Castle Aching

[runs as required]

13 minutes ago, Hroth said:

You DO realise that the day after the election is Friday 13th

I thought that was the main reason for deciding the election date.

It guarantees 50% of the electorate face an un-Happy Christmas

[Nearholmer]

Could we somehow persuade The Chairman of the PC to undertake a week long card-and-paper-modelling-a-thon to take our minds off reality?

 

Actually, could it be a decade or so long?

[drmditch]

9 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 

No, the best hope isn't in attempting to exclude people from the franchise, it is in attempting to educate everyone to use the critical faculties that they posses.

 

"Now we must educate our masters", was a quotation I have always attributed to one Benjamin Disraeli after the passage of the 1867 Reform Act. (I need to go downstairs and check this in Blake - but I am staying warm upstairs this morning. Wiki and other web sources attribute the quotation to different politicians.)

 

I wonder how the electorate in Castle Aching would have changed after the 1867 Act?

 

It is a shame that Terry Pratchett is no longer available to give us his views on the current situation. I like Lord Vetinari's approval of the 'one man one vote' principle. The 'one man' being Lord Vetinari.

 

 

[drmditch]

8 hours ago, Annie said:

Shouldn't the man on the jetty have been taking a picture with his 'phone?

[Hroth]

8 minutes ago, drmditch said:

It is a shame that Terry Pratchett is no longer available to give us his views on the current situation. I like Lord Vetinari's approval of the 'one man one vote' principle. The 'one man' being Lord Vetinari.

 

The experiment with "Democracy" in Pseudopolis is a lesson to us all!

 

[RedGemAlchemist]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

* I just imagined a model of an Orwellian railway.....

Isn't that just BR in the late 60s?

[woodenhead]

I read recently that the Republican party cannot dump Trump whilst he calls the tune of his billionaire friends, only when the billionaires find him detrimental to their interests will the Republicans be able to be rid of him.

 

I fear that we are similarly stuck with the Tories in the same way.

[drmditch]

At the risk of raising further excitement, it is interesting to consider the effect of a widened franchise and the exciting of prejudice by political parties.

Towards the end of the Second Boer War ( a morally dubious conflict on both sides) the internment policy (' concentration camps') of the British Military Authorities led by one H Kitchener, would now be regarded as an atrocity.

(Although the real failure was in the administration and supply of those camps.)

 

It took some brave women, especially Emily Hobhouse, to bring this to British public attention, and the abuse heaped upon her was vitriolic. The whole issue became wrapped up in Party politics as well.

 

I wonder what the views and divisions on this issue would have been in Castle Aching?

 

 

[Regularity]

53 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

For the first time in my life I’m a conspiracy theorist.

It's not a conspiracy if it's open and in the public eye, and it all has been.

 

It's just that most people didn't look, and the more reactionary elements of the political spectrum have become much better and more sophisticated at demonising both their scapegoats and their opponents.

Witness, UKIP was founded to keep the pound, and avoid the Euro.

That accomplished (due to them or the Lamont fiasco of Black Wednesday is immaterial) they then turned to the whole issue of Europe.

Realising that they would never form a government, they provided an extreme version of Toryism and have gradually driven a wedge between their followers and "One nation Conservatives" and driven this wedge further into the electorate by creating a false dichotomy: in or out. No other choices. Cameron and May have fallen into that trap. Corbyn is skirting dangerously around the edge of it: dangerously as the image can be manipulated and he might also fall into it.

 

Using the colour of skin would be a no-no, and besides the "Commonwealth immigration" of the 50s, 60s and 70s is long past and society has adapted and adopted their culture and most people are pretty relaxed about it.

So, what you do is, you find a group of people who are easily identifiable even though they look pretty much the same: use language. That's OK - they are white, so this is not racism.

Stir that pot with half truths, "They are using our hospitals!" but overlooking the other half, "They pay more in taxes than they take out in services." and no one can accuse you of lying.

Create a popular groundswell, and bolster it by claiming that your detractors are making things more complicated than they really are, and that they are engaging in scaremongering ("Project fear").

