Ursa Magnifica ... His Enormity (pboh)  ... yes, t'was he, Caputa himself, he looked in here at 8:36 GMT this morning ...

... and growled!!!

Do try to keep up Trike  .... and all ye of so little faith ... I told ya he'd be back 'ere long!


Putin? ... the irony is that while he keeps on about fascists, nazis and foreign plots ... he is following, almost exactly to the letter, the same litany of annexation, terror, scape-goating, subterfuge, lies, bluff, bullying, and hyper-nationalism at home, that were all the hall-marks and stock-in-trade of Hitler in the 1930s.

It was announced in the UK budget that £1million would be used to celebrate the Agincourt battle anniversary -  1415 in October. Have similar noises been made about Waterloo? Anglo-French relations might get a tad more strained this year.......

This is bad;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31941672

Priscilla wrote:

It was announced in the UK budget that £1million would be used to celebrate the Agincourt battle anniversary -  1415 in October. Have similar noises been made about Waterloo? Anglo-French relations might get a tad more strained this year.......

Not sure about Waterloo, Priscilla. The Germans, Dutch and Belgians were all involved as well.

The Royal Mint have produced a new £5 commemorative coin;

http://www.royalmint.com/shop/200th_Anniversary_of_Waterloo_2015_UK_5_pound_BU

It was announced in the UK budget that £1million would be used to celebrate the Agincourt battle anniversary - 1415 in October.

After the snidey wee creep's dig at the Scots who were there, I hope he's not expecting us to chip in.

Belgium was intending to mint a commemorative Waterloo 2€ coin, but they've abandoned the plan after protests from France:

BBC News : France wins Waterloo coin battle

The London Stock Market crashed through the 7000 barrier this afternoon - the first time in its history it has hit such heights. Is this economic history in the making, for better or for worse?


FTSE latest
7,021.05 58.73

This data could be seen as good news - or the opposite. Time to bale out before it all goes pear-shaped? We haven't had a good stock market panic since 2008, so one is due. It is what those young Masters of the Universe love - they call it Castles in the Sky followed by a satisfying - and extremely profitable -  bout of Bottom Fishing.


Castles in the Sky: When stock prices are extremely overvalued, and not justifiable by future increases in earnings. 1987 and 1999 are examples, just before large market drops.


Bottom Fishing: After a large sell-off or drop in the market, a slang term for picking oversold stocks.

Saturday March 21, 2015, the Russian ambassador to Denmark has, in a letter to a news paper, said that 'in case of Denmark joining the NATO missile shield, Russia may attack Denmark with nuclear weaponry.'

Danish politicians apparently take this calmly - as this actually is a threat under which we have been living since the creation of NATO in 1949 - so, as no one else have been reported saying yet, 'what else is new.'

Missile shields don't work very well, Nielsen. You have to hold them up over your head for an eternity, so much that by the time the actual missiles descend your arms are way too tired to fend them off very well.

That is as may be, Nordmann, politicians here express uncertainty as to whether this is a personal opinion or one 'officially not autorized' by his chief.

Putin, at least according to Photoshop, has famously very strong arms. He could hold up a missile shield for ages!

There you are, and to quote someone, 'nothing is too hard for the one, who doesn't have to do it himself', so let him hold it ...

Back to the beginning.  NZ won its cricket against South Africa with a six on the second last ball - hit by a calm young man born in Johannesburg.  Now they just have to be beaten by Australia in the final and it is all over.  Has been great fun.

Yes it has, Caro. How about that fumble of a run out? Do you think NZ has now used up its luck supply enough to lose? I hope not, we are urging them to win! Not that this thread was just for cricket, of course, for those who are interested there have been some moments that will make cricketing history. Life is not all about the other stuff that grabs our interest here. And unless I keep up with football results, I would have even less understanding of my grandsons - for instance do not call them just after their chosen teams lose.

Some constitutional wrangling going on. The Supreme Court has now cleared the way for the Fourth Estate to publish Charlie's letters to Government Departments.

