European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

A US Navy vessel has become the first non-British ship to take part in a ceremony at the Tower of London that dates back hundreds of years.
The USS Halyburton was involved in the Constable's Dues ritual, which involved the crew being challenged for entry into the capital.

I'm tired of this backslapping, aint humanity great BS, we're a virus with shoes Bill Hicks

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 11:52:14 AM EST

Re: Saturday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

The good ship's Commander Michael P Huck's parents must have had a laugh when they named him....

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 Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 01:24:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 0)

Ah, come on. I think there's a real cutlrual difference here in that there seem to be millions of USians walking around with names that make you or I go into fits of sniggers.

I just imagine that the same is true in the opposite direction (anyone ?).

and we have better place names.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 03:35:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

A Bolt of lightning (4.00 / 3)

PARIS, France (AFP) -- Sprint king Usain Bolt fired out a warning to rivals ahead of the World Athletics Championships by cruising to a meet record of 9.79 seconds in the 100m at the Golden League event here on Friday.

Jamaica's triple Olympic champion had a terrible start in wet conditions at the Stade de France but once his head came up after 40 metres, he powered his enormous frame away from the rest of the field in an ominous sign for next month's worlds in Berlin.

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

by maracatu on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 02:01:19 PM EST

Re: A Bolt of lightning (none / 1)

And a sprightly tom Watson is leading the Open golf championship at a youthful 59.

Go Gramps.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 03:07:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A Bolt of lightning (4.00 / 2)

The end of today's Tour de France stage from Colmar to Besançon was fun, too. (I could fortunately see the finish after a half-hour storm-caused blackout at the relay station.)

Since the Pyrenees, the yellow jersey belongs to Nogentini, who gained it in an escape; with final win candidates Contador and Armstrong (both Astana) just 6 resp. 8 seconds behind.

Now today, there was an escape of a dozen riders, including a serious contender, Hincapie. That normally kills an escape. But, it seemed everyone in the peloton was looking for others to do the work of catching them...

But the end result was as perfect as unlikely it was. The peloton waked from the dead near Besançon, just enough for Nogentini: Hincapie is now 5 seconds behind overall -- just ahead of the Astana aces! I bet those three will now watch each other extra closely on tomorrow's final climb.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 03:37:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A Bolt of lightning (none / 1)

There was a Spectator killed by one of the supporting police bikes today, plus a couple more injured.

I'm tired of this backslapping, aint humanity great BS, we're a virus with shoes Bill Hicks

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 03:44:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A Bolt of lightning (none / 1)

Normally, I would say the spectators are insane -- but the victim wasn't one of the drunken 25-year-old men, but an old woman.

Also today, someone shot at the peloton with an air gun, hitting two bikers(!). I read police suspected two youths, but don't know if they caught them yet.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 05:03:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A Bolt of lightning (none / 1)

I currently trust the French police reporting so much that I think we wouldn't be told if she had not been crossing the road.

A few days ago, a man in a demonstration was hit by a flash-ball shot in the eye, losing it, and getting a few fractures in the head.

But the prefect thought it was not clear the cause of the harm was the flash-ball shot.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 05:12:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: A Bolt of lightning (none / 1)

Nocentini...

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 05:11:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Bruuuutal cold front (4.00 / 6)

A strong cold front ended/ends 35°C temperatures in and around the Carpathian Basin today. It reached me around 16h. In half an hour, temperature dropped 15°C (and another 5°C in the next hour). Here are official measurements for nearby Budapest:

The wind was so strong it blew off a heavy fitter's plank from the roof. (At meteorological stations, up to 110 km/h was measured.) There were very heavy rains along the whole front. Flash floods first turned Graz/Austria into a catastrophe area.

In Hungary, lots of people had to be chased off Lake Balaton and Lake of Velence who ignored warnings.

Budapest was hit next.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 02:13:24 PM EST

Re: Bruuuutal cold front (4.00 / 7)

A particularly spectacular photo at the edge of Budapest:

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 02:16:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Bruuuutal cold front (4.00 / 2)

Wow.

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 02:23:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Bruuuutal cold front (4.00 / 3)

I think it's the same front we got in Paris on Thursday evening...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 03:07:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Bruuuutal cold front (none / 0)

Hee, well they are supposed to be extreme sports fans. they should have left 'em to it.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 03:09:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

Been doing a massive cook up this afternoon to use up some sauces that were ~~approaching~~ quite a bit past their use-by date.

So I now have a lovely "Butter Chicken" and biryani coolling down to go into the freezer. I also have a lovely but unprnouncable thai dish involving pork and pineapple bubblingaway. I misread the instruction s and have used too much coconut milk so it's a lot too runny at the moment.

However, I had the pork marinading in the pineapple for 3 hours and now I'm simmering it for a long time, it will be so tender when I'm done.

form a queue.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 03:02:53 PM EST

Re: Saturday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

the usual saturday night at ET, nice to know some have other things to do, lol.

has anyone else been getting recent comments page showing about 4 comments and ending there? it's been happening for a few weeks on and off.

we had a wild wind and rainstorm last night, the air was sparkling clean all day, though half a plum tree's branches were blown off.

i made the mistake of giving my horse too many oats in the mix, and fully understand why it's not a good idea. he was jumping, bucking and generally acting like someone shot him up with some meth.

definitely low doses in future, and only if he's getting too mellow.

tomorrow we go see BB King at perugia jazz festival, yay...

a buddy of mine just got back from a holiday with his girlfriend in argentina. there were 60 deaths from swine flu in one night, and they were quarantined in buenos aires the whole trip.

here in italy people are saying the government is not being honest about the real numbers here, so to keep the tourist money rolling in.

shocking, no?

