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On the edge
Posted on: Mar 2 2019, 06:59 AM


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Lets face it, sink if we stay in and sink if we leave; 'first' world economy is dying - that's the real issue.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #123652 · Replies: 1688 · Views: 1,011,614

On the edge
Posted on: Nov 5 2018, 09:53 PM


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Penultimate paragraph in the report is telling. Do we dare wonder why no noise about Tory ministers. Methinks credibility of Express reporting shot - the Poundland Daily Mail!
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122699 · Replies: 595 · Views: 391,870

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 31 2018, 06:59 AM


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With criminal operations as big as this and apparently rife in amongst certain towns and communities across the UK one cannot help but wonder why it has escaped notice for so long. Of course, the perpetrators must be dealt with severely and the gang approach smashed, but surely the people and systems who have done very little, if anything to stop this must also be dealt with. That must include parents, teachers, social workers, Police, landlords for starters. Sure, its easy to blame political correctness, but there is the rub, its subversive influence has had its effect because of us - how many really object when at work, or when we are reporting, simply accept 'the rules'?
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122646 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 30 2018, 09:53 PM


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It's certainly very clear that certain ethnic groups provide a significant number of perpetrators. The evidence is obvious and few would disagree that political correctness shouldn't prevent focussed detection and ideally prevention. It seems this is a Worldwide issue and perhaps we ought to be expecting some help from other members of that group. Just as the Thai authorities are, having slowly woken up to the abuse of their young girls by British 'tourists'.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122644 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 28 2018, 06:52 AM


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QUOTE (TallDarkAndHandsome @ Oct 27 2018, 09:02 PM) *
Must have taken a lot of googling to find that particular **** nugget. Congrats. Of course if anyone posted something which said the opposite they would be Gammon scum. Never mind. The ides of March (brexit plus a few days) are nearly upon us. 😂


laugh.gif

Thoughtful, erudite response TDH, quite correct, no point in searching for anything which differs from your opinion when you are right.

tongue.gif
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122623 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 27 2018, 07:29 PM


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QUOTE (newres @ Oct 27 2018, 05:16 PM) *


Interesting and rather disturbing. The case in discussion does pose some very hard questions in several other areas; social services policy, education policy, parenting, consent for starters. Valid or not, focus primarily on the religious issue has had the effect of hiding these other issues almost entirely; yet as the statistics show, the problem is far more widespread.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122620 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 26 2018, 06:57 PM


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QUOTE (Turin Machine @ Oct 26 2018, 07:26 PM) *
So, to recap. No evidence or facts from you, just the good old OTE sneer when someone at least try's. And an attempted argument based on little more that opinion, lies and bull****. Way to go, no wonder this countries in trouble.


laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif
Simply being one of the lads on here; it's much more fun and the sincerest form of flattery.
tongue.gif
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122607 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 26 2018, 02:11 PM


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QUOTE (je suis Charlie @ Oct 26 2018, 02:34 PM) *
WOW! From an acquaintance to a relative thats staying with you! That was quick OTE. Darn quick. Methinks me smells bull****. laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif

Still, not done a degree in Literature but did a Lit module as part of something else and Nabokov was in that sure enough. As TM said, Good literature stands the test which is why we still have Shakespeare and Chaucer. Read an essay from Susan Sontag once and whilst incredibly well written was mainly a diatribe against the USA and its interventions into SouthEast Asia.

I would be interested in seeing some actual proof from you in regards your assertion though as it might make interesting reading. No Billy Bull**** off Wiki mind (as you seem so against it) laugh.gif laugh.gif laugh.gif


Yes old son, I suspect you are well used to the smell. laugh.gif

No point in me trying to prove anything. I'll leave that to Dorothy Parker. tongue.gif

We can agree good literature stands the test of time - hence declining popularity.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122602 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 26 2018, 07:46 AM


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QUOTE (x2lls @ Oct 24 2018, 06:49 PM) *
Yes, I agree, it does speak volumes. With balance of argument, you are a minority.

Others however, have genuine concerns and we voice them.

BTW, you didn't reply to my comment in regard to you living in a posh area where social services don't have to (As far as we know atm) have to deal with underage girls being raped for an ideology.


It's a pertinent point about living in a posh area. I, for one, am by no means convinced that abuse is not being hidden, deliberately or otherwise. Ironically, given that the number of social workers per head of population is doubtless lower because of this statistically assumed wealth, it's much easier for perpetrators to avoid detection.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122600 · Replies: 932 · Views: 602,266

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 26 2018, 07:38 AM


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QUOTE (Turin Machine @ Oct 26 2018, 12:05 AM) *
Really, "Nabokov's Lolita (1955), his most noted novel in English, was ranked fourth in the list of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels;Pale Fire (1962) was ranked 53rd on the same list, and his memoir, Speak, Memory (1951), was listed eighth on the publisher's list of the 20th century's greatest nonfiction. He was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction seven times."
Doesn't sound, "not first rank" to me.

