turn to the Hell's Angels to ensure the continuance of civil society, the Establishment needs to reconsider its duty or faces its retirement.
The longer they leave it, the less likely said retirement is to be voluntary (via Gates of Vienna).
The Hells Angels bikers have been in the spotlight of the authorities for some time, but now they have awakened even more concern by founding a youth group for children and teens.
March 24, 2010
Tony Blair's Middle East financial interests
Canada is not alone in enjoying a one time Prime Minister now in the service of the oil ticks.
At least Tony Blair has the decency to be ashamed of himself. He tried to keep this disgraceful, dishonourable business a secret (hat tip to Rochelle).
In addition, the daily claimed, the former head of state who is now the Middle East Quartet’s envoy to Israel “went to great efforts to keep hidden a separate £1million deal advising the ruling royal family in Iraq's neighbor Kuwait”, since June 2008, reportedly with the task of producing a report on the oil state's future over the next 30 years.
Once upon a time, you would have been drawn and quartered for less.
Related: Hey, Belinda, your stupid is showing.
...
Helping Blair spend his bounty will be some controversial figures, including the liberal Canadian Belinda Stronach and right-wing evangelical US pastor Rick Warren.
Catherine Tate: Language Translator
Watching this video is illegal in Canada.*
* If you laugh. If your job is "detecting" things for the CHRC then no harm, no foul.
March 23, 2010
O frabjous day
Cheryl Cole now prefers men with a pot belly.
Wreckers
Once upon a time, a career in the civil service was more of a vocation than a job, a bit worthy and a bit safe but public minded and well intentioned.
Now it is about joining the Party.
These grievances also stand proxy for an extreme Left-wing mindset which seeks to wreck the country and looks for any pretext to do so.
The RMT general secretary Bob Crow, who belonged to the Communist Party of Great Britain until it disbanded, has never made any secret of his militant tendencies.
The aim is simply the exercise of brute power by union bosses; it matters not one whit to them whether people already suffering from the general belt-tightening are now having their precious holiday travel plans ruined.
Who needs a Communist Party when you can work as British Airways cabin crew? The pay is better, the perqs can't be beat and the employer is a pushover.
Related: State spending now accounts for 52 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, more than half of Britain's economy, for the first time since OECD records began.
Meanwhile: Not all civil servants are created equal.
...
The MoD says the Army is near to its staffing limit of about 100,000 troops and it needed "modest adjustments".
March 22, 2010
Let them eat cake (and keep it too)
Unsure whether to dismiss Ann Coulter as a comedienne or censor her as a dangerous zealot, the Left splits the difference and does both (via Blazing Cat Fur).
I would say they can’t have it both ways but then they write the laws in this country.
Don’t they, Mr. Harper.
Update: This may indeed be the pitiful state to which one of the oldest free societies on the planet has been reduced. But it does allow Mark Steyn to conjure the following mental image.
Which leads me to the following (belated) realization. The Left is scared witless at the thought we are laughing at them. Small wonder this latest attempt to ban humour.
March 21, 2010
Bloop
Mythos fans will recognize the Bloop for what it is (sound file at the link).
The stars, pretty much aligned.
...
According to the NOAA description, it "rises rapidly in frequency over about one minute and was of sufficient amplitude to be heard on multiple sensors, at a range of over 5,000 km." NOAA's system ruled out its origin as any known man-made sound, such as a submarine or bomb, or familiar geological sounds such as volcanoes or earthquakes. While the audio profile of the bloop does resemble that of a living creature, the system identified it as unknown because it was far too loud for that to have been the case: it was several times louder than the loudest known biological sound.
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn!
Via Dark Roasted Blend.
DUNE: An Interview with Frank Herbert & David Lynch
There are six parts in total.
Also: Jodorowsky's Dune.
David Bowie: Life On Mars?
March 20, 2010
Off your meds, I presume
When I first learned of objections to the restoration of a bronze statue memorializing Henry Morton Stanley I assumed such objections were based in post-colonial ideology, Congolese nativist fascism and the generalized, low-grade anti-British grievance children of British immigrants come to expect in, for example, Canada.
But it turns out Henry Morton Stanley was a psycho.
There is little hope
Yukio Noguchi is one of the few economists who predicted correctly the collapse of Japan's "bubble economy" in 1987.
Noguchi now warns Japan is in danger of bankruptcy (the mostly likely alternative being hyperinflation). Enjoy!
Japan's present debt-to-GDP ratio is only comparable with what it was at the end of World War II. At that time, the only way the government could reduce the debt was through hyperinflation, which wiped out much of the people's wealth with skyrocketing prices.
