The Star of London

OK, OK, I had a look and I couldn't resist. The guy is a comic genius.

All four:

1



2



3



4

Equal Opportunities Offending

This guy isn't afraid to offend anyone. Good for him.



This is part 2 of four. I haven't investigated parts 1, 3 and 4 yet, but I will. If they are anything like this, it will be a treat.

What a shame that he will soon be collecting his P45. He will, sure as eggs. This kind of thing can't be allowed.

UPDATE: all four parts here. Couldn't resist.

Cyclone Yasi

Thankfully, it looks as though Cyclone Yasi hasn't caused the death and destruction that was feared when it was approaching Eastern Australia. So far, no lives have been lost. But via JoNova, there were some of the most awesome images I have ever seen of climatic events. Jo wrote "file under shock and awe", and I can't disagree.

First, a plain old satellite image of the approaching storm:



And then the storm image overlaid on a map of the USA and UK, just for comparison:



That thing is HUGE.

All my good wishes and sympathy to our good friends in Australia. As if you didn't have enough with the floods ... Good luck, guys.

Jo points out in a later post that super-cyclones have been hitting Queensland regularly for at least 5000 years. But that won't stop the alarmists from blaming it all on Global Warming Climate Change Disruption, now will it? After all, if you restrict your time-frame to the right period (say the last 100 years), then man is obviously to blame, no?

Good luck, Sandmonkey

Via Peter Risdon's always thought-provoking blog, I came across a post by the leading Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey. It's a fascinating and frightening insight into the recent events in Egypt from the viewpoint of someone involved.

Yesterday, he tweeted this:

This means the regime knows who i am and where I live. My life is now officially in danger. #jan25

Then he was arrested, while trying to take medical supplies into Tahrir Square. Shortly afterwards, his blog was taken down. Throigh Twitter, he asked people to read his most recent post. I repeat it here in full. It's worth a few minutes of your time to read.

I don’t know how to start writing this. I have been battling fatigue for not sleeping properly for the past 10 days, moving from one’s friend house to another friend’s house, almost never spending a night in my home, facing a very well funded and well organized ruthless regime that views me as nothing but an annoying bug that its time to squash will come. The situation here is bleak to say the least.

It didn’t start out that way. On Tuesday Jan 25 it all started peacefully, and against all odds, we succeeded to gather hundreds of thousands and get them into Tahrir Square, despite being attacked by Anti-Riot Police who are using sticks, tear gas and rubber bullets against us. We managed to break all of their barricades and situated ourselves in Tahrir. The government responded by shutting down all cell communication in Tahrir square, a move which purpose was understood later when after midnight they went in with all of their might and attacked the protesters and evacuated the Square. The next day we were back at it again, and the day after. Then came Friday and we braved their communication blackout, their thugs, their tear gas and their bullets and we retook the square. We have been fighting to keep it ever since.

That night the government announced a military curfew, which kept getting shorter by the day, until it became from 8 am to 3 pm. People couldn’t go to work, gas was running out quickly and so were essential goods and money, since the banks were not allowed to operate and people were not able to collect their salary. The internet continued to be blocked, which affected all businesses in Egypt and will cause an economic meltdown the moment they allow the banks to operate again. We were being collectively punished for daring to say that we deserve democracy and rights, and to keep it up, they withdrew the police, and then sent them out dressed as civilians to terrorize our neighborhoods. I was shot at twice that day, one of which with a semi-automatic by a dude in a car that we the people took joy in pummeling. The government announced that all prisons were breached, and that the prisoners somehow managed to get weapons and do nothing but randomly attack people. One day we had organized thugs in uniforms firing at us and the next day they disappeared and were replaced by organized thugs without uniforms firing at us. Somehow the people never made the connection.

Despite it all, we braved it. We believed we are doing what’s right and were encouraged by all those around us who couldn’t believe what was happening to their country. What he did galvanized the people, and on Tuesday, despite shutting down all major roads leading into Cairo, we managed to get over 2 million protesters in Cairo alone and 3 million all over Egypt to come out and demand Mubarak’s departure. Those are people who stood up to the regime’s ruthlessness and anger and declared that they were free, and were refusing to live in the Mubarak dictatorship for one more day. That night, he showed up on TV, and gave a very emotional speech about how he intends to step down at the end of his term and how he wants to die in Egypt, the country he loved and served. To me, and to everyone else at the protests this wasn’t nearly enough, for we wanted him gone now. Others started asking that we give him a chance, and that change takes time and other such poppycock. Hell, some people and family members cried when they saw his speech. People felt sorry for him for failing to be our dictator for the rest of his life and inheriting us to his Son. It was an amalgam of Stockholm syndrome coupled with slave mentality in a malevolent combination that we never saw before. And the Regime capitalized on it today.

