Walsingham

You are too kind.

I just realised this would have been much more humourous if it had been just Julian Assange wearing an expression of smug satiation.

Giving a controlling stake of a company to the Zimbabwean government strikes me as a quite literally insane plan. Are there any companies who have played ball under those circumstances?

The mystery is solved. I just found a very sweaty monkey armed with a pointed stick, wearing a guilty expression, hiding in my bedroom.

Er....

Like Zor I have difficulty viewing this outside the lense of the Spanish civil war. But I'd also put it in context of the Sov-Afghan war, when it comes to understanding the dynamics of how foreign support works.

I had shredded red cabbage and carrot, alongside white rice and lamb chops. Lamb chops steam-fried in a sauce of chilli, garlic, thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon, olive oil.

Was in bed before ten last night, and out like a light. Very abnormal for me. Got my just desserts on waking at oh-christ thirty with a pain in my back and drenched in sweat. I strongly suspect a gypsy curse.

Too many female urologists. No substitute for having a look? Actually, I'm sure there are better mechanical and chemical indicators of cancer in the prostate, but hospital specialists enjoy the ego boost of giving internal organs the old cold stare.

I hate the term ''rebels'', it seems that the biggest part of the army opposing Assad consists of war tourists and Al-Qaeda trash from all over the world with the goal to create another terror Islam token country to fight the evil West. And its painful to watch that America is supporting and probably going to fight on the wrong side. I think you are underestimating the State Department and CIA if you believe they don't know that the rebels are fractured. However, I also think you are mistaken if you think the only rebels are war tourists et al. I don't know the figures, but there must be tens of thousands in the field, and they could hardly have all bussed in. Also, just watch the interviews available with foreign fighters. They often make remarks indicating how isolated they are from normal Syrians. Just my thoughts.

It strikes me that we could contribute military capability, and do so without contributing to terrorism, if we gave the rebels field dressings, combat first aid training, body armour, and good boots. Moreover, speaking purely as the Uk, this would boost UK manufacturing into the bargain.

Hm, while I had a dream about slowly exploring a semi-abandoned industrial estate full of weirdly animated skeletons of kids left by some psychotic necromancer type. There were also fairy sparkles. It was weird. I'm glad I'm awake now. And you just LEFT a necromancer wandering around loose? FFS get back to sleep and finish the ****er! ~ EDIT: Another stressful day at work. To simplify, I told a customer they could have something for free, by way of a sweetener, no big deal. But then my one up stepped in and charged them anyway. I bit my tongue at the time, but I think he was a bit taken aback when I went off on one at him afterwards. I told him I'd rather pay double my mistake and stick to my word. I don't want him making me into a liar. Furious.

I have the same problem with elastic bands. I know I have thousands, but never when I need them.

So, what was it that he leaked that was so valuable for the public to know?

I knew it wasn't Assad controlled, but my understanding was that he was obstructing the team anyway.

My alarm clock malfunctioned, but fortunately I had a dream about being late for a plane , and this got intense enough to wake me up anyway.

Make sure you choose a 2011 chianti. Good year.

No guns in the old testament, man. Tell him that he can eat as many as he likes.

+10 for reading Wild Cards.

I am grateful for your continuing the trend away from an oppositional argument. It is, after all, the weekend. I suppose *shifts position, and relaxes calf muscles* that my perspective is heavily influenced by British experiences 1940-1942 and in Ulster in the 1980s. I can give references if anyone is interested, but then I'd have to go downstairs to get the books, and that's tedious. If, for one reason or another you cannot use firepower to win a conflict - either due to circumstance, or due to ROE - then you have to leverage other factors. Psyops, surprise, coherence of action and inducing disunity in an opponent. These things end wars quicker. But they simply don't work if some tw** on your side gives away chpater and verse on your situation to the opposition. If I may shamelessly play a card you might like, you will recall that I am fiercely opposed to the use of torture in interrogation. My pragmatic case for this is based on the fact that senior terrorists will not 'turn' under pressure. They only 'turn' when convinced that they were fundamentally in error, and when they realise that their erstwhile colleagues are a bunch of psycho weirdos. To expand, a tortured terrorist may tell you when a scheduled operation is going ahead. He will not, he cannot give you a complete run down of who is who in the hierarchy. What makes them laugh or cry. How they talk. How they move. So that the next half glimpse you receive will be more than noise. It becomes a note in an ongoing symphony.

I think that you and I both know a dozen examples of much more serious legislative issues which cause international investors to baulk at investing in Africa. It's things like a 'heath inspector' turning up, citing some made up regulation about windows in your factory and demanding a fine of £300,000 to resolve the issues via the fast track, or no-one will be allowed to return to work. It's things like supplies of material being held at the docks for inspection, unless and until you finagle the under-minister or harbour master. When people denigrate duty and discipline, or patriotism, this is the kind of crap I think of.

...shyte like that didna float back in me days in the Service (think we may o' had talks 'bout our ol' service days before, lad...think it was you, anyways...long time ago an' me memory ain't what it once was...mebbe it was wit' howling1...damn memory)...if ya was bringin' the rest o' us down, ya learned quick ta pick yer shyte up...if the lesson didna take, ya learned the hard way...then, ya either picked yer shyte up or ya got yerself outta harm's way (otherwise known as signin' yer Voluntary Release)...know it may not be the "proper" or "nice" way things git done these days, but it worked... ...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!... I had the good fortune to be in a bloody good unit. Some regarded it as a soft one. But our leaders just pointed to the number of tours in Iraq/Afghan, and the retention rates. Besides, nothing soft about getting shot of someone. I just pointed out that it wasn't right to talk **** about him, and not actually do something. To paraphrase our RSM, values and standards are not something you maintain in spite of getting the job done. They are what gets the job done. Back on topic: if you don't rate the guy as your friend, it's only fair to bloody say so, and get rid. If he is your mate, then man up and help him. Don't pretend that just slapping him and telling him to pull his socks up is going to do the job.

http://www.opcw.org/news/article/the-sarin-gas-attack-in-japan-and-the-related-forensic-investigation/ Too many details but the essentials are somewhere in the forensics section. *nods* Much obliged. No sense my reading them tonight, but will look over them on Sunday. ~ EDIT: @Kgambit: I don't believe there's the stomach in the West for intervention. I don't believe Turkey in particular is up for it, given they could be shelled, and have their aircraft targeted with state of the art SAMs. Therefore what could the rebels really lose? Only the logistic support they currently (appear to ) enjoy. And that would only isolate the moderates, not the extremists.

I have no doubt whatever that oby would find my casual glowing bonhomie intensely annoying. I know from long experience that nothing annoys a socialist more than someone being happy without hurting anyone.

Being a long time fan of Eddie Izzard cured me of any squeamishness over transvestites - although I know a lot aren't as well adjusted as him. Living in Thailand cured me of any alarm over trans-sexuals, although I must say I still find it a bit baffling. One thing I will say in favour of a lot of these chaps/chapettes is that unlike 90% of people they have taken a public stand for something they believe in. A stand which could get them injured or killed. There's a lot of folks who NEVER do anything of the sort.