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The Glass Box for Wednesday

Comments

1. At 05:28 PM on 19 Sep 2007, Iain wrote:

   You gotta laugh at the ´óÏó´«Ã½, Labour Government, TUC etc going into orgasmic raptures about the 'contribution’ from immigrants, in order to counter the one critical comment from the Chief Police officer regarding the effects of immigration. For if you didn't laugh, you would find it really pathetic that any sort of debate about the effects of immigration can only be made in the most mild terms, as long as one participates in indulging in a long mantra about the perceived good of mass immigration.

2. At 05:37 PM on 19 Sep 2007, johntheredknows wrote:

   So the bloody British (Lonnie Donnegan) killed 60 to 70 today.

   They choose some compounds to attack. (Compounds = Villages) The village women and children leave. The men stay and fight the hated British. The Brtish kill them in dozens. With 500 pound bombs.

   The men who escaped the bloody Brtiish carnage return. As soon as they are sure the British don't recognise them, they bring back their women and children.

   WHO HAD RUN AND HIDDEN BEHIND TALIBAN LINES!! They know when they're among friends.

3. At 05:38 PM on 19 Sep 2007, BernieR wrote:

   Iain Duncan Smith was a failure as Tory leader, and along with the great majority of his party helped mislead us into the disaster in Iraq. Al Quaeda weren't there before we created the conditions for them.

   Now Duncan Smith pops up to pontificate about the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

   Can you explain why you continue to take what he says seriously? Can you explain why you listen quietly to his latest foolish pronouncements without challenging him on his pitiful record?

   I've listened to this programme all my adult life, but I listen less and less often, and turn it off more and more often, because of your failure to challenge speakers like Duncan Smith on my behalf. Is the programme supposed to provide a service to the listeners or are you a propaganda outlet for our failed politicians?

   
   

4. At 06:16 PM on 19 Sep 2007, mac wrote:

   Oh dear, frivolous me!

   I was just struck by the idea of a ´óÏó´«Ã½ reporter telling us he believed something was true but the ´óÏó´«Ã½ refused to confirm it 'cos it was a ´óÏó´«Ã½ matter and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ never comments on that.

   This blog was posted by me but I cannot confirm it was because I never comment on blogs I have posted.

5. At 07:15 PM on 19 Sep 2007, Iain wrote:

   "Iain Duncan Smith was a failure as Tory leader, and along with the great majority of his party helped mislead us into the disaster in Iraq."

   Are you on the magic mushrooms? It was Labour who were in control of the information, it was Labour who lied, it was the Labour Government who took us ro war!

6. At 07:34 PM on 19 Sep 2007, Jill wrote:

   Gambling seriously damages 250000 people? Wrong! It's much more. Family members and friends are also seriously damaged. Relationships break down, families split up and children suffer. When is this goverment going to realise that vunerable people need help, not more opportunities and advertising to gamble. Please increase not relax rules.

7. At 08:22 PM on 19 Sep 2007, CJ McAuley wrote:

   I believe that saying "it was Labour who lied" is a tad extreme, Iain. Rather they, like the USA made a horrible mistake, for many reasons. I sincerely doubt that any politician plays fast and loose with the lives of any military, at least here in the West!
   I paid no attention to UK politics before I had access to the internet, but now I can understand why Mr. Iain Duncan Smith led the Torys nowhere. As to the current Tory leader, he reminds me of Stockwell Day here in Canada.

8. At 08:52 PM on 19 Sep 2007, wrote:

   GAMBLING DAMAGE

   Has there been a recorded case of Scratch Card Rage yet? When I have to queue while some gambling junkie decides on - and is served with -a fix of scratch cards, I get the red mist. To most politicians it is a game that they can't lose.
   We are the losers because "democracy" is rigged against us - what Havel called "living comfortably in a lie". Anybody know how Tony is doing? Is he still lying - and comfortable?

9. At 11:10 PM on 19 Sep 2007, mittfh wrote:

   Whether the politicians deliberately lied and misinformed the public over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a matter for debate.

   However, it seems almost certain that at least some of the civil servants working for them felt the need to 'over-egg' and misinterpret the information available to them so it fitted in with their perceived view of what the politicians wanted to hear. (Does that make sense?)

