A Word or Two On Steven Moffat's Who

So, my first posts on this blog came about a year ago, on the subject of Doctor Who.  That wasn't my original intent.  But after the semi-hiatus of the split series, the excitement of the 50th anniversary, and the prospect of a new darker Doctor, to be played by an older actor, in a throwback to Hartnell, my anticipation was very high.  And the 2014 series frankly...sucked.  Instead of plunging this new Doctor headlong into new adventures, Steven Moffat squandered an entire year's worth of Doctor Who on pointless psychodrama and an utterly uninteresting love-triangle of sorts between the Doctor, Clara, and fuckin' Danny Pink.  Clara (a character who had already outstayed her welcome, Moffat having inserted her egotistically into the backstory of every single Doctor) started out in the first story childishly whining about the Doctor looking old and having wrinkles, and it took a whole series, before she got over her hangups with the Doctor's change, and before we had the chance to even start on proper stories for the Doctor's new actor, one Peter Capaldi.  Granted, the series did have its good moments here & there, but overall, for me, there was much more bad than good, and the whole thing is something of a write-off in my mind.  And then that fucker Moffat backtracked on the plans to write out Clara Oswald, more than a year too late already, with the Christmas-special, which I otherwise quite enjoyed...

A whole years' worth of Who down the toilet.  The show turned into a parody of itself, with the already over-hyped companion elevated to primary prominence, and the Doctor at one point reduced to the figure of a whimpering child, needing Clara's comforting hand to help stanch his tears.  Vomit !

Fast-forward to 2015, and this last series has been...yes...better.  With Danny Pink out of the picture (maybe), less focus on Coal Hill (don't worry, Moffat has a whole spinoff in the works for all of the five or so fans asking for that) & on Clara's psychological hangups, we almost got a decent series.  Of course, Moffat still did way too much of the writing himself, and much of the writing was sub-par.  Of course, Clara was still the egotistical greedy bossy attention-whore she ever was.  And a move away from single-episode stories was marred by the fact that the second story almost always inevitably fell short of the promise of the first.  But it wasn't wall-to-wall shite...

I watched last year every Saturday, desperately hoping & praying that the series would finally start to come together, and every time disappointed.  This year, I had much lower expectations, but still couldn't avoid those hopes, avoid getting emotionally invested in the outcome.  And if nothing else, I had Clara (finally) getting written out of the show to look forward to.  The whack-you-over-the-head foreboding of Clara's leaving was dragged out story after story, till finally, finally, in 'Face the Raven', she died.  But actually, no, Moffat lied to us.  Just as he did last year.  Just as he always does.

No, we find in the finale of the 2015 series, that Saint Clara cheats death after all.  A final fuck-you from Mister Moffat to all of the Clara-haters.  Alongside a fuck-you to all of the critics of the idea of a female Doctor, as he sought to finally enshrine the notion of gender-swapping Timelords.  And a fuck-you to all those who criticised the centrality of Saint bloody Clara, and the diminishment of the character of the Doctor, as we watched the Doctor ready to destroy the entire fucking universe for the sake of fucking Saint bloody Goddess of all Fandom Clara fucking Oswald, the Almighty !  But we're to believe that the other Timelords (including a resurrected Rassilon, brought back for fuck me if I know what reason) are the real monsters, right ?  Not the terrorist who is willing to destroy all of creation in the name of Clara the Exalted One ?...  Oh, and by the way, that crap about the Doctor + Clara being the hybrid teased throughout the series was one of the cheapest copouts ever.  Are you fucking me Moffat ?

I like Jenna Coleman.  I like Peter Capaldi.  I used to like, and still have some smidgen of respect for Steven Moffat.  But the man should have been gone years ago.  His ego has run wild the last few years, as he has rewritten the entirety of Doctor Who canon in his own image, largely via his alter-ego, the vastly over-rated and ultimately underwhelming character of Clara.  He's attempting to box in future 'show-runners', writers, and producers into his vision of Doctor Who, and his alone.  Not that of the older fans, not that of the younger, not that of all the producers and writers who came before (including Saint RTD, he of the ill-conceived idea of a 'Time War'), and not that of any who come after.  Doctor Who henceforth is to be Steven Moffat's Doctor Who™, and anyone who disagrees can go to hell.

And he'll get away with it.  Already is.  Already has.  Most of the fanboys daren't criticisise him.  Most of the actors, writers, producers, etc. who worked on Who in the past dating back to the 'sixties won't criticise him.  For that matter, they rarely, if ever, have the courage to criticise any aspect of Nu-Who or related projects, such as the works of Big Finish, whatsoever.  For many of them, it's their bread & butter, so in that regard, I can't blame them.  And many of those who were most critical of Moffat and his ridiculous elevation of the Clara character probably stopped watching last year (did I mention the ratings ?), or if they watch still, don't care enough to complain or criticise any more.

I'm rapidly falling into the latter category, already was in fact before this latest series.  This whole rant here is, I suppose, a matter of catharsis, more than anything else.


