Author: coldwaterjohn

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-04/terror-alerts-are-useless

With the USA the most murderous society in the western world (4.3 per 100,000) you are three times more likely to die in a violent incident in the USA, than anywhere in Western Europe, with or without terrorists.

It strikes me that is is simply a massive ass-covering exercise, as in, “We would never be forgiven if there ever was an incident and it was proved we had prior information it was possible”.

“Terrorism hurts us most not when it kills people, but when it uses our own clouded judgment as a force multiplier that inspires us to weaken ourselves in a thousand ways big and small.”

I spent many of my evenings during the first Gulf War, sitting out in our garden, in Bahrain, listening to the bombers roaring overhead every night, on their way to raining death and destruction on Iraq, trying to finish off our liquor stocks with friends, before Saddam Hussein came storming over the causeway, and took it off us!
Of course I was frightened when occasionally a misguided missile, destined for Saudi Arabia, landed a mile or so away. It didn’t help to have an idiot director in Head Office to whom I reported, telling me that they weren’t aiming for me, and it would be an accident if one did take me out! But to scare American travellers under their kitchen tables with “Alerts” that terrorists may be planning an attack on Europe, is idiocy of a far higher order, IMHO.

Coldwaterjohn\'s Imagery on Flickriver

Bersy/Boa: Does this screw around with your storage? Delete if it does, otherwise it is a possible solution to those wanting to parade their art for our enjoyment…
CWJ

http://coldwaterjohn.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/pakistan-and-the-us-exit-from-afghanistan/

This is courtesy of, and reproduced with permission by, Stratfor Global Intelligence, and provides a useful summary of the position of the US military and government – they are not the same, and never are…

How unbelievably grubby and sordid; plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Imagine for a moment if you will, Adolf Hitler, not having topped himself, but deciding to donate the proceeds from his best-seller, “Mein Kampf”, to the Holocaust Survivors’ Association, in admiration and respect for all he had put them through. ( No, Mr Dinner-Jacket, you may not make a comment on the Holocaust)

Would they ponder for a moment or so, before eagerly accepting his generosity…or would they be saying to themselves, “Hang on a minute, this is the bastard who got us into this mess in the first place?”

What does our panel think – an act of supreme generosity, or a calculated ploy?

Perhaps the end justifies the means after all – the imponderable of Camus’ Les Justes.

http://coldwaterjohn.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=184

Stopped going through a small village south of Glasgow, by the Police, siren wailing, and blue lights flashing, en route to Ireland in March, driving my LHD BMW. (No, I don’t have personalised plate, but changed it for posting on web!)
Right Brain was on the phone to son.
I stepped out of nearside door, and walked back to the police car, with Right Brain still on the phone:
“What’s the problem, Constable? ”
“Please return to the car and ask the driver to drive through the village and pull over. A chargeable offence has been committed – using a mobile phone whilst driving. ”
“But I AM the driver…”
Gradual dawning that the person using the mobile phone did not have a steering wheel – cue for:
“My apologies, Sir, I see it’s a Left Hand Drive….” but at least he did apologise politely, and didn’t scuttle around the car trying to find something else to book me for – all credit to the Strathclyde Police.

http://coldwaterjohn.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/fractalian-digital-imagery/
I have set up a slideshow over on my WP blog, demonstrating digital photography using the Redfield Fractalius plug-in for Photoshop…more for photo geeks than the general readership, but feel welcome to browse.
I also set it up over there, as I didn’t want any more of my screw-ups on Bearsy’s site trying to do something new, like organize a slideshow!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1295617/Gurkha-ordered-UK-beheading-dead-Taliban-fighter.html

So it is considered extremely offensive to Taliban Muslims? I am so very concerned about that aspect of his actions…

A close relative served with the Gurkhas in the anti-communist-terrorist war in Malaya in the 1950s. The CTs were absolutely terrified of them, for very good reason. It strikes me, given the demand of the MOD for positive identification, the man should be given a medal for using his initiative, not suspended. Had he chopped his head off in face-to-face combat, presumably that would have been fine, and it is splitting hairs, to my mind, to make a fuss in the circumstances, when he was dead, given the demands for a positive ID. He didn’t scalp the man as a trophy: He detached his head from his body to supply the ID demanded. They can send the head back in due course, when they are finished with it.

Am I being unduly curmudgeonly this afternoon, or has anyone else reached the point where they wish that a cataclysmic earthquake would cause Northern Ireland and all its squabbling tribals, to simply slip into the Atlantic and disappear?

Do you consider the UK taxpayer should be spending this, or indeed any level of expense on guarding past prime ministers?