Reduce your whole campaign to a simple misleading but plausible lie: "Take back control" (forgetting Black Wednesday - what control do we really have?)

Then fail to do anything practical to deliver it, but blame it on reasonable people's reasonable objections to that failure, and come up with another slogan, "Get Brexit done."

 

Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg has been quiet, but it is his father's work he is doing: originally, his father was frightened by the capacity for a few people to manipulate the media and the markets, but then realised that would be OK if he was one of the few... Most of the people within his circle of influence are aware of this. They don't need to plot with each other: the issue is understood. Give the people three things and you can do what you want. Those three things? Bread, circuses, and the vote. Or in modern terms, ready meals, reality TV and the appearance of democracy.

 

All of that is in the public domain. All observable from the comfort of your armchair via your favourite browser.

So, you can relax, Kevin: it's not a conspiracy: just good old-fashioned populism, seasoned with learning from history.

[Nearholmer]

I clearly am prey to paranoia today, because while I agree with all of that, I also believe that geopolitical actors have the motive (nothing new there), and far better means and opportunity than ever before, to pull strings.

 

IMO, there is one geopolitical power block that has a crystal clear motive for wishing to erode any emerging consensus in Western Europe, especially if it can do it on the cheap, and another one that sometimes convinces itself that it has the same interest.

[Compound2632]

8 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

IMO, there is one geopolitical power block that has a crystal clear motive for wishing to erode any emerging consensus in Western Europe, especially if it can do it on the cheap, and another one that sometimes convinces itself that it has the same interest.

 

Well now, be careful there: in 1905 one of those two was Great Britain.

 

 

The other hasn't changed.

Edited December 6, 2019 by Compound2632

[St Enodoc]

8 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

I clearly am prey to paranoia today, because while I agree with all of that, I also believe that geopolitical actors have the motive (nothing new there), and far better means and opportunity than ever before, to pull strings.

 

IMO, there is one geopolitical power block that has a crystal clear motive for wishing to erode any emerging consensus in Western Europe, especially if it can do it on the cheap, and another one that sometimes convinces itself that it has the same interest.

From where I sit, there is only one geopolitical power (not even a bloc) to worry about and IMHO the rest of the Western world should worry a bit more about it too.

 

Here's a clue: I'm not talking about the USA.

[runs as required]

5 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

From where I sit, there is only one geopolitical power (not even a bloc) to worry about and IMHO the rest of the Western world should worry a bit more about it too.

Here's a clue: I'm not talking about the USA.

Erm....

Could it be Manchester ?

 

 

This newsreel doesn't show any sign of a contractor's railway in building the concrete dam. There is a following longer video on U tube about Thirlmere started  60 years earlier and opened in 1890. It also includes the tunnels and bridges of the 120 mile aqueduct.

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by runs as required
video attached

[Nearholmer]

Yes, I’ve been swotting-up on that very topic in odd moments lately, and it is fascinating to compare and contrast. There is a lot in the history of the period that goes a long way to explaining why ‘relations are strained’ between the UK and Russia, irrespective of which form of regime is in charge in Russia.

 

GB was a really meddlesome power in 1905, wasn’t it?

 

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

20 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Personally I think the polarisation was planned, ditto now in America - we're being ripped apart by actors forcing us and governments to in fight and focus on other things whilst said actors do what it is they want to.

 

There is more than one way to win a war and if you play a long game tactic you don't have to do it in someone's face.

 

You know, I'm not one for conspiracy theories, unless they're in the pages of early Twentieth Century pulp fiction, however, I cannot help but sense that there have been Forces at Work here in the form unholy alliances, or at least coincidental fellow travelling, at work over a number of years.

 

It is rather like living in the pages of a John Buchan novel at the moment.

 

The novel. of course, not the BBC adaptation, as that's drivel.

 

Perhaps my only salvation is to make for the station dressed as a milkman and catch a Scotch Express to the North, pausing only to purloin a 3-piece tweed suit in 'heather mixture' before taking up a second career as a road mender, or possibly a Free Trade parliamentary candidate? 

 

Oh no, full circle!  There is no escape from this reality!