The Five Stages of Grief:

1. Denial  Split series, Anniversary*
2. Anger  Last year
3. Bargaining  N/A really
4. Depression  Last year to this
5. Acceptance  Current moment

And why should I care really ?  When the show came back in 2005 under Russell T Davies, there was so much I didn't like/disagreed with, and I was so much more invested in the Who of Big Finish (before much of their output went to shite.  Yeah, I said it), that I was willing to write off this new Who as a different product for a different generation.  Even as David Tennant took over from the ill-cast Eccleston, as some of the writing got better, as the show got closer to its roots, and further away from farting aliens and the likes of Cassandra (ugh,  Zoë, you deserve so much better).  Even as RTD, he of the ill-conceived idea of a 'Time War', finally left, to make way for a new 'show-runner.'  And then that evil bastard Moffat introduced me to wee Amelia Pond, and her 'Raggedy Man', and I wanted to believe again.  Fucking shite !

Here's my (generous) off-the-cuff ratings for the stories this year.  Probably the first time I've ever done this, and, almost certainly the last.

1. The Magician's Apprentice (6/10)  Great imagery, Missy was superb, sets up an intriguing cliffhanger.  Enough already with the fucking guitar !
2. The Witch's Familiar (7/10)  Needs more Missy !  Clara in the Dalek-casing closest I ever got to caring about Clara, since probably when she was a governess.
3. Under the Lake (9/10)  Closest to scary as the series got, great suspense, chilling ending.
4. Before the Flood (4/10) And then this utter shite.  Absurd monster, comedy alien, and all the nonsense about bootstrap-parodoxes aside, makes no logical sense whatsoever.  Even the Doctor basically admits as much at the end.
5. The Girl Who Died (4/10)  This idiotic nonsense would be the throwaway of the series, except it gets us invested in the idea of Ashildr, the ever-hyped 'Hybrid' of the whole series.  Except...she isn't.
6. The Woman Who Lived (3/10)  Ditto.  The question of fitting infinite life into finite human memory was clever & poignant.  Otherwise, this was pointless utterly missable filler.
7. The Zygon Invasion (5/10)  Well, the whole idea of Britain voluntarily admitting masses of Zygons was nonsensical, every single character behaved irrationally throughout, and the thing reeked to high heaven of political correctness, but it was well filmed and augured well for...
8. The Zygon Inversion (3/10) The Doctor in a Union-Flag bedecked parachute a la James Bond !  Should have shut off then.  And the Doctor's great speech ?  Preachy pablum and platitudes.  I struggled to stay awake, it was so boring.  Supposedly, this was the moment that Capaldi came into his own as the Doctor.  Bullshit.
9. Sleep No More (8/10)  Didn't care for or fully understand this on first viewing.  It rewards a second viewing, and I applaud Gatiss for the experiment.  Didn't quite work out in practice, but one of the boldest efforts of the series.
10. Face the Raven (5/10)  Who the fuck actually wanted Rigsy back ?  Really, who are you ?  And Why ?!!  But we got to finally see Saint Clara die ! (kinda, sorta, not really...)
11. Heaven Sent (8/10)  This is the kind of experimental story that really belongs in fan-fiction, or an audio, rather than on the teevee.  Interesting, but not entirely original idea.  Bit too obvious premise, and dragged out to anoyance towards the end.  Capaldi excellent as always, almost no Clara, and best CGI of the series, the moving walls of the castle aside.**
12. Hell Bent (3/10)  Very cinematic direction and effects.***  Liked the parts w/Peter & Jenna in the diner.  Otherwise, this was the very epitome of everything I hate about Steven Moffat and what he has done/is doing to Doctor Who.  Perfect end to the series in that regard.  Managed to refrain throwing my remote.

* I liked An Adventure in Space and Time.  Moffat to the best of my knowledge had nothing to do with it.

** They made this work in Harry Potter, and the rest of your CGI is excellent.  Why was this so ridiculously fake ?

*** Meant to say something here; can't remember what now.  Aw, fuck it.


Update: xx. The Husbands of River Song (4/10) Greg Davies was cool, Matt Lucas alright, wrapped up some of the threads of River Song's story, and had some decent one-liners.  Other dialogue was cringe-worthy, story was shit, made no sense, and bored me to tears.  More useless filler, justified largely on the basis on fan-service, rather than telling compelling interesting stories.  Next...

The Statesman Tribune: I Can Haz Fake News-Organisation Also

Oh, look, themarketbusiness.com has competition.  And they even know how to calculate 15 + 2.

Good to see, especially as the last article I read from themarketbusiness.com looked almost semi-literate.  I wonder if I should just take a quick peek over there, to...

Oh dear.  Any hoo...The Statesman Tribune...That's a fine traditional name, isn't it ?  Bet they've been around for years and years, since...<checks domain records>...er, since February.  Well, long enough to have the one piece of breaking news (it is just the one that cycles in the banner over and over) three months ago about smoking.

And now, they have an important story to share about a private mission to land on the moon.  Let's include it here in its illiterate entirety, given that it does after all appear to be entirely ripped off from this actual news-story on Space.com.

California-primarily based firm Moon Express, which goals to fly business missions to the moon and assist unlock its sources, has signed a 5-launch cope with Rocket Lab, with the primary two robotic liftoffs scheduled to happen in 2017.

These uncrewed launches — three of that are firmly on the books, with the opposite two non-obligatory in the meanwhile — will blast Moon Specific’ MX-1 lander into area aboard Rocket Lab’s fifty two.5-foot-tall (sixteen meters) Electron rocket. The purpose is to check out the MX-1 and its techniques, ensuring the spacecraft can land softly on the moon, transfer in regards to the lunar floor, seize samples and return them to Earth.

Wait, I thought they were called 'Moon Express' ?...

