Walsingham

Screw the fishing, I'm in. I say Holmes, whats our first case! I don't know. I guess we should aim for something on culturally neutral turf for both of us. I guess we could investigate postal fraud in Tijuana, or art theft in NYC. Or counterfeit waffles in Bruges.

I wouldn't say it was mainstream, but NorAid raised a lot of money for the IRA. Money spent on bombs and bullets, so I've been told. I just looked at the Wiki page for NorAid, and it's been hilariously truncated. Regardless, many whip-rounds went on in pubs in Boston etc. Make your own mind up, I feel. But for myself I'm keen to move on. I have nothing but contempt for terrorists, but waffling about it merely fans the embers of what should be a dead conflict.

I may be being thick, but i don't follow you, Zor. It sounds like you agree that these 'movements' do nothing besides embarass at an almost abstract level. But i can't help feeling you were trying to say something between the lines/in that last sentence. Are you saying it's because of a reluctance to act? My understanding is that it's not possible for action on the basis of wikileaks or hacking because the evidence chain is irretrievably corrupted. I'd contrast this with situations where individuals have gone to major newspapers. I can't cite any examples, and correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't we seen instances like the MPs expenses scandal where newspapers get action? Pretty confused post on my part. Probably should be asleep already.

The biggest problem I think we've had the whole way through is that we keep using bureaucrats to engage with and help people who have an instinctive - and I would say healthy - hatred of bureaucracy. Bureaucrats following SOPs dragged Sergeant Massmurder out. Charles Napier would have handed him straight over to the locals.

I love the way that the OP was about organised militias murdering peole for looking a bit gay, but within one page it was back to the usual suspects flailing away about how America is evil. You people (and you know who you are) are unhealthily obsessed. There's no way it's rational. I'm amazed no-one's written it up as a pathology.

Going back a step, why the hell couldn't the slogan have been 'General Butt Naked 2012'. There would have bound to be some hilarious misunderstandings.

On the one hand, I'm sorry to hear you lost someone, mate. On the other hand I personally find that American 'patriotism' about Ireland mocks the whole business far more effectively than anything I've ever seen. Also, WTHF is an SA82? The standard assault rifle, but it plays ?

I have decided that GD and I should team up to solve a crime of some sort. He has all sorts of guns, and I have a supercilious eyebrow. Plus we can keep making comments about the other's homes. Crawdads and cricketbats, or something.

I think the problem is that we've become a bit confused about the purpose of democracy. We keep insisting on voting for radicals with 'big' solutions to our problems, when - and I speak from experience - our national problems are far too complex to be dealt with by huge sweeping changes. Unless that's the only way they can be dealt with. Damnit. Now I'm confused.

LOL. Well that's comprehensively ruined the campaign for me. Although I do have to ask if we're not just tearing down a laudable attempt to nail a complete bastard simply because it's too shiny.

WTF is wrong with the Republican party? Is it really so hard to find a normal person with so many US citizens to choose from?

Told in no uncertain terms to take a day off, by my one-up. Slept for 12 hours. Dreamed about a 'Mr Handy' robot and I travelling across Cuba. It turned out that the robot's personality had been copied from a German actress. It kept spazzing out murderously whenever a love song came on the the radio. Pretty cool. I have, however, contracted a cold, and lost my voice.

I'm with Krooklie on this. The moral puritans are insisting on a degree of saintliness in intention and conduct which means good isn't being done. If I were gakking homeless I'd rather have 20 bucks than no bucks.

I've had a chance to think about Zor's post, and I can't agree. Far from this 'anthill kicking' discombobulating corporations and weakening them, it simply consolidates their power. Anything remotely relating to security or government is going to be subject to standards of security which make it all but impossible for anyone who is NOT a mega-corporation to sustain them. And even if you don't have a problem with all government contracts (often 50%+ of an economy) going to big corporations on grounds of suspicion, that's not going to promote innovation or responsibility. Big corps are lazy, and always prefer to fight a contractual point rather than deliver excellence (IMO). Meanwhile, as I've said before, what actual acccountability have Anonymous or wikileaks actually promoted? I want an answer on this point from any supporters they have here: how many court cases have derived from Wikileaks material so far?

Need time to think about this one. Poke me if I forget to reply.

Doesn't make it any less ridiculous.

I don't really give a **** about the credit card details. Until international efforts are made to tackle fraud I just assume I'm going to get stung periodically. What I care about is the simple obvious bull**** involved in these people thinking it's _possible_ to run an heroic effort 'For Mankind' with no mandate from anyone other than themselves, with no oversight, no accountability, and with a limitless remit. It assumes there's something literally magical about vigilantism on the internet. These recent attacks simply illustrate how the entire concept of Anonymous and Wikileaks is misguided at best. They aren't some evolution of the group. They are an expression of the failures built into the concept. Like a dog-hair flavoured ice-cream.

Friends don't let friends use Twitter.

I have always had huge reservations about this notion that US personnel can't be tried locally. If they don't let him be tried locally, and punished in a style commensurate with Afghan custom (death penalty) then you can forget about whole swathes of population. And it's not like they're being ignorant savages. How often does the American public cry out for the death penalty? Or the British public, for that matter? And this has got nothing whatsoever with George ****ing Bush, Big Oil, or the Tooth Fairy. It's not even about the Taliban. It's about Staff Sergeant McInhumanfuntwit murdering a bunch of innocent women and children. I find suggestions to the contrary either foolish or revolting.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/9137051/Iraq-religious-militias-target-emo-youths.html Not sure I'd call them emos. But I only have a GCE in 'Yoof'. Nice to see that the fundies have their priorities straight on rebuilding their nation.

I made a joke about it at some point in time. Maybe that's what you remember? Oh OK. You know how famously bad we British are at getting irony.

Incidentally, did I mention that I successfully killed that glowy eyes evil horse by shouting it off a cliff?

I'm tied to this ol' workhorse for at least the next year as I try to reduce my debts. So no Windows 8 for me!

Since they actively menace people they don't like I'd have thought (possibly naively) that extortion was implicit.

Hard to believe anyone would go this far. Particularly not a senior NCO. I've no doubt he'd try to justify the attacks on PTSD or 'theys ungrateful' grounds. But IMO the man's not just a murderous ****ing coward, but he's pissed on all his comrades. This one incident will undo dozens of sacrifices and months of years of hard work. Not to mention the work of allies like Britain. However, my main feeling is sadness that so many innocent people have been killed for the sake of one insane [and at this point my command of expletives proved insufficient].