tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post357861461736763168..comments2023-10-18T16:25:13.593+01:00Comments on Famous for 15 megapixels: It's all in the contract…Stefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-74714106242956822072007-08-08T10:34:00.000+01:002007-08-08T10:34:00.000+01:00Blog notes ... "The conception that government sho...Blog notes ... "<I>The conception that government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of government. The ideal of democracy rests on the belief that the view which will direct government emerges from an independent and spontaneous process. It requires, therefore, the existence of a large sphere independent of majority control in which the opinions of the individuals are formed.</I>"<BR/><BR/>The above is from Hayek. I thought it worth posting 'cos some of your commentators blindly advocate democracy as a force for good. Unfortunateley, democracy is an extremely potent form of <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority" REL="nofollow">tyranny</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-87955645510331551342007-08-08T00:02:00.000+01:002007-08-08T00:02:00.000+01:00Thanz Stef - I have re-jigged the post on mine (it...Thanz Stef - I have re-jigged the post on mine (it was purely my stupidity which made it less than clear).<BR/><BR/>Synchronicity being what it is, I had particular reasons to feel that story as being very bad.<BR/><BR/>Stayed in Stockwell after returning from a trip to Brazil long time ago, and know that station very well.<BR/>As trousers sort of said, the sheer ordinariness of the Beeb photo is chilling in itself.<BR/><BR/>I came back to Britain, after 10 years abroad, the week after 7/7 to see such a climate of (induced) fear - my bus skirted London rather than going to Victoria.<BR/>Shocking.<BR/>(On the 'lighter side', hehehe, when I was in Brazil I had guns at my head from the local police.<BR/>Wrote about it in my blog.<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/38sqra)<BR/><BR/>Point is, the MSM spent all their time discussing like PMT'ed shills the 'who did this' 'who said that'<BR/>distraction without once asking the question 'who ordered it and why?'<BR/><BR/>We have a good idea what it was about - as do the people in Brazil.<BR/>As usual, we can't do piss all except shout 'Fire!' while we are allowed to.Merkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02499327449561248731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-25598093578382929922007-08-07T14:20:00.000+01:002007-08-07T14:20:00.000+01:00@anon: Charlie Wilson's War added to the Amazon sh...@anon: Charlie Wilson's War added to the Amazon shopping list - a snip @£6.15...<BR/><BR/>taStefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-42763643758597797462007-08-07T14:13:00.000+01:002007-08-07T14:13:00.000+01:00@merkinI notice in your profile that you list Catc...@merkin<BR/><BR/>I notice in your profile that you list Catch-22 as your favourite book twice - good choice<BR/><BR/>(and PS I've updated my earlier post on the JCdM shooting to avoid any misunderstandings about the origins of the pictures I used)Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-52491356743240385362007-08-07T13:14:00.000+01:002007-08-07T13:14:00.000+01:00Hmmm, Ken or BorisSpoilt for choice we are...http:...Hmmm, Ken or Boris<BR/><BR/>Spoilt for choice we are...<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/2sv27w<BR/><BR/><I>Ken Livingstone today sprang to the defence of a senior Met officer over the Stockwell Tube shooting.<BR/><BR/>He dismissed a report into how police reacted to the killing of an innocent man as the work of armchair academics.<BR/><BR/>Anti-terror chief Andy Hayman is expected to be singled out for criticism by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.<BR/><BR/>Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot dead by pol ice when surveillance officers wrongly identified him as a suicide bomber, after the 7/7 London Tube and bus bombs and the failed 21 July attacks in 2005.<BR/><BR/>Mr Hayman is believed to be criticised over statements made in the aftermath of the shooting, and for allegedly failing to brief Commissioner Sir Ian Blair soon enough that they had got the wrong man.<BR/><BR/>But Mr Livingstone said: "It's all very well for academics, which is largely what the police complaints authority are, sitting in their office saying this is how it should have worked.<BR/><BR/>You try doing it while you are waiting for the next bomb to go off." He rubbished the idea "that this is some sort of catastrophic error of judgment on the part of an officer". He described Mr Hayman as someone "I have tremendous respect for and whose counterterrorism operations have saved literally dozens of lives in this city".