[SA Chris]

Yeah, it's laughable, scary and sad all at the same time.

I am the greatest African who has ever lived," Mugabe said.

According to all the votes cast by one person; Bob himself.

[Ru]

More evidence of insanity from everyone's least favourite despot.

http://dailycurrant.com/2013/08/05/robert-mugabe-blasts-coward-nelson-mandela/

The Daily Currant has this to say about their stories:

Q. Are your news stories real?

A. No. Our stories are purely fictional. However they are meant to address real-world issues through satire and often refer and link to real events happening in the world

[slackline]

He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy...

[andyd]

Oprah told handbag was too expensive for her...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23626340

Oprah says sorry for calling Switzerland racist
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23679605

Apparently, the between the lines (but unspoken by Swiss media) story was that she was dressed and make-upped in the style of a local lady of the night.

You gotta love the Swiss 

[andy_e]

Squat for me!

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/akinwale-arobieke-touched-well-built-mens-5392415

Purple Aki's been a hero in the Scouse climbing scene for some years now, just ask Richie Crouch, Mills, Hoppo, Youngy...

[DaveC]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-23/bradley-manning-says-he-wants-to-live-as-a-woman-named-chelsea/4906888

Saw the headline and this just popped into my head...

[Pantontino]

Hope you're all keeping a keen eye locked on the unfolding NSA, Snowden/Miranda/forced destruction of guardian computer hard drives etc... story

And then today a very strange and quite possibly sinister story in the Independent (who exactly was their source?):

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-uks-secret-mideast-internet-surveillance-base-is-revealed-in-edward-snowden-leaks-8781082.html

I'm really hoping the Indie have got a credible explanation for their actions, otherwise it doesn't look good.

[andy popp]

For The Independent you mean? I didn't think they have any sort of reputation for being cavalier, printing unverifiable stories or of having to retract?

[mrjonathanr]

It just looks like a story created by Whitehall for the Indy to publish. Odd that there's no reference to sources  beyond 'a senior Whitehall source' - and the only quote from Greenwald makes him appear spiteful and subjective.

[slackline]

Pastafarianism

[tomtom]

[outlawed]

that's Trowbarrow fucked then.

But hey, a nuclear holocaust can only improve tintern quarry.

[Oldmanmatt]

Nice Dave...

Real nice...

Quote from the Groaniard.

<quote>David Cameron accused Ed Miliband of siding with Russia and letting down the United States over Syria in an acrimonious phone call made between the leaders a day before the Commons votes against intervention in Syria, according to Labour sources.
Details of the remarkably frank conversation emerged after Downing Street aides attempted to blame Miliband for killing off the government's plans to take military action against Bashar al-Assad's regime in conjunction with the US.
When Miliband made it clear in the call he would not support the government motion without more conditions, an exasperated Cameron accused him of "letting down America" and "siding with [Sergei] Lavrov", the Russian foreign minister, and an ally of Assad.
One Labour aide said that was the point in which negotiations between Cameron and Miliband first started to break down on Wednesday.
Cameron was hoping to reach cross-party consensus on a roadmap towards military action.
The Labour source said Miliband had also been disappointed by the language of a government source, who told the Times: "No 10 and the Foreign Office think Miliband is a fucking cunt and a copper-bottomed shit."
"Ed wasn't angry, he was frustrated by the flippancy of it," the Labour source said.
Relations between Downing Street and Labour have grown increasingly bitter over the last 48 hours, as the two sides failed to back a common motion on Syria.<quote>
 

Where does this guy get off?

[andyd]

 
I've been following this all closely. The more I read, the more I feel that whatever decision is made will let innocent people down in an unimaginable way.
The one thing that has angered me here is the way our MPs have behaved. The breakdown of votes just shows how they voted as they were told to by their leader. What a bunch of puppets, all taking part in a popularity contest with the ultimate aim of being in Government. Perhaps the only reason for us letting bad things happen around the world is we can't even sort our own house out.

[Oldmanmatt]

I'd love to think Assad could be stopped by a bombing campaign. They get more accurate as time passes and the degree of collateral damage (fucking hate that term) has reduced dramatically in the last few decades.

But.

I don't believe it will have the effect that people are expecting.

 History doesn't support the hypothesis.

I've been up close to these things before (for me it was the 90/91 round of the Gulf shenanigans (and that solved f'all) and the shithole formally know as Yugoslavia and some interesting forays into West Africa where the local thugs liked to alter children's shirts from long sleeve to short sleeves with machetes and the arms still inside).

Anyone who's ever read any of my previous posts may notice a less than subtle difference in my turn of phrase in this one.

Now.

That said.

Assassination is a different story.

And we have the right tools for that job.

Some of them have recently suspended their Facebook accounts too...




But what then?

Take a look at our intervention legacy since WW2.

It ain't great.


Libya has to be the most "hands off" intervention the West has ever made and it's not going so well.

I'm damn glad I'm not having to make any of these decisions, I couldn't.

And the horrors of Syria right now, would be enough for me to forsake my commitment to pacifism.

But I'm afraid Dave is more interested in playing Lawrence than actually helping anyone. 

[mrjonathanr]

Perhaps the only reason for us letting bad things happen around the world is we can't even sort our own house out.

The only reason is how it stands up against our self-interest, and the long game to control that magic little word, oil. Morality is for PR only I'm afraid.

[lagerstarfish]

http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-boffins-brew-up-a-hydrating-beer-20130816-2s20b.html

If you're going to live in the real world, you can either spend your time telling people what they shouldn't do, or you can work on ways of reducing the danger of some of these socialised activities

[Wood FT]

The new super beer paves the way for products to be developed

non-addictive crack biscuits

[slackline]

I'm an Idiot   

[SA Chris]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/boozy-feral-pig-steals-beer-gets-drunk-and-starts-fight-with-a-cow-8805312.html

Can a news story get any better?

[Jaspersharpe]

Life immitating Viz.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24031979



 

[SA Chris]

I wonder if he's buying his ticket with leftover money from live aid?

[mrjonathanr]

Pure Unreason

[slackline]

Good news for wankers (in Sweden)


....but cyclists beware

[slackline]

Beware of Pennywise in Northampton

Fear not, Borris the Clown Catcher will save you


Just 'a bit of harmless fun' says Pennywise