The Monarchy is supposed to remain politically neutral, now the next in line's views will become public knowledge, despite the PM's attempts to keep them secret;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32066554

It is claimed that the killer co pilot was seeking fame. and he's not the first of such ilk in recent years. Seeking notoriety is a worrying trend - or has it always been so?

And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.

Richard III (the play).

It is all being said too soon in terms of useful analysis in the case of the plane crash alluded to.

However your extrapolation, based on imperfect analysis or not - that this crash produces an example of seeking notoriety and that this has become a trend, followed by a rhetorical question imputing that this may in fact not be a trend at all but a symptom of the human condition, would appear to merit a discussion in its own right due to its historical implications. Care to start one?

Interesting topic but isn't it necessary to deconstruct 'notoriety' and consider it versus 'fame', R III being a case in point? It's a judgement that I would contest is entirely situated and contingent (Sorry Temp!) but it's also arguable that the distinction is irrelevant to the seeker after memorialisation.

Look nordmann, I merely presented a kipper of an idea here. You fillet out a separate fleshy thread for us. I've used up this week's ration of hand picked boney words and  still trying  to untangle of load of yours in the art gallery.

Reduction of boat rescue services in the southern Med where thousands from African lands are trying to cross to Italy in very dodgy craft. A harsh approach to a problem that seems to have no viable  resolution.

Have just the post for this sort of thread.
It seems that Hal and Megs - both sufferers of poor parenting and rather cramped and shabby first home together, who have found a better squat abroad, have emerged (again) from their shielding curtain against publicity to do some more (again) public squeaking. Made speechless by current events, they go on to say (?} that anyone who is mentally shaken by it all may find help in their online Archewell site...... this, I believe, is financed by Netfix, who do their curtain repair jobs.
Next year, it may be supposed that they will have a Lillibetter site.
But, in the fullness of time - and they must face it, the old homeland will eventually have a Georgebest site. And we all know that a bit of sport especially football can do wonders for you.

i think I need some gin.

Have just the post for this sort of thread.
It seems that Hal and Megs - both sufferers of poor parenting and rather cramped and shabby first home together, who have found a better squat abroad, have emerged (again) from their shielding curtain  against publicity to do some more (again) public squeaking. Made speechless by current events, they go on to say (?} that anyone who is mentally shaken by it all may find help in their online Archewell site...... this, I  believe, is financed by Netfix, who do their curtain repair jobs.
Next year, it may be supposed that they will have a Lillibetter site.
But, in the fullness of time - and they must face it, the old homeland will eventually have a Georgebest site. And we all know that a bit of sport especially football can do wonders for you.

i think I need some gin.

"Speechless"? If only...

Mind you, people are perhaps thinking that about us, Priscilla.

I still don't know what this thread is about.

What this thread is about is to record odd happenings of today that may..... or may well not become tomorrow's history. ..... as in affection for things with names... In this case any old llama without a name but with TB would probably have been put down much as thousands of infected livestock - unnamed - suffer. But one with big goo goo eyes and a name has garnered about it much support.
I have a relative who has an old wreck of a car - named Lady Jane -  housed in  expensive hired garaging because they could not bear to  have her disposed of. Much also as two stones on a chap's desk called Peta and Petra might be named in his will to preserve them. Tomorrow's history? Who can tell? Odd facts of today often seem to linger well beyond their goo goo attraction.

Priscilla wrote:

What this thread is about is to record odd happenings of today that may..... or may well not become tomorrow's history. .....

Ah, I see - haven't read through thread with due care and diligence. Sorry.

Well, we all missed this one, didn't we? From Press Association, 23rd January, 2020:


Three people are being tested for a coronavirus in Edinburgh, and a fourth possible case is thought to be in Glasgow. If these are confirmed, they may become the first known UK cases of the novel coronavirus that has recently emerged in Wuhan, China.

The virus can cause fever, difficulty breathing and pneumonia. So far, there have been nearly 600 reported cases of infection and 17 deaths. Most cases have occurred in China, but cases have also been reported in other countries, including Japan and the US.


Note that cavalier little indefinite article in the above: "a coronavirus" . Ah - those were the days. The happily unaware journalists reporting the incident did not realise that the new bug up north was not just any coronavirus, it was an M&S coronavirus.