"I can't tell exactly what will happen (this time), but what actually happened after the war was that the price level surged 60 times in just over four years," Noguchi said. "If the same thing happens again, a ¥10 million bank account will have the same net value of just ¥100,000 today. It's actually possible," he warned.
Those magnificent men and their flying machines
On the one hand: F-35 completes vertical landing.
On the other hand: Russia's secret fighter jet with 'human intellect'.
On the gripping hand: ACLU sues government over drones.
The good bit:
March 19, 2010
Men are quite simple to understand, actually
Sandra Bullock's husband cheated on her with the heavily tattooed Michelle “Bombshell’ McGee, leaving David Forsmark confused (hat tip to Kathy).
Leave aside the tattoos* and we are left with the question of why a man would pass over a great beauty for the charms of a seemingly lesser beauty. If he could have Sandra Bullock why would he choose to turn elsewhere?
There are two answers to this question.
The first concerns a distinction between a woman who is "beautiful" and a woman who is "hot". While the expression of this distinction is idiosyncratic to some degree, I believe the distinction itself will be immediately recognizable to most men. When it comes to sex, "hot" trumps "beautiful" every time.** Sandra Bullock is beautiful, quite lovely actually, but Bombshell McGee is hot, much more so in person, I suspect, than in her photographs.
The second answer is a bit more straightforward: Sex addiction.***
Related: Michelle McAgee teaches men how to pick up women. They like the unattainable, apparently.
* Theodore Dalrymple will never see eye to eye on the issue.
** Some lucky men are blessed to find both qualities in the same woman. But then I am in favour of tattoos.
*** In which Matt Stone mocks The Huffington Post to their face.
March 18, 2010
The problem, in a nutshell
This is what the IDF thinks will win hearts and minds in the West.
It won't.
A self-declared “green” army, the IDF recognizes projects that connect its soldiers with the environment.
Look, barn owls are awesome (at the link) but they are also entirely beside the point.
Almost nobody in the United States who supports Israel is much fussed about an impact on the environment if it means defending an embattled democracy, still less by yesterday's carbon emmissions hoax. And anybody in the United States yearning for a "green army" (most Leftists would describe this as a contradiction in terms) would already be convinced of Israel's virtue by now were they open to reason, justice, even naked self-interest, in the first place.
The Left is right about one thing: They do not despise Israel out of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is an excuse - for the paleocons, a reflex - but I expect the Left would hate Israel all the same if its first language were, say, Swedish. The key is to find a people other than the Jews who would have dared a democratic and socialist experiment in the desert, who would have attempted to found a polity grounded in equality in the midst of medievalism, barbarism and spiritual darkness.
The Left despises Israel not for its crimes (imagined, for the most part) but precisely for its virtues. The Left hates Israel because Israel is a democracy, because Israel supports the rights of minorities, because Israel defends the rights of women. Advertising the green credentials of the only country in the Middle East that isn't an environmental (economic, social, political and moral) disaster is a lost cause. If anything, it is more fuel for the fire.
The Left hates Israel because the Left hates itself. The Left is a suicide cult but - as with their shaheed brothers - they do not have the decency to top themselves quietly in a corner. Their plan is to take as many of us with them in as gruesome and pointless a manner possible.
Worse yet, Israel is itself largely a product of the Left. How else to explain Gaza, armed and aggrieved with a stated aim of genocide. In most normal history, Gaza would be green, prosperous and empty of evil squatters. The war would have been over fifty years ago and the Arabs, having lost, might have learned to live with their neighbours in peace.
Note to future civilizations: Think carefully before extending the franchise to the mob. It is not as if you haven't been warned. We were.
It will be brutal
The British enjoy a budget deficit worse than Greece.
Jedi believer wins apology after being kicked out of Jobcentre for wearing a hood
When benefits claimant Chris Jarvis was asked to put down his hood in a Jobcentre, he said he was entitled to wear it because of his Jedi faith.
'Someone with their own religious views is allowed to wear what their religion says - the Sikhs are able to carry a great big dagger. My religion allows me to wear my hood.'
I am foursquare in favour of the Jedi religion (Episides IV, V, VI, obviously; followers of "I", "II", "III" must be killed) but surely this sets a bad precedent. Imagine the next time some child rapist is caught and he claims to follow a religion where God tells you to rape children. It would be compensation next. "No such religion exists", of course, but give it time and something like that might turn up in the UK.
/angry sarcasm
March 17, 2010
Back off, get your own sandwich
Rumours British firm Desire Petroleum may have struck oil near the Falklands arise as the Royal Navy announces the arrival of nuclear attack submarine HMS Sceptre to patrol the islands.
