Toppling Saddam really did open the Pandora’s box of shitstorms there.

Arming Saddam in the 1st place (including with chemical weapons) probably didn’t help…

Do you know where the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, was yesterday?

What do you think we need to be able to more effectively monitor them, the tories seem to be struggling with the concept of additional resources required.

What purpose does bulk monitoring/surveillance by GCHQ and NSA serve in all of this?

It’s been going on since before 9/11 in one way or another and still has minimal impact on many aspects of terrorism and organized crime; why?

And why, since they have such extensive powers already, is May calling for internet regulation, but not addressing that her majesty’s government actively supports the root cause of the wahhabist extremist ideology?

If 25000 + are know why has there not been any action taken against said numbers?

Good question, this is well worth a read:

The Manchester Bombing as Blowback: The latest evidence[/url]

The evidence suggests that the barbaric Manchester bombing, which killed 22 innocent people on May 22nd, is a case of blowback on British citizens arising at least partly from the overt and covert actions of British governments. The British state therefore has a serious case to answer. We focus primarily here on UK policies towards Libya but also touch on some of those related to Iraq and Syria.

In summary, the evidence so far shows that there are six inter-related aspects of blowback:

1. Salman Abedi and his father were members of a Libyan dissident group – the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) – covertly supported by the UK to assassinate Qadafi in 1996. At this time, the LIFG was an affiliate of Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda and LIFG leaders had various connections to this terror network.

2. Members of the LIFG were facilitated by the British ‘security services’ to travel to Libya to fight Qadafi in 2011. Both Salman Abedi and his father, Ramadan, were among those who travelled to fight at this time (although there is no evidence that their travel was personally facilitated or encouraged by the security services).

3. A large number of LIFG fighters in Libya in 2011 had earlier fought alongside the Islamic State of Iraq – the al-Qaeda entity which later established a presence in Syria and became the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). These fighters were among those recruited into the British-backed anti-Qadafi rebellion.

4. UK covert action in Libya in 2011 included approval of and support to Qatar’s arming and backing of opposition forces, which included support to hardline Islamist groups; this fuelled jihadism in Libya.

5. One of the groups armed/supported by Qatar in 2011 was the February 17th Martyrs Brigade which, some reports suggest, was the organisation which Ramadan Abedi joined in 2011 to fight Qadafi.

6. Qatar’s arms supplies to Libya in 2011 also found their way to Islamist fighters in Syria, including groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and ISIS.

The evidence points to the LIFG being seen by the UK as a proxy militia to promote its foreign policy objectives. Whitehall also saw Qatar as a proxy to provide boots on the ground in Libya in 2011, even as it empowered hardline Islamist groups.

Both David Cameron, then Prime Minister, and Theresa May – who was Home Secretary in 2011 when Libyan radicals were encouraged to fight Qadafi – clearly have serious questions to answer. We believe an independent public enquiry is urgently needed.

The evidence suggests that British actions in three different theatres – Libya, Iraq and Syria – cannot be viewed in isolation

A good start would be to review the close relationship of Her Majesty’s Government with Saudi Arabia:

U.K. Terrorism Report on Saudi Arabia May Be Kept Secret

the Home Office not only declined to disclose any information regarding its findings, it suggested it may never do so, due to the “very sensitive” nature of the results. which are believed to contain references to Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the U.K. and known sponsor of ultraconservative Wahhabist Sunni Muslim ideology around the world.

Not to mention other influential governments…

In Washington, President Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House initially appeared devastating to Saudi interests, as Trump had accused the monarchy of propagating radical Islamist ideology throughout the region and abroad. Trump, who signed a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia during a trip to the country last week, pointed out only last year that 15 of the 19 hijackers connected to Al-Qaeda and responsible for the 9/11 attacks actually came from Saudi Arabia.

Back to Chatty Death for a mo methinks:

Or you could of course have a go at trapanning your cranium, scooping out the contents and supplementing the tiny void with fly ridden pigshit

It’s horrible futures we should be more worried about…

Is that Chatty Dead JHJ?

These days I’m not sure whether to give you a straight yes or no answer, or a rambling load of bollocks which furthers the interests of my financial backers and media chums.

In terms of scandal, it’s a toss up between electoral fraud, this:

The “smoking gun” is that when Theresa May was Home Secretary, LIFG jihadists were allowed to travel unhindered across Europe and encouraged to engage in “battle”: first to remove Mu’ammar Gadaffi in Libya, then to join al-Qaida affiliated groups in Syria.

Last year, the FBI reportedly placed Abedi on a “terrorist watch list” and warned MI5 that his group was looking for a “political target” in Britain. Why wasn’t he apprehended and the network around him prevented from planning and executing the atrocity on 22 May?

These questions arise because of an FBI leak that demolished the “lone wolf” spin in the wake of the 22 May attack – thus, the panicky, uncharacteristic outrage directed at Washington from London and Donald Trump’s apology.

