European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Some Britons Too Unruly for Resorts in Europe - NYTimes.com

Oh well, do what you like. ;)

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 11:09:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Another Anglo-disease (4.00 / 3)

according to the Anglo-American press:

"They scream, they sing, they fall down, they take their clothes off, they cross-dress, they vomit," Malia's mayor, Konstantinos Lagoudakis, said in an interview. "It is only the British people -- not the Germans or the French."
Malia is the latest and currently most notorious in a long list of European resorts full of young British tourists on packaged tours offering cheap alcohol and a license to behave badly. In Magaluf and Ibiza, Spain; in Ayia Napa, Cyprus; and in the Greek resorts of Faliraki, Kavos and Laganas as well as Malia, the story is the same: They come, they drink, they wreak havoc.
<...>
... "for 10 weeks, this place is littered with kids being sick and unconscious in the streets."
Just then, several young men who had the pale, queasy look that suggested the end of hangovers not yet muted by new infusions of alcohol, passed by, and Mr. Fisher asked them why they drank so much, night after night.
"It's what everyone wants to do," one young man said.
His friend said: "We have stressful jobs, and we don't get much time off, and we like to enjoy ourselves and have a good laugh. And we love a bargain."

Cynicism is intellectual treason.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 11:29:07 AM EST

As I mentioned this morning, it's really been going on a long time, but hopefully as the era of cheap flights draws to a close we'll stop trashing the mediterranean.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 12:32:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Another Anglo-disease (4.00 / 3)

But Britons will continue trashing the UK.

Living in Liverpool it is impressive how people behave either while drunk (which happens a lot from the perspective of most European countries, save maybe Scandinavia) or when there are no rules to follow.

Queuing is my favorite:
When there is a clear queue (i.e. rule) to follow, everybody behaves perfectly, but when people are either drunk or there is no clear rule, its every (wo)men for (him/her)self. Buying at M&S is easy, getting a drink at a pub (or an hamburger at McD at 2am in the morning) is almost impossible unless you almost smack someone.

I have never seen such an amount of uncivilized behavior elsewhere.

I think England (whole UK?) is where the dutch concept of "social controle" is really to be seen: people behave correctly because of social pressure only, not because it is best to do so. When the social pressure is off, then it is dog eat dog mentality that is probably the hallmark of the anglo-disease.

At the end of the day this is probably another symptom of the anglo-disease: pervasive "dog eat dog" mentality. The only brakes are social control and the attached political correctness (which are, BTW, a disaster to democracy and freedom of thinking, but that is an other issue).

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness - Bertrand Russell

by tiagoantao (put_my_login_here <> gmail com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 01:44:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Buying at M&S is easy, getting a drink at a pub (or an hamburger at McD at 2am in the morning) is almost impossible unless you almost smack someone.

Breaking bottles over people's heads was the custom in Notts. I guess Brits are more civilized in Liverpool.

There's a reason The Tragedy of the Commons takes place in Britain. A good chunk of the country doesn't grok the whole concept of upkeep. I remarked to my friends over there that if rural Southerners in America were forced to live in townhouses (the horror) and watch gay tv shows for a few hours per day, they'd be Brits.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:20:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

that's a horrible thing to say about rural southerners

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:24:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The possibility of living in townhouses?

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:25:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

being brits, oh wilfully obtuse one.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:37:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I try.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:47:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, you're very trying.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:01:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Oh pssshhhh, you miss me.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:04:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

but my aim is improving

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:07:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I rather think you should avoid things requiring aim.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:12:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Why ? Am I getting close ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:15:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

No, hence the comment.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:22:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Just getting the range

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:53:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

If you say so.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 04:42:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

...oh wilfully obtuse one.

With foresight and intent he has an angle greater than 90° and less than 180°?

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:08:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

http://www.sirc.org/publik/pub.html

Ah, you've read my resume.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:13:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Another Anglo-disease (4.00 / 3)

Liverpool... North of England ET Meet?
Pubs are actually incredibly ritualised places. Full of social control (at least in between the fights):

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:49:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Another Anglo-disease (4.00 / 2)

Manchester might be more accessible.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:01:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

is Manchester more easily accessible than Liverpool?

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:26:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Either will be easily accessible from my new location.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:26:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Someone is making money off this. Perhaps the first step might be to tax some of those profits for cleanup/riot control?