Sontag,
1978: National Book Critics Circle Award for On Photography
1990: MacArthur Fellowship
1992: Malaparte Prize, Italy
1999: Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, France
2000: National Book Award for In America
2001: Jerusalem Prize, awarded every two years to a writer whose work explores the freedom of the individual in society.
2002: George Polk Award, for Cultural Criticism for "Looking at War," in The New Yorker
2003: Honorary Doctorate of Tübingen University
2003: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (Friedenspreis des deutschen Buchhandels) during the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse).
2003: Prince of Asturias Award on Literature.
2004: Two days after her death, Muhidin Hamamdzic, the mayor of Sarajevo announced the city would name a street after her, calling her an "author and a humanist who actively participated in the creation of the history of Sarajevo and Bosnia." Theatre Square outside the National Theatre was promptly proposed to be renamed Susan Sontag Theatre Square. It took 5 years, however, for that tribute to become official.On January 13, 2010, the city of Sarajevo posted a plate with a new street name for Theater Square: Theater Square of Susan Sontag.

Also rated by the Guardian as #16 in their best 100 non fiction list, Not too shabby. Highly regarded as one of the great essayists of modern times.

And as for Art Of War, its nice your colleague could confirm that overnight. However its not on the mandatory list, rather it's on the recommended list, a shortened list of recommended as below;

The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Attacks! By E. Rommel

Clausewitz, Carl von. On War. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.
This is a war classic that sets the standard for books on the art of war.
Hart, B.H. Liddell. Strategy. Plume; 2 revised edition, 1991.
This book is a classic work on strategy that rivals Clausewitz.
Sumida, Jon Tetsuro. Inventing Grand Strategy and Teaching Command. The John
Hopkins University Press, 1999.


Sorry, but commercial lists don't do it! In a hundred years hence, those authors won't even rate space on an Oxfam remainders shelf. As for 'my colleague', he's a relative and staying with us at present - we actually talk to each other rather than sitting is solitary isolation looking up lists on Google. Nonetheless, I can only applaud your quest for knowledge. If you are ever in the vicinity, most Universities offer free lectures and even reasonably priced introductory courses which might well help interpret what you find on Google, hope that helps.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122599 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 25 2018, 05:50 AM


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QUOTE (Turin Machine @ Oct 25 2018, 12:57 AM) *
Arguably yes, however I would contend that great literature transcends the bounds of time and is therefor as important today to literature as it was fifty years ago. Your argument would have us believe that William Shakespeare is an irrelevancy.

As for military studies? well, the Russo Japanese war is of intense interest to all scholars, the first war in modern times when an Asian power defeated a western or European power? Incredibly important. One of the first things any student of war will be given to study is 'The Art Of War' By Sun Tzu, as relevant today as it was then. And I can also tell you that the first things drummed into you as a pilot are, Altitude is King, beware the enemy in the sun and never fly in a straight line. All lessons learn't in WW1. Why? because battlefields change, weapons change but tactics never change.



I would suggest this defeats your arguments; the writings haven't stood the test of time! As you say later, some books remain quite relevant, but thankfully our curriculum isn't ossified and alters. Mind, even when they were current, the authors mentioned weren't considered writers of the first rank; save amongst their followers. Not quite sure what Military Schools you are referring to, but one recent graduate from Sandhurst of my acquaintance knows about Sun Tzu but it wasn't compulsory study, good though it may be.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122586 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 24 2018, 07:34 PM


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Arguably asking if Newres has read those 'authors' is really like asking a student of modern warfare why they didn't concentrate on the War of Jenkins Ear, or the Russio Japanese War.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122584 · Replies: 446 · Views: 321,396

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 24 2018, 07:19 PM


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Oh dear, the railways demolish the myth that nationalisation = strikes! Presumably, the 'wrong sort of privatisation' is to blame. Still, at least we have a two for one bargain with privatised strikes; they have another failure as well, signalling.

Not quite sure how 'electrification' is going to solve these two issues!
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122583 · Replies: 734 · Views: 9,313,449

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 23 2018, 05:39 AM


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QUOTE (x2lls @ Oct 22 2018, 09:41 PM) *
And here, I present to you, today's time. It's the custom don't you know.

You are so lucky to live in Rural England. A far cry from the areas where so many suffer.

[attachment=283:Scum_of_the_earth.jpg]


Sadly, that's probably an astute observation. Such a picture could be drawn with characters who used to entertain us; abuse did appear to be a custom. Ironic, there we were asking that immigrants integrated and so they did; but the wrong things.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122562 · Replies: 932 · Views: 602,266

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 22 2018, 05:54 AM


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QUOTE (TallDarkAndHandsome @ Oct 21 2018, 10:03 PM) *
Religion bad. Do you not agree? Or does Islam get a free pass?


