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If you arrived here directly, then don't miss Holford Web Home of David's Mental Meanderings If you just want to find out who this strange bloke is, you'll need to go there as well. Your feedback about anything you read here is always welcome. Other blogs I enjoy reading: Doxos St. Stephen's Musings Robert's Cogitations This is Life Paradosis Natalie Solent Mere Comments Little Geneva Antioch Road The Edge of England's Sword flyingchair.net Samizdata Joshua Claybourn Between Heaven and Hell PC Watch Notes From a Hillside Farm Simeon's Hit and Miss of Filosofical Thought George Grant Lileks a conservative blog for peace You can also find me listed at Blogs4God Currently down from the bookshelf: Celtic Christianity in Early Medieval Wales: The Origins of the Welsh Spiritual Tradition by Oliver Davies Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium by Judith Herrin Recently finished: Give Me My Father's Body: The Life of Minik, The New York Eskimo by Kenn Harper John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life by Paul C. Nagel Lancaster & York: The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir Most recent acquisitions: John Major: The Autobiography Retreat from New Jerusalem: British Politics 1951-64 by Kevin Jefferys 
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Saturday, April 12, 2003
Something Positive from the EU I�m not particularly pro-European and it is rare that the EU does anything worthwhile. For two years, the UK Government has allowed therapeutic cloning. This is the cloning of human embryos to create tissue for research into disease treatment, or for farming of stem cells to attempt to cure the patient from whom the clone is derived. However, in a move welcomed by Pro-lifers everywhere, the EU Parliament has voted to set quality and safety standard that effectively outlaw therapeutic cloning and end British embryo research. The Impossible Nightmare? It is possible that despite the desires of the new eugenicists, cloning of human may never be possible. This is according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. The technique that has been used for farm animals, such as the late Dolly, does not seem to work for primates. They unsuccessfully tried to clone over 700 eggs, in the process identifying what was going wrong. The basic differences mean that reproductive cloning (where the purpose is to birth a cloned child) may be impossible. I have no doubt they will keep trying. Human reproductive cloning would be a crowning achievement for a mankind trying desperately to separate itself from its Creator. I�m waiting for scientists to start trying to create people out of dirt. Now that will impressive. Of course if they want to be like God, they will have to create the dirt, too. Out of nothing, of course. Ya�ll Come Back Now After clearing the queues at passport control with his bungling of the Foot and Mouth Crisis, Tony Blair is hoping to boost the tourism to Britain by appearing on The Simpsons. Well, I suppose �appearing� isn�t the right word. There has been some criticism of Tony for taking time out from the war to record for the primetime TV cartoon, which appears on BBC2. Frankly, there is a lot more worthy of criticism. Considering that this had been booked months in advance, that it took a matter of a few minutes, and that he never had to leave 10 Downing to do it, I�m not that bothered. Blair will be in a British guest cast that includes Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling appearing as herself, Sir Ian �Gandalf� McKellen, and Monty Python alumnus Eric Idle. And if it will bring across a few more Simpsons viewer to visit this country, I�m all for it. British tourism-related businesses (especially the hard-hit bed and breakfasts) need the money. And since no one ever ventures out this far from London, I don�t have to listen to those annoying American accents. And in Other News� I don�t usually recommend either The New York Times or CNN for accurate and unbiased reporting of the news, but if you haven�t seen it already, click on this interesting op/ed piece from the chief new executive of the latter in yesterday�s edition of the former: The News We Kept to Ourselves. Free registration may be required to view this article. Friday, April 11, 2003
Summit of Irrelevance The leaders of France, Germany, and Russia met together today to focus on Iraq�s reconstruction. After they actively opposed the removal of the old regime, they want to be key players in the new. Yeah, right. If France, Germany, and Russia have a plan for Iraq, you can bet it is going nowhere. The new Triple Entente have as much credibility as Baghdad Bob. In fact, I would venture to say that they are less popular. After all, I wouldn�t even guess at how many hits www.WeLoveTheIraqiInformationMinister.com has received. But for the record www.WeLoveTheFrench.com, www.WeLoveTheGermans.com, and even www.WeLoveTheRussians.com are all still unregistered as domain names. And I hate to disappoint you, but someone has already grabbed www.WeHateTheFrench.com and www.WeHateTheFrench.co.uk but neither has a live website yet. Thursday, April 10, 2003
