Tim Blair

Well, I wondered (heheh) why no one had commented, and then I tried to. Some glitch in the system had this post hung up. I signed in, resaved it, and now it seems to work. Feel free to wonder on!

MMMMMMM....Brains.....

Go here for all the brains you need!

Tim missed a wonder (11:25). Wonder if this is because of too many wonders. Wonder.

Innervision. Fulfillingness' First Finale. Songs in the Key of Life. Does it have anything to do with Stevie? I wonder.

I wonder how old Margo is.

We can read Margo for ourselves. We don't need you to paraphrase it for us, day in day out. Shock me and write something original for a change. This blogmire is going to pieces.

Walked directly into Mrs Habib?
I wonder why anyone would be so rude, or clumsy.
Doped to the eyeballs maybe? Wonder.

There's plenty of her to walk into- she's like Mike Moore, but with smaller tits.

Did she mean serjeant?
Or has security been taken over by the army?

I free my zipper to use my...

She just wants us to use our brains. Our delicious brains...

In an apparent 180 degree turnaround, the Australian Government has switched from its anti-dictator pro-liberation policy (Iraq) to a pro-dictator anti-liberation policy (China). What could possibly be the reason for such contradictory morality? Hmmm, let's see...free trade agreement with the US...multi-billion dollar gas deal with China...yes, that could be it. I guess that makes Australia not so much the "lucky country" as the "slutty country".

Oh well, I'd better get back to watching "Australian Idol"...

Direct action was possible in Iraq. It is not possible to overthrow China's oligarchy - therefore a different approach is needed. The Anglosphere has chosen 'engagement' with China. We chose direct action in Iraq.

International relations is the art of the possible. No-one will go to the wall for Tibet, even though it would be the morally consitent path. We might go to the wall for Taiwan, or South Korea.

See how different circumstances are treated differently?

Cause they're... uh... different?

You're smokin' your own merchandise pusher.

Uninvited war widow. Wonder.
WMD. Wonder.
Mission Accomplished. Wonder.
Progress. Wonder.

Truly, we live in an Age of Wonders.

Jesus, don't bewilder thepusher with facts and logic about this big confusing world of ours. You'll cause him to wonder overload.

I wonder what Nemesis is going on about. Then again, he seems to speak Margolese. Perhaps he can take over translating duties from Tim, thus giving Miranda someone else to complain about.

Hey, Christmas is coming up! Don't say I never gave you nuthin'.

Ordinary Iraqi's going about their lives without having to worry about them and their relatives being tortured, raped and murdered. A fact many in the West refuse to acknowledge. Wonder.

"Don't say I never gave you nuthin'."
.

.

.

.

Wonder.

How did she get her job as a 'reporter'? Wonder.

Reading these excerpts, I was reminded of a line from the movie Murder By Death, screamed by Truman Capote:

"Your articles! Use your articles!"

I don't understand your concern, thepusher - having one policy for Iraq, and acknowledging the need for another for China, seems more like that "nuance" the left is always clamoring for in foreign policy. Wonder.

"Free our minds to use the brains." Hmm....could someone pass the water bong my way and then maybe I'll figure out what Miss Margo's saying?

The left seems to be pretty strictly into pseudo-moralistic bluster & agitprop these days.

"International relations is the art of the possible."

Ok, so why don't you guys apply the "art of the possible" ahead of "moral consistency" in the Middle East. You only need look to the history of Northern Ireland and South Africa to discover that attempting to defeat terrorism using overwhelming force does not work, whereas progress can be made through negotiation. Whenever anyone suggests this you shout them down because we'd be "giving in to terrorism".

"International Relations is the Art of the Powerful."

Northern Ireland and South Africa. Nice models, those.

Pusher,

Actually, the Brits had nearly completely defeated the terrorists in Northern Ireland by using force. That is why the IRA gave up the armed struggle. Unfortunately, the Poms have been too limp-wristed in the negotiations. That's why the "peace process" has stalled. And the IRA, through it's front men at Sinn Fein, still operates local criminal gangs that run the Catholic areas of the the cities of Ulster. The fact that the British and Irish Governments are negotiating with these twats makes their transformation from terrorists to mafioso all the more simple.

Oh, they're having great fun over at the Web-diary today. Check out this article by some historian studying for her PhD - she reckons that the Howard Government is guilty of using fascist tactics. Then check out the link there to the original speech by George Brandis, in which he accuses the Green party of using fascist tactics. I don't really agree with either - but the standard Green bully-boy tactics of shouting down the opposition, mass demonstrations, etc, and mystical Green ideology do have their links with fascism.

