91Èȱ¬

The Glass Box for Friday

Comments

1. At 05:04 PM on 26 Oct 2007, David Traynier wrote:

   So why is it that, whenever Iran disagrees with the UK or the US, refuses to do something or generally stands up for itself, that the 91Èȱ¬ refers to it as "defiant"? Why not "resolute" or "firm" for a change?

   More to the point, why is that I've never heard the US or Britain described as "defiant"?

   While I'm on this theme, why is that we have a "Government" or "administration" but the Iranians have a "regime"?

2. At 05:55 PM on 26 Oct 2007, Richard wrote:

   Ah, another pointless article on gaming.

   Is your game VIOLENT? DO YOU KILL PEOPLE?!

   Please, the average age of gamers is over 30 these days - ask something intelligent and relevant or don't bother.

3. At 06:03 PM on 26 Oct 2007, The Stainless Steel Cat wrote:

   David (1):

   That's a good point. *We* are a regime bcause we have a monarch (Elizabeth Regina), Iran has a President..

   You could argue that as we also have a parliament, we aren't a regime, but I don't see any possibility of Iran being one.

   Come on 91Èȱ¬... standards... dumbing down...Jonathan Ross... Lord Wreith... jumpers as goalposts...

4. At 06:05 PM on 26 Oct 2007, Slappyrick wrote:

   Did Carolyn really say, "...and that was Paul Whoever, who has taken his hand off his joystick for long enough to talk to us"?

   Quite marvellous. Keep it up.

5. At 06:11 PM on 26 Oct 2007, wrote:

   I'm with David Traynier (1),

   Just which country has Iran attacked in the past century?

   Can anyone list the countries we've attacked in the last decade, or might we forget and leave a couple out, there have been so many.

   One man's defiance ia another's self-respect.

   From the New York Times:
   BAGHDAD, Oct. 22 — Deadly raids into Turkey by Kurdish militants holed up in northern Iraq are the focus of urgent diplomacy, with Turkey threatening invasion of Iraq and the United States begging for restraint while expressing solidarity with Turkish anger.

   Yet out of the public eye, a chillingly similar battle has been under way on the Iraqi border with Iran. Kurdish guerrillas ambush and kill Iranian forces and retreat to their hide-outs in Iraq. The Americans offer Iran little sympathy. Tehran even says Washington aids the Iranian guerrillas, a charge the United States denies. True or not, that conflict, like the Turkish one, has explosive potential.
   

   One man's Terrorist is another man's Freedom Fighter....

   Assalaam 'alaikum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu
   Peace, God's mercy and blessings be upon you
   ed

6. At 06:14 PM on 26 Oct 2007, wrote:

   Slappyrick (4) Keep what up?!? :P

7. At 06:16 PM on 26 Oct 2007, wrote:

   There's a vague parallel with the smacking debate here. If someone does something you don't like, do you (a) hit them with a big stick, or (b) talk nicely to them and let them join in your games?

   Sid
   

8. At 06:23 PM on 26 Oct 2007, Rachel G wrote:

   Slappyrick - she did. She really did.

   Richard - I'm completely ignorant about gaming and I thought her questions were relevant. It was the answers that were a bit trite. Can't blame Carolyn for that.

9. At 06:50 PM on 26 Oct 2007, wrote:

   LOL...Sequin....come and join us on the naughty step!

10. At 07:09 PM on 26 Oct 2007, Simon Worrall wrote:

    Come on Ed. You're all for the right to self-determination of a mixed bunch of Arabs known to us all as the 'The Palestinians'.

    What about the right to self-determination of a truly homogeneous racial group with their own distinctive language and customs, living in a single congruous piece of territory?

    I refer, of course, to the Kurds. The West really did sell them out at Versailles in 1919. When they got wind that there would be a right to self-determination they asked for it and were told to push off by the victors.

    All they wanted was their own nation, but they were sold short and the land which they have occupied for centuries continues to be split up between Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. They are fighting for their rights as much as your more favoured bunch on the West Bank and Gaza. And they have a better claim.

    If you want to trumpet the rights of one then you have to also support the other.

    Si.

11. At 08:02 PM on 26 Oct 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    This vaccine being offered to girls of twelve and thirteen -- I didn't notice whether it will be available for older girls too, and if so when: next year, five years' time... I declare an interest: two daughters of 18 and 22. It would be pleasant to think that they might be protected, even if only slightly, from a rather nasty disease. It kills only 1000 a year in this country, but it wrecks lives for rather more than that.

12. At 08:05 PM on 26 Oct 2007, Deepthought wrote:

    I emailed Sequin today asking for Eric's interview from last year to be repeated. OK, it wasn't, but the spirit was definately there. Well done Sequin, naughty step awaits.

13. At 08:56 PM on 26 Oct 2007, Slappyrick wrote:

    FFred (6): I understand that there's an institution known as the Naughty Step around here. I assume you'll know your own way there by now?

    Say hi to Sequin, who has almost certainly been there since the bongs kicked in, while you're there...

14. At 08:59 PM on 26 Oct 2007, wrote:

    S (10),

    So you reckon it's OK and even-handed for us to discourage the Kurds in Iraq from attacking Turkey at the same time we encourage them to attack Iran? No hint of double standards there?

    Indigenous folk should indeed have rights, but should the Asians in Yorkshire have the right to a separatist state within GB? I don't think the comparison between Kurdistan and Palestine is very congruent. Just who has 'displaced' the Kurds? We know who has displaced dispossessed and oppressed the indigenous Palestinians and the dispossession and oppression continue this very day as more houses for "settlers" are built (in defiance if all international opinion and law) in the occupied territories.

    Salaam/Dorood
    ed

    P.S. Not to lose track of my intended point, can you give me any examples of aggression on the part of Iran?
    

15. At 01:36 PM on 27 Oct 2007, Roger Sawyer wrote:

    Howdi do all,
    Thank you for the postings.
    David Traynier (1)... I am pretty sure that I have heard 'defiant' used with regard to the US and the UK, for example in the contexts of Kyoto and Rio on climate change and of EU summits. I cannot say for certain, because I am not at work to check. Also on the history of Iran's nuclear programme, it is not just the UK and the US that Iran has been disagreeing with but much more broadly with the international community - with some exceptions.
    Richard (2)... the violence line was only one aspect in an interview which dealt with the other issues such as the age profile of gamers and the advancement in technology. Of course it is relevant to ask a question on violence - a new study investigating potential links between violent games/films and anti-social behaviour is being carried out at the moment I believe. Also the distinction between killing space monsters and humans is one that has been raised with us before. There are gamers who happily lay waste to imaginary creatures, but feel uncomfortable 'killing' humans - even if they are computer generated.
    Christophe Le Poission (11) - the programme will eventually extend to girls/young women up to the age of 18, which is more than what was recommended. I think the programme begins in September next year, with vaccinations for 18 year olds starting in 2009.
    Have good weekends one and all...
    Rog

16. At 02:24 PM on 27 Oct 2007, Chris Ghoti wrote:

    Roger, thank you for the information about the vaccine. Too late for them to benefit, then, but perhaps a private course can be saved up for and may do some good.

17. At 12:19 AM on 31 Oct 2007, Aperitif wrote:

    Hey Fishers, why has Roger gone all French on you??