World's gone Mad ... :(

[rubberlover]

I really question the Malaysian plane incident. Bizarre as it may seem, it is totally out of sync with the Ukraine situation. It is common practice that this rebels etc will issue warnings about flying over territory. Consider the last week and where all the attention was focused. Israel was on trial around the world regarding the slaughter of children, and then out of no where a civilian plane is either shot or blown up without warning. I fear dark forces like Mossad may be at work. Suddenly the ground offensive in Gaza is not on the radar, as all the attention is now, conveniently on Putin ET AL.

[Stella]

I really question the Malaysian plane incident. Bizarre as it may seem, it is totally out of sync with the Ukraine situation. It is common practice that this rebels etc will issue warnings about flying over territory. Consider the last week and where all the attention was focused. Israel was on trial around the world regarding the slaughter of children, and then out of no where a civilian plane is either shot or blown up without warning. I fear dark forces like Mossad may be at work. Suddenly the ground offensive in Gaza is not on the radar, as all the attention is now, conveniently on Putin ET AL.

Might be right here, however I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories in this level.

West/USA didn't really dealt with Russia/Ukraine situation at all, Putin was able to built his Eurasian Union/Empire without any international act.
Im young enough not to remember the influence of Soviet Union in Eastern European countries, but my parents did, see some signs those times might be back, which scares me!

Great blog post:

http://www.noyardstick.com/?p=291

[Theomegaman]

I really question the Malaysian plane incident. Bizarre as it may seem, it is totally out of sync with the Ukraine situation. It is common practice that this rebels etc will issue warnings about flying over territory. Consider the last week and where all the attention was focused. Israel was on trial around the world regarding the slaughter of children, and then out of no where a civilian plane is either shot or blown up without warning. I fear dark forces like Mossad may be at work. Suddenly the ground offensive in Gaza is not on the radar, as all the attention is now, conveniently on Putin ET AL.

Reading the papers today , you have too look at some if the facts. This plane was flying at over 30000 feet with a transponder transmitting height , speed , and confirming it was a commercial aircraft not military.
So it had to be tracked and when the missile was launched it knew exactly where it was going. Now look at the fact the Russian Stock Exchange has collapsed overnight. Also the comments of the Australian PM that Russia will be judged in its response to this attack.
The strangest fact I can't understand is that the Americans confirmed the missile hitting the aircraft by Satellite ? How did they know where to look ?
And Malaysian airlines ? The same make of plane a Boeing 777 that disappeared that time ?
Can you imagine how different things would be if it was an American airline ?
It's like the old saying , the needs of the many out way the needs of the few or the one. I have flown back from London this morning , Heathrow was a very different place. Russia has been here before when it shot down another airliner many years ago.
At the end if the day it's a travesty that this has happened. Economics will benefit unfortunately I think.

[willieh]

--Malaysian airline shot down over Ukraine , killing all on board , 295 persons.

Likely British nationals onboard. Also Dutch 150 , 27 Australian , 4 German , Malaysian , Indonesian .



--Israel launched ground attack in Gaza , against 'terrorist elements and terrorist tunnels' . Four young Palestinian children

killed on a beach -- as collateral damage. Israel voices their regret at such a tragic loss , yet lays blame at Palestinians' feet.

Hamas states : tragic mistake from Israel , will have dire consequences.



--Ebola unchecked in West Africa . Largest outbreak ever documented , taking hundreds of lives by now , threatening

the world .


-- In India yet again a young girl is raped , on orders of the village elder , as retaliation for a male relative's alleged misbehaviour.

I fully agree with you. All of the above is terrible, I agree but, overall, the world (subject to us addressing and resolving climate change issues, the population boom and the fair allocation of resources) is moving to a far better and more place than ever before. This is especially true of the so called First of Developed World. If you take Ireland for example, we have never had it better. Pre Patrician Ireland was a myriad of petty kingdoms, the Viking and Norman ages were little better. Life expectancy was less than 40 years of age. All through the Middle Ages we had wars, plagues, crop failures and other disasters up to the Great Famine of the mid 19th century. One could argue that from 1880 on things were not too desperate but there was grinding poverty, suffering and emigration.

Here we all are now on what by any standards is a luxury website devoted to conspicuous consumption and our basest selfish desires. We are all very fortunate here. It often strikes me that most of us and indeed the World would be far better served if we devoted more or our spare cash to the assisting children in India, Africa, Asia etc. Of course the children in those countries would be better served if their governments spent less on armaments that they currently so also!

End of sermon.

[Meursault]

Why don't the two of ye gang up on me so

Meursault , I'm surprised at you.

I wasnt attacking you. I was merely pointing out the fallacy of getting angry about a situation whose outcome you or i or anyone on this forum will have no bearing on.

The syrian war has been on for three years and yet we have become conditioned to accept it.

[bluefan1]

It might surprise you to discover that the North side of Ireland IS in the UK and there is no border between the North and the South, unless you count the tolls? I'm not sure how the UK's flimsy (money first) attitude would not impact on Ireland on this one. Sadly being from the UK does not mean you are not aware of the failings.