“The holy grail of our firm is to offer, to show, a full-companies functionality — not simply touchdown, however getting back from the moon,” mentioned Moon Categorical co-founder and CEO Bob Richards, who introduced the brand new launch deal in the present day (Oct. 1) on the Area Expertise & Funding Summit in San Francisco.
If the MX-1 nails its touchdown on the primary mission, “we will be impressed to strive a pattern-return,” Richards informed Space.com. “I do not know if we’ll do this on the second mission, however I positive hope we’re making an attempt it by the third mission, if all goes that nicely.”

They changed their name again ?  Oh, and maybe you should delete the reference to Space.com, so it's not so obvious whence you plagiarised this shit...

The 2 non-compulsory launches present some insurance coverage for Moon Specific in case the primary three flights do not go totally in line with plan, Richards mentioned.

The contract places Moon Specific in place to probably win the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30 million competitors to land a privately funded robotic spacecraft on the moon by the top of 2017. The primary workforce to do that — and have the craft transfer 1,640 toes (500 m) and beam excessive-definition video and pictures again to Earth as nicely — will win the $20 million grand prize. (The second crew to perform these objectives will get $5 million; one other $5 million is obtainable for assembly sure different milestones.)

1,640 toes !  I think the police may have 164 or more homicides to investigate.

Sixteen groups stay within the operating for the Google Lunar X Prize, so the result stays very a lot up within the air. For instance, one staff, Astrobotic, signed a contract in 2011 to launch its lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Astrobotic representatives have stated they plan to launch in 2016.

The three.9-foot-huge (1.2 m) Electron rocket is designed to ship a 330-lb. (one hundred fifty kilograms) payload to a solar-synchronous orbit 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth, based on Rocket Lab’s web site. The 2-stage rocket will not be operational but; industrial launches are scheduled to start in 2016, say representatives of the corporate, which is headquartered in California however has a New Zealand subsidiary. (Moon Categorical may have the choice of launching from Rocket Lab’s vary in New Zealand or from a web site in the US.)

Websites can launch rockets now ?!  Hook me up with that functionality please.

“Rocket Lab is happy to start working with Moon Specific to launch its spacecraft and to offer assist to such an bold mission,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck mentioned in an announcement. “Moon Categorical has used superior orbital mechanics to allow this mission from low-Earth orbit.”

Electron is kind of an inexpensive choice so far as orbital launches are involved, with every liftoff costing simply $four.9 million. Falcon 9 launches, for instance, value about $60 million every.

“We predict the collapse of the value to get to the moon goes to allow a complete new market — type of just like the four-minute-mile of area,” Richards mentioned.

The MX-1 landers that blast off atop an Electron will probably be comparatively small, constrained by the rocket’s dimension.. However the MX-1 is scalable, Richards stated, and will be modified as wanted to assist the corporate obtain its formidable objective of opening up the moon and its sources to industrial use.

“Because the market responds, we can present the platforms to help the market,” Richards mentioned. “We’re beginning small; we’re beginning with the newborn steps.”

So Space.com publishes a perfectly decent article on private lunar exploration, and The Statesman Tribune turns it into utter gibberish, in which they can't even be bothered to notice the fact that their translation-software mangles the name of the company involved multiple times.

Seriously, what's the market here ?  Who are the audience ?  ESL learners who want to avoid mastery of the English language at all costs ?

And don't these guys ever get sued for plagiarism, when they simply run other organisations' news-stories through translation-engines, and publish them as their own ?

I hate the Internet, in case I haven't mentioned that before.

Clearly Nothing But Nothing Is Sacred in Hollywood

Disney is set to make a new Mary Poppins film, over half a century after the strict, yet much-loved, nanny first appeared on the silver screen.

The celebrated movie character will make her return in a live-action musical, Entertainment Weekly (EW) has reported.

Set in London during the Depression some 20 years after the first movie was set, the new film will also take from P. L. Traver’s children’s books where the character originated. However, the film will not be a sequel, according to EW.

...

The details of who will take on the iconic role of Mary Poppins are yet to be revealed. However, the chosen actress certainly has big shoes to fill, as Julie Andrews earned an Oscar for her depiction as the magical, singing nurse.

No creativity, no courage, and no class.  Just shameless corporate greed in pursuit of the dollars of the gullible.*


* Yes I know it's not strictly speaking a remake.  Neither is Rogue One a remake of the film we somehow insist on calling 'Episode IV'.  Fuck You Lucas.

The White House on Dick Cheney & the Iran Deal

Missed this before now somehow.  The music sucks, and I kinda hate conceptually posting something from the White House itself, but the point still needs to be made apparently about the undead corpse of Darth Cheney, and other warmongering neo-con assholes like him, whether they be fellow Ford-admin. revanchists, radicals of the Newt Gingrich 'revolution' in the 'nineties, or latter-day hangers-on like Sarah Palin, that they have been consistently wrong on foreign policy, over and over and again, at the expense not just of the American pocket-book, and thousands of dead US soldiers, but at the expense of millions of civilian lives destroyed, damaged, or displaced, as one society after another is wrecked in their real-life game of Risk.*


* And no, the Obama administration is far, far from blameless, with say its similar reckless destabilisation in Libya & Syria.

Tony, Tony, Tony

Wait, Tony Blair actually admitted to being wrong about something ?  That can't be right, surely ?  That Tone ?  Our Tone ?  That lying corrupt egotistical pile of human excrement ?  Never.

