The General Discussion Thread

[Publish Date updated to restore to front page]

Okay as an experiment here it is. Discuss your favourite generals here!

Well perhaps… Really this is simply the place to post news-items, fun-items or whatever takes your fancy. In short just post what you want here.

It’s just another wee experiment – comments welcome.

Squonk.

[Image: General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett (Stephen Fry)]

17,285 thoughts on “The General Discussion Thread

  1. ben: youtube is owned by google, as is blogspot.com etc
    photobucket is owned by murdoch

    there’s no escape

    Unable to post and even at times to read Craig Murray’s blog this afternoon, not sure if it’s my end or the other. Seems to have at last cured itself.

  2. I see it is tipping down in Edinburgh. The interviewees on the news channels are all under large umbrellas. In Oban it is grey but dry.

    Here it hot, sunny and very humid. A neighbour has lit a bonfire!

  3. Went to let the hens out this and found the one I called nice completely dead. She did not eat anything yesterday and looked huddled up. She was drinking however so I planned to take her to the vets today to see what could be done for her. The other, not as nice in nature, but exactly the same age and breed (3yrs old and Warrens) is as fit as a fiddle and is strutting around. Looks a bit lost though as they were always together. Sad to see and feel a cold dead creature. She was totally stiff so must have died last night after I put them away.

    Now I don’t know what to do with her. If I bury her, the foxes will come and if I put her in the compost heap, probably similar. Can’t bear to put her in the dustbin as she was a pet.

  4. Mary: wrap her up in newspaper (enclose a goodbye note) and put her in the bin for garden waste, perhaps nestling in a nice cocoon of grass clippings. That’s what I’d do under the circumstances..

  5. Thanks MJ. I will take your advice.

    ~~

    Just heard that Rik Mayall has died today at the age of 56. The Young Ones. Alan? B’stard Blackadder, etc

  6. From your link AA.

    ‘One of Mayall’s first appearances on TV after his quad bike accident was as DI Gideon Pryke in Jonathan Creek, a role he reprised in 2013.

    Other notable characters included the feckless investigative journalist Kevin Turvey and the conniving Conservative MP Alan B’Stard in The New Statesman, who also reappeared as an under-fire New Labour MP in 2006.

    At the time Mayall said: “Alan B’Stard is a national treasure because he always comes to the nation’s health when the nation needs cleansing.

    “Alan B’Stard got rid of Margaret Thatcher and will get rid of Tony Blair,” he added.’

    Correct on one and not quite on the second!

  7. Rip Mr Mayall… Amazed to hear about that…

    thanks for that video Squonk.. hadn’t seen that one.

    Sorry to hear about the pet Hen Mary…

    reminds of the time our one eyed black cat ‘ Sooty ‘ got run over ..my 7/8 year old daughter Screem’d the whole street down.

    Weather up here is just crazy… i was down to 30 mph on the effin M8 on way back from Loch Lomond yesterday Cause of mega rain…it was nice in Luss though.

    i thought this wee video was kool … Some Native American Wisdom on the Earth … corporation countries..ect .

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1656629129682&set=vb.135885497095&type=3&theater

  8. Sad that Rik Mayall died so young.

    I’ll be getting the train home soon. It was a lovely sunny morning here in Edinburgh; now it’s a torrential shower, but warm, and the thrushes are singing beautifully.

  9. BrianFujisan, is this weather odd here? This is pretty much what I’d expect this time of year in the South – humid; bright, warm sunshine punctuated by sudden and often brief downpours, sometimes with lightning and thunder (though there have been no electrical storms while I’ve been here).

  10. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27778112

    Iraq militants seize second city of Mosul

    Iraq’s prime minister has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency after Islamist militants effectively took control of Mosul.

    Nouri Maliki acknowledged “vital areas” of the country’s second largest city had been seized.

    Overnight, hundreds of armed men seized local government’s offices and police stations before taking control of the airport and the army’s headquarters.

    About 150,000 people are believed to have fled the city.

  11. Craig has a new post up http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2014/06/israeli-abuse-of-palestinian-children/ – Linked video also embedded below.

