European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Well, I wouldn't wish those snowstorms on anybody.

If the world's getting warmer then increased precipitiation is bound to happen. More heavy snow, more floods, more storms. None of it's gonna be good

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 11:52:58 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Does anybody else think it's absurd to have 3 people standing at attention saluting a stupid airplane in a blizzard?

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 04:49:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

Patriotism - three people in uniform saluting a stupid plane in a blizzard, while the world burns.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 05:00:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

those guys aren't good at anything else

by paving on Mon Dec 21st, 2009 at 02:45:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)

Just back from Stockholm (Eddie Izzard show at Globen) and then I've driven through two blizzards - one to get to a countryside 'christening' (quite pagan) along narrow county roads with snow drifting. And then back again at night. Sheeesh - I am totally whacked from concentration.

Met some interesting people in Stockholm - a lawyer with the ICC in Den Haag, a political advisor to a Swedish minister, and the administrative director of a major swedish theatre: all conscription service pals of my Swedish military intelligence friend. What I've noticed also in many of my Finnish friends is the strong friendships that last from those bonding times in military service.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 11:54:53 AM EST

I suppose it's the intensity of the experience. I think the PTSD issue that troops face from the current pattern of conflicts may disrupt that.

Politiicans are such shits for making people do that.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 11:58:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]

In Scandinavia's case, conscripts do, say, around a year's training - but they will never leave their home countries. That's for the professionals only.

I am for conscription under the circumstances above. It's a useful test of various physical skills that these young guys might not otherwise experience, they get mixed up with young people outside their usual crowd, they get fitter, and they also understand the pros and cons of organization - outside of school.

My comment to the ministerial advisor when he said that Sweden had become opposed to conscription because of the reduced freedom, was that society has already done the same to them for a year when they were 11, a year when they were 12, 13 etc.

As I've argued with my daughters several times, freedom comes with responsibilities, and society tends to demand that the responsibility is shown before the freedom is bestowed. Of course, it is a gradual process of small freedom, small responsibility - give and take.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 02:14:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Unfortunately I have a tendency to view the military as licensed bullying. It's a very Darwinian environment where only the brutal and most violent prosper. I've heard the stories about how the small, the intellectual and the gay are mercilessly and relentlessly attacked.

I cannot see any advantage in placing the best of society at the (non-existent) mercy of the worst. especially as we know that class based discrimination exists, money buys exemptions. In the military as elsewhere, life is a shit sandwich, the more bread you got, the less shit you eat.

At least in civvy street, aka civilisation, people can negotiate safe space fopr themselves. It is impossible to hide in the military.

And do women get to buy their place in society, or do they get a pass like they used to ?

Sorry if that's dismissive and aggressive, but I get a lot of "bring back national service" crap over here and the thought frightens me.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 03:37:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

i agree, we need to weed out that kind of psychopathy, not give it more places to fester.

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon Dec 21st, 2009 at 11:43:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

Modern western society has few male-bonding socialization rituals left. Sports, for the players, are one. The military is the biggie. Police, fire, and emergency workers pretty much close the list. Ersatz forms are present, thinking of "fans," but they are spectator-active rather than participant-active.

Looking is not the same as Being.

There are reasons for this, of course: society doesn't need Hunting Cults when all one has to do is trundle thyself down to the local grocery store to get a haunch of meat. Society need young males to train for careers of various sorts some of which require decades of education and training.

Once again it's a situation where our evolutionary heritage molded our little primate brain/mind to need psychological and socio-psychological stimuli and structures that are not necessary - even harmful - in Modern Times.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 02:35:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ATinNM:

male-bonding socialization rituals

sounds so robert bly!

all kinds of mbsr's have gone by the board over the last couple of generations. even brother and brother rivalry is encouraged, all in the name of holy competition.

there are some kinds of newer bonding, through gathering around mutual interests, but i think it's pretty weak tea still compared to the bonds formed, for example, farming food that leads to family survival together, or cutting wood that will permit staying alive through the winter.

playing music creates interesting bonds, sometimes extremely deep and durable ones.

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 03:29:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Does it? I've never read Bly.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 04:50:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

he's a poet, who put together some gatherings, all males, to go out in the woods together and get primal, lots of drums, storytelling and sharing of how it feels to be a man in modern times.

quite big stateside in the mid eighties.

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 07:28:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ATinNM:

Modern western society has few male-bonding socialization rituals left.

Banking and finance.

Seriously. If you're not macho enough, you're eliminated from the job pool.

I've known people this has happened to. It's deliberately Darwinian, and entirely based on ruthless competition. The survivors certainly have a loyalty to their caste, if not necessarily to their corporate alma mater.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 08:16:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Xmas shopping yesterday. Wanted to buy some books for my parents and was faced with the problem that if all the bookshops are closing down, then browsing is going to be difficult. The main Waterstones in Oxford st has closed because of the CrossRail demolitions and Borders has closed dwon. Now I don't know where to go.

