Ows observation V...

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Most if not all of the media today seem to be playing last night's House of Commons vote as a 'loss' for British Prime Minister David Cameron. Some are slamming Miliband's duplicity. I see it differently: Cameron recalled Parliament, had the nerve to ask for a debate and a vote on whether the UK should commit to yet another war; to commit funds and ultimately soldiers lives in Syria. The image (click to enlarge) shows a very close thing, unlucky 13 but with 91 absent. However, this is very clearly that rare and wonderful thing, democracy in action; Cameron will respect/is respecting that decision (I will refrain from commenting on various examples of gross, sickening, lying hypocrisy of more than a few Labour MPs). To me he is in a win/win: whether the shit hits the fan or not he has tried to do what he thinks is right but, like the fair and decent man man in the pub, is held back by his friends and bystanders as he struggles to give the bounder what he deserves.



Update: well said Quentin.

Ows observation V...

---

Most if not all of the media today seem to be playing last night's House of Commons vote as a 'loss' for British Prime Minister David Cameron. Some are slamming Miliband's duplicity. I see it differently: Cameron recalled Parliament, had the nerve to ask for a debate and a vote on whether the UK should commit to yet another war; to commit funds and ultimately soldiers lives in Syria. The image (click to enlarge) shows a very close thing, unlucky 13 but with 91 absent. However, this is very clearly that rare and wonderful thing, democracy in action; Cameron will respect/is respecting that decision (I will refrain from commenting on various examples of gross, sickening, lying hypocrisy of more than a few Labour MPs). To me he is in a win/win: whether the shit hits the fan or not he has tried to do what he thinks is right but, like the fair and decent man man in the pub, is held back by his friends and bystanders as he struggles to give the bounder what he deserves.

Update: well said Quentin.

Our omphaloskepsis over onyxis

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An ingrowing nail is painful but can be ignored for a bit; however it will become agonising and possible create an open festering wound...I missed posting this yesterday; I always like to remember 23rd August (anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the Communist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany) as it is International Black Ribbon Day (European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism); and - at the risk of sounding bitter and twisted - I also think it is odd obscurantism, "Those who neglect their past have no future". It never ceases to amaze me how Nazism, Hitler, Nazi Germany etc are rightfully vilified yet the Soviet Communist regime is barely mentioned, a willful forgetfulness; they even call it Stalinism presumably to not taint 'Communism': I guess with so many left wing MPs and MEPs with their past in the Communist parties they feel another name is needed.

"Europe will not be united unless it is able to reunite its history, recognize Communism and Nazism as a common legacy and bring about an honest and thorough debate on all the totalitarian crimes of the past century" (Prague Declaration).

More 'forgetful' celebrations on the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition (also on August 23rd) yet this day is to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade. Hold it right there! Slavery is everywhere and probably has been since man walked this earth. "The bigger problem with celebrating the 'abolition' of the slave trade is that it has not been abolished. It’s happening here, now, in Britain. It’s going under the euphemism 'human trafficking'". Good article and comments in The Spectator today (now yesterday!) about modern slavery.

"The brutal fact about slavery is that it was not just something that white imperialists did to Africans. People of every creed and colour were slaves, and were enslaved. When we commemorate slavery by focusing on its colonial aspect, we lose sight of a far wider historic evil. And its capacity to renew."

Nelson Fraser's article also appeared in the DT as 'William Wilberforce’s heirs are ready to tackle the great evil of the age'. He also mentions the Times report (££) on nail salons, innocuously sounding but behind the cosmetic front many of them are modern dens of manicured misery with thousands of immigrants (mainly Vietnamese in this instance apparently) are being forced to work 'as slaves'.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is calling for a Modern Slavery Act: their report "It Happens Here: Equipping the United Kingdom to fight modern slavery" [pdf link]



More willful blindness is those that fail to see the key role of uncontrolled immigration in all of this.



Omphaloskepsis
n. - contemplation of the navel

Onyxis
n. - ingrowing nail.

