We are the masters now...

[beagle]

http://tinyurl.com/3cctyb

Evil atheist grin...

(Only kidding. I know that's unToadfish, and I don't approve,  but it's an interesting example of the way two of the English-speaking peoples have headed off in different directions).

[Black Bart]

Okily Dokily Neighbour...and remember, the Lord loves Ya!

I only posted this because I aint spoken to you in ages! Plus I never read The Telegraph so it's interesting to see another point of view.

[beagle]

I don't think The Telegraph is particularly religious, other than about the blessed Margaret of course.

Okily Dokily Neighbour...and remember, the Lord loves Ya!

How very reassuring. (Are pirates supposed to go round saying that sort of thing by the way?).

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

While I don't know the statistics regarding theism vs atheism in Britain, I have the feeling that if the same poll were made in the States it would deliver similar results. That may have something to do with the apparent pleasure some fundamentalists take on being *prosecuted*, or haven't you heard about the 'War on Christmas'?

[goat starer]

other than about the blessed Margaret of course.

Beckett?

[beagle]

There is only one blessed Margaret, Goat. Apparently they're going to make a film about her life in the run-up to the Falklands (you remember, when we still had a navy, before Blair reformed it).
They'll have fun finding a luvvie who wants to play her.

While I don't know the statistics regarding theism vs atheism in Britain, I have the feeling that if the same poll were made in the States it would deliver similar results. That may have something to do with the apparent pleasure some fundamentalists take on being *prosecuted*, or haven't you heard about the 'War on Christmas'?

You're probably right, though Britain is far more secular by most measures. If I remember correctly below 7% are regular churchgoers; I think it's nearer 50% in the U.S. (wouldn't swear to that though).

[Griffin NoName]

Ah! A new film by your friend of the History Boys: =The Lady is for filming - Thatcher the Movie

When will they make a film about her lying to the House over flight BA149's landing time when she knew Iraq had invaded Kuwait at 3 a.m.? (Most recent Ref. BBC2 last night, Last Flight to Kuwait: The secret of.... don't blame me when this link stops working, it's got "yesterday" in the address )

Who is going to write "The Lies British Prime Ministers Told"?

Someone asked a great question in parliament today but I was only half watching. So I tried to find it on the BBC website -Parliament Today section. Typing in a rather over-ambitious relevant search - "Iraq" and "dossier" - gave me:

BBC Parliament describes the heated exchanges over the national health service in Wales.

Is this a cover up?

[beagle]

... she knew Iraq had invaded Kuwait at 3 a.m.?

Ah, the good old days when we reacted to invasions rather than starting them.

Who is going to write "The Lies British Prime Ministers Told"?

I believe it's called Hansard.

Is this a cover up?

Seeing as they seem to be alienating the junior doctors as they did the dentists they may soon be using Iraq to distract from the NHS.

Thank goodness David Cameron is here to save us from the "Stalinist ruthlessness".. (If I say that often enough I might start believing it).

[goat starer]

will they include the bit where she orders the sinking of an outdated WWII cruiser fit only for the scrapyard killing 323 people unnecessarily then lied to parliament and the british electorate to cover up this pointless act of barbarism??

look at this menace to british the British Navy....



back when she was called the USS phoenix at Pearl Harbour

menacing or what! I am suprised she did not go on to sink some other menacing vessels of the argentine fleet such as.....

The General Tortuga


The General Maria Rosa


And of course the famous flagship seen here during the visit of General Galtieri in 1982


---------------------------------------------------------------

PS. on a pirating note here is HMS Conqueror the sub marine that sank the belgrano. If you look very closely you will see that it is flying the jolly roger

[beagle]

Always an interesting exercise, after the war is over, and one was not the one at risk, to speculate on which actions were and weren't necessary.

Of course the real trick is to only get involved in wars which are, at some point, over. 

[Black Bart]

Quote from The Goat

"And of course the famous flagship seen here during the visit of General Galtieri in 1982"

Where did you get that photo of My Dad ye blaggard?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

That war is the workbook definition of "Stupid and Pointless War". Did they found anything valuable on those rocks appart from the sheeps (goats )?

The Junta was in its worse moment when they went on with their foolish idea (divert local issues with a war? Where have I heard that before?). For some reason it makes me wonder what will happen if the price of oil goes down and Chavez finds himself in a similar situation.

[goat starer]

I think it is safe to say that the price of oil will never go down (and to compare Chavez and the Junta is a fairly odd thing to do - sometimes I feel these 'democrats' and 'republicans' have no interest in democratic republics) 

As pointless wars go the Falklands is about the pick of the bunch. If the argentians want them so much then they are welcome to them. They are simply a massive drain on taxpayers on the UK. Surely if we can give Hong Kong back to the chinese then handing over two rocks in the south atlantic to their nearest neighbour seems reasonable.

As for the hindsight issue yes it is easy but it was also easy at the time to see that the sinking was an attempt to portray a 'victory' whilst the taskforce took a battering from (fortunately french and faulty) missiles.

Thatcher got her headline (probably the second most despicable Sun headline after the hillsborough one) and then got a lot more when the extent of her duplicity was revealed by Ponting.

regardless of the rights and wrongs of the sinking the ponting affair showed Maggie to be the lying, conniving, power hungry, intractable, duplicitous, ugly (well she was!  ) old baggage she was.

[beagle]

If the islands had been uninhabited there wouldn't have been a war. It was the images of Britons in captivity that obliged Mrs Thatcher to act. It's interesting to speculate what would have happened if Galtieri had given the residents £200,000 each and a ticket to the UK rather than gloating over and humiliating them.

Incidentally, the Exocet missiles gleefully supplied by our allies the French were far from faulty. Lots of far-reaching lessons with consequences to today (and not just about shipbuilding) were learnt from that war.

[Griffin NoName]

Did they found anything valuable on those rocks appart from the sheeps (goats )?

Probably too early to tell. A few million years of Brits living in isolation on rocks with sheep (and goats?) may produce some evolutionary gem. They want to do it and far be it from our Government not to support them - after all we support pregnant teenagers getting council houses.