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 01:35:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Another Anglo-disease (4.00 / 4)

My recommendation for the US is to place a 100% tax on alcohol advertisements and devote the proceeds to clean up. This should start with trauma care and psychological counseling for innocent victims and for victims of spousal abuse. Make it more expensive to encourage anti-social behavior.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 01:51:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It doesn't appear to be price sensitive behaviour. There is always cheap booze for those determined enough to drink filth. And the worst behaviour rarely happens around pubs that serve cheap high quality beer, rather they want high priced crap lager to swill by the bucket.

And nbody seems able to provide an epxlanation as to why the French, with much lower booze prices, don't exhibit the same behaviour. Aside from exploring cultural differences that don't fit the comforting Brits-rule tabloid preference.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:14:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Increase the tax as required to prevent brewers and bottlers from being able to profit from glorifying and validating this sort of destructive behavior. If the brewer had to pay a 300% tax on advertising, it might not affect the boozer so much as the behavior of the brewer.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:32:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It's not like smoking. Smoking might give you a nice feeling briefly, but it's not the fun intoxication that getting drunk provides. If you smoke enough to actually get high, you're probably going to regret it. But with booze, you could make the tax 500% (hell, you could ban advertising on it), and people are still going to get tanked and do stupid shit, because people know alcohol has that effect, and many like to get tanked and happen to do stupid shit once tanked.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:42:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I imagine that would be extremely easy to evade, they'd just change the focus of what is being advertised.

F'r instance, there are rules about how much beer is served in a glass and there is a constant war of attrition between brewers and consumers about this. One more ingenious suggestion by one brewer was that they weren't selling you a pint of beer, they were selling you a leisure experience.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:42:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I am convinced such a tax could be implemented, however, not under the current US campaign finance system. A large loophole would certainly be inserted. It is the same problem with every legislative attempt to reduce tax "avoidance" by the upper income brackets--convincing >50% of legislators to simultaneously bite the hands that feed them. Tall order, but it would be a wonderful spectacle!

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 01:04:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

From the point of view of financing vomit cleanup/riot control (not to mention healthcare, liver treatments etc.) - all the better that it's not price sensitive behaviour...

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:51:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

One could make a good argument that massive taxation of beer advertising, corporate profits derived from beer sales, etc. is more socially responsible than legalizing gambling.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 01:09:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Another Anglo-disease (4.00 / 3)

And nbody seems able to provide an epxlanation as to why the French, with much lower booze prices, don't exhibit the same behaviour.

The secret is simple: food. Good food. And talking about food.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:10:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The secret is simple: ~~food.~~ Good food. ~~And talking about food.~~

Fixed. It's not that they lack food.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:16:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

actually, (none / 1)

even bad food will help - as long as you take it at the same time as drinking. The problem is drinking and not eating.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:28:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)

I think it's important when analyzing the economy

Damn those EU medal stats are hot

we have to consider the difference in EU countries versus the Anglo economies

though perhaps not as hot as the Jamaican sprinters

and how many banks are going to fail in the next three months

against the number of 14 year old gymnasts

though it's too early to tell

participating in the most expensive Olympics evah

reminding me of the difference between schizophrenia and multi-tasking. What?

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 11:32:04 AM EST

slow thread monday eh ?? It's a bank holiday in britain which means that everybody is spending their free time in a traffic jam.

While I, for reasons indistinguishable from masochism, spent the day reading responses to radical feminist transphobia. I mean some of these people are so literate and educated, but for the life of me I fail to understand why they spend their entire lives reading articles and stuff by people who hate the transgendered to the point of advocating elimination. I can spend an afternoon reading Questioning Transphobia, but it distresses me a bit. I have no idea how Lisa and others can read the stuff they do on a daily basis in order to de-construct it. (Kinda like JaP and the FT, but with the threat of actual violence).

It's why I get so picky when people talk about feminism.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 11:44:10 AM EST

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

I'm not stuck in a traffic jam. I'm cleaning out my living room in an attempt to make it habitable again.

So far I've found $23 in singles from my last trip to the US in 2003, a stack of CDs I was sure I'd lost, notes and recordings from an old Open University Course, and rising damp.

I'm pleased about the CDs and the OU course.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 01:59:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

Look on the bright side: At least ya found the $23 after the pound started tanking. And, hey, never bad to find money.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:24:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

23 singles? Were you hanging out at strip clubs?