Our omphaloskepsis over onyxis

---

An ingrowing nail is painful but can be ignored for a bit; however it will become agonising and possible create an open festering wound...I missed posting this yesterday; I always like to remember 23rd August (anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the Communist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany) as it is International Black Ribbon Day (European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism); and - at the risk of sounding bitter and twisted - I also think it is odd obscurantism, "Those who neglect their past have no future". It never ceases to amaze me how Nazism, Hitler, Nazi Germany etc are rightfully vilified yet the Soviet Communist regime is barely mentioned, a willful forgetfulness; they even call it Stalinism presumably to not taint 'Communism': I guess with so many left wing MPs and MEPs with their past in the Communist parties they feel another name is needed.

"Europe will not be united unless it is able to reunite its history, recognize Communism and Nazism as a common legacy and bring about an honest and thorough debate on all the totalitarian crimes of the past century" (Prague Declaration).

More 'forgetful' celebrations on the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition (also on August 23rd) yet this day is to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade. Hold it right there! Slavery is everywhere and probably has been since man walked this earth. "The bigger problem with celebrating the 'abolition' of the slave trade is that it has not been abolished. It’s happening here, now, in Britain. It’s going under the euphemism 'human trafficking'". Good article and comments in The Spectator today (now yesterday!) about modern slavery.

"The brutal fact about slavery is that it was not just something that white imperialists did to Africans. People of every creed and colour were slaves, and were enslaved. When we commemorate slavery by focusing on its colonial aspect, we lose sight of a far wider historic evil. And its capacity to renew."

Nelson Fraser's article also appeared in the DT as 'William Wilberforce’s heirs are ready to tackle the great evil of the age'. He also mentions the Times report (££) on nail salons, innocuously sounding but behind the cosmetic front many of them are modern dens of manicured misery with thousands of immigrants (mainly Vietnamese in this instance apparently) are being forced to work 'as slaves'. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is calling for a Modern Slavery Act: their report "It Happens Here: Equipping the United Kingdom to fight modern slavery" [pdf link]

More willful blindness is those that fail to see the key role of uncontrolled immigration in all of this.

Omphaloskepsisn. - contemplation of the navel
Onyxisn. - ingrowing nail.

Obvious omissions...

---

Righting Miranda's* wrongs (did you see what I did there?). Glenn Greenwald lied**, David Miranda lied and the Guardian lied. Lard bucket Tom Watson jumped in early as did slimeball Vaz as did cute but deadly Mrs. Balls. It was hilarious baiting the shrieking harpies yesterday (in 'left' and 'right' forums) but all I was doing was telling them to wait for the facts: yesterday afternoon and today those seep though the lefty bullshit filter that is much of the MSM. Guardian lies and BBC being behind the curve [intentionally?] and still deflecting ("No. 10 'kept abreast of operation') doesn't help my opinion of them and does the British public a disservice. Louise Mensch told them so quite clearly, good girl.



* appropriate name, eh? :-)

** doesn't help that he then had a hissy fit and threatened 'England'.



Addendum: thanks to David P on BBBC for pointing out that the man 'debating' with Louise Mensch on last night's Newsnight ('quite clearly' link above), introduced as a 'computer hacker' is in fact the American face of Wikileaks and as such "directly involved in this issue. Not an innocent, independent voice at all."

Obvious omissions...

---

Righting Miranda's* wrongs (did you see what I did there?). Glenn Greenwald lied**, David Miranda lied and the Guardian lied. Lard bucket Tom Watson jumped in early as did slimeball Vaz as did cute but deadly Mrs. Balls. It was hilarious baiting the shrieking harpies yesterday (in 'left' and 'right' forums) but all I was doing was telling them to wait for the facts: yesterday afternoon and today those seep though the lefty bullshit filter that is much of the MSM. Guardian lies and BBC being behind the curve [intentionally?] and still deflecting ("No. 10 'kept abreast of operation') doesn't help my opinion of them and does the British public a disservice. Louise Mensch told them so quite clearly, good girl.

* appropriate name, eh? :-)
** doesn't help that he then had a hissy fit and threatened 'England'.

Addendum: thanks to David P on BBBC for pointing out that the man 'debating' with Louise Mensch on last night's Newsnight ('quite clearly' link above), introduced as a 'computer hacker' is in fact the American face of Wikileaks and as such "directly involved in this issue. Not an innocent, independent voice at all."

