peterms

10 hours ago, Awol said:

You don’t seriously think an ambassador was on the street organising, inciting or participating in an anti-regime protest, do you? That’s insane for any diplomat.

I agree, it would be insane for an ambassador to be inciting protests on the street.  But let's be clear that diplomatic staff, most notably the US, do incite street protests, train and fund protestors, and have been doing so in many countries over many decades.  Knowing that the US is ramping up its campaign against Iran, and making use of publicising and promoting street protests as part of that, and knowing that the UK is understandably seen as the poodle of the US, it takes a certain degree of foolishness for an ambassador to be seen to take any part in something that is likely to be used as anti-government propaganda.  Also a breach of the rules.  The Vienna Convention covers such things, I believe.

If the ambassador were to say that he had no idea that such an event would be used as anti-government propaganda, frankly I would question his fitness for the role, or else his truthfulness.

10 hours ago, Awol said:

Are you implying the arrest was justified, not a blatantly obvious attempt to distract attention away from the anti-regime protests (which are continuing, btw)? Given their record over the last 72hrs it takes a certain willing enthusiasm to swallow these claims about the ambassador.

He was briefly held, then released when his identity was confirmed.  The way you frame that sentence, it reads like you think he was arrested in full knowledge of who he was, to create a diplomatic incident as a diversion.  I'm not sure if that's what you actually mean, or if I'm misreading you.

3 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Well, right or wrong, spying or observing, that takes some balls to go out for a bit of a walk outside the embassy wall right now.

Yes, but the question of fact remains.

2 hours ago, Awol said:

More a matter of the Vienna Convention than victimhood, and you didn’t make a point I could identify  other than to imply the UK ambassador was working for MI6, or Mossad or MEK etc. 

Is it the case that the ambassador's actions in joining or encouraging the protests were in contravention of the Vienna Convention?

Made Bhel Puri.  Although I made three different chutnies to season it (chili, coriander and mint, date and tamarind), madam added mango chutney from a jar because none of mine were sweet enough for her.

I am crushed.

21 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

Think I heard the announcement that the crowd today was around 41,800. As we  went 0-6 down they were singing “Aston Villa FC, we’re by far the greatest the world has ever seen”.

I want every single one of those fans to write to me and explain their thinking. 

It's a song about the latter part of the 19th century.  Leave out the apostrophe.

11 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

Ever visited Eastbourne?

Went to a place called Belgian Cafe there few years ago that did loads of different fantastic pots of mussels.

Almost gave myself gout working through the menu.

No, never been.  But any Belgian place doing mussels is worth a try.  Belgium is great at mussels and chips, beer, and chocolate in particular.  Lots more too, I'm sure.

1 hour ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

So would this have happened if the US had not attacked another country (again)?

Pretty unlikely, I'd have thought.  After Trump's threats of more war crimes, as well as the US murder of the general, they were obviously on the highest alert and expecting attacks.

22 minutes ago, Awol said:

Relationship status: It’s complicated. 

An abusive relationship.

34 minutes ago, kidlewis said:

Exactly it’s the worst cover up ever. Not even joking,

 

the fact that the leadership of the US and various other big wigs will have been involved should be front page news.

i think the sheer disgust of global politics Over the past four years has worn the public down to complete apathy of cheap seat rhetoric.

i was highly engaged in politics until recently but it’s battered me more than villas Awful premiership run and resulting relegation.

 

 

knowing that many powerful celebrities, royalty and politicians are paedo killing nonces (allegedly) is really a nail in the coffin for any kind of social justice. 
 

if you can’t get that brought to justice after a mega poor coverup, just give up. 

No, don't give up.

This stuff should fire you up to resist, in whatever way is practical for you.

Apathy, disengagement, is what they want.  It's how they win.  Don't be doing with it.

On 10/08/2019 at 20:57, peterms said:

So Mr Epstein, with lots of info about sex abuse by very powerful people, on suicide watch in prison, manages to commit suicide.