There are already two Navy vessels in the area. HMS York, a Type 42 destroyer, is partolling off the island's capital of Port Stanley. HMS Scott, a survey vessel, is also nearby and the fleet has air support from a squadron of RAF Typhoon fighter jets based on the islands.
The United States of Deferred Maintenance
A Declinist moment at Newsweek.
Fatuous
Funny how none of the four Entertainment Tonight and Entertainment Tonight Canada puff pieces on Kirstie Alley's fatuous new weight loss show mention her Organic Liason diet food line is yet another Scientology front company.
WWTDD? comments on the scandal.
March 16, 2010
Corpus Coranicum
Jeff Black says German researchers are preparing “Qur’an: The Critical Edition”.
What this means is that the research team is in the process of analysing and transcribing some 12,000 slides of Qur’an mansucripts from the first six centuries of the text’s existence. Once that is complete, the way is open to producing a text that annotates and, presumably, provides some sort of exegesis on the differences found in the early manuscripts.
RTWT (via Quotulatiousness).
Now about the “terrible and forbidden books” — I am forced to say that most of them are purely imaginary. There never was any Abdul Alhazred or Necronomicon, for I invented these names myself. Robert Bloch devised the idea of Ludvig Prinn and his De Vermis Mysteriis, while the Book of Eibon is an invention of Clark Ashton Smith's. Robert E. Howard is responsible for Friedrich von Junzt and his Unaussprechlichen Kulten.... As for seriously-written books on dark, occult, and supernatural themes — in all truth they don’t amount to much. That is why it’s more fun to invent mythical works like the Necronomicon and Book of Eibon.
- H.P. Lovecraft, In a letter to Willis Conover
November 1, 4006
Sabrina Sforza Galitzia has worked out the real Da Vinci code, a clue to the end of the world as we know it.
“There is a da Vinci code — it is just not the one made popular by Dan Brown,” she said.
Not so fast, say the comments.
If Leonardo really referred, in 1498, to the date "November 1, 4006", he would have been using the Julian calendar, as that was the calendar then in use. On our current Gregorian calendar, the date in question would be November 29, 4006. Not that the four-week difference means that much when you are talking about the "end of the world". But Ms. Galitzia also says that the date will mark "a new start for humanity", so I guess it isn't the literal end of the world after all, is it? Any more than December 21, 2012 will be.
March 15, 2010
Against the Dry Bones paradigm
Belmont Club claims, entirely correctly, the Middle East "peace process" is really a process: a mime show of appearing to do something.
It’s not the settlements that are the problem, it’s the region.
March 14, 2010
Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé: Telephone
Ladies and germs, the greatest pop music video not featuring Gwen Stefani since 1982 (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).
Illuminating Hadrians Wall
Illuminating Hadrians Wall, from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway.
The Guardian calls it a recreation. I call it foreshadowing.
Vroom
Luxist rounds up the 2010 Geneva Motor Show featuring the Italians (ace), the Germans (boring Porsches)*, the French (French) and the rest including the extraordinarily tasteless Bufori Geneva (Australian).
I particularly enjoy the Stile Bertone Alfa Romeo Pandion Concept (above).
* But I repeat myself.
More: 2010 Alfa Romeo Pandion. Images.
The most unique trait of the Pandion is its side windows which extend down to the front wheel arch. Like the Pandion bird, the doors open up in a gull-wing fashion.
Memories of Potemkin
Blazing Cat Fur reports from above a Hezbollah Potemkin Village on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Paris Hilton meets Lady Gaga at the Nokia 5800 Launch
Lady Gaga is right: Stars Are Blind
March 13, 2010
The Frost Report: An Understanding of Class
And: The Frost Report on Class in full (Part 1).
Justice for everyone
All ten Jewish communities ethnically cleansed from "Arab countries" following the rebirth of the state of Israel have at long last some hope their government will represent their interests.
These are (some of) the refugees the Left neither knows nor cares about.
March 12, 2010
Great moments in repartee
By way of taking a poke at the wets affecting deep horror at recent remarks by Nigel Farage in Brussels, Frederick Forsyth cites Parliamentary precendent (via Andrew Stuttaford).
Terribly rude but what a put-down. We should have more like that, not less.
Kinderwette Star Wars
Sophia Heesch identifies Star Wars figurines with her mouth.
March 11, 2010
Killer deals
An Israeli ad agency has re-enacted the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai in a new for Mahsanei Kimat Hinam supermarket commercial (hat tip to Lumpy, Grumpy and Frumpy, who points out such a commercial would never be made in Canada).
Words matter
Here is how Nico Hines, writing for The Times, describes the would be death of Rajib Karim.
Rajib Karim, 30, from Newcastle upon Tyne, faces three charges under counter terrorism legislation. He is accused of two counts of planning suicide bombings and his own martyrdom.