Tony Blair has admitted his government made a "mistake" by failing to do enough to ensure that devolution of powers to Scotland did not undermine the United Kingdom's national identity.

The former Prime Minister insisted that he still believes he was right to create national assemblies in Edinburgh and Cardiff in 1999, arguing that resisting demands for the devolution of power would have stoked up demand for outright independence.

Bullshit !  There was more no urgency for devolution specifically in your time than there was for reform of the Lords, and your response to the one was as cack-handed as the other.  As always, you were looking more to your own legacy as the great reformer, seeking to re-make British 'democracy' in your own image than you were thinking through the long-term consequences of your actions.  In the case of the Lords, you could have left things as they were, could have engaged in a long-term review of the options available, could have respected the consistent will of the electorate for an elected House.  But no...Tony knew best as always, and so the great overcrowded House of Political Cronies was born.

If you wanted to a) deflate the movement for independence in Scotland*, and b) address the broader concern of lack of representation across the UK** (including in England) by the ever Home County-centred government in Westminster, you could have come up with a plan for more regional and citywide devolution.  Instead of which, you completely ignored the English question, which has led us today to this EVEL nonsense, whilst you established 'national' assemblies in Scotland and Wales based upon largely arbitrary borders dating back to Norman times.  And then what ?  At best, perhaps you could buy the unionists some time whilst you re-thought a broader strategy...

But, in a new book entitled British Labour Leaders, he acknowledged that he did not understand at the time the importance of maintaining cultural unity between the different parts of the UK.

You didn't have any strategy, whatsover, did you ?  You created 'national' assemblies, and what, you thought they would tire of power after a few years and beg Westminster to re-absorb their responsibilities ?  That the Scots & Welsh seeing functioning assemblies governing over their respective 'nations' wouldn't beg the obvious question, why not more powers ?  Why draw the line here and not there ?  Why be governed by an unresponsive body tucked away in the furthest regions of Southeastern England at all ?

His admission came after a new poll, published almost a year after the referendum, showed for the first time a majority of Scots would support independence if another vote was staged now.

Don't fuckin' blame 'em !  Especially after how they were treated not just by the increasingly fascistic 'Conservative' party, but also by members of yer so-called 'Labour' party in the last election.

...Mr Blair admitted in his 2010 memoirs that he was “never a passionate believer” in devolution and he always thought creating a Scottish Parliament was a dangerous path.

Yes, yes it was.  Arsehole.

...Mr Blair said: "I did feel that we made a mistake on devolution. We should have understood that, when you change the system of government so that more power is devolved, you need to have ways of culturally keeping England, Scotland and Wales very much in sync with each other.

“We needed to work even stronger for a sense of UK national identity. But I don't accept the idea that we should never have done devolution. If we had not devolved power, then there would have been a massive demand for separation – as there was back in the 60s and 70s."

Funnily enough, people who are part of the same country, with the same basic culture, speaking the same language, and with a strong shared history, including shared sacrifice in war, tend to develop a pretty decent shared identity...until nationalist radicals seek to divide them, and find their efforts enabled by incompetent overconfident ego-mad politicians.  Politicians have many ways of dividing people, but building up cultural identity artificially from your spindoctors' offices in London...not so easily done.

Aw, feck it !  I wish the eventual independent Republic of Scotland well.  And Wales too, if they go that way.  Blair, Brown, Cameron, and their ilk, on the other hand can go fuck themselves.


* Not that I believe for one moment you respected the absolute right of the Scots to independence if that be their choice.

** Nor that you ever gave a damn about that issue either, given your consistent anti-democratic decisions.

Does the Grauniad Only Exist to Piss Off Non-Wankers ?

So, a British Olympian tweeted his disappointment in the new kit for the Brits...

Well this isn't right... Where's the Union Jack!?!? @BritAthletics (this is the kit for worlds) pic.twitter.com/RAVoi6yRex

— Greg Rutherford (@GregJRutherford) August 13, 2015

I was inclined to agree with him, especially given the inclination of the government to shit over both the flag and other traditional designs in recent years.  And given the recent (although increasingly due to DC & Co., sadly seemingly temporary) vote on Scottish independence, why not celebrate the flag ?  But no biggie, really.

So, how does the Graun. respond to this shit ?  Why by having some asshole shit all over not just 'Team GB's kit, but the Union Flag itself...of course...As one does.

The trouble with the United Kingdom’s flag, when you come to think about it, is that it is really quite ugly. I have every sympathy for the designers who removed it from the British athletics team’s vests for the imminent World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford has complained that “it isn’t a British kit any more” because it hasn’t got the union flag, but the decision makes sense aesthetically. The new vest is an elegant flowing dance of red, white and blue – the flag’s colours, remember – and has Great Britain written on it in big letters. It just doesn’t have that jagged, explosive, aggressive flag.

So, your problem with the Union Flag is an aesthetic one, right ?

I don’t mean the union flag is aggressive because it embodies an imperial arrogance or a coercive union that keeps Scotland in its place. No, it just looks as if it does.

Nothing to do with divisive politics then...Go on, do say...