    Link to official website for documentary http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2014/02/10/3939266.htm

    A SPECIAL FOUR CORNERS / THE AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER INVESTIGATION

    The Israeli army is both respected and feared as a fighting force. But now the country’s military is facing a backlash at home and abroad for its treatment of children in the West Bank, occupied territory.

    Coming up, a joint investigation by Four Corners and The Australian newspaper reveals evidence that shows the army is targeting Palestinian boys for arrest and detention. Reporter John Lyons travels to the West Bank to hear the story of children who claim they have been taken into custody, ruthlessly questioned and then allegedly forced to sign confessions before being taken to court for sentencing.

  12. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-27781673

    Metropolitan Police given permission to buy water cannon

    Approval has been given for the Metropolitan Police to purchase three water cannon for London.

    Stephen Greenhalgh, deputy mayor for policing and crime, authorised the force to buy the cannon from the German Federal Police.

    The mayor’s office said: “By purchasing them now we are able to save over £2.3m compared to buying new devices.”

    The water cannon will not be deployed until the home secretary authorises their use in England and Wales.

    they could be in place for the summer, when “although there are no expectations of violence, such tools are most likely to be needed“.

    …Concerns have also been raised about the dangers of water cannon by a German man who was blinded after he was hit in the face at a protest in Stuttgart four years ago.

  13. Hi Clark

    Great that you are moving hope you got home safe…

    But No.. this weather really aint real for here abouts , for this time of year…. two weeks ago i had all my winter gear on..( my winter gear is serious Shit ) taking fotos of Elenabeich harbor.. May is always the warm month… something not good with the atmosphere..

    and yet they say El’Nino is on for this summer…???

  14. Cheers Brian.

    I went down Englandshire to help move an old Leyland Tiger Cub and ended up in the intensive care unit at Bath for a while.

  15. Hi Fred – hope things all okay now.

    Clark,

    USAF was very weird last night. Obviously some kind of exercise but there were no helpful tip-offs in advance that I saw this time. Normal US and European ground stations were silent all night and instead traffic was being coordinated by “Skymaster” , “Outcross” and “Legality”. Both “Outcross” and “Legality” were issuing EAMs. The normal “Mainsail” was nowhere to be heard – not even the normal occasional test count transmissions. “Skymaster” and “Outcross” appeared to be aircraft. Not clear what “Legality” was. Other aircraft, likely B2s, were talking to Skymaster with coded messages. It seemed they were simulating some scenario in which US ground stations/bases could not transmit (or no longer existed…). “Legality” is a an interesting code name/callsign for a command authority in that context I hadn’t heard before.

    As of now “Mainsail” has resumed “control” of USAF HFGCS.

  16. Brian

    Still officially in El Nino neutral conditions at the moment but the models project a 70% chance of El Nino developing by late Summer. Or they did last time I checked.

  17. I so love this Flickr of yours Brian. I heard of it before but seeing the exchange in print, well. ROTFLOL. https://www.flickr.com/photos/115454618@N06/14162062010/in/photostream/

    I keep hearing of retired Admirals being appointed as chairmen of NHS Trusts. The previous CEO of Torbay Hospital in Devon was suspended and eventually resigned after this scandal and the weedy chairman at the time departed.

    Devon health boss Paula Vasco-Knight ‘in tribunal challenge’
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-27486313

    Six months went by and in the end she packed it in when her appeal against the tribunal finding was turned down.

    A new chairman has just been appointed. He is an ex admiral, Sir Richard Ibbotson.

    Note that she was paid her £165k pa salary for the duration. She was famous for handing out KitKats as rewards for good effort. I am not making that up. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-18276195

    There is now to be a review into the case. What nonsense. Think of the cost and the demoralizing effect on the hospital, the staff and the patients from this.

    Independent review Torbay Hospital Dr Vasco-Knight scandal
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-27727908

  18. Fred, I’m glad you’re OK, whatever happened.

    Squonk, thanks for the USAF updates.

    BrianFujisan, southern weather patterns spreading further north seems consistent with global warming.

  19. Heart failure.

    If I’d known I was going to live this long I’d have looked after myself when I was young.

  20. “Heart failure.”

    Oh dear. Not funny at all. You must have got a fright. And I suppose you’re on a regime of diet and pills now, and exercise …

    Take care.