Oh, right.

I expect the CCTV will have malfunctioned, or been eaten by bears or something.

29 minutes ago, kidlewis said:

So Epstein video backup doesn’t exist because they managed to record the wrong cell... of which there was two.

 

cameras didn’t work even after an inspection.

 

seriously why aren’t people shouting about this? 
 

I don’t think they’ve even bothered trying to cover it up.

 

5 hours ago, Awol said:

Easily read as “congratulations on becoming an occupied country.”

This is very dodgy ground, ethically and legally. Looks like Trump has lost his with fight with Washington’s Imperial Guard. 

 

Love that first sentence.  America is a force for good in the Middle East.

Trying to choke back the vomit.

7 minutes ago, bickster said:

If only he'd done that before getting it put in George Osborne's organ

Never speak to me again of George Osborne's organ.  Or I will force-feed you salad.

5 minutes ago, bickster said:

I wonder how many... "I'm sorry, who are you again" answers he got? or even "What charity are you from?"

Obviously, the answer is "none".

I don't get what is wrong with him doing this.

He's not an obvious front runner, but far more credible than the laughable Owen (goal) Smith and several of the other nonentities who ran in 2015, whose names escape me already, thank god.

It's a proper, sensible, respectable and accepted course of action to sound out potential supporters before committing.  The answers you get will vary from yes please, to not now, to don't split the vote, to I don't think you're cut out for it, and other things.

I can see from your posting history that you really, really don't like him, but you should recognise as a simple fact that he is a possible contender, even if you don't welcome that.

7 minutes ago, Awol said:

They'd be on the highest alert and expecting to be hit by stealth aircraft following their missile attack on Iraqi military bases. They didn't hit the aircraft accidentally, but they weren't shooting at what they thought they were shooting at. Technically proficient in the kill, but a big whoops in target selection.

The people who need reaming are the authorities who allowed civilian aircraft to keep flying from Tehran, having just volleyed missiles at team Trump next door.  

Yes, and of course the reason why they were on highest alert is...but the US and its chimp commander are blameless in this, I expect we will be told.

The people who need reaming are those who have created a state of war for no reason.

45 minutes ago, Awol said:

possibly (probably in my view) in error. 

Well, very obviously in error.  What possible purpose could it serve to do it deliberately?

9 minutes ago, blandy said:

2 correct (or OK) answers Lewis and Starmer. Even I wouldn't give Corbz a 0 and I can't stand the bloke as a politician (leader), he's absolutely dreadful and proven so, now.

0 and 10 are ludicrous. Starmer's is an intelligent answer and Lewis is also OK by me (I'd score him about 2 or 3), but Lewis resigned his post because he disagreed with Corbz, and the score he gave recognises  that and their disagreements, but doesn't slaughter him. It's essentially an honest answer reflecting a kind of reality. Starmer's could be used by a Tory to say "he wouldn't even say what he thought..." or "avoided answering" - not fair, but that's the way boliticians mostly are.

My view is that playing daft games with imbeciles only encourages them.

If we want a better media, we need to train them in better behaviour, by refusing to descend to their preferred level of imbecility.  Like housetraining a dog.

Starmer (not my preferred candidate) does so.  Well done him.

Mussels and chips.  Slight variation on moules mariniėre.

Peel and cut the potatoes (Maris Piper, whites or other floury ones) soak in a couple of changes of cold water in a bowl, stirring with your hand to release as much starch as possible.  Leave soaking in fresh cold water.

Buy live mussels.  Prepare the mussels (veggies, look away now).  Rip off the beards with your thumbnail or a knife, rinse the mussels under cold water, set aside.  If any are broken, discard them.  If any are open and don't close when you handle them, set aside separately for a few minutes - they may just be dopey if you kept them in the fridge.  On returning to them, if they still don't close when you handle them, discard them - they may be dead, and you won't know how long ago they died.

