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Friday Open Thread

by Jerome a Paris Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 10:36:28 AM EST

It's Friday. What's up?


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Two days ago I was on a train to London, sitting across the carriage from me was An elderly man and his wife. they were having an animated conversation about how shabily their friends were being treated over expenses, (Especially badly treated apparently was a friend called Bill) only partially audible over the train noises.

It wasnt till we got to the end that the gentleman took his house of parliament ID out from his briefcase. (one of three that he had to sort through) (Im not sure which party the gentleman represents or which constituency, or wether he's been retired to the Lords, but much bitterness  and  feeling of being badly treated was in evidence)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 10:50:45 AM EST
MPs' expenses: Full list of MPs investigated by the Telegraph - Telegraph

  • Bill Cash claimed more than £15,000 in taxpayer-funded expenses to pay his daughter rent for her west London flat - even though he owned a home closer to Westminster. He has promised to repay the money and said he hopes to remain an MP
  • Bill Etherington last year claimed £2,600 for blinds, £775 for central heating and £305 to repair his roof following a problem with rodents. In 2004, claimed £5,250 for doors and windows
  • Bill Olner claimed £1,408.33 per month rent for a second home in London. Also claimed for food, utilites, council tax and cleaning
  • Bill Rammell claimed £475 a month mortgage interest in 2008 for second home located in constituency. Claimed £1,360 for replastering and installing downlights in bedroom
  • Bill Wiggin claimed interest payments for a property which had no mortgage
  • William Hague claimed mortgage interest payments of up to £1,200 per month on second home in London. Made few other claims apart from council tax
  • William McCrea charged hotel stays and maximum £400 food allowance for most of 2005-06. Claimed £10,000 for furniture for house bought in south London in April 2006


En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 11:02:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]


En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 10:54:58 AM EST
Soutien-gorge interdit en Somalie | LeMatin.ch  Bras banned in Somalia | LeMatin.ch
En Somalie, sous peine de coups de fouet, les seins doivent être nus sous le voile des musulmanes. C'est le mouvement Al-Chabab («Jeunesse» en arabe) qui en a décidé ainsi. Ce groupe islamiste, qui n'a rien à envier aux talibans d'Afghanistan, contrôle plusieurs régions dans le sud et le centre de la Somalie, ainsi qu'une grande partie de Mogadiscio.In Somalia, under penalty of lashes, Muslim women must keep their breasts bare under the veil, the Al-Shabab ("Youth" in Arabic) movement has decided. The Islamist group, which has nothing to envy from the Taliban in Afghanistan, is controlling several regions in southern and central Somalia, and large parts of Mogadishu.
Convaincus que le port du soutien-gorge va à l'encontre de l'enseignement de l'islam, des militants d'Al-Chabab ont fouetté ces derniers jours en public plusieurs femmes qui portaient ce sous-vêtement. Selon eux, «le soutien-gorge trompe sur l'état naturel des seins, accentue les formes féminines et suscite des désirs sexuels». Les miliciens multiplient donc les points de contrôle pour exiger des femmes qu'elles sautent et secouent le torse, pour vérifier si les seins bougent naturellement... Convinced that wearing a bra goes against the teachings of Islam, Al-Shabab militants have whipped in public several women who bore the underwear during the last days, . According to them, "the bra misleads about the natural state of the breasts, accentuates the woman's forms and arouses sexual desires". The militiamen hence multiply the check points, asking women to jump and shake the torso to verify if their breasts move naturally ...


"Ce qui vient au monde pour ne rien troubler ne mérite ni égards ni patience." René Char
by Melanchthon on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 11:39:33 AM EST
These Muslim fundamentalists need to get laid...

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 11:58:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Sex-hating magic-worshipers.

Not just a Muslim thing, although this is bizarre on a higher level than typical religionism among the Christianists here.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 12:17:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
What do you mean sex-hating?

Here you have a group of "youth" setting up checkpoints at which they make women jump so they can watch their breasts bounce. Then they spank them.

Sounds like what your average college fraternity might want to do but wouldn't dare to.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 12:28:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Your average college frat isn't armed and keeping women in bee-keeper suits.  I could imagine something like this in a bizarre party theme at a frat, but then there's a certain group of women in colleges who hang out with frat guys and go for that stuff.  They also wouldn't be dragging women off the street at random to check.

It goes back to the Women Are Icky And Liars mentality that the ultra-religious all have.  Hence sex-hating.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 12:52:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's not so much sex hating as sex obsessed. And I don't think they believe women are icky so much as fascinatingly armed with the seductive power of naked boobies.

It's a way of asserting control over strong emotions that might otherwise become overwhelming.

It's not a coincidence that if you lift up the rock the fundie types live under, all kinds of sexual weirdness comes wriggling out. I'd guess they experience desire as an overpowering threat to their fragile sense of personal dominion and sovereignty.

It's also not a coincidence that the wackier fundies get, the more this kind of thing happens, until everyone is living in Gilead - which isn't just a repressed place, it's also a very kinky one.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 01:08:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Just good, old-fashioned:

I feel X when I look at you.  Therefore, you are the cause of X.  Since X is bad I must change you so I don't feel X when I look at you.