Look at it, if you can bear to. With its cluttered burst of both right-angled and diagonal radiating lines, the British flag is heavy and overbearing, forceful and strident. On a battlefield it would make sense. Sure, this virulent standard served to rally regiments at the Battle of Waterloo. But today? At sporting events? It looks crap. Instead of suggesting unity, its sharp-angled divisions imply fragmentation. In fact, the relentless dynamism of its design evokes the shock and shatter of a cannon ball smashing into a French ship at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Who wants a dynamic flag, with any sense of urgency or purpose, huh ?  And those 'sharp-angled divisions' sure as hell put me in mind of a 'cannon ball smashing into a French ship at the Battle of Trafalgar'...wait, you meant that as a...bad thing...right ?  So, anyway, go on with your aesthetic critique...

This was fine when Britain ruled the waves but its military hysteria makes no sense nowadays. To see how visually repellent* the union flag really is you just have to contrast it with a truly great national flag, that of the United States. The American flag is beautiful, as the artist Jasper Johns saw very clearly when he made one out of collage and waxy paint. The stars and bars** are soothing and reassuring to look at. Those layers of repeated lines have a quality of minimalist art, although they date from long before such art was invented. Perhaps America’s flag has had a hidden influence on all its art movements, not only on Johns. The bars hang there in harmony and peace, and the stars float majestically in their blue ether.

You.Have.Got.To.Be.Shitting.ME.!!!  The American flag, scraped hastily together out of scraps of its own forebear ?  That stripey-assed Waldo-esque remnant of centuries past ?  I'll acknowledge that there are in fact worse flags...by far...but, as a symbol of the supposed leader of the free world, the US flag is a joke.  I could take your argument seriously if you acknowledged just about any other iconic flag but that one...

...The same goes for the French tricolour, another of the world’s most attractive flags. Its simple rectangles of colour are bold but beautiful. No wonder it has been imitated by so many other nations in varying colours.

Erm, yes.  Yes, indeed.

You don’t see many other countries imitating the British flag.

Wha...wha...what ?  Never mind how many flags explicitly incorporate the Union Flag directly, such as a certain US state, or are otherwise symbolically based upon elements of the Union Flag, such as the flag of the United States itself, or use similar motifs such as Jamaica.  Just WTF are you talking about ?

The flags of the United States and France are the results of 18th-century revolutions that gave their creators a sense of starting afresh. No ghosts of the past or compromised histories influenced the design of these revolutionary standards. On the contrary, they needed to be totally new, to symbolise new constitutions, new beginnings. 

Bull-fucking-shit !

...Perhaps Rutherford’s objection to the British flag’s disappearance from the national British athletics team’s kit reflects an anxiety about insidious anti-union propaganda, as if in the age of SNP triumph it is becoming politically incorrect to sport unifying British symbols too proudly. But I would argue it the other way around. Perhaps the union flag itself is a psychological boost to nationalists who want to break up Britain. Its sheer pompous ugliness unconsciously damages the image of the union.

Fuck you !

So here is an idea to save the United Kingdom as a political, emotional and cultural entity. Let’s invent a new flag. Let’s visually forget the history of internal compromise and external violence this flag so unattractively embodies. A new flag for a new Britain might help us love our – whole – nation again.

Like you give a flying fucking shit about the union...I just shat all over the evil emperialist entity that is the English, and would much rather see the damn thing dissolved, but yeah, let's fantasise about a new 'Union Flag' that we could all celebrate after we finally killed the beast...  Not that we need bother given said arsehole's fondness for the flag of the United States of America:

US Flag with 51st star for additional state, such as Puerto Rico

One single solitary identical star added for each soulless entity added.  That's it.  That's your glorious national identity right there.  Inspirational, isn't it, that slight adjustment in the field of stars ?...

Far far more inspirational than a simple symbol of the union of three*** nations thus:

I've said it before...I'll say it again... I hate the fuckin' Guardian.


* He actually said this; If he said this in, and regarding the country whose flag he apparently worships, he would likely be shot dead on the spot.

** You really do not want to use that phrase regarding American flags.

*** The Welsh were fucked with the flag, I will admit that much.  And the flag would be much cooler with a dragon.  No...Doubt.

Genesis: Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (Selling England by the Pound)

For Gideon (George) Osborne, asshole that he may well be/most likely is:

Interviews with the band, regarding the album of the same name:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Kzk20WL3k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aSkZyxMS8c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFjuVihKZcY


* No references to the Grocer intended.  I'd make that explicit if I wanted to reference said individual.

Ted Cruz Still a Pathetic Clown. A Reminder

One would think that with the billionaire-backers showering money on these assholes, that they could hire some writers with a modicum of wit, up the production-value, and produce YouTube-ready videos, that while still showing their utter lack of gravitas and desperation for attention, would be at least...a little funny.  Instead:

Hey, we need to make a 'viral' video for Ted so it'll get played by the mainstream news and remind Americans that he still exists.  I know: everyone likes bacon, right ?*, and Americans love them some guns.  So why don't we combine the three ?  Genius !

If he were running for class-president in a school in Katy, Texas, I'd be impressed with little fifteen-year-old Rafael's efforts in the Audio/Visual Club.  But he's not.

* Bacon is over-rated as fuck in my opinion.

No Taxpayer-funded Campaigning Under M. Harper, Non

In accordance with our commitment to a fixed election-date, the next general election will be held as prescribed by law.  As it is my intention to begin campaign-related activities, and it's also the case for the other party-leaders, it's important that these campaigns be funded by the parties themselves, rather than taxpayers.

My fucking jaw dropped when I heard this on the CBC.  The balls on this man...

And how about deceptive robocalling-campaigns ?  Is it okay for them to be funded by the taxpayer, Mister 'Message from the Government of Canada' ?