I am certain Karim thought of himself as a shaheed, or "witness", a jihadi concept frequently mis-translated as "martyr." But a real martyr? He is no such thing, of course. The shaheed does not sacrifice himself for others, he sacrifices himself as an offering to a demon who delights in direct proportion to the unwilling sacrifices the bomber would drag with him to the underworld. A witness to nothing but his own shabby grievances, Karim is no martyr.
The Times should know better. This may be the first time in history a civilization will stand or fall on the issue of misplaced courtesies.
Why, yes, I would like fries with that
Reading: Today's young workers, it appears, believe they deserve jobs with big salaries, status and plenty of leisure time - without having to put in the hours.
Generation Y are much more likely than previous generations to see work as simply a means of paying the bills.
Writing: They can't read, can't write and think the world owes them a living.
Many also struggle with basic maths and English as exams become easier and schools fail to properly enforce discipline.
Rithmetic: Teenagers who complete two weeks' work experience at a McDonald's restaurant will be awarded a qualification worth up to a B grade at GCSE.
Subterranean operations
As the world's superweapons projects move underground, DARPA has pondered a means of navigating through huge enemy underground bases in the absence of GPS: Sferics-Based Underground Geolocation (S-BUG).
But the right kind of signals are generated naturally by lightning strikes, which cause the emission of "atmospheric" ("sferic" or "spheric") radio pulses. An underground receiver could perhaps be built capable of detecting sferics from lightning bolts hitting the surface hundreds of miles away. It could be informed of the positions of the strikes over LF comms by a single specialised surface base station, similarly far off, and thus calculate its own position from sferic data coming in from several directions.
The Jersey Shore Presents: Inglourious Basterds - The Line Up
Via Agent Bedhead.
March 10, 2010
A Victorian rave
It is difficult to convery the precise degree of annoyance I feel at missing out on the Thames Tunnel Tour and Fancy Fair at London's Brunel Museum.
Due to unprecedented demand, tickets for the Tunnel tours have now sold out however there are still places left for the Fancy Fair, a recreation of the original 1852 party hosted to celebrate the opening of the tunnel. Audiences are promised strange and wonderful Victorian characters, cosmoranic views, aerialists, jugglers, historic food and drink and music powered by steam. As Robert Hulse, the Director of the Brunel Museum has stated, “This is not just the birthplace of the tube system, it is the site of a Victorian rave!”
Wikipedia: Thames Tunnel.
The Telegraph: Top 10: Isambard Kingdom Brunel's great surviving structures.
Swan song
Alexander McQueen's last collection.
More.
Etc: Chanel autumn/winter 2010/11 collection celebrates global colding.
More hot Wookie action.
Also: London Fashion Week's top looks for Autumn/Winter 2010.
Cretinism on this historic level is comparatively rare
Christopher Hitchens considers one of the most astoundingly stupid and nasty documents ever to have landed on his desk.
Not so longer ago, this sort of language would have been cause for ridicule, and the threats a cause for war. At some point, vigilantism is going to take the place where the law used to be. At the moment, it is a war of every one against every one and Danish newspapermen have been comprehensively disarmed.
Armed Occupation Act
The Florida Armed Occupation Act of 1842 (5 U.S. Statutes 502) was passed as an incentive to populate Florida. The main terms of the Act read like public policy via Robert Heinlein.
* be a resident of Florida and not having 160 acres (0.6 km²) of land in Florida when asking for the permit;
* get a permit from the Lands Office;
* he or his heirs reside for five consecutive years on the grant ;
* clear, enclose and cultivate 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land during the first year;
* build a house on the lot during the first year;
* the land should be two or more miles away from a garrisoned military post.
The last statement implied that the person should bear arms for his own protection.
Actually, the last statement implied the new homestead is the functional equivalent of a garrisoned military outpost; a redoubt of civilization held by force against Nature and against the barbarians.
A lot has changed in the world in 170 years. There has been a bigger change in our souls.
Lynching Republicans
Otherwise known as the forgotten supressed history of the Democrat party: following the Civil War, 1300 white Republicans and 3500 black Republicans were lynched by the Ku Klux Klan (via Mitchieville).
March 09, 2010
Ka-ka
In a whirl of limbs and with eyes bulging, the woman is helped to a squat in the ramshackle shed and starts cackling maniacally like a terrified chicken.
In related news: Tears, joy greet Michaëlle Jean in Haiti.
Je me souviens: Les felquistes.
Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest
Captain Devindra Sethi discusses India's growing maritime defense capabilities, including the Shaurya missile, Akula-II class submarines, INS Arihant and a dedicated naval satellite for the Indian Navy.
