Tea Party Jacobins

The link below takes you to a well written and very insightful article in the New York Review of Books about the loony Tea Party activists in America that are holding the Republican negotiator's feet to the fire over the debt ceiling. Well researched and supported with facts it shows that pockets of intelligent life continue to flourish in the wasteland of American zenophobia
Tea Party Jacobins

As a reminder of the danger of the Tea Party lunacy take a read of the bilge below that was added as a comment to a erudite website that examined historical antecedents of the Tea Party name

"We are members of the Christian Constitutional Federalist Party, USA. We condemn & reject Communism, Socialism, Libertarianism, Homosexualism, Feminism, Secular Humanism, Anarchism, Nazism, and all other forms of Fascism. We favour Capital Punishment for Homosexuals, Adulterers, Fornicators, Strippers & Pornographers, Paedophiles, Masturbators, Blasphemers, Illegal Aliens, Anti-Christians & Apostates, Witches, Mohammedans, Unitarians, Atheists, Papists, Liberal “Protestants”, Abortionists, & other Murderers. The Death Penalty should be in the form of decapitation. The Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, & Bill of Rights shall conform & are subordinate to the Holy Bible (KJV) & Orthodox Lutheran Symbols of Faith. Christian Capitalism is the basis for a sound & Godly economy. The Flag of the USA shall be the Grand Union Flag, surmounted by a Latin Cross finial, the Original Flag of the USA, 1775-1777 (aka Washington’s Colours, Congress’ Colours, the Continental Colours).
God Save The USA!
The Rev. & Mrs. Philip Mullen - December 7, 2010 at 6:39 pm

You can read the whole article here as well the strongly worded reply
Medium Historica
Finally one more sensible description of the lunacy of the Tea Party
Progressive America Rising

The horror is that these people walk amongst us and have the vote

shakespeare in the park

Last weekend we went and saw Much Ado about Nothing  at Streatham Common. It was a gloomy overcast day but the rain held off and we had a lovely time. The play was done in period costumes and much enlivened by watching mums and dads chasing after wayward kids who wandered off from the picnic blankets when mum and dad were distracted

I have become a big fan of Benedick who stridently stands up for what he belives and doesn't trust women as far as he can spit as this wonderful exchange shows. Pity he gets his comeuppance at the end


BENEDICK

That I neither feel how she should be loved nor
know how she should be worthy, is the opinion that
fire cannot melt out of me: I will die in it at the stake.

DON PEDRO

Thou wast ever an obstinate heretic in the despite
of beauty.

CLAUDIO

And never could maintain his part but in the force
of his will.

BENEDICK

That a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she
brought me up, I likewise give her most humble
thanks: but that I will have a recheat winded in my
forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick,
all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do
them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the
right to trust none; and the fine is, for the which
I may go the finer, I will live a bachelor.

DON PEDRO

I shall see thee, ere I die, look pale with love.

BENEDICK

With anger, with sickness, or with hunger, my lord,
not with love: prove that ever I lose more blood
with love than I will get again with drinking, pick
out mine eyes with a ballad-maker's pen and hang me
up at the door of a brothel-house for the sign of
blind Cupid.

DON PEDRO

Well, if ever thou dost fall from this faith, thou
wilt prove a notable argument.

BENEDICK

If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat and shoot
at me; and he that hits me, let him be clapped on
the shoulder, and called Adam.

DON PEDRO

Well, as time shall try: 'In time the savage bull
doth bear the yoke.'

BENEDICK The savage bull may; but if ever the sensible
Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull's horns and set
them in my forehead: and let me be vilely painted,
and in such great letters as they write 'Here is
good horse to hire,' let them signify under my sign
'Here you may see Benedick the married man.'

Darvaza Gas crater, Turkmenistan

This is just weird and bizarre and other wordly.
Engineers drilling in Turkmenistan in 1971 were startled to find ground collapsing around them. A 200' crater opened up that was filled with methane. Worried about the safety of the nearby village the engineers set it alight thinking it would burn out in a few days. It is still alight 4 decades later!

Another mad building story

Just thought I'd amuse you with pictures of the latest tower crane they have erected on the London Shard to finish off the top of the building. Hampered by the sloping geometry of the facade they decided not to cantilever it out sufficiently far to prop off the ground as is normal for most skyscapers. No instead they decided to build a platform 56 stories up in the air and then build the crane off that.
There is no way you would get me up in this crane

Sold Out

Like most of London we missed out on Olympic tickets. Big bummer.

We wanted to go along and enjoy the atmospshere but the whole thing is completely sold out 15 months before the Games! We tried to be strategic and not pick the most popular sessions as soon as the ticket lottery was opened but we still missed out.

Well, all sold out for anything occuring in the Olympic Park that is. We even tried the qualifying round of the mens basketball that are being held in the temporary venue on a Sunday morning session without success.


You can still get tickets for Greco Roman wrestling and womens volleyball both of which are being at secondary venues around London which seemed to us to kind of defeat the purpose of getting in on the atmospshere. And Greco roman wrestling! I mean that sport has a real kerb appeal problem

There are also tickets to the various football stadiums around the country to see the qualifying matches but who wants to go to Newcastle or Cardiff to see a football match when you dont even know who it is you will be seeing!

Apart from the predictable and probably true snipping that too many tickets went to overseas Olympic Committee's and the sponsors I think that is a major achievement. Especially since there isn't yet any sort of palpable build up in the capital.

That means that about 620 out the 649 sessions across 39 sports have been sold out more than a year before the Games begin. In all over 5m tickets have been sold across all price brackets from £20 to £750. Thats £750 for a 3 hour session in the main stadium - you dont even get all day for that price. You just get Usain Bolt competing in the 100m final

Bear in mind they took everyone's money first before they told them what tickets they got. The money's in the bank first and then let everyone fight about whether they are happy with their tickets. They cant loose. Genius system

Guess I will just have to take 2 weeks off and watch it on the box.

Interestingly I have three construction projects in the East End of London that will be underway over the Olympic period and we have had to write in an Olympic clause into their contracts. Although they havenot yet released the routes of the road closures and priority lane closures that will operate during the Olympic; the sites in question are so close to the Olympic park that we are pretty sure that materials deliveries will be severely disrupted during the Games. The chaos and confusion are about to begin!

Good news is that everything seems to be on target. Unlike the Greeks!

 These two pictures give you some idea of the size of the Olympic Park site

 This pic shows the ugly temporary seating stands added to the new Olympic Pool. The building is by Zahir Hadid for those that care about that sort of thing

 This enormous building is the new Media Centre. I thought the Games were about the athletes

This is the new Athletes accomodation well on the way