Finely chop a shallot (this is for 2 people, scale up accordingly), thinly slice two or three cloves of garlic, chop a birds eye chili with seeds and membrane removed, soften all of them gently in butter in a big pan with a close-fitting lid.  When soft, take off the heat and let cool.  Add a little salt (the mussel juice released when the shells open will be salty, so don't overdo it), and pepper.  When the pan is cool, place the mussels in it, and add a glass of white wine.

Warm some bowls in a cool oven.  Big bowl each for the mussels, smaller one each for the chips.

Precook the chips, deep fry at 130 until soft, testing with a knife.  They are done when the knife meets no resistance.  Remove from oil and set aside.  Turn the oil up to 190.

Cook the mussels.  Have some chopped parsley and cream ready.  Put the lid on the pan, place on burner on maximum heat, do not remove the lid to check how they are doing.  Should take about 5 mins, but watch for steam coming from under the lid, which tells you you've reached the right heat.  The shells will be forced open by the steam pressure, and the mussels will be cooked.

While they are cooking, finish the chips by lowering into the hot oil at 190, shake so they don't stick together.  When done, about 2 mins but go by colour, drain and put in a bowl lined with kitchen paper, drizzle with sea salt, shaking them to distribute the salt.

While the chips are draining, serve the mussels into the warmed dishes with a slotted spoon, the bigger the better, you want to move quickly now.  Put the pan with the juices back on maximum heat, add a bit of cream, maybe a couple of tablespoons, and the chopped parsley.  Stir well.  Once the cream has been absorbed, pour it over the mussels.

I serve it with mayo and harissa for the chips, and a big bowl for the discarded shells.  Also spoons to get the sauce, though tonight madam was drinking it from the bowl, dirty cow.

4 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Well that’s the last timeI buy the Mail.

Peter Oborne has left, and he was worth reading.  Next to go will be Hitchens, I expect.  Spiralling down to ever lower circles of hell.

Welcome home, John.

It's where you always belonged.

Better bomb Kansas, just to be on the safe side.

30 minutes ago, blandy said:

There are multiple reserve currencies.. Sure the dollar is the most common or the dominant one, but there's nothing other than inertia to stop that changing, or to stop the Euro, the Yen or whatever being more widely or extensively used between parties, is there? - basically governments already do what you suggest, though ours admittedly seems to be going in the opposite direction.

Yes, there are others, but the US is very conscious that its position as the dominant reserve currency allows it to wield massive influence, and it wants to protect that position.  Which is exactly why other countries should do more to develop alternatives if they wish not to be at the mercy of the whims of the US.

56 minutes ago, Awol said:

Quite possible it was agreed in advance.

I'm sure that's right.  It was clearly impossible for Iran to make no response, and that will be obvious to the US, perhaps even to Trump, so there has to be a way to make a response without things getting further out of hand.  There will have been discussions.

What would be the best way forward for Iran, rather than blowing things up and killing people as the US would do, would be to work with other countries to develop long-term approaches to things like moving away from the dollar as reserve currency, making oil sales other than in dollars, having alternative international payments clearing systems and so on.  That is quite risky, and creates the possibility of the US trying to engineer a pretext for military action to maintain its hegemony, and so would need to happen in conjunction with eg Russia and China as well as others, but it offers the future possibility of more autonomy and less subjection to US imperialism.  Any sensible UK government should also support something other than the dollar as reserve currency, as Keynes tried to explain all those years ago.

1 hour ago, KentVillan said:

One interesting angle is that it shows how democracies can make bad allies. The current trend in the West for incoming govts tearing up everything their predecessors have done is particularly damaging in the foreign policy arena, where so much diplomacy is based on personal promises and assumptions of good faith.

Trump doesn't seem to realise / care about the long-term damage he will do to America's ability to strike deals in future if he just unilaterally reneges on carefully negotiated arrangements.

That ship may have sailed.  It's hard to think that anyone but the most gullible will trust the US to keep its word.

Against that, here's an argument made with integrity, from the right of the political spectrum.