Being on this side of the Atlantic, I sometimes find my finger off the pulse of American politics. However, I have been reliably informed that part of the reason lack of support was even registered for President Bush and the concluding conflict in Iraq was due to the inclusion of New Yorkers in opinion polls. Apparently, it is hard to find a good word about W in New York. I had previously thought that negative views in that city were confined to the editorial desks of Pravda-on-the-Hudson. No wonder I don�t like New Yorkers. The only thing I like less than New Yorkers is pseudo-New Yorkers, like the classless, characterless junior Senatorial carpetbagger from Chicago via Little Rock. Right up there with New Yorkers would have to be the Turks. The Turks were unhappy that the Coalition forces were working together with the Kurds. The only thing the Turks like to do with Kurds is mistreat them. Now the Turks are really upset that the Kurds have taken the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, because it is so oil rich that the Kurds might be economically strong enough to attempt the creation of an independent Kurdish state. The last thing the Turks want is a Kurdish state. The only thing the Turks liked about Saddam was that he gassed Kurds. The Turks are afraid that if the Iraqi Kurds get self-government, then all the Kurds in Turkey will want the same. So even though the Kurds in question are across the border in Iraq, the Turkish government has declared that Kurdish independence or autonomy is unacceptable. The only way the Turks can change something they find unacceptable is by force. We know from their history with the Greeks, most recently in Cyprus, that the Turks are certainly willing to invade and permanently occupy territory. I have no doubt that without US military presence in the northern Iraq, the Turks will do exactly the same there. Their philosophy is that if Saddam can�t keep them under, Turkey will have to go do it. If you thought that Turkey is only good at making Christian martyrs and committing genocide on Christian nations like the Armenians, think again. They are just as happy to slaughter fellow Muslims. Of course when I refer to the Turks, I do not mean every Turkish person. There are peaceful Turkish Muslims, a handful of Turkish Christians, and others who would not favour genocide. And this doesn�t mean everything Turkish is bad. The Turks did give us the doner kebab, after all. And I�m not saying every New Yorker is bad, either. I haven�t met every New Yorker. Wednesday, April 09, 2003
�Smiles like split watermelons� That�s how BBC political correspondent Andrew Marr described Tony Blair and his advisers in Downing Street watching today�s events in Iraq. It would also be an accurate description of most of the Iraqi faces I saw on television. I have to admit that I�m going to miss one other smiling face. Baghdad Bob, as the Information Minister of the former regime is affectionately known could spin the wildest yarns of how Saddam�s troops were utterly destroying the Coalition. He said it like he almost believed it. The children of a friend of mine were confused by some of the images on television. They didn�t understand why people would be acting that way in response to the fall of the regime. My friend explained to them that Iraqis normally celebrate by carrying around TV sets and rolling tyres down the street. Must be a cultural thing. Seriously, though, all of the looting, first in Basra and now in Baghdad, demonstrates the necessity of a visible police presence in society. This behaviour is not unique to Iraq or the Middle East. The same thing happens when there are blackouts in major cities. Or simply when living on a British council estate. There is a significant element in every society that is inherently lawless. In particular, they have no respect for property. The only property for which I am glad there was no respect was the big statue of Saddam that was pulled down. I�m glad I was watching that live. It reminded me of scenes during the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, especially the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. Today I saw the iconology inherent in the human heart. Saddam made sure there were lots of pictures of himself hanging around. This was indicative of the veneration he desired from the Iraqi people. Likewise, the Iraqis took particular interest in tearing down these pictures. But it wasn�t enough to tear them down. They wanted to purposefully desecrate the images of their former tyrant. By kicking, punching, slapping, burning, urinating, and simulating certain sexual acts upon his face, they were in essence doing these things to the man himself. I have to say that in that sense, Saddam got exactly what was coming to him. And as the above-mentioned friend told his class of university students, �Today Baghdad � tomorrow Paris!� Anyone got any pictures of Jacques Chirac? Monday, April 07, 2003
