Sunday 12 July 2009

'Ere, whazzup?

[plink plink plink] This thing on? Hello, Porlockers!

Now, I know it's the case that both the British government and the British press are all up in a heaval these days, but seriously . . .

The Guardian today:
Thousands more troops could be sent to Afghanistan within months under an emergency review of the UK mission being carried out by the Ministry of Defence. ...

An MoD source confirmed that ministers were "re-examining" troop numbers in Helmand following the bloodiest day for UK ground troops since the start of current operations. "Troop levels are under review. They could go up, depending on events on the ground," said a defence spokesman. It is believed that the maximum extra deployment would be 2,000. ...
The Independent today:
Ministers are secretly planning to cut the number of British troops in Afghanistan, at a time when defence chiefs are appealing for thousands more reinforcements to meet the deadly threat from the resurgent Taliban.

Hours after the death toll of UK forces in Afghanistan rose above the number killed in Iraq, The Independent on Sunday established that Gordon Brown wants to bring up to 1,500 service personnel home from the war-torn country after its elections next month, seemingly on grounds of cost. ...
Sunday Times of London today:
Senior Labour figures accused the head of the army last night of playing politics as he said that there were too few troops and helicopters in the Afghan war zone.

One minister expressed fury that General Sir Richard Dannatt, the chief of the general staff, had attended a private dinner with Tory MPs and suggested an extra 2,000 troops were needed in Helmand province.

The general’s remarks put him at odds with the official government line, that the 9,000 British troops already in Afghanistan are sufficient to cope with the offensive.

A Labour minister said: “General Dannatt has crossed an important line. He is playing a high-risk game.” ...
Somebody in one or more of these places is just making shit up, innit? And here I thought the Republican Party and Fox News were the reigning world champs at that. Help me out here, won't you? Who's full[est] of it? Thanks!

-- lotus

10 comments:

  1. You are lotus. You are the fullest of them all. Crawl back to your pond.

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  2. Hi Lotus! So glad to see you blogging; I miss folo.

    Haven't been paying much attention to our English cousins politicos. But I am interested in this. It looks wonderful! Hope it gets staged over here.

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  3. Dandy link, Anonymous -- thanks for it.

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  4. Hi Lotus, Sounds like upside down and crossways to me. So glad you are here and I get a bitty bit of your humor today.

    Home with two adults, two grands, two dogs and a new kitty, now if I had a new body life would be great.

    Please give my regards to Rodney, I check this blog everyday.

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  5. Madness is everywhere, thanks Lotus and Rodney for some sanity and showing sanity doesn't need to be boring!

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  6. YOOhoo, mag and DLR! Mag, get on the email machine and tell me all about it. Great to see y'all again.

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  7. Up till now, I've made it a point not to comment in 'comments' on my blog, as I believe it's a space for readers, not me.
    I seem to have attracted some trolls, which is part of the game and, just so long as their comments are not obscene or in other ways overly offensive, I won't delete them.
    I would, however, caution you against following any links that they may post as those links may contain elements that could fuck up your computer.
    Anyone who would like to contact me directly, with PLBlake hate mail or anything a bit more constructive, can do so by following the page links.
    G-d Bless Y'all.

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  8. BilB, traipse on over to folo.us and put "Rodney" in the Search bawx. Riches will appear.

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  9. I am trying to figure out these posting identity options and posted as the first anonymous up there, lotus. I was ignoring the wanker.
    I want Rodney to go see that Horse Puppet show and give us a report. Those things look amazing.
    Ducky

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  10. Hee, good ol' mag.

    Oh yay, Dux, thought that might be you, unsurpassed treat-finder that you be. Yep, best to leave unfed them whut poop where they eat.

    I get messed up with the comment sign-in (have been known to show up as "Rodney" if I forget to click on the Comment field and change it). Not sure what it shows y'all for choices, but if you see "Name/URL," use that and just leave the URL field blank. (Or heck, just let us know it's you, as above.)

    Anyhow, sho nuff Da Shizzle to see good old pals on here, eh Rodney? Thanks for the comfy clubhouse.

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