Meanwhile, that economic downturn I'm currently overseeing ?: More reason you be very very afraid of the opposition and keep me in power even longer.  And also, ISIS: VERY, VERY AFRAID !  Liberals & NDP weak !  Justin inexperienced !  Me protect you from Scary Vladimir Putin ! BE AFRAID !

Oh, and in case I don't sound enough like an American Republican: 'Best country in the world !'  But only so long as you keep us in power.  BE AFRAID !!!

Everything's Bigger in Texas After All

One of the great gifts (intentional or not) to the Democratic Party in Donald Trump's bid for the nomination of the GOP is the way he's been tearing down, or attempting to tear down, one of his Republican rivals after another, in an entirely uninhibited way, often with entirely valid criticism.

Such as with blood-thirsty fan of state-sanctioned killings* of people who may or not be guilty, may or not be competent, Rick Perry -- best remembered from the last elections for his 'Oops' facepalm-moment in the debates.

Rick Perry seems to believe that wearing glasses might make him come across as more mentally competent this time around, such that he now seemingly never appears in public without them.  And of course, Trump has no problem in calling out Perry's use of the glasses to make himself seem smarter, no problem questioning his mental competence.

So, how does Rick Perry respond to Trump's criticism ?  How does he do so in a way, that demonstrates his competence and credibility as candidate for the highest office in the land ?

Why, by challenging Donald Trump to a contest to see who can perform the most pull-ups, of course.  Just about the most stupid macho pissing-contest-style response (short of proposing an actual pissing-contest of course)**, imaginable.

And thus the man who came across as an even dumber version of George W Bush last time around, proves he still has that...special touch.


* 279, baby !  Beat that if you can !

** The simile works equally well with another 'contest', but the other's just a bit too vulgar.***

*** Which didn't stop my hinting at it in the title of the post.

Huckabee

Mike Huckabee is a religious extremist.  In the runup to his last bid for the presidency, he tried to soften his image, and moderate his message.  And did so quite convincingly -- I almost fell for it myself at times.  He then nabbed a show on Fox News, and immediately reverted to type, spouting religious fanatacism, hatred and intolerance day in, day out, all of it on tape.

He knows that he has no chance of winning over moderates a second time around, and thus, no chance at the presidency.  He is 'running' for the Republican nomination in order to raise money, and to raise his profile in conservative circles.

Tell Congress to do their constitutional duty & reject the Obama-Kerry #IranDeal --> http://t.co/SaIyuq4w01 pic.twitter.com/2rFJgdDHhV

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 26, 2015

And so, if cynically invoking the Shoah in reference to the Nuclear deal with Iran, and implicitly linking Obama & Kerry to Nazism, provokes outage, then job done !  The more outrage the better form Huckabee's point of view.  The man is a shameless self-aggrandising huckster, and unworthy of any serious consideration or attention.

David Cameron: We Need More Invisible Unaccountable Wealth

Britain should not shy away from doing business with countries where corruption is a problem, according to David Cameron.

Writing in The Daily Mail ahead of a trade mission to South East Asia, the Prime Minister said the “wind of economic change is blowing east – and not just to China and India”.

He argued that Britain had concentrated too much on trading with Europe, rather than countries in Asia.

He wrote that people were wrong to argue that “we should avoid doing business with countries with barriers to trade including corruption”.

“Many in South East Asia have led the battle against corruption, which costs the global economy billions of pounds a year,” Mr Cameron said.

“Britain is joining them in that fight – I’ve put the issue at the top of the global agenda.

“Given a level playing field, British businesses can out-compete anyone in the world.” *

Sigh. This is an obvious candidate for 'posted without comment', but I will say this:

1. Cameron is interested in certain groups/individuals profiting here.
2. Those groups/individuals are mostly not in Asia.
3. Those groups/individuals are inherently corrupt.
4. Those groups/individuals are Cameron's friends or friends of friends.
5. Those groups/individuals are not you or anyone you are ever likely to know.
6. That offshored 'wealth' is never coming back.

* 'Level playing field' !  Classic !

Tony Abbott is an Asshat Part MMMCCXLVIII

If, as the environment movement contends, fossil fuels are the new tobacco, then Australia has cast itself as a sort of swaggering Marlboro man, puffing away contentedly as the rest of the world looks on quizzically.

As other countries look to transition to low-carbon alternatives with one eye on crunch climate talks in Paris later this year, Australia is pushing ahead with an expansion in coal extraction that its conservative prime minister Tony Abbott insists is “good for humanity”.

A series of huge mines planned for outback Queensland would, at capacity, produce nearly enough coal to match Germany’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

The federal government has just approved another mine, further south, on the fertile farming plains of New South Wales. It will be allowed to operate until 2046, a full 26 years after the point when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggests the world should stop emissions rising to avoid disastrous global warming.

The mine, to be operated by Chinese state-owned firm Shenhua, has caused consternation among farmers, with agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce rebelling against his own cabinet colleagues by branding the approval “absolute madness” and “dopey”.

Both mines will liberate coal to further escalate Australia’s huge export industry, predominantly to India and China. The government’s rationale is clear – coal is here to stay and there is a moral imperative to provide it to the world, ideally reigniting Australia’s fading mining boom in the process. Any contrary view, such as the Pope’s, has been branded “unchristian” in the Abbott-friendly, Rupert Murdoch-owned press.