One little fact about their new MiG-29K fighters struck me in particular. Until the carrier INS Vikramaditya is ready for them, the MiGs will be on post off the west coast of India.
March 08, 2010
Depeche mode
Future tense: Haute Macabre features Gareth Pugh Fall / Winter 2010 at Paris Fashion Week.
Present tense: Jean Paul Gaultier collection debuts at Target ([ˈtarːgeɪ] n).
Past tense: Alexander McQueen wins posthumous fashion design award.
Too soon?: Gareth Pugh is front runner to take over Alexander McQueen's fashion label.
The fruits of Canadian imperialism
The one hand: Haiti will not be 'left behind,' MacKay says.
The other hand: Canadian troops preparing to leave Haiti.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who visited the troops Sunday and toured the capital and the cities of Jacmel and Leogane, announced that HMCS Athabaskan will pull up anchor Wednesday.
The gripping hand: Governor General travels to Haiti.
“I want to support that which is on the horizon, beyond the rubble.”
Feel the non-confrontational inspiration flowing.
Brothers in arms
With New Delhi's decision to increase its defense budget to $32 billion, India is set to expand its arms trade with Israel.
Other recent acquisitions include the IAI's Searcher, which is a reconnaissance UAV, and the Heron-1, which is an UAV capable of Medium Altitude Long Endurance operations of up to 52 hours.
New Delhi has also signed a $1.1 billion deal with the IAI to convert Russian cargo planes into CAEW (conformal airborne early warning) aircrafts using the Falcon system.
Related: India has quietly asked the Saudis to stop funding terrorism against India. Give it another five years. The Saudis will not have changed their policy of funding terrorism but I expect the Indians will be ready to change their policy of asking quietly.
.
"Like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has been following a dual policy on terrorism," said B. Raman, a senior analyst with the South Asia Analysis Group. While the Saudis have taken "ruthless action" against al-Qaida elements within Saudi Arabia, Raman said, "it has avoided taking action against Wahhabi organizations which have been supporting terrorism in other countries."
Chinese Guy's Official Music Video
Peter Chao is one of only a handful of public figures who truly understands the place of multiculturalism in Canadian life.
March 07, 2010
Walter Chandon: "Thank you for bring this to our attention"
[Search for "Toronto paramedics complaints" and found this post? Keep reading, my adventures with Toronto paramedics starts after the following news from England]
Kane Gorny died of dehydration after three days in a British teaching hospital. Gorny was so desperate for the water refused to him by hospital nurses he telephoned the police.
They did not save him.
'By this time my son was confused due to his lack of medication and I think the nurses just ignored him because they thought he was just being badly behaved.
'They were lazy, careless and hadn't bothered to check his charts and see his medication was essential.'
Here is the best bit.
This is not a British problem, this is a socialist medical system problem. This happens in Toronto.
A close friend of mine, suffering from a chronic medical condition requiring frequent contact with the whole gamut of the medical profession, is forced to make frequent hospital trips via ambulance; this most often in a state of considerable pain and distress. On a recent occasion, her nausea was such she asked to lie down on the stretcher instead of having to sit up in the back of the amublance en route to emergency. The paramedic refused her request on the grounds she "did not want to make the bed" and, when my friend asked again, the EMS worker had her partner stop the ambulance so the pair of them could call over a police officer. This for a woman who might weigh 110 pounds soaking wet.
The officer, not knowing my friend's medical condition and assuming another uniformed emergency services worker would not lie so she would not have to change the sheets on a stretcher, told my friend she could not lie down and to do as the paramedic told her. This for a paramedic too lazy to do her job (at C$80,000 a year if she has been at it for a while). Perhaps needless to say, the paramedic refused to identify herself or offer any specific means of filing a complaint and, having initially refused to escort her patient from the ambulance into emergency (an offense in itself), followed her in to get the story straight with the ER nurses. This in turn prejudiced my friend's ER treatment on that visit.
Unfortunately, when my friend needs to get to emergency she is at her most vulnerable and is least able to record the details necessary to file a complaint let alone secure a legal remedy. She is not alone and - for at least some paramedics - the fact makes for good sport. I worked at a teaching hospital for two years and the only people cockier than the surgeons were the paramedics, they carry themselves like cut rate Top Gun extras. This is not an accident. This has been allowed to go unchallenged. Something has gone seriously wrong with the "culture" of emergency medical services - and particularly with paramedics - in Toronto.
I was not present for this particular incident (it would have had a very different ending) but, having watched Toronto paramedics at work in my living room, can personally attest to their arrogance, their inability to listen, their prejudice and their lack of professionalism. One team left medical waste for me to tidy up after them. Tell anyone who will listen: Any time you have to deal with these people, take down every detail you can. You may need the paper trail - and your attorney - for you to have any hope your word will be taken over that of the police officer or the paramedic, let alone the ER physician.