I think Margo's web diary is a testament to what a wonderful place Australia is. 100 or even 50 years ago, a Margo type would have been sitting on a street corner in a puddle of he own urine, talking to herself and shouting abuse at the occasional passer by. Today, Margo is paid a 6 figure salary to shout abuse. In what other country, save the USA, could a ranting lunatic have such a high standard of living?

"See how different circumstances are treated differently?"

Bloated Elvis is so right, er, correct.

It's actually an exquisite form of cultural superiority, with a dash of racism thrown in.

Deep down, we don't expect anything better from the Chinese in Tibet (and lots of other examples in Asia and Africa), so we don't waste our efforts on the unattainable.

Free the minds to use the brains.

In the clear absence of either minds or brains, it is little *wonder* that many of you don't get it.

I *wonder* if you ever will.

Bb Brown for PM. Vote Green, and avagoodweekend.

*off to long lunch at Wildfire with the rest of the loony left*

"Actually, the Brits had nearly completely defeated the terrorists..."

Nearly completely...definitely maybe...

So if the Brits had refused to negotiate and the IRA had set off another massive bomb killing more innocents, would that have a been better result?

The point that right-wingers continually miss is that these issues are primarily political, and therefore can only be solved politically. Most ethnic hatreds stem from a history of political discrimination, and this is the case in Northern Ireland and the Middle East.

As long as the core political issues remain, so will the violence. The more you try to solve the problem with violence, the more violence you will face. If you are truly interested in protecting your citizens, then you work towards a negotiated political solution.

Unfortunately the word "terrorism" seems to cause right-wingers to switch off their brains and throw away their pragmatism in favour of self-righteous dogma.

Wow, saddam's 30 year reign of terror wae political in nature, and had a 'political' solution? Who knew!

All that political gassing of kurds, political invasion of his neighbors, all caused by political discrimination against Saddam, like that awfully unfair political discrimination against Hilter by the Jews that caused him to lash out.

What I love about being lectured by the left is all the interesting things we learn about politics.

Very wistful, Margo. Or post-menopausal. Wonder.

I spotted a few typos. She obviously meant: "We have to flee our mimes to booze the grains."

Blunder.

Nemesis,

The problem with zen Matrix-like drivel like "Free the mind to use the brains" is that it can mean whatever it is one wants it to mean, because everyone has an interpretation of what a free mind is. Fortune cookie postulates in the absence of substantive thought only serve the purpose of amusing those who recognize it for what it is. It's like writing a "hook" for pop music -- may sell more copies, but will never be confused with Bach.

Australia has been let down by the USA in the worst way since it was a 30 per cent ally.

In its latest set of prioritization, the National Human Genetics Research Institute has given the Tammar Wallaby only a moderate priority, while the opossum (native to South America) gets a high priority.

Even when ignoring the affect this decision will have on the Australian street, the decision is pretty lousy. When you think of marsupials, do you think of opossums or of wallabies?

Mr. Andjam, let me assure you that no slight is intended. It's got nothing to do with what one thinks of upon hearing the word "marsupial," and everything to do with what tastes good with sweet taters. We at the NHGRI have determined that we need to first utilize our precious genetics research resources on cataloguing the amusing, useful, and/or delicious animals.

Sincerely,

Dr. Redneck Peckerwood, M.D.
NHGRI

Tim:

From your most recent post (because for some reason, I cannot leave a comment there:)

Last night in Youngsville, Ohio

I think you mean "Youngstown, Ohio"...;)

cheshirecat

This may seem too obvious a question, but why does she say “...free our minds to use the brains” rather than “...free our minds in order to use them”?

Why does she go for a synonym that adds so little that transposition makes no difference?:
“...free our minds to use the brains”
...free our brains to use the minds

Actually there is some difference of meaning, a difference of nuance at the very least, between “mind” & “brain,” but Margo is plainly not the kind of writer who cares about words & meanings.

I couldn't leave a comment on his new post, either. I think maybe it's because he doesn't want anyone talking about how he twists the heads off parakeets and relieves himself in sinks;)

Lileks suggested "an Australian" may be visiting him...

Meanwhile Tim is working his way west across the USA...

This can only mean one thing:

Lileks is going to meet Paul Hogan! That is so cool! "G'day, Mite!"