The thought they are responsible for X never crosses their mind.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 01:35:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I think it's best described as self-loathing that emerges out of the incompatibility of sex drives with christian ideals of purity.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:17:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
and I mention christianity because that's what I'm familiar with. Although from one monotheistic religion to another I doubt there is much difference.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:19:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Abrahamic is as Abrahamic does...

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:54:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
But they're MUSLINS!

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:56:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Precisely!

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:58:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
They hate us for our freedom!

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 03:17:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Your average college frat isn't armed

What, you have gun control now?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Nov 14th, 2009 at 03:48:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Reading a book on Post Modernism (I'm interested in one of the authors) and ran across this:

In terms of the Marxian formula, it would seem that the superstructural traditions of art have shed themselves in the effort to innovate at a pace in rhythm  with modernity's infrastructural advances in in technology.  To put it simply, are vanished in the high-velocity quest for originality.  Such a quest was inevitably and terminally fatal.

[Due to ...]

In the absence of any aesthetic criteria, money is the only yardstick.  All "tastes," like all "needs," are attended to by the market.

Which strikes me as a piece of analysis having broader application than "mere" Art.  For example, the recent housing bubble relied on the home purchaser to de-privilege "measurements" -- can't think of a better word, right now -- such as community, Public Space, and social support networks.  

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 01:31:46 PM EST
Why does postmodernism require a disclaimer?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 01:55:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
That's exactly what I was wondering!

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes
by Izzy (izzy at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:05:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
huh?

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre
by ATinNM on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:17:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Because "My head belongs to Foucault but my heart belongs to Carnap."

;-)

 

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:18:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Dexia Faces Core Business Breakup

BRUSSELS--Dexia SA could be forced to sell off a large piece of its core public-financing division if it can't convince the European Commission that the business is sustainable, according to people familiar with the situation.

After months of negotiations over a restructuring plan submitted at the end of February by Dexia -- the Belgian-French bank that received repeated government bailouts -- the commission remains skeptical, these people say.

If it is unable to convince the commission, Dexia will likely be forced to sell a large portion of its assets or even all of Credit Local de France, which accounts for roughly one-third of Dexia's public-finance lending, and continue as a much smaller bank focused on its business in Belgium and a few other countries. The commission -- the European Union's executive arm-- is taking a tougher stance with Dexia than with its Belgian rival KBC Group, these people say.


UK wind industry gets breath of fresh air

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has sold a 50 per cent stake in three British wind farms to an American fund management group, in the latest sign of renewed investor interest in the industry.

Centrica said that Trust Company of the West (TCW), a Los Angeles-based fund manager, was buying the stake in its Lynn and Inner Dowsing offshore wind farms off the Lincolnshire coast, and Glens of Foudland, an onshore wind farm in Scotland.

The £84 million deal comes amid rising interest in the wind industry, which was virtually paralysed in the credit crunch last year. Last week, The Times reported that multinational companies, including Google, were examining opportunities in the industry in the UK.

(...)

Centrica has also raised £340 million in project finance from a consortium of 14 banks to fund the wind farms.

However, Andy Cox, energy partner in KPMG, said: "The challenge to finance offshore wind projects should not be underestimated. Capital remains constrained and the operating risks are still cause for concern. "The deal is definitely a step forward, but it's dwarfed by the total amount of refinancing required to construct the 25 gigawatts of UK offshore wind projects in the pipeline, around £100 billion according to the Crown Estate."



In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:48:48 PM EST
One of the various reasons I've been slightly absent minded on the internet this week is because the best of the Dutch public broadcasters, the VPRO, has begun broadcasting a terrific American television series, Dexter - the story of a serial killer who works as a forensic scientist on serial killers.

VPRO is only broadcasting the first season, but all episodes that have been broadcast so far are available (albeit low quality) on their website - for a limited period. The first two are in high definition quality. If you don't mind subtitles too much, this is a very nice free treat. And amazingly addictive.

Moving on to part 5 now...

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 04:14:06 PM EST
France just beat South Africa 20-13.

Something of an upset, but the way better team won.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 04:34:44 PM EST
And Wales Just beat Samoa 17-13, after a very very sweaty last fifteen minutes

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 04:43:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I couldn't get used to Wales wearing yellow.
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Nov 14th, 2009 at 03:39:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
No that really wasnt right

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Sat Nov 14th, 2009 at 04:58:19 AM EST
[ Parent ]
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/scale/

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 05:29:08 PM EST



"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Fri Nov 13th, 2009 at 07:12:37 PM EST
Starting at 9'00" in the first part you have a short statement that War is a Racket.

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Nov 14th, 2009 at 04:46:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Jerome might want to debunk the second video from 10'20" to 11'10"...?

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Nov 14th, 2009 at 05:01:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
He says the TAPI pipeline won't happen without stability in A and P, which is true...

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sat Nov 14th, 2009 at 05:28:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
He's saying that the reason we're in A is the TAPI. (Context starts at 9'00")

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Nov 14th, 2009 at 05:38:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]


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