</I>Stefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01467757421113856218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-73835066756377536522007-08-07T13:02:00.000+01:002007-08-07T13:02:00.000+01:00Boris may play the buffoon, but the King has a Cou...Boris may play the buffoon, but the King has a Court jester to remind him sometimes of the uncomfortable truths about his court and courtiers. The Paul Merton's , Jeremy Hardy's provide more incisive political analysis than the very best infomred political columnist.<BR/><BR/>Boris was well on the mark referring to Scousers wallowing in 'vicarious victim hood'.<BR/><BR/>The dead of Hillsborough were not found crushed against the fences, they were found to have been crushed underfoot in the tunnel.. not in the open.<BR/><BR/>Extrapolating bodyweight from their Date of Birth the bulk were children..<BR/><BR/>The killers at Hillsborough were adults, many not sober ... not the police, not the police horses, the ticket touts ...<BR/><BR/>The victims at Hillsborough were the dead not the grieving survivors, anxious to re-direct their guilt either by their action. Or like many fathers, of inaction to protect their children.<BR/><BR/>Although envious that he has comjugated with Petronella Wyatt, I would not defend Boris much, but in the case of the whingeing Scousers he was spot on.zizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15249645812407323273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-64891032871295617732007-08-07T08:41:00.000+01:002007-08-07T08:41:00.000+01:00Favourite quote from Joseph Heller when asked if h...Favourite quote from Joseph Heller when asked if he was bothered he hadn't written anything as good as catch 22 since:<BR/><I>"who has?"</I><BR/>Excellent article concerning your bunterish ubermenschen mayoral candidate <A HREF="http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6473" REL="nofollow">here</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-48572287979117783102007-08-07T08:05:00.000+01:002007-08-07T08:05:00.000+01:00Charlie Wilson's War - read all about how the Muja...<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Wilsons-War-Extraordinary-Operation/dp/0871138549" REL="nofollow">Charlie Wilson's War</A> - read all about how the Mujahideen were armed.<BR/><BR/>(read the reviews of the book in Amazon).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-64752716438410666152007-08-07T07:04:00.000+01:002007-08-07T07:04:00.000+01:00Washington Post story had this intriguing postscri...Washington Post story had this intriguing postscript<BR/><BR/>"Much of the equipment provided to Iraqi troops, including the AK-47s, originates from countries in the former Soviet bloc. In a report last year, Amnesty International said that in 2004 and 2005 more than 350,000 AK-47 rifles and similar weapons were taken out of Bosnia and Serbia, for use in Iraq, by private contractors working for the Pentagon and with the approval of NATO and European security forces in Bosnia."<BR/><BR/>A report July 10th 2006 in the Chr Sc Monitor<BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/2un8x7<BR/> also says..<BR/>"The UN estimates that one-quarter of the $4 billion annual global arms trade is illicit. But experts are also concerned about legal trades, particularly from Bosnia before the moratorium. The concerns are heightened in light of an Amnesty International report in May that detailed a 2004 Bosnia-to-Iraq shipment of thousands of guns that apparently went missing in a maze of subcontractors."<BR/><BR/>..."Amnesty International highlighted one of the US Department of Defense's Bosnia weapons shipments in a May report that detailed a dizzying array of contractors and subcontractors hired to bring some 99 tons of automatic assault rifles from Bosnia to Iraq, to arm the Iraqi military and police.<BR/><BR/>According to the report, the Department of Defense contracted the Alabama-based company Taos, which then subcontracted a Bulgarian firm, which, in turn, subcontracted the Moldovan-registered company Aerocom to ship the weapons to Iraq in August 2004. But Aerocom lost its air operation certificate one day before the shipments were to begin, because of European Union concerns about air safety and security. According to the Amnesty report, Aerocom was also linked with the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, who has been blacklisted by both the UN and the US Treasury Department for his role in supplying arms to conflict-riddled areas of Africa."<BR/><BR/>For Victor Bout see Yorkshire Ranter.zizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15249645812407323273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8225855.post-40069787337922007742007-08-07T00:43:00.000+01:002007-08-07T00:43:00.000+01:00Do not wonder.Simple.Well, sorry, wonder while you...Do not wonder.<BR/>Simple.<BR/><BR/>Well, sorry, wonder while you can still do it.<BR/>In blah blah blah months time, when you are posting 'Stef says :......' messages through some non-ASBOd person then don't wonder.<BR/>Me? I am looking forward to 'Aid for Merkin' concerts to concrete my legacy/get into these bastards.<BR/>And that is despite the fact I do not, at present, tag anything I post.Merkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02499327449561248731noreply@blogger.com