I fixed the problem with the new post. It must be something to do with his connection -- the entry didn't seem to be completely saved.

Google has got Mr cut-and-paste down pat - Tim Blair is listed under:

Category: Arts > Performing Arts > Impersonators

How seeringly accurate. And his flock of sheep should be listed under "free thinkers". Oh, the irony makes me weep with laughter. Next we'll find out Tim's swindled an Australia Council grant to pay for the "Listening Tour".

The continuing crisis in confidence badly needs a fillip, what with 18 more GI's dead in free and democratic Iraq. And just think, Dubya won;t even go to their funerals.

Alright, alright, already...

What Margo really means is.....

THINK.

Well d'uh.

But, dedicated as most of you are to the avoidance of thought, it's little surprise you are perplexed.

If Margo knew that you lot would be so confused, she probably would have cut down the excess words. But as she's mainly writing for the (at least semi-)literate she's clearly aiming somewhere higher than this audience group.

And yes, yes. I am semi-literate.

Nemo, is that the same as being semi-illiterate?

Our boy Tim has been doing a little partying with Lileks. Check it out here.

Looks as if Miranda's taken the cat's fertility drugs instead of her lithium, again. Kittens all over the place.

Nemesis,

As stated earlier, (semi)-literate readers and writers hate writing like this, as it is pseudo-intellectual. It falls under the category of Andrew Sullivan's "Poseur Alert," in which a person writes garbage in a way that seems profound, but only to a person who doesn't know any better. Much like people think "The Matrix" is full of philosophical enlightenment. It reads like a fortune cookie -- suppoedly deep, but churned out by monkeys. You've defended her writing in the past, but she'd fail a sixth grade writing class. It has nothing to do with whether I agree with her or not -- this is about somebody who has difficulty conveying even the simplest of thoughts via writing, without botching a substantive part of it. It's embarrassing for whoever pays her to write.

And re: Miranda Divide, your conclusions are irrelevant because you constantly start from false premises. Those 18 soldiers are dead because Iraq is not free and democratic yet -- it must be nice to align yourself with those who would keep it that way. And please, do not accuse me of demogoguery -- your tone suggests that you enjoy seeing soldiers die in order for you to try and score cheap political points. In any event, their deaths are not, and will not be, in vain. We may disagree on the process by which this war proceeded, but the nobility of the goal can only be disputed by those who see freedom as no better, and possibly worse, than tyranny.

Jerry

P.S. If Bush did attend every funeral, we'd then be reading Magroe and the NYT cite this as an example of Bush "politicizing the war," and "using the deaths of soldiers to win re-election."

Right, Jerry, I see. Bush isn't going to funerals coz it would only play into the hands of the nasty liberal media. Honoring those who died for their country carrying out his orders just doesn't come into it.

Actually, it's pretty rare for a serving President to attend a military funeral. This is just one more fake outrage the lefties have had to invent.

Miranda,

You may want to try reading glasses. I did not say that the reason Bush was not attending funerals was because of what the Left would say -- thankfully, he's been ignoring you every step of the way. I said that would be the spin if he did, you can bet. See, that requires a "nuanced" understanding...

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry... of course Dubya can't attend EVERY funeral, but apparently he's been too busy fundraising and playing golf to attend even one!!! viz:

"There are those who say Bush should have emulated Rudolph Giuliani's empathetic leadership in New York after Sept. 11, or Dad's in the first Gulf War, and attended some of the funerals of the 379 Americans killed in Iraq. Or one. Maybe the one for Specialist Darryl Dent, the 21-year-old National Guardsman from Washington who died outside Baghdad in late August when a bomb struck his truck while he was delivering mail to troops. His funeral was held at a Baptist church three miles, or about 5 kilometers, from the White House."

Miranda, Miranda, Miranda,

Again, I never said what her should do one way or the other. Is this too hard? What I predicted is that, should he attend ANY funeral, he will be accused by at least some on the Left (certainly at Indymedia) for "politicizing" the deaths of soldiers. I, personally, don't really care whether he does or doesn't -- it's a non-starter.

Jerry

Miranda, Miranda, Miranda,

Again, I never said what her should do one way or the other. Is this too hard? What I predicted is that, should he attend ANY funeral, he will be accused by at least some on the Left (certainly at Indymedia) for "politicizing" the deaths of soldiers. I, personally, don't really care whether he does or doesn't -- it's a non-starter.

Jerry

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