   -oOo-

   As for how Tony is doing, he's set himself the lofty ambition of resolving a conflict that's been bubbling over for at least 60 years, and to a certain extent most of the last 2,000+ years. Even taking into account the bias and poetic license of the writers of what Christians call "The Old Testament", you don't have to look far to find Israel at loggerheads with its neighbours, and realise the historical reasons why its current crop of politicians are paranoid about security.

   Meanwhile, his wife's memoirs will apparently go on sale next year - should make interesting bedtime reading for political correspondents :)

   -oOo-

   As for "Scratch Card Rage" - I rarely see people buying scratch cards, and the majority that do are courteous enough to do their scratching elsewhere. But there have been a couple of occasions where the purchaser has decided to use the till counter as a convenient place to do their scratching - right in front of the cashier so she can't serve anyone else...
   Grrrr....
   

10. At 09:50 AM on 20 Sep 2007, Aperitif wrote:

    Hear hear CJ McAuley (7).

11. At 10:38 AM on 20 Sep 2007, Big Sis (and none other) wrote:

    Johntherednose:

    Cumberland Gap, eh?

12. At 11:03 AM on 20 Sep 2007, mac wrote:

    20-20 hindsight on the BoE

    
    King says that guaranteeing bank deposits BEFORE the run would have CAUSED the run.(***)
    The Governor evidently not trusted then.

    But the new liquidity is for other banks. King has finally realised that the bankers and fund managers do not trust each other (mutual 'fear and loathing' as Buiter put it).

    The dishonesty being revealed is systemic.
    This is not the game of bluff - counter bluff that bankjers play with each other. (***) is obviously such a case. This is not the cases of ordinary dishonesty that everyone from academics to bankers can be guilty of.
    This is the dishonesty of a whole system that has to find ways of evaluating its own assests above their worth. That is how a capitalist financial system operates.

13. At 05:19 PM on 20 Sep 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    mac @ 12,

    "The dishonesty being revealed is systemic."

    Oh, come on, *being revealed*?

    It has been that way at least for my lifetime; one only ever had to look. (Have a look in history more than fifty years old, come to that.)

14. At 06:28 PM on 20 Sep 2007, wrote:

    SIR - ´óÏó´«Ã½ accused of deception – silent Sounds of Summer from outer space (Thursday 20th September), good bye Eddie’s, P45 is in the post, new presenter soon, postal strike permitting.

    Sad

15. At 09:25 AM on 21 Sep 2007, Aperitif wrote:

    The woman -- Linda something -- who seemed to think that Cherie Blair shouldn't write an autobiography because she, Linda, has already written a biography, has to be the most bitchy and arrogant person I have heard on radio for a long time. How dare she expect us to believe she knows more about a person's life than the individual herself?! Why did she write about Ms Blair if she hates her so much? Why on Earth did you interview her? -- The self-promotion was nauseating!

    I'm off to write a few lines about Eddie Mair on the back of an envelope -- there you go Eddie: no need to write your own story now...

16. At 08:45 PM on 21 Sep 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    Appers @ 15, I shall wait to get it out of the public library and read it before I judge Cherie Blair's book, but

    If I am honest, I have some doubts that it will tell the truth, let alone the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Some of the embarrassments are surely going to be fudged! I doubt that the going rate for those Bristol flats, as opposed to what was asked and what was paid for them, will be clear, for instance... :-) That being the case when it is something I happen to know about, I may be a little dubious about accepting everything written about things of which I am utterly ignorant, let's say.

    OTOH, I haven't read the 'biography' that was being lauded, and I don't suppose the sources for that were either informed on all points or impeccable. Silliness on the part of the author, therefore, I'd say.

17. At 11:14 PM on 21 Sep 2007, Aperitif wrote:

    Oh I'm not suggesting that Cherie Blair's book will be a wonderful read Fishers (16) -- how could I know either way? -- and autobiography is not without its omissions and spin, whosoever writes it. I just thought that Linda woman was really, truly awful-- nasty about the woman she had once written a book about and arrogant enough to expect us believe that everything she wrote was the Truth, whereas Ms Blair's was Going To Be Lies And Dull Too. She was so bitchy.