“For the foreseeable future coal is the foundation of prosperity,” Abbott said late last year. “Coal is the foundation of the way we live because you can’t have a modern lifestyle without energy, you can’t have a modern economy without energy.

“So if we are serious about raising people’s living standards in less developed countries, if we are serious about maintaining and improving living standards in countries like Australia, we have to be serious about making the best use of coal.”

Indeed !  Why do you hate poor people, environmentalists ?  Stupid Malthusian Marxist Big-Government Bureaucrats standing in the way of basic human progress and prosperity !  Why shouldn't developing nations be allowed to play as much a part (full knowingly) as we played (somewhat knowingly, perhaps) in destroying the ability of the planet to support advanced ecosystems, and human civilisation ?  And while we're at it, we should also encourage every nation to develop nuclear weapons.  Why should the developed nations have a monopoly on the power to destroy all of humanity at the touch of a button ?

According to recent polling by the Lowy Institute, 50% of Australians agree that “global warming is a serious and pressing problem” – up 14% since 2012. Asked what Australia’s primary energy source should be in 10 years, 43% of respondents cited solar power. Coal was selected by only 17%.

But it is doubtful whether Abbott will be swayed, either by scientific or economic evidence or, despite his undoubted ability as a political survivor, poor polling.

As he wrote in his book Battlelines: “To a conservative, intuition is as important as reasoning; instinct as important as intellect. A way of life has far more demonstrative power to a conservative than a brilliant argument.”

Earlier, in the article, Abbott is referred to as a 'a poor man’s George W Bush'.  Bush was never so eloquent, but that sentiment in bold, scares the shit out of me.  That kind of anti-rational bullshit might well serve as the epitaph on our species' tombstone.

Tony Abbott is an Asshat Part MMMCCXLVII

Government pulls the plug on household solar

The Abbott government has opened up another front in its war on renewable energy by pulling the plug on investments in the most common form of alternative energy, rooftop and small-scale solar.

As a storm raged over the government's directive to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to no longer back wind energy projects, it emerged that it has also put a stop to solar investments other than the largest industrial-scale projects.

The solar industry has been left fuming by a letter to the CEFC by Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann in which they direct investments in household and small-scale solar to be "excluded" from the $10 billion fund in future.

The draft investment mandate calls for "mature and established clean energy technologies … to be excluded from the corporation's activities, including extant wind technology and household and small-scale solar".

Currently, about a third of all CEFC investments involve small-scale solar. The corporation, which has produced more than a $1 profit for the government for every $1 invested, was assessing $500 million in finance for solar projects valued at more than $1 billion.

There are 1.3 million rooftop solar systems in Australia and most households receive publicly-backed rebates to install, but the CEFC has made a priority projects that help people who do not own their own homes, those who live in apartments and community groups to invest in solar panels.

...

Australian Solar Council chief executive John Grimes accused Tony Abbott of playing "cynical politics" after the Prime Minister insisted on Sunday that his government "supports renewables" but wants to "reduce the upward pressure on power prices".

Mr Grimes said the CEFC had made it possible for low-income people and retirees to invest in solar and take advantage of the power bill savings that flow.

"Tony Abbott is keeping people trapped paying higher electricity prices," Mr Grimes told Fairfax Media.

The government tried and failed to abolish the profit-making CEFC after failing to get Senate support and its latest strike against wind and solar is expected to further scare renewable energy investors away from Australia, Labor and the Greens claim.

..

Shadow environment spokesman Mark Butler said: "These proposed changes go well beyond Tony Abbott's opposition to the aesthetic values of wind farms - it's a wholesale attack on renewable energy.

"Tony Abbott is broadening his assault on renewable energy technologies putting thousands of Australian jobs and billions of dollars in investment at even further risk."

Maybe it's an Anglo-Saxon thing.  Here we are in 2015, decades after we were first warned about global warming, and at a time when even the PRC in China are embracing renewables, we have governments in the US*, Canada, the UK, and Australia all actively working against renewable projects, such as windfarms & solar, and championing greater investment in fossil-fuels.

And in this case, it would seem it isn't even about money.  $1 profit for every $1 invested sounds like a pretty good investment to me.  This is just being an asshole for the sake of it.  It's the politician's equivalent of those assholes in the US, who 'roll coal', ie modify their vehicles to release black smoke on demand, then wait till a Prius shows up in their rearview and blast them.  I really do despair for humanity.


* I'm referring here of course not to Barack Obama, but to the Republican assholes in Congress and elsewhere.

Megyn & Ann Take Apart the Lefty Media

Oh, and I almost forgot.

Wait for it...

The evil Marxist lefty news-media would...never...frame Ted Cruz in a halo like their hero Obama !


So I guess this photo, which I used three months back, was purely a product of my own imagination ?

Megyn & Ann were outraged at this messianic portrayal of Ted at the time, one might presume ?.....

So Punchable

Aw, this guy...!

You want to punch that face, don't you ?  Even if you don't know why yet.

Is this would-be Bieber also known for his YouTube videos ?  Well, yes...

RICH kid Grisha Mamurin has provoked a storm of protest by paying girls to flash their boobs in public and then to kiss him.

The controversial 16-year-old, grandson of Russian billionaire Igor Nekludov, is making a series of videos about people’s humiliation and what they would be prepared to do for money.

In his latest video, he gets smashed to the ground when he tries to bribe someone to drink a jar of his urine.