Managed to find a 2nd hand shop in tottenham Ct road but I'm gonna have to find some new bookshops to hit when I need to browse.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 11:55:51 AM EST

Lucky you. I'll be doing my shopping on Tuesday or Wednesday by the looks of things ... I managed to get the main monthly-and-xmas food shop done yesterday and a quick trip down to the horses to make sure someone else rode them but other than that we've all been housebound. Sick and cranky, all of us.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 12:05:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm fortunately recovered from it but I know how you feel and you have my sympathy.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 12:26:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's just an annoying cold for me - enough to make work a struggle, at the busiest time I've had all year - but it's upsetting C, who's teething as well, we think. I don't think anyone got more than a two hour continuous stretch of sleep last night, and we were in bed for more than ten hours.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 12:41:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's years since I've been anywhere near that part of the world. Is Foyles still around?

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 12:45:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yup, foyles is still there, but it's still completely baffling. cos it's catalogued by publisher rather than subject you can't browse to find things.

I have no idea how it stays in business.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 01:13:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sunday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

It's a family company which I believe owns the very valuable site. So the absence of rent helps, I guess.

I've always found it fascinating how great a factor in costs rent actually is, but it's always hidden.

If you buy a pint in a Wetherspoons in bandit country in the East End it's maybe £2.00/pint - the same pint might be £2.60 in a West End Wetherspoons.

That's why Sam Smiths pubs are such brilliant value - they haven't 'sweated' their property assets. eg the Chandos Arms on Trafalgar Square wipes the floor with every other pub on price - dunno about the beer, I drink the lager! :-)

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 01:27:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

People underestimate how fixed costs affects small business. The shop has match each pound/dollar/euro of fixed costs, plus the marginal tax rate, plus the cost of goods/service provided, plus the marginal tax rate of that, and then tack on a profit. If a goods provider there will be a re-purchase and re-stocking charge for the good(s) provided

Rule of Thumb: a business needs to bring-in a minimum of 2.5 times fixed costs to break even.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 01:51:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The beer in Sam smiths pubs is a bit cheap and nasty. Also, rumour within CAMRA circles suggests they are quite a nasty company to work for, paying very low wages and not maintaining their properties very well.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 02:03:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Foyles (none / 0)

One of my favourite places to visit - and mostly because the staff are knowledgeable about the section they work in and can give useful advice.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 02:16:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

http://www.clerkenwell-tales.co.uk/

I'll plug the only person foolish enough to open an independent bookshop in London this year:

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 03:50:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Went and had dinner last night with my cousin, amidst the blizzard. Daughter and husband were present as well. Daughter doing very well. Oceanography in her future?

After trudging home through the snow (and getting pelted with a snowball from one of the ebullient youths carrying on in the white stuff), I sat down and wrote my Roubini article and mailed it in to the Daily Sun.

Mission accomplished.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 12:17:19 PM EST

Re: OK campers, I need your help. (none / 0)

Tutoring is closed down for the next 6 weeks and it's my prime motivator for walking ... back and forth to the Sac State library. 35 minutes each way. This past summer I would walk over there to feed some free range chickens in the morning but they're long gone. Sac State has plenty of squirrels to feed so there is that.

So, on a daily basis, somebody post a reminder to me like "Hey Twank, have you gotten off your fat ass and walked today? Turning into an obese sack of shit at your age will be a real pain." Something tender and encouraging.

Thank You in advance.

Will walk to the store shortly to buy turkey gizzards. Great in soup!

P.S. The 5th ed. of Lehninger Biochemistry is great! The 1st ed. I learned from 35 years ago wasn't that good, plus my biochem. prof. Helen Birecka (a Polish immigrant) sucked. This time through is just plain fun.

I love the smell of roast chicken in the morning!

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 12:49:45 PM EST

Re: OK campers, I need your help. (none / 0)

Hey Twank, have you gotten off your fat ass and walked today?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 01:14:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

No, not yet but the cat window is closed so that Truffles won't follow me down the street when I go momentarily to the store for those turkey gizzards.

Thank you for asking.

I love the smell of roast chicken in the morning!

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 01:20:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hey Twank, have you gotten off your fat ass and walked yet?

we'll keep hassling till you go.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 01:49:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Why yes, I just got back and my freezer is stuffed with four 2 lb packages of turkey gizzards. How kind of you to ask.

Skipped walking the past 3 days and now I feel terrrrrrrific. Tomorrow it's the squirrels and the bridge over the American River. I find that once I get into a habit I tend to continue.

Thank You for your support.

I love the smell of roast chicken in the morning!

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 03:01:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

There is a joke here - somewhere - about mass transportation, bike lanes, and the Kreb's cycle.

Darned if I can come up with it.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 01:57:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

There once was a man from Nantucket,
Whose ... how does that go again? :)

I love the smell of roast chicken in the morning!

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 03:02:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Experiment (4.00 / 9)

by asdf on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 02:17:43 PM EST

Re: Experiment (none / 0)

Very Nice!

I love the smell of roast chicken in the morning!

by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 03:02:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 02:44:12 PM EST