The Manchester atrocity lifts the rock of British foreign policy to reveal its Faustian alliance with extreme Islam, especially the sect known as Wahhabism or Salafism, whose principal custodian and banker is the oil kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Britain’s biggest weapons customer.

and not forgetting of course the incident where a journalist was detained by the UK Border Agency (at the time under the jurisdiction of the Home Secretary, Theresa May) to prevent her investigating child abuse on Jersey…

All this talk of tax has reminded me… the Labour manifesto also mentions they’ll be using the ‘Robin Hood’ tax, which seems like a bloody good idea:

Bear in mind this video is 7 years old, so the idea has been floating around unused for quite a while for some reason…

One of those cut and paste jobbies:

Say Jeremy Corbyn had been the Home Secretary for six years, during which time he slashed some 20,000 police jobs taking us back to 1970s levels of per capita policing.

Let’s say he also slashed the UK Border Agency budget so that over a million people per month were coming and going through UK airports without being properly checked.

Let’s say by virtue of an extremely self-serving EU referendum non-campaign he managed to get into 10 Downing Street, where he kept up his agenda of cutting the UK security services and border agency.

Then there’s a home-grown terrorist attack by a known Islamist fanatic in a city where Corbyn had cut the police budget by £157 million.

Let’s say Jeremy Corbyn “lost” files on an internal pedophile ring.

Let’s say he wanted to take the homes from the elderly.

Let’s say he cut 30% of your disabled benefit.

Let’s say he signed an arms deal with the (ISIS-funding) Saudis worth millions.

Let’s say he wanted to take away your child’s free school meal.

Let’s say he forced NHS staff to use food banks.

Let’s say he made so many cuts to the NHS that people are suffering waiting for ambulances and A&E doctors.

Let’s say he went against doctors, nurses, teachers, fire fighters, the armed forces…

Let’s say he took away funding for University for upcoming doctors and nurses.

Let’s say after all these cuts there’s still a deficit and he’d missed every target he’d set himself for reducing it.

What would you have to say about Jeremy Corbyn under these circumstances?

And why are they not saying those things about Theresa May and the Tories right now?

Makes you think…

Quite apart from food banks, poverty and decline of public services which can in some respects can be attributed to large scale tax evasion, the thing that worries me about tax havens is the whole shady shell company money laundering for criminals, arms dealers and terrorists aspect…

Her Majesty’s Government is surprisingly tolerant considering all the shady goings on…

Nigel Farage a person of interest in Trump FBI investigation?

Goodness me!!

Could it be anything to do with the same shadowy figures being deeply involved in both Trump’s presidential campaign and Brexit?

Pff, next they’ll be telling us that Trump and May’s cuddle buddies in Saudi Arabia are intrinsically linked to islamic terror

Surely that won’t tie into Trump and Russia too…

That’s interesting, is that longitudinal or lateral stability?

Suppose to some extent that’s going to depend on wing design and cell distribution (bearing in mind paraglider wings are made up of inflated cells)… that said, I’d imagine it’s more relating to lateral stability, since you effectively have a thinner wing, which in many respects is like a shorter wheelbase.

And do you mean stability or maneuverability?

I’m refering to stability in this instance.

Back to the original question…

In paragliding, broadly speaking, the glide ratio of the wing is determined by the aspect ratio (wing span/width front to rear), with a higher aspect ratio giving more efficient gliding, but a less stable and faster wing.

Assuming similar characteristics for plane wings, that would explain why they’re relatively spindly, especially since they have flaps and whatnot to increase the area and lift and reduce stall speed for take off and landing

What about consumables like fuel for ships, planes, tanks etc not to mention all those environmentally friendly bombz n missilez?

The city pays about 10% of this country’s tax revenue.

But how much should they be paying if they didn’t have access to the world’s foremost offshore financial network?

Speaking of funny money:

This website tells you your best bet for tactical voting to avoid a Tory majority:

https://www.tactical2017.com

There again, there could be a ‘turn up’ for the books anyway…

There’s a very important proposal in the Labour manifesto that hasn’t received any press coverage:

Labour has effectively committed itself to ending the corporate secrecy of the UK’s overseas crown dependencies and territories – i.e, to bring an end the the biggest tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions in the world. As anybody who has done work in the field of anti-corruption (or anybody who has read the excellent Treasure Islands) knows, a huge portion of the world’s criminal money, including that of corrupt politicians globally, is hidden and recycled through the UK’s tax haven system. It has deeply undermined democracies around the world, facilitated the mass transfer of wealth from the poorest regions of the globe, immiserated millions and given cover to the world’s criminals, thieves and plunderers. A public register of true beneficial ownership, which reveals who really owns companies in places like the British Virgin Islands and the Caymans will blow the lid on corruption and criminality in a way that can barely be conceived. Forget the Panama papers – this would truly rock the whole world and advance democracy and accountability globally.

Oh, by the way, what is the Tory contribution to the fight against corruption? A commitment to close down the UK’s Serious Fraud Office.

Here, in its full glory, is the paragraph that could change global politics fundamentally for the good:

‘The current global tax system is deeply unjust. Africa’s economies alone lose more than £46 billion annually through corruption and tax evasion – more than 10 times what they receive in aid. Labour will act decisively on tax havens, introducing strict standards of transparency for crown dependencies and overseas territories, including a public
register of owners, directors, major shareholders and beneficial owners for all companies and trusts.’

http://www.labour.org.uk/…/ma…/Labour%20Manifesto%202017.pdf

Likely Murdoch and strong and stable sock puppet May will be doing their darnedest to keep that on the down low.