Today, they brought back the internet, and started having people calling on TV and writing on facebook on how they support Mubarak and his call for stability and peacefull change in 8 months. They hung on to the words of the newly appointed government would never harm the protesters, whom they believe to be good patriotic youth who have a few bad apples amongst them. We started getting calls asking people to stop protesting because “we got what we wanted” and “we need the country to start working again”. People were complaining that they miss their lives. That they miss going out at night, and ordering Home Delivery. That they need us to stop so they can resume whatever existence they had before all of this. All was forgiven, the past week never happened and it’s time for Unity under Mubarak’s rule right now.

To all of those people I say: NEVER! I am sorry that your lives and businesses are disrupted, but this wasn’t caused by the Protesters. The Protesters aren’t the ones who shut down the internet that has paralyzed your businesses and banks: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who initiated the military curfew that limited your movement and allowed goods to disappear off market shelves and gas to disappear: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who ordered the police to withdraw and claimed the prisons were breached and unleashed thugs that terrorized your neighborhoods: The government did. The same government that you wish to give a second chance to, as if 30 years of dictatorship and utter failure in every sector of government wasn’t enough for you. The Slaves were ready to forgive their master, and blame his cruelty on those who dared to defy him in order to ensure a better Egypt for all of its citizens and their children. After all, he gave us his word, and it’s not like he ever broke his promises for reform before or anything.

Then Mubarak made his move and showed them what useful idiots they all were.

You watched on TV as “Pro-Mubarak Protesters” – thugs who were paid money by NDP members by admission of High NDP officials- started attacking the peaceful unarmed protesters in Tahrir square. They attacked them with sticks, threw stones at them, brought in men riding horses and camels- in what must be the most surreal scene ever shown on TV- and carrying whips to beat up the protesters. And then the Bullets started getting fired and Molotov cocktails started getting thrown at the Anti-Mubarak Protesters as the Army standing idly by, allowing it all to happen and not doing anything about it. Dozens were killed, hundreds injured, and there was no help sent by ambulances. The Police never showed up to stop those attacking because the ones who were captured by the Anti-mubarak people had police ID’s on them. They were the police and they were there to shoot and kill people and even tried to set the Egyptian Museum on Fire. The Aim was clear: Use the clashes as pretext to ban such demonstrations under pretexts of concern for public safety and order, and to prevent disunity amongst the people of Egypt. But their plans ultimately failed, by those resilient brave souls who wouldn’t give up the ground they freed of Egypt, no matter how many live bullets or firebombs were hurled at them. They know, like we all do, that this regime no longer cares to put on a moderate mask. That they have shown their true nature. That Mubarak will never step down, and that he would rather burn Egypt to the ground than even contemplate that possibility.

In the meantime, State-owned and affiliated TV channels were showing coverage of Peaceful Mubarak Protests all over Egypt and showing recorded footage of Tahrir Square protest from the night before and claiming it’s the situation there at the moment. Hundreds of calls by public figures and actors started calling the channels saying that they are with Mubarak, and that he is our Father and we should support him on the road to democracy. A veiled girl with a blurred face went on Mehwer TV claiming to have received funding by Americans to go to the US and took courses on how to bring down the Egyptian government through protests which were taught by Jews. She claimed that AlJazeera is lying, and that the only people in Tahrir square now were Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. State TV started issuing statements on how the people arrested Israelis all over Cairo engaged in creating mayhem and causing chaos. For those of you who are counting this is an American-Israeli-Qatari-Muslim Brotherhood-Iranian-Hamas conspiracy. Imagine that. And MANY PEOPLE BOUGHT IT. I recall telling a friend of mine that the only good thing about what happened today was that it made clear to us who were the idiots amongst our friends. Now we know.

Now, just in case this isn’t clear: This protest is not one made or sustained by the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s one that had people from all social classes and religious background in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood only showed up on Tuesday, and even then they were not the majority of people there by a long shot. We tolerated them there since we won’t say no to fellow Egyptians who wanted to stand with us, but neither the Muslims Brotherhood not any of the Opposition leaders have the ability to turn out one tenth of the numbers of Protesters that were in Tahrir on Tuesday. This is a revolution without leaders. Three Million individuals choosing hope instead of fear and braving death on hourly basis to keep their dream of freedom alive. Imagine that.