From direct observation, I would testify in court that Toronto paramedics do not appear to have consistent training on how to take a patient's blood pressure, let alone anything more complicated. I have formed a genuine, deep seated contempt for the profession.
If you live in downtown Toronto and you need to get to hospital, take a cab. It is cheaper and the cab driver will not actively try to get you killed on the way.*
Better yet, save your cab fare and stay home. Having dealt with every emergency room in downtown Toronto over the last year, there isn't one I would send my worst enemy to.** ***
* Forgive my hyperbole. By "killed" I mean "arrested".
** Though if you, my worst enemy, should happen to read this, go to the ER at Mount Sinai. Enjoy! Toronto General, by contrast, has been mostly ok. I even managed to secure a written apology from Toronto East General over some recent unpleasantness so cloud, lining, etc.
*** "To which I would send my own worst enemy." Damned prepositions.
March 8 Update (please note I have changed the title of the post to reflect the following): I forwarded a link to this post to Toronto EMS and have now received the following unsigned reply. "Thank you for bring this to our attention."
Fortunately, Walter W Chandon's City of Toronto email address identified the note's author, even if he could not be bothered to do so himself (according to Linkedin, Chandon is Co-ordinator Professional Standards at Toronto Emergency Medical Services).
This is exactly what I am talking about. A bloodless letter cut-and-pasted by somebody who, had they read what I had written, would already know I cannot provide the details he wants.
The man could not be bothered to sign his name.
Why should he? 99.9% of the time, a member of the public making a complaint has no other recourse, no other hope than that some high handed civil servant will actually do his job (let alone his duty).
My reply, unedited (with apologies for style). Five gold stars for anyone who gets the Le Devoir reference.
You have mistaken my intention. My friend has had to endure rough treatment almost every time she has encountered your service; things are only marginally better when we have called for an ambulance when I have been present to explain to the paramedics the nature of my friend's medical condition. When she is on her own and in no state to explain her condition, Toronto EMS has been discourteous, unhelpful and at times bordering on criminal in its treatment. This is not an isolated incident, this does not only impact my friend's access to medical care, but is a systemic problem.
I find it difficult to believe you are not aware of the issue. Be assured that thanks to our experience over the last year, I now record each and every detail of each call to Toronto EMS and this information is filed for my friend's attorney. Unfortunately, when I am not present - and when your paramedics refuse to offer any incident ID number - my friend is in no position to collect the details needed to instigate an investigation.
Your paramedics know this. Obviously.
I am a conservative, I believe in law and order. Half my relatives for the last four generations have served in the police or the armed forces. I have every sympathy for EMS workers confronted by irrational, even potentially dangerous, patients. For EMS workers to abuse the authority entrusted to them by refusing a disabled woman the comfort of lying down on the way to hospital is sickening to me. I not only wish I had any way of identifying the crew - or the police officer who unwittingly enabled their abuse of power - I wish I had a camera crew present to demonstrate to the world the kind of service Toronto EMS provides for its most vulnerable clients.
Your reply strongly suggests you did not read my post carefully, do not take my concerns seriously and have no intention of addressing the culture that has taken root in Toronto's emergency medical services.
I am therefore pursuing the matter through other channels. For what it is worth, my political blog has more readers than the editorial page of Le Devoir. Be assured you can ignore my note but you will not be able to ignore the problem.
Now imagine you have no lawyer and no soap box. You could complain all you like; Toronto EMS would still know they do not have to care. Perhaps this time they do.
When the moon is full, it shines everywhere
Is Geert Wilders the new William of Orange?
The nation’s only hope is a charismatic young Dutchman fighting almost single-handedly against the creation of a united Europe under the rule of an unelected tyrant in Holland’s southern neighbour.
Ed West should get a special prize for "Cathophobia". And he is very nearly right about recent retro-1930s street battles between United Against Fascism and the English Defence League. The trouble is West, and the rest of the Telegraph, do not understand the UAF is the new BUF. On Cable Street, the EDL would have fought shoulder to shoulder with the Jews.
Related: Meanwhile, the Daily Mail is worried Geert Wilders will engulf Britain in a holy war. Evidently they have not noticed the holy war in Britain already underway.
And, according to Wilders, it's not just the Dutch government who needs to learn this - other nations, Britain included, are "going in the wrong direction altogether".
"There is almost no country more politically correct than the UK," he has said.
"Look at the terrible things that happened in London after Madrid. You have more reason than most to make this debate transparent and public.