The intended victim was so angry he punched the cocky teenager so hard he knocked him off his feet.

Earlier in the video a man takes him up on his offer and Mamurin can be seen peeing into a glass before handing it over.

Towards the end of the video he picks on safer targets, luring young women to kiss him and expose their breasts.

His videos have been watched more than 850,000 times with mixed reactions.
At the beginning of his new video he says: “Today, we will check what crazy things girls can do to earn some money.”

Then he goes and annoys girls who are walking alone asking them: “Can you show me your breasts for cash?

And then he moves on to a bunch of homeless guys, and further hilarity ensues...

Thanks news.com.au !  I'd remained blissfuly ignorant of the existence of this asshole until now, despite his having apparently made the news elsewhere back in May.

His video sparked a wave of online criticism, but Grigory defended his decision saying the video showed what society 'is ready to do for the sake of money'.

Speaking through a personal press officer, he said:  'I don't understand why people are so negative about me. We have seen similar shows on MTV, various practical jokes.

'I can say that every fourth person agreed to do something crazy like this. The video is genuine. I should have been at least Spielberg to stage something like this.

...Grigory said he did not tell his parents about the project as he was not spending their money.

He said: 'Of course, originally this is their money but this is also my savings. I got the money from my parents for my birthdays and saved quite a lot.

'It is also a joint project, the money of my friends is here too. It is not like "Granddad, give me 100,000 roubles and I will make people drink urine".

He promised a follow-up in which 'a girl who agreed to lick the bottom of his boot from one end to the other for 10,000 roubles'.

He added: 'I do not criticize these people. I think each of them has problems which makes them do this.

'We don't know what we would have done if we had had the same problems. If to talk about me - I don't think I was ever in a situation when I would drink urine.' 

Unearned wealth (and most vast accumulations of wealth tend IMO to be largely if not mostly unearned, relying more on the exploitation of others and corruption than personal effort or ability) does tend to breed sociopathy, whether in Russia, America, or anywhere in the world.

Still, this particular embarrassment belongs to Russia, and Putin's Russia at that, son of an oligarch may he be.  And as long as he has wealth and avoids criticising the government, he can probably ride this particular game of exploiting the desperate for fleeting fame on YouTube a good while yet.

And after all, he's doing a public service, right ?  Exposing the cruel realities of modern capitalistic existence for...journalism...for...art...for..for.  No, he's just an asshole.

Revealed: The true scale of Tony Blair's global business empire (per The Telegraph)

I'm not sure how much there there really is in the Telegraph's latest piece on Tony Blair, but...

...fuck that guy.  Anyways, here's their take.

This MuthaFucka Right Here

Speaking of which, this is the picture, illustrating the Guardian piece in which Tony Blair 'warns against Labour move to the left'.  Not sure why such a warning is needed, as in my entire lifetime, the Labour party has consistently been moving to the Right, but anyways, here's a smug fascistic warmongering asshole:

Shame Catholicism doesn't allocate a specific number of virgins to its culture-warriors.  Given the man-spreading on display, Tone' presumably has massive massive balls, and could presumably father far more children than Cherie has so far managed.  And boy do we ever need more assholes like old Tone' here.

Oh, Please Do Davey

David Miliband drops clearest hint yet he will return to British politics

Former Labour frontbencher who moved to America after losing the leadership race to his brother continues post-election media drive

David Miliband has given his clearest indication that he is plotting a return to British politics amid speculation that Labour could hold another leadership election after the in-out EU referendum.

The news came as it emerged that Mr Miliband’s contract with his International Rescue charity ends in 2018, potentially allowing him to return to Parliament before the 2020 general election.

Mr Miliband was drawn on his future plans in a series of interviews with CNN and The Times newspaper.

Oh please do, asshole. Your former boss Tone' won't be running for political office again any time soon, but we haven't forgotten what a corrupt power-hungry sellout he was, and you were clearly made of exactly the same cloth. Made enough money in New York have we ? Time to drop down from the clouds as a latter-day saviour of the plebs. with the typical neo-liberal economic bullshit ?

Da Banks Needz More Billions Or Else

Former Barclays chairman: Bank ring-fence is redundant and should be scrapped

Sir David Walker says ring-fencing is a 'uniquely British policy' which will penalise the UK economy

Sir David Walker has called on the Chancellor to review the legislation surrounding bank ring-fencing, claiming it will simply burden customers with extra costs and harm competition.

Oh, no...competition.  Wait, we still have that ?

The former chairman of Barclays, writing in a personal capacity for The Telegraph, brands ring-fencing "uniquely British" which could lead to some banks moving operations overseas.

I'm thinking of a word...begins with 'N'...

...

It has been estimated ring-fencing will cost UK banks some £2.5bn, with annual operating costs of approximately £4bn.

...

he argues that developments since Sir John Vickers' Independent Commission on Banking - which first suggested UK retail banks be ring-fenced from the commercial and investment banking operations of their parents - first suggested the move, due to come into force from 2019, the landscape has changed.

...

"Ring-fencing’s role in effective resolution – crucial to protect the taxpayer – is also now redundant as banks adopt comprehensive standalone mechanisms as part of the EU Recovery and Resolution Directive."

Yes, the banks that had to be bailed out by government after nearly crashing the global economy should be trusted to gamble with ordinary people's money.  Says a banker.  Former chairman of Barclays.  Yes, that Barclays.  Assholes.