The End is near. I have no illusions about this regime or its leader, and how he will pluck us and hunt us down one by one till we are over and done with and 8 months from now will pay people to stage fake protests urging him not to leave power, and he will stay “because he has to acquiesce to the voice of the people”. This is a losing battle and they have all the weapons, but we will continue fighting until we can’t. I am heading to Tahrir right now with supplies for the hundreds injured, knowing that today the attacks will intensify, because they can’t allow us to stay there come Friday, which is supposed to be the game changer. We are bringing everybody out, and we will refuse to be anything else than peaceful. If you are in Egypt, I am calling on all of you to head down to Tahrir today and Friday. It is imperative to show them that the battle for the soul of Egypt isn’t over and done with. I am calling you to bring your friends, to bring medical supplies, to go and see what Mubarak’s gurantees look like in real life. Egypt needs you. Be Heroes.

Peter adds:

UPDATE: It’s now been tweeted that: “@Sandmonkey’s been released, he’s on his way home. His car has been destroyed and he and friends were beaten.”

Safer motorbikes? Well ...

First off, apologies for the break in posting. I've been busy with RL stuff, that's all.

Anyway, back to motorcycle safety, and that article that I mentioned a few days ago. Of course, I mentioned that it had caught my attention, and then everything I was going to say was said in the comments before I got round to posting. But here's a flavour of the article:

Motorbikes could soon be sporting collision detection and other safety features more usually found on cars.

Research is testing ways to put these systems on motor bikes and how best to alert riders to dangers on the road.

The systems tested include warnings about speed limits, the tightness of road bends and information about other vehicles to aid lane-changing.

It. Won't. Work. As an exercise in misunderstanding your subject and barking so far up the wrong tree that you are getting your goolies caught on its topmost branches, it couldn't be better. These ideas stand no chance of being accepted by motorcyclists, even (and perhaps especially) by the 'less experienced' riders they are hoping to help. The whole thing is a total non-starter.

To any regular rider, this doesn't need explaining, but to those who are not in the grip of a motorcycling addiction, I shall try to describe why. The first, and most obvious, point is to ask: why would anyone object to something being made safer? The modifications proposed would be more likely, in my view, to be distracting and anything but safe, but if we go along with the idea for a moment ...

"Saferider takes the driver safety systems that are becoming standard on cars
and tries to adapt them to the unique needs of motorcyclists," said Jonathan
Moore, an ITS consultant at Mira, involved in the Saferider project.

Here you have the key: Moore is an IT specialist, not a rider. He sees solutions in silicon and automation; riders see solutions in skill and experience.

Modern cars are wonderful things. Warm, dry, safe, they start with a press of a button and stop with the aid of brakes that can't get you in a skid. They tell you when you are low on fuel, they tell you when you have left your lights on, they tell you when a door is slightly open. Some cars nowadays will even park themselves. Driving a car has never been easier, and the way things are going you won't need any skill at all. Jump in, set the climate control, put your destination into the satnav, and the car will take you there. Radar will steer for you and keep you from getting too close to the car in front, the satnav will manage the engine and keep you from going too fast, and cruise control will keep you at the approved speed for as long as it takes. It will be a bit like going on the train, but without the drunks (unless you supply your own).

And this opens motoring to everyone. No need to develop any skills or extra knowledge, just jump in and go. Motoring for the microwaved ready-meal generation. This may be a good thing, but for some of us it removes any sense of enjoyment from the experience. Classic cars (ones with proper gearboxes, and chokes, and engines you have to do things to) have never been more popular, and I wonder why.

The whole deal with riding a bike is that it is you that are doing the riding. You are sitting on top of a collection of metal parts that, given the right kind of inputs from the operator, can get you where you want to be quicker than anything else, or can land you in hospital. Give you the experience that brightens your whole day, or give you a broken leg. Thrill you, or kill you.

And that is the point. You are in charge. You decide. You make the moves, not a computer. When you ride a bike, you are living on your wits, and yours alone. Whether it all turns out well or badly is up to you. There aren't many areas of life left to us where you can say that. I could go so far as to say that a motorbike is the ultimate Libertarian device: your actions all have consequences, and whether they are good or bad ones is up to you. There is no Nanny to 'guide' you into correct behaviour or protect you from yourself, and thank God for that.

So any attempt to make bikes more like cars is doomed to failure. You might as well ride a roller-coaster, if you want thrills devoid of any responsibility for the outcome. Or drive a car with (daringly) all the windows open. And if you give new riders all these 'safety' features, how will they ever learn to ride without them? I suppose that's the point. They won't. And then that will be yet another area of life where we have lost the ability to act for ourselves and take the consequences.

Come to think of it, I'm surprised thay haven't banned bikes already. I'm sure they will - either just before or just after they ban mountaineering.

Thanks to Joe Public for the excellent image above, and to Smoking Hot for the link to the original article.