"As long as the political elite does not take the questions, the threats, the problems of large parts of their constituents seriously, I am very negative about the future."
On your bike
Uneuropean language at Bild reminds us of Germany's work ethic.
...
"No one here has to pay thousands of euros in bribes to get a hospital bed. We don't give pensions to generals' daughters who can't find a husband ... Taxi drivers give receipts and farmers don't get billions of euros in EU subsidies for non-existent olive trees," the newspaper thundered in its Friday edition.
Yet another sign the People may be fed up with the Party.
Weapon of Mosquito Destruction
I have been dreaming about one of these since my childhood (via Jonah Goldberg).
March 06, 2010
I want to drive my car on my television
While Tim Rogers is finally fed up with Japan I suspect I could stick it out for a bit. For one thing, I have no problem with sarcastic office participation. I much prefer the Japanese understanding of the practice as pure, empty ritual; for its zen, if you will. The cheerleaders at my old hospital job expected me to pretend to be happy and somehow to mean it (hat tip to Quotulatiousness).
A friendly word of advice to the author: If you are a vegetarian, non-smoker you need to move back to San Fransisco for anyone to respect your particular complaints. The Japanese do not owe you a living, let alone your brand of righteous, masturbatory puritanism.
The game design thoughts are fascinating, however.
March 05, 2010
Meet Dr Who's new sidekick
InStyle profiles Karen Gillan, the new Who Companion (that last one is nsfw).
I gather the TARDIS has also undergone some interior remodeling.
Related: The Chanel 2.55 Handbag.
An excessive interest in demonology
Mike Potemra is troubled by news of Satanic sects at the Vatican (ahem), or rather by the high probability the news suggests an otherwise respected exorcist has gone "off the emotional rails" by drawing attention to the problem.
This is a mistake. I have no clue if Satanic sects are particularly active at the Vatican at the moment (too busy in Canterbury, I would have thought) but accusing an exorcist of an "excessive interest in demonology" is not only unreasonable in itself but is also bad for the brand. Do you think anyone would watch Omen or The Exorcist or, at one time, Madonna if it they used Quaker iconography (ahem)?
They would not.
Visionary
Typealyzer lets you assesses your blog using Myers-Briggs personality types and a text sample from your front page.
Take the Flea, for example.
The charming and trend savvy type. They are especially attuned to the big picture and anticipate trends. They often have sophisticated language skills and come across as witty and social. At the end of the day, however, they are pragmatic decision makers and have a good analytical ability.
They enjoy work that lets them use their cleverness, great communication skills and knack for new exciting ventures. They have to look out not to become quitters, since they easily get bored when the creative exciting start-up phase is over.
Fortunately, I think this blog is still in the exciting start-up phase.
Update: A friendly reminder of the real Myers-Briggs Personality Types made relevant.
For example.
The ENTP, like the ENTJ, is charismatic, outgoing, and intelligent. ENTPs are often quickwitted, clever, and genial; they typically display a highly organized, rational cognitive ability which makes them natural scientists and inventors.
ENTPs are creative, complex people who seek to improve their understanding of the natural world, usually by building armored fifty-story-tall robotic monsters with iron jaws and death-ray eyes, or by creating genetically mutated plagues that spread unstoppably across the land, turning all who are contaminated into mindless zombie drones. They are less likely to want to conquer the world than to destroy it utterly, reducing it to nothing but slag and rubble--though this is often merely a side-effect of their pursuit of knowledge.
March 04, 2010
The bombing begins in five minutes
Conspicuously absent from its new military doctrine, Russia is reportedly "alarmed" by Chinese maneuvres.
A key analyst has concluded that while Moscow's policy doesn't directly mention China, it includes references to the nation because of its mention of a "real possibility of military conflict." The alarm follows China's training program for what would appear to be an invasion of Russia.
Your mind is so open that your brains fall out
Michael Weiss outlines the five varieties of bad political thinking.
Let's hear it for Triumphal Manicheanism.
Guilty as charged.
March 03, 2010
National Defense Mobilization Law
China's Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has passed the National Defense Mobilization Law, a War Measures Act for the black beret and grey turtleneck crowd.
Wouldn't it be lovely if this were the last we hear of it?
Military mobilization is to be led jointly by the NPC Standing Committee and the Central Military Committee. China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, reports to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Elsewhere in pantomime: Freedom of speech for me but not for thee.
By contrast, when Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, complained that Herman Van Rompuy, the new President of Europe had the charisma of a wet rag, he was fined 2,980 euros.
Which tells you all you need to know about contemporary cursing. Call someone a Nazi and it is water off a duck's back. Make fun of their shitty little civil service appointment and there will be Hell to pay.