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Edwardian

[Regularity]

8 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

It is rather like living in the pages of a John Buchan novel at the moment.

 

The novel. of course, not the BBC adaptation, as that's drivel.

Pure Wodehouse.

[RedGemAlchemist]

I'm just going to avoid getting into this conversation. 

[Regularity]

20 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Yes, I’ve been swotting-up on that very topic in odd moments lately, and it is fascinating to compare and contrast. There is a lot in the history of the period that goes a long way to explaining why ‘relations are strained’ between the UK and Russia, irrespective of which form of regime is in charge in Russia.

 

GB was a really meddlesome power in 1905, wasn’t it?

 

 

Well, the difference now is that we have so few allies, that we simply lie to ourselves...

[Edwardian]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

You DO realise that the day after the election is Friday 13th?

 

 

 

Ah, no "Yikes!" button.

 

24 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

From where I sit, there is only one geopolitical power (not even a bloc) to worry about and IMHO the rest of the Western world should worry a bit more about it too.

 

Here's a clue: I'm not talking about the USA.

 

20 minutes ago, runs as required said:

Erm....

 

Could it be Manchester ?

 

 

 

I think it was Napoleon who once said "Manchester is a sleeping lion. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will shake the world."

 

Thinking about it, maybe he meant China. 

[Compound2632]

24 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Yes, I’ve been swotting-up on that very topic in odd moments lately, and it is fascinating to compare and contrast. There is a lot in the history of the period that goes a long way to explaining why ‘relations are strained’ between the UK and Russia, irrespective of which form of regime is in charge in Russia.

 

GB was a really meddlesome power in 1905, wasn’t it?

 

 

Ah well, selling the Russian Imperial Navy the means to get to the far east enabled Japanese Imperial Navy to be demonstrate the superiority of British-built battleships.

[runs as required]

Trying make amends for dragging CA back into politics again, and harking back to low bridges - here's a (early spring) Google streetviw pic showing evidence of repeated strikes at Langwathby station underbridge spanning Blindjack's turnpike (A696) descent from Hartside. I now see it to be a replacement girder, though I'd have sworn it was still an original S&C sandstone masonry arch.

Now to the current Double Agents topic:

There were references a page or so ago to Coot Cub with the pic of the low bridge at Potter Heigham - so yesterday, just further along the road from Askham to Bampton we passed this 'Beckfoot' sign.

I found it meant nothing to my passenger who'd never heard of the 'King of Spies'.

dh

[woodenhead]

My wife's answer to all this - Buddhism and meditation.  I think she might be right.

 

My social media commenting days are over, posting things for people to like, reacting to other's soundbites that they've picked up off Twitter and all that - no thanks.

 

Finished reading the Tinsley book last night, interesting read and no sign of any conspiracies other than perhaps EWS flattened the depot to keep Freightliner from gaining access to it's wondrous facilities.

 

Headphones on, bit of 90s rap, DnB and suchlike.

 

I'll vote on the 12th and for the person most likely to win in the hope of a hung parliament so neither of the two main parties can get it all their own way and maybe just maybe compromise may appear back on the menu for a few years.

[Regularity]

1 minute ago, woodenhead said:

My wife's answer to all this - Buddhism and meditation.  I think she might be right.

Buddhism: the spiritual way to bury one's head in the sand...

 

Quote

My social media commenting days are over, posting things for people to like, reacting to other's soundbites that they've picked up off Twitter and all that - no thanks.

I hope you appreciated me liking your post!

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Regularity said:

Pure Wodehouse.

 

Wodehouse knew what he was talking about.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Code_of_the_Woosters

 

1 hour ago, Edwardian said:

The novel. of course, not the BBC adaptation, as that's drivel.

 

Other adaptations of Buchan novels (Ok, The 39 Steps) have been drivel from the outset too!

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by Hroth
Well on our way for 900+ pagecount by Christmas...

[Nearholmer]

Anyone else see the cast-of-three (or is it two?) stage production? We saw it I think at The Tricycle about 12 years ago (yikes!) and it is seriously good - funny, and a ripping yarn.