If you read my latest Meandering, you will remember George Galloway, MP for Glasgow Kelvin and friend of what we might as well call the former Iraqi regime. Even if you excuse his political views as terribly misguided and somehow think that his call for all US and UK soldiers to be tried as war criminals is supportable, it is now clear that he is not merely stupid. He is entirely lacking in character. Or so demonstrated The Times on Saturday. Galloway created a high-profile fund to fly a little Iraqi girl with leukaemia to Glasgow for treatment. He set up the Miriam Appeal. On official House of Commons stationery, he wrote: �The Mariam Appeal has had to guarantee the costs of her treatment which could cost up to �50,000. The appeal�s target is �100,000 with the balance being sent back to Iraq in medicines and medical supplies for the children she has had to leave behind.� But how did he spend the money? According to The Times, �The appeal paid for 14 overseas trips by the Glasgow MP between September 1999 and January 2002, mostly including flights and frequently hotel bills. He visited Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Hungary, Belgium, New York and Romania.� Further, �Mr Galloway flew from a private airfield in Kent via Bulgaria to Baghdad to break the British air embargo of Iraq. His flight, said to have been paid for by private donations to the Mariam Appeal, contained no humanitarian aid. The MP brought six men, including Stuart Halford, the appeal�s director, to an anti-sanctions conference.� George couldn�t satisfy his addiction to foreign travel on the back of little Miriam, so in June 2000 he set up the Great Britain-Iraq Society, which, for a �25 membership promised to �circulate a newsletter, publish material, organise events, exchange visits, organise trade missions, religious and other tourism�. I don�t know what else the group has done, but according to The Times �It has paid for seven overseas visits by the MP, usually including the cost of flights. The destinations were to Jordan, Morocco, Beirut and Kiev, along with four trips to Iraq.� But The Times is not the only source of trouble for the MP they call �the member for Baghdad Central�. It looks like the Labour Party has had enough of Galloway. Hurling insults and recriminations at Tony Blair and urging troops to disobey orders looks like it will eventually result in expulsion from the Labour Party. And while the former offence is not criminal, the latter is, and there are calls for prosecution under the Incitement to Disaffection Act 1934. Sunday, April 06, 2003
The first Saturday in April in the UK is similar to the first Saturday in May in the US. More people than usual gamble and everyone gathers around the TV to watch the horses. In the US it is the Kentucky Derby; here it is Grand National, which is held at the Liverpool race course known as Aintree. Unlike the Kentucky Derby and most US horseracing, the Grand National is jump racing, not flat. Also unlike the Kentucky Derby, the field consists of forty horses. I�m not a big gambler. I�ve played the national lottery twice, I think. But I have a long-standing tradition of betting on the Grand National, going back to the year 2002. That year I put all my money on a horse called David�s Lad. I figured if somebody had gone to the trouble of naming a horse after Aidan, it was worth putting a bet on. I�d never been in a bookie�s before so I didn�t know exactly what to do. Fortunately, the betting shop was well staffed, since I�m not the only person who only ever bets on the first Saturday in May. I remember a nice older lady with a three-pack-a-day voice filling in my slip for me and pointing me toward the cashier. Alas, David�s Lad, though quite promising with some of the shortest odds, did not manage to finish in the first four places. I lost my �2. This year I bet on the horse named after my old band, Ad Hoc. In a similar train of thought, I figured I should back any horse named after one of the best bands in the history of local Christian music in Indianapolis. For a time Ad Hoc was the joint favourite to win. When I went into Ladbrokes, it was at 10 to1. I had the choice of either taking it at 10 to 1 or at the price in effect at the start of the race. I opted for the former. At least this part of my keen gamblers intuition was correct, because Ad Hoc dropped to 8 to 1 and rose to 9 to 1 just before the start. There are 30 fences to be jumped in the Grand National. They vary in height and drop, but they are very high fences. This is what separates this race from the rest of the season. Horses that have no problem jumping throughout the country are put to the biggest possible test. One year, only four horses finished the race at all. Horses are often lost in the Grand National. I said all that just to say Ad Hoc fell at the 19th fence and I lost my money again. All �3. I was watching the race with Mrs Holford�s mother�s domestic partner. He fared better. He had �10 both ways (to win or finish in the top four) on the horse that finished third and won about �30. Well, enough gambling for one year� |