Oh ye of little learning! Marriage and consummation are two different things. Even more ironic, way back in the middle ages, it was deemed necessary to insist
that a 'priest' officiated at marriage services precisely to prevent abuse, because they were seen to be the only educated and trustworthy people in most districts!
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122549 · Replies: 932 · Views: 602,266

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 19 2018, 03:42 PM


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QUOTE (Biker1 @ Oct 19 2018, 05:32 AM) *
Fair enough comment OTE, but if so I don't want to hear any more how Japan, France et al have superior rail systems to us and no more complaining about overcrowded trains because the current network is bursting at the seams and without new lines will not cope in the future.
(actually, as many of you point out, it's not coping now!)
All to do with our ever increasing population!! rolleyes.gif rolleyes.gif


Good point. How about bringing back the French and German management approach? That might actually solve the problem rather than simply line the pockets of the city slickers taking their wadge at every opportunity.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122512 · Replies: 734 · Views: 9,313,449

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 19 2018, 03:36 PM


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QUOTE (Strafin @ Oct 19 2018, 08:35 AM) *
There's only one way to know that for sure though. And it would be an irreversible decision - referendum anyone?


There is another way, much more fun and it is reversable, as Cromwell's lad discovered.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122511 · Replies: 30 · Views: 30,162

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 18 2018, 04:16 PM


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QUOTE (Biker1 @ Oct 18 2018, 09:17 AM) *
Of course you and everyone else has evert right to comment. just don't see the point of criticising something you never use?


I'd dearly like to see the massive diversion of capital into further 'improvements' to an outdated transport infrastructure. All electrification does is alter the fuel used by railways, it doesn't address the fundamental issues - which will simply remain.

Surely we can now see HS2 should be stopped, we have far more important things deserving investment.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122502 · Replies: 734 · Views: 9,313,449

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 18 2018, 04:10 PM


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QUOTE (Strafin @ Oct 18 2018, 09:20 AM) *
I completely agree, but those things would be there without the family living in them. As I said before I don't really want a monarchy, I don't see a benefit that equals the cost but I do agree that the queen is a good one, and I don't think it's all negative.


Wholly agree.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122501 · Replies: 30 · Views: 30,162

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 18 2018, 06:48 AM


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QUOTE (Andy1 @ Oct 18 2018, 07:15 AM) *
Maybe because she doesn't live with her pedants anymore. You only have to look at the faces of the public, here and abroad when they see the new Royals. Or maybe they've be ordered at pain of death to pretend.


Yes, agree about the faces of the people when they see the Royals; exactly the same expression as those who stand outside theatres etc. to see their favorite entertainment stars.

Almost to prove the point about Bucklebury, there are popular Coach tours around the districts where even quite old TV shows were made; Last of the Summer Wine, Dads Army, Coronation Street etc, etc.

Still, it's a bit of fun, but let's not pretend the Monarchy is a massive economic benefit.

  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122485 · Replies: 30 · Views: 30,162

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 18 2018, 06:05 AM


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If our Royal family did really deliver the claimed numbers of tourists it's rather surprising that Buckebury is still undisturbed and no one has had the nouse to run coach tours from Newbury.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122483 · Replies: 30 · Views: 30,162

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 17 2018, 05:49 PM


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QUOTE (Strafin @ Oct 17 2018, 04:31 PM) *
Isn't that the point of having a test though?


Yes, of course, BUT surely you test the basics off line and if you really can't you have a full team standing by to put things right. There are a good few very serious questions that need to be answered here because at first sight it would seem some serious foreseeable errors have been made.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122466 · Replies: 734 · Views: 9,313,449

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 17 2018, 12:15 PM


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QUOTE (gel @ Oct 17 2018, 11:20 AM) *
This morning's chaos courtesy of Hitachi apparently; from BBC News.

"The cable damage was caused by a class 802 Hitachi train which was being tested
between London and Bristol.

The train, which was empty at the time, ripped into the overhead wires, bringing them down."

The Hit in Hitachi being the operative word.


Nothing to do with our railway managers then, phew!

Just one thing, do you know any other organisation that would permit anyone to run 'tests' on mission critical systems, plant, or machinery without it being thoroughly checked elsewhere? Or did our highly paid, professional, very competent managers simply 'forget'.

We really are a class act aren't we? International sales here we come..... laugh.gif
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122463 · Replies: 734 · Views: 9,313,449

On the edge
Posted on: Oct 17 2018, 08:44 AM


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QUOTE (Biker1 @ Oct 17 2018, 09:06 AM) *
Not exactly an excuse is it?
Anyway you have made clear your anti rail feelings and that neither you nor your family use the railway so why comment?

All the time the government dole out subsidies I've every right to comment. I'm a citizen of this Country keenly interested in our international competitiveness, so continued failures in major projects also means I'm justified in making comments.

I'm just as surprised by your consistent support for this shambles, even in spite of the Government agreeing the whole thing is a mess and setting up a special commission.

tongue.gif
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #122460 · Replies: 734 · Views: 9,313,449

On the edge
Posted on: Aug 24 2018, 08:19 PM


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QUOTE (je suis Charlie @ Aug 24 2018, 07:15 PM) *
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2...sts-2013-speech

If you vote for this man NOW, you're either.

A, Antisemitic.

B, Racist.

C. Just don't care.


Rhetorical question surely? Very few of us will have the opportunity to vote for Jeremy Corbyn, we still don't have a presidential system. And anyway, why should I care? No one else seems to, my 'vote' will do nothing.
  Forum: Random Rants · Post Preview: #121866 · Replies: 595 · Views: 391,870

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