Onanara...

---

Damn, missed it (here's a screen shot in case they delete past events); would have loved to be there with the group, beating that thing; of course the name may suggest you'd do it alone - thumping that tight-stretched skin that gives life and joy at parties, oh yes, but it's usually touched by women...with a stick.

Onanara...

---

Damn, missed it (here's a screen shot in case they delete past events); would have loved to be there with the group, beating that thing; of course the name may suggest you'd do it alone - thumping that tight-stretched skin that gives life and joy at parties, oh yes, but it's usually touched by women...with a stick.

Olympus oro obvention...

---

Gold-Tungsten adultery has been around a while [Gold-Tungsten Genesis: link to pdf] and of course is sure to be not merely a common criminal activity:

"While it is true that derivatives commonly referred to as “futures” or “paper-gold” have been heavily used to suppress the gold price – let it be known that physical gold bullion [or something that can pass as physical gold bullion] is still required in the settlement process to make the highly leveraged paper sales appear credible.... ...As such, observable physical inventory... or something that “can pass” for being as much is vitally required at ALL TIMES."

Good news for your gold bars: Olympus tells us "Gold bullion bars have been fraudulently adulterated through the insertion of slugs of inexpensive base metal of similar density. These insertions are difficult or impossible to detect through weighing, radiography, or X-ray fluorescence, so some precious metals processors have resorted to drilling or cutting bars to verify integrity. However a simple ultrasonic test can quickly and reliably locate inserts with no need to drill, cut, or otherwise alter the bar." Hat-tip Zero Hedge. 

Olympus oro obvention...

---

Gold-Tungsten adultery has been around a while [Gold-Tungsten Genesis: link to pdf] and of course is sure to be not merely a common criminal activity:

"While it is true that derivatives commonly referred to as “futures” or “paper-gold” have been heavily used to suppress the gold price – let it be known that physical gold bullion [or something that can pass as physical gold bullion] is still required in the settlement process to make the highly leveraged paper sales appear credible.... ...As such, observable physical inventory... or something that “can pass” for being as much is vitally required at ALL TIMES."

Good news for your gold bars: Olympus tells us "Gold bullion bars have been fraudulently adulterated through the insertion of slugs of inexpensive base metal of similar density. These insertions are difficult or impossible to detect through weighing, radiography, or X-ray fluorescence, so some precious metals processors have resorted to drilling or cutting bars to verify integrity. However a simple ultrasonic test can quickly and reliably locate inserts with no need to drill, cut, or otherwise alter the bar." Hat-tip Zero Hedge. 

Obdormition over Obama's obnubilation...

---

The result of a scandal far milder

than the many we see today.

Obama's Blackwhite. No, I don't mean Obama's 'race name' if you followed the strange lefty liberal classification of white-hispanic George Zimmerman, but the Newspeak doublethink Blackwhite. Well, it's not really obnubilation (obfuscation, obscuring, obscurantism) because it's in plain sight and crystal clear: the excellent Samizdata blog has been highlighting Obama's obvious lies recently to such an extent that you begin to suffer 'Outrage Fatigue': "the condition in which so many awful actions by a set of State actors have been revealed that one can no longer hope to track the entire list of their offenses and crimes in one’s head."..."I have long since passed that point for the Obama administration in general. Imprisonment without charge, war crimes, coverups, the silencing of whistleblowers and dozens of other acts have become so numerous that I cannot hope to remember them all." [sic] "It is painfully clear that the contempt of the Obama Administration and its minions for the rule of law is near total, that their contempt for the truth is near total...". It may be silly season but what if Richard Nixon had merely promised "appropriate reforms"?

Obdormition over Obama's obnubilation...

---

The result of a scandal far milder
than the many we see today.