Danish oil does a good job of waterproofing; was looking for various options for waterproofing my ply shower enclosure and though it’s not as swanky as tiles or plastic cladding, it is waterproof.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Painting+%26+Decorating/d150/Wood+Care/sd3151/Danish+Oil/p20048

Whilst it’s certainly right to strive for reductions in emissions to ensure continued health of people and the planet, given that the US military is apparently more polluting IN PEACE TIME than the entire civilian population, perhaps if anyone has a real concern for the welfare of their neighbours and the habitat that 7 billion odd of us are sharing, it might be worth channeling some of this outrage elsewhere…

Oh, hey Dez, are you looking for Lovage?

If so, just google Lovage by Nathaniel Merriweather and the passion will ooze from your pores with more gusto than even Pepe le Pew could muster.

Maximum pumpage is not an exact science… sometimes you’ve just got to go with the mounds the way you like em, just don’t get too greedy 😉

As for pics, it’s normally a matter of right clicking on the image, clicking copy image location, then pasting that in the brackets provided by the IMG button above… Flickr isn’t letting me do that with your pics, though maybe if just copy the link you’ve provided and bung it in the brackets it’ll work:

Nope… I’m no flickr wiz, so can’t help there I’m afraid.

That reminds me, I read somewhere that one of the main companies who make slot machines are also one of the 4 companies responsible for voting machines…

That said, it seems sometimes the house does lose; the Trump Plaza shut down:

Oops a daisy!!

Makes the government money though so no desire to stop it

Pff, tin foil hats at the ready! Oh, hang on…

On a side note, the 1st time I saw a crack pipe, and a pimp putting down a ho was in the shadow of that very building.

Looks promising… I can bring you hope and joy and confirm you can indeed pump uphill; a while back, I built a pumptrack that went up about 6 or 7ft, over a distance of 25-30ft, so it was pretty steep; took a fair bit of trail and error to get it to work, and I was probably gurning worse than popeye taking a spinach hit, with veins popping out of my forehead the 1st few times I attempted it, but once it bedded in, with a bit of practice, it was sweet.

Here’s an edit from it’s early days before it became a 4 tiered behemoth, with some properly silly lines just because I could.

Watch this:

then watch this:

Thank me later…

Fair comment; on a related note, always thought it was a bit weird the way cathedrals are covered in gargoyles n demons, but I guess you need something to scare people with if you’re gonna get em to cough up their riches to prevent a bitey/claw-y/burny/torture-y afterlife.

Anyhoo, from ‘Demon Days’:

The original song I had in mind (Dragons and Demons by Godiego) isn’t available on it’s own, but it’s on here:

Have you noticed how the majority of town halls (and many other buildings such as court houses, universities, libraries etc) the world over have pillars and a triangular pediment like a temple?

Why is symbolic architecture like that so widespread?

This probably won’t do any good for my popularity, but Ian Brady’s death brings to mind this:

http://thesumpplug.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/uncle-jim-cobley-and-all.html

According to extracts from Myra Hindley’s diary quoted in Emlyn Williams’s Beyond Belief, she and Ian Brady were indeed regular punters at the New Elizabethan Ballroom at the now-demolished Belle Vue pleasure grounds, in Manchester’s Gorton district. She daydreamed about the two of them being billed as featured dancers there one day, and we know that they attended at least one of the many “Carnival Nights” hosted by the venue’s resident DJ at the time, Jimmy Savile. Myra Hindley was a Gorton girl, living at her grandmother’s house on Bannock Street. Savile’s big red ****-off Rolls Royce was a local landmark, regularly parked on ostentatious display right outside the entrance.

Flash-forward fifteen years. Janie Jones, the tabloids’ favourite sex-party hostess with the mostest, answers a summons to appear before Jimmy Savile soon after her release from prison. His grounds for demanding the encounter? To read her the riot act for having the temerity to campaign for Myra Hindley’s release. Not for the reason why most people would have objected to the idea of freeing Hindley — you know, her having helped kidnap, torture, rape and murder other people’s children and bury them on Saddleworth Moor, all that stuff — but because, as Janie Jones explained, “he said it was disgraceful that I was siding with Hindley against Brady.” Ian Brady was Jimmy Savile’s pal.

Where and when Savile first met Brady, whether at HMP Parkhurst or at Broadmoor Hospital, is unclear. Savile was famously — now infamously — associated with hospitals and care homes, but not with prisons, yet he definitely pitched up at Parkhurst at least once. That may well be where he met Ronnie Kray for the first time as well. And it’s definitely where he first met Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, before going on to deepen their friendship at Broadmoor.

Not a particularly savoury thought, but how long was Ian Brady associating with Jimmy Savile?

Any core shots, delamination, sidewall damage or cracks on the edges?

Can you imagine how much landfill they’ll have to sift through in 5000 years…

How are they gonna distinguish a time capsule from all the other junk?