Can ninth-graders really produce college-level work?
San Francisco says, yes, provided it is for an ethnic studies course.
"All we do is give them an opportunity," he said. "I do believe that (the ethnic studies) course is a course set up so the kids will come out of there with the kind of information that a freshman here taking an ethnic studies course will have."
Yet still they believe conservatives are the racists.
March 02, 2010
Promises promises
The Jewish Defence League of Canada has issued the followed letter from Meir Weinstein, National Director Jewish Defence League of Canada, to Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion. For the second week in a row, Mayor McCallion phoned JDL-Canada in an attempt to stop a planned March 7th picket outside Palestine House.
Office of the Mayor
City of Mississauga
300 City Centre Drive
Mississauga, Ontario L5B 3C1
Dear Mayor McCallion,
Thank you for your phone call earlier this morning. You stated that you used your influence to convince Palestine House to abandon their plans to host Abd Al-Bari Atwan on April 03.
Thank you for your efforts. However, I have just checked the Palestine House website and when I clicked on the EVENTS tab, I noticed that Mr. Atwan is still being promoted as the speaker for April 03.
Not only that, but Palestine House has added the promotion of "Israel Apartheid Week" in the EVENTS section as well. For your information, the Ontario Legislature recently denounced "Israel Apartheid Week" as a manifestation of "hateful and odious" anti-semitism and the House of Commons - as of today - also reiterated the same sentiments. In fact, the Leader of the Opposition, Michael Ignatieff stated in the House today
"On university campuses across the country this week, Israeli Apartheid Week will once again attempt to demonize and undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state. It is part of a global campaign of calls for divestment, boycotts and proclamations, and it should be condemned unequivocally and absolutely."
"Apartheid is defined, in international law, as a crime against humanity. Israeli Apartheid Week is a deliberate attempt to portray the Jewish state as criminal."
"The activities planned for the week will single out Jewish and Israeli students. They will be made to feel ostracized and even physically threatened in the very place where freedom should be paramount - on a university campus."
When I clicked on the link for the "Israel Apartheid Week" website that Palestine House provides, I noticed that the media contact phone number is the same phone number that Palestine House lists in their media releases. Therefore, the Jewish Defence League of Canada is more determined than ever to call for a federal review of governmental funding for Palestine House .. and we have every intention to protest in front of their offices on Sunday March 07 at 1 o'clock in the afternoon.
The hatred promoted by "Israel Apartheid Week" has the goal of demonizing, delegitimizing and destroying the Jewish people - and is the antithesis of Canadian values as outlined in both governmental houses.
Thank you very much.
Respectfully,
Meir Weinstein,
National Director Jewish Defence League of Canada
Know your Reapers from your Global Hawks
Or your Demons. The Complete UAV Field Guide.
For example.
BAE Systems
Class: Autonomous
Habitat: Defense giant BAE Systems laboratory in London
Behavior: The Demon flies with no fins and almost no moving parts, so it rarely needs repairs. Software makes it partially autonomous.
Notable Features: The entire body of the craft is shaped like a wing. Dozens of thrusters situated on its top and bottom shape airflow, replacing the work typically done by tail fins and ailerons. Onboard software varies the strength of each thruster to control pitch, side-to-side movement (yaw) and roll. BAE Systems engineers hope to begin test flights this month.
Après moi
Mark Steyn considers a West hoping to fend off the final collapse just long enough to live out its retirement benefits.
The abyss of statecraft
Irrational: Caroline Glick makes a number of excellent points about Europe, Hamas and Israel amongst other things.
Let's start with Dubai, shall we.
Rational: Israeli air force training hints at possible strike on Iran, says Israel Today.
Or, more probably, keeping as many planes in the air over Israel when they are needed.
March 01, 2010
Eurocopter Blue Edge rotor blade noise reduction
"The good news is that there is no such thing as silent, stealth black helicopters. The bad news is that, thanks to Eurocopter's noise-canceling Blue Edge rotor blades, there soon will be."
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot at Barbican Centre, London
For his installation in The Curve, Boursier-Mougenot creates a walk-though aviary for a flock of zebra finches, furnished with electric guitars and other musical instruments. As the birds go about their routine activities, perching on or feeding from the various pieces of equipment, they create a captivating, live soundscape.
Ads that have disappeared
Once among the missing: The classic Ferrero Roche "Ambassador's Party" ad was lost then found.
Still among the missing: The Wunderbar chocolate Viking on the beach ad... "It's Wunderbar!"
Also, a relax with (Passion) Flakie ad I never saw but is wanted by the GF of the Flea.
David Christie: Saddle Up
With a shout out to Ben, who will wish he found it first.
David Christie - Saddle Up
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