Obama's Blackwhite. No, I don't mean Obama's 'race name' if you followed the strange lefty liberal classification of white-hispanic George Zimmerman, but the Newspeak doublethink Blackwhite. Well, it's not really obnubilation (obfuscation, obscuring, obscurantism) because it's in plain sight and crystal clear: the excellent Samizdata blog has been highlighting Obama's obvious lies recently to such an extent that you begin to suffer 'Outrage Fatigue': "the condition in which so many awful actions by a set of State actors have been revealed that one can no longer hope to track the entire list of their offenses and crimes in one’s head."..."I have long since passed that point for the Obama administration in general. Imprisonment without charge, war crimes, coverups, the silencing of whistleblowers and dozens of other acts have become so numerous that I cannot hope to remember them all." [sic] "It is painfully clear that the contempt of the Obama Administration and its minions for the rule of law is near total, that their contempt for the truth is near total...". It may be silly season but what if Richard Nixon had merely promised "appropriate reforms"?

Obvious ownership...

---

Treaty of Utrecht, 1713.

Just as we know the sun rises in the East, so we know that Spain is in political difficulty whenever we hear 'sabre-rattling' over Gibraltar. Interesting article in The Spectator in July: "But the very possession of Gibraltar means a hostile Spain, and the weight of that hostility is limited only by her military strength. That strength may at any time assert itself to an extent which has not been suspected, and the recovery of Gibraltar, or the neutralisation of its value to England, is to such a nation precisely the kind of object to arouse enthusiasm, and to create a new point of military departure. More- over, even if the power of Spain were to remain as weak as it is sometimes assumed to be, nothing short of an unquestioned military advantage of primary importance should determine us to accept her certain hostility, in the event of war with a Mediterranean Power. Oh, I forgot to mention, it was July 1883, from their archive.

Another interesting article is ARTICLE X of the 1713 Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain (a.k.a. Treaty Of Utrecht): "The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever."...for ever, get it?! All this was reconfirmed in later treaties. That said, in ARTICLE X1 of the same treaty Britain took possession of Minorca, which changed hands 3 times during the 18th Century but was finally and permanently repossessed by Spain under the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, so they know we could hand it back but the Minorca episode took three battles during three different wars...

Obvious ownership...

---

Treaty of Utrecht, 1713.

Just as we know the sun rises in the East, so we know that Spain is in political difficulty whenever we hear 'sabre-rattling' over Gibraltar. Interesting article in The Spectator in July: "But the very possession of Gibraltar means a hostile Spain, and the weight of that hostility is limited only by her military strength. That strength may at any time assert itself to an extent which has not been suspected, and the recovery of Gibraltar, or the neutralisation of its value to England, is to such a nation precisely the kind of object to arouse enthusiasm, and to create a new point of military departure. More- over, even if the power of Spain were to remain as weak as it is sometimes assumed to be, nothing short of an unquestioned military advantage of primary importance should determine us to accept her certain hostility, in the event of war with a Mediterranean Power. Oh, I forgot to mention, it was July 1883, from their archive. Another interesting article is ARTICLE X of the 1713 Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain (a.k.a. Treaty Of Utrecht): "The Catholic King does hereby, for himself, his heirs and successors, yield to the Crown of Great Britain the full and entire propriety of the town and castle of Gibraltar, together with the port, fortifications, and forts thereunto belonging; and he gives up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right for ever, without any exception or impediment whatsoever."...for ever, get it?! All this was reconfirmed in later treaties. That said, in ARTICLE X1 of the same treaty Britain took possession of Minorca, which changed hands 3 times during the 18th Century but was finally and permanently repossessed by Spain under the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, so they know we could hand it back but the Minorca episode took three battles during three different wars...

Obvious orchestration II...

---

Mark Wallace (he of the now neglected, sadly, CrashBangWallace) has an interesting article over at ConHome about Labour candidates and Unite. He quotes Tim Shipman of the Daily Mail who revealed, "Unite candidates or officials have the top spot in every region in Labour's MEP lists apart from East Midlands, where they are 2nd"; now this is hardly ground shaking news and I think anyone even remotely interested knew but it does belie the Labour party scrambling defence of the scandal that was Falkirkgate (their broadcasting arm was very keen to bat it away as a one-off then say it was nothing anyway), surprise!...NOT. Unite admit it but as Michael Savage and Francis Elliott in The Times write (££) "In a development that prompted fresh claims that the union has too much power over the party, it was disclosed that Unite had all but guaranteed that more of its candidates would be handed £83,000-a-year jobs in Strasbourg."