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:01:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Good point. Guess that proves what a loser I am for not picking up on the strip joint connection.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:08:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Well, you're not the generous tipper, clearly.

I can't even remember most of the trip. I was only in Noo Yawk for about 18 hours - long enough to (hypothetically) buy some lenses at B&H, do some (not so hypothetical) sightseeing and catch the flight home.

The magic of UK pricing meant that it was cheaper to buy items in Noo Yawk and pay for a flight than to buy them here - allegedly SOP for the professionals back then, but maybe not so much now.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:51:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

My round trip ticket from Boston to London was $550 a few years ago, at that price it wouldn't take too many lenses to make it a net gain. Not sure how strict customs is over there, though.

I'll trade you the singles and a pint for one of my 20 quid notes I have left over from that trip...

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 04:12:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Doing some math...make that 2 pints.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 04:18:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The magic of UK pricing

I remember being at a party with a US writer/publisher and after some discussion where he was absolutely amazed at the policies of the UK distributors. when he returned to the Americas, he from that point insisted on printing a UK price on the cover of all of the work he was publishing.

Turns out the distributor was buying at US wholesale prices, the publisher was paying for the shipping to the UK and the distributor was using a $1 = £1 price conversion so that they made a truly excessive ammount from each publication.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 07:01:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Maybe he was at Sears. They once trashed my car (drove it into a wall of the garage when they were supposed to be doing a wheel alignment). The cheque for the repair had my name misspelled, and when I went back to get them to fix it, they couldn't do so, but cashed it instead: over $1.000, all in singles...

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 03:06:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I've found $23 in singles

The Law of Fives strikes again.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:09:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hail Eris, etc.

Alas, the archetypal synchronicity has been broken by finding another $1.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:46:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)

Well, that makes it the equivalent of 17 €, so you're back in RAWland at least until the phases shift or the Fnords attack.

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:52:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

On the subject of which - what happened to rg?

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 05:27:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Several people seem to have gone awol of late. Maybe we ought to send out search parties.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 05:32:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

That, or Dear Leader's slowly picking off those of us he's had enough of. Haven't heard a great amount from him either.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:02:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Oh I'm around (none / 1)

just on holiday in a house with a pool and a very slow dialup connection.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:09:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)

To be fair, if you aren't very interested in Russia/Georgia or Israel/Palestine, there wasn't much to see here lately...

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:08:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You can always BYOD (none / 1)

(bring your own diary).

We must be doing something wrong these days, because the range of topics in the diaries has been shrinking. Are we discouraging people from writing about non-compliant stuff?

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:13:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You can always BYOD (none / 0)

Maybe it's just a combo of all the Europeans being on vacation and all the Americans wrapped up in the election?

I think the site has also take a slightly ... er, negative turn. That's my own personal opinion and no one has to share it. But a lot of the diaries are unbelievably antagonistic and nihilistic and obsessed with bad news and horrible events and blame. So much blaming. Even bullying. That's just my perspective.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:28:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You can always BYOD (none / 0)

Not to mention you've all kinda stopped promoting things to the fp.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:37:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Non-Compliant? (none / 1)

Jerome a Paris:

Are we discouraging people from writing about non-compliant stuff?

I don't write anything else....

...not that anyone reads most of 'em... :-)

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:31:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You can always BYOD (none / 1)

so whats the range of "Compliant" diaries?

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:50:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I was just wondering that myself.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:48:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes. rg, if you're listening, this call for your attention is being sent out in 11/4 time, in C minor modal. Please don't leave us waiting for new videos from Sibelius or Partch.

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 07:38:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)

God's teeth, I read that book 30 years ago. I don't get the references anymore

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:55:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Priest to hold nun beauty pageant

I'm trying to edit a recent diary of mine and can't cos it keeps saying it's in "Show" mode. How do I change that please ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 12:04:59 PM EST

I will leave him!, I swear (4.00 / 3)

I will walk out, walk away, start over somewhere else... I will abandon him!

If I can't even monotask on a full stomach and he pushes the mouse off the table, so that I have to crawl around to find the stupid rubber ball, take the whole thing apart, remove every last cat hair in it, reboot twice to make it work.... It would easier to start over.

Unless, of course, if that is his plan... He may want the apartment for himself, so he can have cat parties and a room for each cat in the neighborhood!

Suuuuundayyyyyyy!

