Reminders that the U.S. is still at war in Iraq
'At some point in the last two weeks, you may have been told by someone in the news that combat operations in Iraq were over, and that the last combat troop had left the country. Well, the Associated Press is not having any of it, and in a memo from their standards editor, Tom Kent, the law in this regard has been laid down, in no uncertain terms: "To begin with, combat in Iraq is not over, and we should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is, even if they come from senior officials."' - Huffington Post, AP Issues Standards...
Mars was Earth Once, but Soon Venus Will Be
'The Solar System can be regarded as a timeline. As they successively undergo the same process, all the major planets are simply seen at different stages of expansion, contraction and rebirth as gas giants. All the planets after the Earth once passed through this orbit. When at our stage of their cycle they were fully life sustaining and, by way of a repeat tectonic pattern within this process, they had the same continent configuration as this Earth. As all people have two eyes, a nose and a mouth, so all planets look like this one when they're in their prime....
Friday Choon: Robbie Robertson’s ‘Somewhere Down the Crazy River’
"Take a picture of this The fields are empty, abandoned '59 Chevy Laying in the back seat listening to Little Willie John Yea, that's when time stood still You know, I think I'm gonna go down to Madam X And let her read my mind She said "That Voodoo stuff don't do nothing for me." Full lyrics Buy the album/song here
Remakes are Killing Conversation
Her: What's your all time favourite television programme? Me: Oh, well, I'd have to say The Prisoner Her: You mean that miniseries from last year with Ian McKellen and the guy who played Jesus? Me: No. God no. Don't make me sick. I mean the revolutionary 1960s show created by and starring the iconoclastic Patrick McGoohan. Her: Who? Er... what films do you like, then? Me: I've been watching horror films recently, as, ahem, a life-affirming thing to do before going out of an evening, with, eh, the probable exception of the truly horrible Last House on the Left... But...
The “Danish” “Government” is Apparently the Property of a British Energy Company
'A Danish warship today confronted a Greenpeace ship which is on a mission to target "dangerous" deep sea oil drilling sites, the environmental group claimed. The incident happened in the freezing seas off Greenland as the protest ship Esperanza approached one of the world's most controversial oil drilling projects operated by the British company Cairn Energy, said Greenpeace.' - The Independent. Greenpeace blog: 'Lisa is onboard the Esperanza and says internet has been on and off, but she has managed to get through a few images of the rig and Danish warship that is guarding it.'
Fake “End” to Iraq War Already Wearing Thin
'With the Obama Administration still reveling in its "victory" in Iraq and media outlets still cheerfully reporting last week's formal "end" to the Iraq War, another US soldier has been killed in Iraq.The killing is a difficult one to reconcile with the narrative, as the soldier was killed when a rocket was fired at him. He was "on operations" in the Basra Province, but military officials declined to provide further details on exactly what he was doing. But officials had been saying all along that, despite renaming the 52,000-plus US troops "non-combat" troops they would continue to go on missions...
The Dubliners: A Pint Of Plain Is Your Only Man
When things go wrong and will not come right, Though you do the best you can, When life looks black as the hour of night - A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN. Photo from davewalshphoto.com
In Tennessee, anyone can be governor. Even Basil Marceaux.com
Hello from Blather.net's Washington Bureau, where your fearless reporter is holed up in the Watergate Hotel with a harem of Capitol Hill interns and steady supply of cholesterol and whiskey. We've learned a lot in our few days in town, not all of it over the cuppa tae with Mr Obama (he's more of a Barrys than Lyons man). Most importantly, we've discovered that gombeenism is not dead in the United States, it's alive and well, living in Tennessee and named Basil Marceaux Dot Com. In this country, anyone can become president. Or Governor. Well, at least they can try:...
Why WikiLeaks is right about journalism
On 14 July 2010, a fluff-journalist called Stephen Moss padded the void-like pages of the Guardian with an interview with Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, who made the following interesting comment: '"Journalism should be more like science," ..."As far as possible, facts should be verifiable. If journalists want long-term credibility for their profession, they have to go in that direction. Have more respect for readers." He likes the idea of a 2,000-word article backed by 25,000 words of source material, and says there is no reason why you can't provide that on the internet.' The 'proper' press has fallen far behind...
Brendan Gleeson’s ‘At Swim Two Birds’
'A talking cow? With a gavel? Are you serious?' Occasionally, just occasionally, you get a piece of news that that genuinely cheers you up. And sometimes, just sometimes, you get a piece of news so great that you and the rest of the Blather team have a collective nerdgasm. It would appear that Blather.net's patron saint, the venerable Flann O'Brien, is set to ride again with the news that Brendan Gleeson has lined up a stellar cast for his directorial debut - an adaptation of Flann's greatest work, 'At Swim Two Birds'. The cast is reported to include Cillian Murphy,...