Obvious orchestration II...

---

Mark Wallace (he of the now neglected, sadly, CrashBangWallace) has an interesting article over at ConHome about Labour candidates and Unite. He quotes Tim Shipman of the Daily Mail who revealed, "Unite candidates or officials have the top spot in every region in Labour's MEP lists apart from East Midlands, where they are 2nd"; now this is hardly ground shaking news and I think anyone even remotely interested knew but it does belie the Labour party scrambling defence of the scandal that was Falkirkgate (their broadcasting arm was very keen to bat it away as a one-off then say it was nothing anyway), surprise!...NOT. Unite admit it but as Michael Savage and Francis Elliott in The Times write (££) "In a development that prompted fresh claims that the union has too much power over the party, it was disclosed that Unite had all but guaranteed that more of its candidates would be handed £83,000-a-year jobs in Strasbourg."

Online Orwellian octopus...

---

There's a reason for the octopus...With private investigators and hacking all over the news in the UK (well, most of the news media: some aren't as keen as they were over Murdoch bashing) Michele's ordeal should start to worry us all a bit: "Googling of certain things was creating a perfect storm of terrorism profiling. Because somewhere out there, someone was watching." I am sure you were already aware if not worried. Via Zerohedge we realise what Google (amongst others) knows about us: Tom Gara writing on Corporate Intelligence, the WSJ business news blog digs deeper and discovers a hackers' and hence PI's goldmine. Tom goes on to see the good side of this:

"There’s another side to this, of course. In the long run our online histories will become one of our most cherished forms of memory, in some ways far more powerful than anything our brains are capable of. Gmail was one of the first Google services we signed into, and that was less than a decade ago. The Chrome browser has been around less than half as long. Our web histories are still young.



Give them another ten years and they will paint a picture of our past — of who we were — more detailed than any memory."

There's also diaries and photographs of course but I know what he means!

Online Orwellian octopus...

---

There's a reason for the octopus...With private investigators and hacking all over the news in the UK (well, most of the news media: some aren't as keen as they were over Murdoch bashing) Michele's ordeal should start to worry us all a bit: "Googling of certain things was creating a perfect storm of terrorism profiling. Because somewhere out there, someone was watching." I am sure you were already aware if not worried. Via Zerohedge we realise what Google (amongst others) knows about us: Tom Gara writing on Corporate Intelligence, the WSJ business news blog digs deeper and discovers a hackers' and hence PI's goldmine. Tom goes on to see the good side of this:

"There’s another side to this, of course. In the long run our online histories will become one of our most cherished forms of memory, in some ways far more powerful than anything our brains are capable of. Gmail was one of the first Google services we signed into, and that was less than a decade ago. The Chrome browser has been around less than half as long. Our web histories are still young.

Give them another ten years and they will paint a picture of our past — of who we were — more detailed than any memory."

There's also diaries and photographs of course but I know what he means!

Ongoing orgasms...

---

Well, years ago I would have known about this and made suitable preparations- early readers of Owsblog would know about my multiple orgasms - (and even the whole Owsblog 'orgasm' archive) but apparently today is National Orgasm Day; not sure why but I nearly missed it, too much time beating about the bush trying to come up with a decent post. Needless to say the DM comes up trumps with a huge amount of hard data about all things orgasmic - well, mainly about everyone telling lies and faking it...[edit] like me (was that a Freudian slip?) can't even be bothered with trying to think up a few clever double entendres.

Ongoing orgasms...

---

Well, years ago I would have known about this and made suitable preparations- early readers of Owsblog would know about my multiple orgasms - (and even the whole Owsblog 'orgasm' archive) but apparently today is National Orgasm Day; not sure why but I nearly missed it, too much time beating about the bush trying to come up with a decent post. Needless to say the DM comes up trumps with a huge amount of hard data about all things orgasmic - well, mainly about everyone telling lies and faking it...[edit] like me (was that a Freudian slip?) can't even be bothered with trying to think up a few clever double entendres.