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 01:48:41 PM EST

Re: I will leave him!, I swear (none / 1)

cats and ball mice don't mix, on the other hand the red light in an optical one is just too tempting to chase.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 01:53:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I will leave him!, I swear (none / 1)

Get a crate.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

by ARGeezer (argeezer a in a circle yahoo dot com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 01:54:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I will leave him!, I swear (none / 0)

Where do you buy a blogger´s crate? (;

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. --Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 03:22:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

An Italian priest says he is organising the world's first beauty pageant for nuns to erase a stereotype of them as being old and dour.
Antonio Rungi says The Miss Sister Italy online contest will start on his blog in September.
"Nuns are above all women and beauty is a gift from God," he told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.

by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:01:12 PM EST

I've just discovered, after being here a year, that they serve sushi in the cafeteria. Pretty good, too. Apparently it's been there the whole time, and I just never noticed it.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:23:52 PM EST

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 7)

I woke up this morning and was told by some journalist that the price of oil has risen on account of the Russian Duma's decision to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and Ossetia.

Not sure which is weirder, gas prices rising due to some microregion of the world having its independence recognized, or the idea that the contents of the pocketbooks of Americans are dictated by Russia's freaking Duma.

I'm going to invent a term. At least, I think I'm inventing it: Financial Shamanism. Instead of economies based on reality, base them on omens and signs.

In slightly related news,

Sean had a funny observation on his blog today: (and one I've been making forever, but less poetically...)

That is the real beauty the Russians. When we need them to be incompetent bunglers who are mired in perpetual backwardness, they're there to play the part. When we need them as conniving, master plotters with their evil claws ready to "pull the strings," they play that role too. You gotta love their dramaturgical range.

LOL.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:52:23 PM EST

Florence - the power and the gore

When we need them to be incompetent bunglers who are mired in perpetual backwardness, they're there to play the part. When we need them as conniving, master plotters with their evil claws ready to "pull the strings," they play that role too. You gotta love their dramaturgical range.

That's pretty funny and oh-so-true.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 02:58:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

ETravel Diaries (4.00 / 3)

The Owl of Dijon

Istria Visit Diary

Bologna - Rimini - Ferrara

La Turbie: Rome and the US

Saorge

Sofia

Pisa

Thailand - Northern Hills

Thailand - Bangkok

From the top of my head and a little searching. Who has some more?

by Nomad on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 05:07:42 PM EST

Re: ETravel Diaries (4.00 / 2)

Pictures of Sandanski

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 05:19:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ETravel Diaries (4.00 / 2)

oooh, I'll be doing some more travel diaries for prague, frankfurt and cologne that will eventually get added to that list!

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 10:45:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

GOPerVeep (none / 0)

Boo made a good point today about the Mittster as McCain's veep, which was that, while Romney still has certain electoral arguments, it might be catastrophic putting Mittens up against Biden.

I'd still bet on Mitt, but that makes sense to me. It could wind up being cruel. After being rendered speechless from an onslaught of ridicule, and being unable to cope with Biden spending two-thirds of the debate referring to Mitt as "Suzy," Mittens might kill himself.

Might be better to send Lieberman.

Just a thought.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 06:13:38 PM EST

Re: GOPerVeep (none / 0)

A woman would could be a smart tactical move by McCain, to get some of the Hillary "I can be predident" Clinton followers.

OTOH McCain could chose someone who has GOP base credentials. To combine this, he might pick Condi Rice. But that could cost him the racist vote.

Lich King/Caribou Barbie 08
Pain brings Katharsis

by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 07:53:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)

Recently we had some discussion about demographics. A study available at demographic-risk-map.com makes has tried to estimate the risk to invest in regions in the EU due to demographic change. Due to stupid colour coding in the online source, I have a scanned map from print FAZ, where you can see the same in a more reasonable colour scheme:

Unfortunately they haven't marked country boarders, but just regions. However with the exeption of Portugal you see a strong east-west divide, with the 'neutral' flip in Germany close to the old border.
It terms of sclerosis, 'new Europe' is much 'older' than 'old Europe'.

Lich King/Caribou Barbie 08
Pain brings Katharsis

by Martin (weiser.mensch(at)googlemail.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 08:36:54 PM EST

Denver cops and Secret Service have apparently arrested two men who were plotting to assassinate Obama.

Where's your motherf*%&ing flag pin?

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Mon Aug 25th, 2008 at 08:39:34 PM EST