If'Madness is the absence of work'(Foucault), then Sanity is the presence of play..

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 06:07:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 1)

Well, I'm gonna be missing tomorrow, even tho the weather ain't supposed to be great. Doing an advertising pub crawl for the upcoming great british Beer fest.

i only get short comments page when there are only 4 comments. did you ever get your didgy connections fixed ?

Swine flu is gonna happen, we're way past the point where quarantine helps or honesty matters.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 06:15:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 1)

Helen:

i only get short comments page when there are only 4 comments. did you ever get your didgy connections fixed ?

so is it a time thing? 'recent' being 'only in the last few hours', rather than a pageful of the last comments made, (as it seemed to be until not long ago)?

internet's working ok.

Swine flu is gonna happen, we're way past the point where quarantine helps or honesty matters.

i'm starting to get that feeling too.

happy crawling!

If'Madness is the absence of work'(Foucault), then Sanity is the presence of play..

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sun Jul 19th, 2009 at 03:16:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 1)

What's going on?

Grouting the kitchen counter tops and backsplashs.

Madness takes its toll. Have exact change ready

by ATinNM on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 06:18:57 PM EST

Re: Saturday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 06:29:41 PM EST

Re: Saturday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

I'll take the mixed seafood, hold the Iraq govermint surface please.

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 06:32:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Saturday Open Thread (none / 1)

Does Iraq govt office = jumble ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jul 19th, 2009 at 04:04:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Slumdog millionaire (none / 0)

is a great film

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 08:39:57 PM EST

Re: Slumdog millionaire (none / 0)

Had mixed reviews of it, some saying its great, some saying it's rubbish, and entirely overrated.

I'm tired of this backslapping, aint humanity great BS, we're a virus with shoes Bill Hicks

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 08:55:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Slumdog millionaire (none / 1)

You got a rather untypical sample. On Rotten Tomatoes, out of 208 media reviews, 94% were positive. Out of 3,526 RT community reviews, 90% were positive. You don't get much less "mixed" than that. All the main UK press reviews are included and all are positive, though some try to make clear that they are serious critics - but still positive:

Despite being overpraised - it arrives garlanded with the kind of reviews that must have come out after the opening night of King Lear - this is still very effective entertainment.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
Is it a great movie? For me, it falls well short. But I don't see how anyone could deny that Slumdog Millionaire is terrific, exhilarating, inspirational entertainment.
Christopher Tookey, Daily Mail

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/slumdog_millionaire

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice. Blog - Nice Experience

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Sun Jul 19th, 2009 at 05:44:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Slumdog millionaire (none / 1)

I liked it.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sun Jul 19th, 2009 at 05:49:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

BooMan has a... (4.00 / 2)

... [Neocon Moment Alert] :

People on the Right need to stop pretending that the problem with Cheney's CIA kill-teams was that they were supposed to kill people and admit that the problem was that Congress wasn't read-in to a program that used appropriated funds. People on the Left need to stop calling them 'assassination teams.' You assassinate prominent people for political reasons. You don't assassinate terrorists.

Holy crap, the US progressive blogosphere now supports death squads as long as the Congress is in on it?

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 08:50:17 PM EST

Re: BooMan has a... (4.00 / 2)

I'm shocked and stunned.

I'm tired of this backslapping, aint humanity great BS, we're a virus with shoes Bill Hicks

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 09:08:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: BooMan has a... (4.00 / 2)

Luckily, Booman != US progressive blogosphere.

There are no US posters defending his position. Which is reassuring. I suppose.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sat Jul 18th, 2009 at 09:54:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: BooMan has a... (4.00 / 2)

I knew BooMan is one of these inward-looking US progressives, but this neocon talk shocked me. Probably the influence of Richard Clarke; who should be commended for highlighting the Bush admin's hypocrisy re fighting terrorism, but Clarke's Clinton-time policies aren't to be recommended either.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sun Jul 19th, 2009 at 03:17:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: BooMan has a... (none / 0)

The Neocons did not invent the use of death squads. Western Imperial Exceptionalism has always promoted their use as understandable.

The british have been brutal in pursuit of their particular "interests", in times of Empire as well as Commonwealth. Death squads, aka Protestant paramilitaries were well known to be used by MI5 and any of the other spook shows ~~advancing their own right wing~~ supporting British interests. Even during the 80s.

France blew up the Rainbow Warrior using a version of this Exceptionalism.

America, as the latest and biggest Imperial bully on the block, is in the middle of that phase where such ideas are almost unchallengable. Many in such a cultural climate would just think it's common sense, it's how you protect yourslef. And it is to america's credit that there are a number of voices raised against such behaviour.

But the neocons didn't invent the tactic. Every empire uses it. Neocon is just the name we give to the group currently justifying it.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Sun Jul 19th, 2009 at 04:01:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: BooMan has a... (none / 0)

Neocon is just the name we give to the group currently justifying it.

Hence, BooMan had a neocon moment. QED

The peak-to-trough part of the business cycle is an outlier. Carnot would have died laughing.

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Jul 19th, 2009 at 08:44:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: BooMan has a... (none / 1)

What was special about the neocons was that they wanted to bring it back big-time, and in the open. Most other recent assassinations by Western powers were clandestine, and secret service jobs; the neocons used regular military forces too, and announced some hits proudly to the media.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Jul 20th, 2009 at 07:12:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: BooMan has a... (none / 1)

(...where I don't mean that clandestine, and secret service jobs would be okay; rather the opposite, that being clandestine is an implicit admission that it's illegal and a Bad Thing.)

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Mon Jul 20th, 2009 at 07:14:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Saturday Open Thread | 39 comments (37 topical, 2 editorial, 0 hidden)

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