Walsingham

Are you mad? Companies spend all their time panicking about people not buying their products or services. The problem isn't the capability, it's the delivery of that capability. I've been giving this quite a bit of thought recently, off and on, and reckon you need something like a consumer union, with legally binding group behaviour. So when people say they will boycott they actually have to do so. Set something liek that up and the banks would absolutely wet themselves.

Boycotting only works if the people are willing to not buy a certain company's product. There are too many people willing to buy anything at the lowest price so they can save a buck to really do an effective boycott. That's the way it is around here anyway, I don't know about everywhere else. MLK believed in boycott power. His final speech talked about it. Me, I'm not so certain. People are so defined by corporate identity - Having a nike tattoo anyone? - that I think they find it fundamentallly disturbing to exercise choice.

*sigh* Yes yes, and Christianity is what the Michigan Militia make it out to be...

NO ONE DOES. That's rather the point.

Ah, OK GD. I see what you're driving at now. I apologise for not clarifying first. Yes, it is disturbing how many people view making money as evil. On the other hand, I do take the view that once you've made 100million then you've got enough, and any sane man would indulge his taste in art and philanthropy rather than keep pursuing money like an angry beaver. Incidentally, My new flame has to be Lewis Black, and here he is talking about greed.

Be fair. Iran is a theocratic paranoid festival of bizzareness. I hardly think they qualify as representatives of Islam.

The dog got hold of my underpants and had his head stuck through one of the legholes, running around. Humorousness just got pushed up a notch.

I think we are in a bubble of prosperity and peace which can't last. On the one hand the have nots are just as desperate as ever. on teh other hand the haves adopt poseur solutions to the problems while neglecting to prepare for teh conflict which will arise if those problems are not resolved. Overpopulation, an energy crisis, the clash of ideological power spheres will simply be the spark. However, for the moment I have a snug library with books, whisky, and a pipe. I can ring out for a hundred different dinners, and settle back to watch epics the likes of which my ancestors would have gone mad looking at. I live in a society which at least tries to be fair, and am largely free of venomous snakes. Times are good.

I agree with Gfted1 completely on this. I'm going to let him field it.

I think wiki serves an excellent role as starting point on most subjects. Andit's rarely impenatrable, even when it's insane. That then gives leads on where to go next.

What about if we, as a species, chased Sand around North America on foot waving bamboo sticks and hammering gongs? That would generate heat.

GD, what you're saying isn't upheld by facts. The British government used to build all sorts of stuff - bridges, buildings, harbours - using their own personnel. It's just a question of how they choose to define their capabilities. Of course they don't much any more, and the consequence is these godawful public-private things which are badly made. Also, corporations routinely abuse their political clout to have governments act on their behalf. And that's not to mention the hiring of private mercenaries. Nor aggressive punitive lawsuits. I'm no commie, but to assert that corporations are ALWAYS good and govts ALWAYS evil is just bonkers.

That really would confuse the bojangles out of people. They'd probably assume it was some blindingly clever tactic and start orienting on it.

I personally think cancelling shows on pure viewing figures seems dull and unimaginative. I thought most shows made three or four times as much on DVD sales than viewing. A cult show may make less dribbling dullards watch it on a daily basis, but sell bajillions over the next 20 years. Plus cult shows have superior merchandising potential. I'm not saying it definitely makes sense to keep dodgy shows, but I'd like to see some figures because my instinct tells me that the numbers would work out better. Actually, as an aside, I'd have thought network execs would prefer to have a more complex yardstick than figures, since it raises the uncomfortable question of why there isn't a simply box hooked up between the figures and the financing. Cut the execs entirely.

Regrettably I don't see any resolution other than the one you suggest, Harlequin. On pure theoretical grounds you can't have a state that is this unstable indefinitely. It has to resolve. And - again in theoretical terms - the only stable state is where both sides are either able to deliver on a peaceful compromise or one side is unable to deliver the fallback position of conflict. *thinks* However, on a brighter note, if you follow through on that logic, then what do we see? An arab world with ethnic cleansing on its conscience, or the Western world with total ethnic cleansing on its conscience. Either way it's not really going to bring peace, but simply store up more violence for the future. If that's true then the only solution is to engineer both parties so they can deliver peace. In my opinion for the Israelis it means forming a strong single party government which can see through at least eight years of peace, which would mean constitutional reform or societal cohesion on an improbable scale. In my opinion for the non-Israeli actors this means resolution of the strategic interests of Iran and Syria, coupled with a big societal change in the Palestinian population, coupled with a paradoxical counter-terrorist capability in whoever negotiates on their behalf. Unfortunately while the forer is at least workable using known techniques, the latter would be completely novel. Not sure if that makes it unworkable.

Man has a point.

I have almost complete certainty that the pirates have killed less mariners over their entire existence than the United States has killed civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past month. The pirates are the plucky underdog defending their people. Here come the mafia! Quick everyone! Throw flowers!

If by inspiring you mean stupid, then OK. Hmmm. You may have a point. But then I'm usually doing stupiod things, so being inspired by stupid makes sense.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/0...tunnel-14-years Indian chap digs tunnel using handtools for 14 years. Helps himself, and other villagers. Amazing what can be done with a lot of faith, hardwork, and total disdain for bureaucracy.

I'm not sure I blame them for trying but if you think this is a Robin Hood scenario then you're mental. You think they're moving millions by themselves? They have to have some serious backing to move their money, and I suspect syndicates in the mideast are giving them tipoffs on sailing times as well as profiteering on market instabilities. Nor do I approve of folks who are assaulting mariners and occasionally killing them.

Firstly those of us eating steak will be able to fight you vegenerds for the few remaining dry spots on Earth. Then eat you. Secondly, I got posted this article on sun activity today. I'm not sure but I think it means we may go into catastrophic cooling after 2015 due to sunspot trends bottoming out. I'm not necessarily saying it's true. But if it is we may be grateful for global warming.

Have you ever tried shouting near large angry men? I suggest you do. It's at least as good as amphetamine.

I am looking after my friend's dog for the week. He's a funny little feller. It's weird to have stopping work once an hour to chase something round the house or taking him on sniffing patrol of the neighbourhood. I also discovered that he's helpful for my singing practice in that he sits staring at me, and his ears move back or forth depending on whether I'm singing off key or not. It's hilarious.