  21. Fred, I’m glad you survived that. I guess it’s the bakky, huh? Same problem myself; my heart condition hasn’t been checked recently, but I know the damn stuff is doing me in. It’s pointless smoking it; I think I smoke out of bloody-mindedness. Hi Habbabkuk. Yes we all know you’re faultless.

  22. “heart failure” I hope it was just a metaphor for emotional shock.

    If not, I wish you a speedy recovery.

  23. Good piece on it. Bush I feared, but the idiot-bastard-son rushed in. It’s not like we didn’t know the outcome ; $2Trillion and hundreds of thousands dead, yet the fuck-all Republicans still have the arrogance and chutzpah to say we have to do something.

    I even heard Newt Gingrich say ‘We can’t lose Baghdad”. Who is ‘we’, asswipe?

    http://arabist.net/blog/2014/6/11/malikis-most-solemn-hour

  24. I should explain my pique tonite as it seems I’m agitated from stress, but you see, it is not stress, but my normal state-of-mind.

    Sue and I were in a state of bliss whilst re-exploring my childhood in Carpinteria, Ca for the last two days. The smell of the eucalyptus; the June gloom and the old oil pier my Dad and I used to fish from. I think I caught the last buttermouth Perch off that creaky and condemned structure, on which when on a separate fishing search from Dad, I had fallen amongst the tank-like piers filled with granite and remember waking up, looking at the sky. Never mentioned it to him. I didn’t want him restricting my freedom.

    Then there’s The Spot. Sue and I love the Burger joint where she goes traditional and I opt for a Carne Asada burrito (no beans or rice) and LOTS of cilantro and chopped onion with liberal applications of salsa. The Spot has been there in the same spot for a hundred years (which doesn’t seem like a trifle to you Brits/Scots/Irish) and it has memories. In the late 1950’s my mother would take me to the same place for the same perfect foods. Me Mum and me were often at odds, but this was one thing we held in common.

    The senses truly are the bridge of vivid memories. Now we return to reality. I see Craig with his fuckin’ melon ball up his own arse, but the worst is returning to Iraq.

  25. Ben – I expect you know that your comments here are being copied on to Craig’s blog by the school sneak who has returned after a few days’ absence. We are also benefitting from the observations of our Antipodean visitor who seems to be overly interested in my occupation, that is when he is not chiming with his best mate.

    I like the sound of the Spot!

    For you from Otis Redding

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmUhYSr-e4

  26. “Craig has lost what’s left of his fucking mind.”

    Took you long enough to notice.

    Hate preaching and propaganda, the unacceptable face of Nationalism.

    Sat there in the south of England inciting anger and resentment in the name of self determination for the people in Scotland.

  27. Ben and Fred Whatever you think of Craig’s views, do you have to be so rude about him and behind his back?

  28. You must have misread my post Mary, it was the incitement to anger and resentment I objected to not his views.

    I don’t object to his views on Israeli abuses of the children of Palestine but object to his using the emotions they`generate as weapons in his personal vendetta against the BBC.

  29. Mary; Craig has too high an opinion of himself to take offense from a lowly peasant’s street corner diatribe or give it any serious consideration.

    You would love Carpinteria. You never have to close your windows. Temps range from the low 60’s to the low 70’s all year long.

  30. Ben and Fred (could that be the name for another ice cream firm?) I hope I did not sound high handed. It’s just that I admire Craig for his stands on many issues and has been through a lot. Although I have never met him, I am well disposed towards him and I suppose protective in a motherly sort of way. I know his take on Ukraine has annoyed many of us. Ben I would not be too sure that he is of his invulnerability. He has feelings like the rest of us.

    Best.

    I don’t suppose I will ever see Carpenteria which sounds lovely. I do not even have a passport these days. Hate the indignity and hassle at airports. We have a nice garden plant in this country which must originate there. Carpenteria californica.
    http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/3135/Tree-anemone/Details

  31. No, you didn’t seem high-handed Mary. I also have protective instincts and respect your feelings. I was a little over the top last nite because I went from zero to one-hundred in a matter of minutes after reading news and watching Craig put up a series of posts having nothing to do with events outside his preferential bubble. What is has been disturbing is the ratio of narcissistic posts to serious in recent months, and I was reacting, as I explained last night. Out of respect for you I’ll try to dial it down.

Comments are closed.