The original poster (HonestJosephine) compared the actions of the Chinese authorities and the probable position a UK government might adopt .

I merely pointed out that we're not in the UK in the sense of: why would we be interested in how the UK might react??

I also pointed out that we have heretofore been very successful in combatting the spread of viruses (such as foot-and-mouth) and the Border was in place then too!

Kate I'm not sure where you're from but I hope it's not the UK. As the last thing any Irish person requires from a British citizen is a geopolitical lecture on Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland, IS in fact in Ireland but is deemed to be part of the sovereign state of the UK an abbreviation used to reduce the considerable mouthful that is: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The north of Ireland actually contains 9 counties of which only six are claimed by the UK. So referring to "the North" and 'the South' is both geographically and politically incorrect. The Republic Of Ireland is the state name of 26 of the counties of Ireland - and until a recent referendum it held claim to the other six counties - as per our constitution and the Ireland Act of 1949 as passed by the UK's Houses Of Parliament.

There is indeed a Border, what you meant, I believe, is that it's not a sealed Border, nonetheless it exists.

The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state and as I pointed out originally, has proved itself well capable - thus far anyway - of battling the worst of whatever contagion was going around - bar the potato blight of the mid 1840's when the British ruled Ireland - but let's not mention the war! We unfortunately couldn't so easily survive the 800 years of battling the British and they currently lay claim to a portion of our island. It's can be a touchy subject and many of us Irish lost family and friends in what is laughingly referred to as The Troubles'.

Thankfully, peace reigns now and many are seeing the benefits of the 'peace dividend' and long may that continue. It's important though that we not lose sight of the fact that we are an independent nation and are not overly dependent on the actions of the UK government. Though leaving the EU might fuck us over somewhat, even though we buy £4 Billion than we sell to the UK!

So after all, no surprises for me then!

[Stephanie]

I wasnt attacking you. I was merely pointing out the fallacy of getting angry about a situation whose outcome you or i or anyone on this forum will have no bearing on.

The syrian war has been on for three years and yet we have become conditioned to accept it.

Please excuse me , but however futile and useless and a 'fallacy' it might be for me to get upset over senseless

violence and needless loss of life , I full-heartedly reserve the righteous right to get freaking upset !!

And I will Thank You for allowing me to do so.

I wasnt attacking you. : your sarcastic remark re me joining Hamas , and maybe able to 'distract' the Israelis ....

what would you call that ? I call it an attack and a cynical dismissal of my upset and sorrow and concern.

I expect better off you xx

[Curvaceous Kate]

The original poster (HonestJosephine) compared the actions of the Chinese authorities and the probable position a UK government might adopt .

I merely pointed out that we're not in the UK in the sense of: why would we be interested in how the UK might react??

I also pointed out that we have heretofore been very successful in combatting the spread of viruses (such as foot-and-mouth) and the Border was in place then too!

Kate I'm not sure where you're from but I hope it's not the UK. As the last thing any Irish person requires from a British citizen is a geopolitical lecture on Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland, IS in fact in Ireland but is deemed to be part of the sovereign state of the UK an abbreviation used to reduce the considerable mouthful that is: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The north of Ireland actually contains 9 counties of which only six are claimed by the UK. So referring to "the North" and 'the South' is both geographically and politically incorrect. The Republic Of Ireland is the state name of 26 of the counties of Ireland - and until a recent referendum it held claim to the other six counties - as per our constitution and the Ireland Act of 1949 as passed by the UK's Houses Of Parliament.

There is indeed a Border, what you meant, I believe, is that it's not a sealed Border, nonetheless it exists.

The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state and as I pointed out originally, has proved itself well capable - thus far anyway - of battling the worst of whatever contagion was going around - bar the potato blight of the mid 1840's when the British ruled Ireland - but let's not mention the war! We unfortunately couldn't so easily survive the 800 years of battling the British and they currently lay claim to a portion of our island. It's can be a touchy subject and many of us Irish lost family and friends in what is laughingly referred to as The Troubles'.

Thankfully, peace reigns now and many are seeing the benefits of the 'peace dividend' and long may that continue. It's important though that we not lose sight of the fact that we are an independent nation and are not overly dependent on the actions of the UK government. Though leaving the EU might fuck us over somewhat, even though we buy £4 Billion than we sell to the UK!

So after all, no surprises for me then!

Lots of nice words, but the fact is that when I drive from Belfast to Dublin, I am driving from the North to the South and I'm also driving from Northern Ireland (part of the UK) to Southern Ireland (the Republic). How are you going to stop a virus from spreading?

Seriously what a lot of waffle. It won't stop you dying of a virus if one should spread, that is for sure and you know full well I'm from England that IS part of the UK.

You can complicate it as much as you like with your detail. The virus will see through it before you can explain that a second time. I'm sure it does not distinguish origins.

[Dr. Ivory]

I full-heartedly reserve the righteous right to get freaking upset !!

[Jiberjabber]

And even within a thread decrying the perpetual horrors of our condition we still find time to bicker. We're awesome!