Longrider

…going by the (assumed) name Venerika86 who tried to post a shitload of links to crappy sites in my comments today and finished it with this remark:

P.S. Sorry if i have posted my message not in right place. Move it please in right place.

I did indeed. I vapourised it, which is exactly what it deserved. What is it about spammers who are so stupid that they post a fistful of links and think that they will get past the relatively simple but effective defences in Wordpress? Just one link will get you put into a moderation queue.

Interestingly, I notice that Bad Behaviour is letting the bastards through after a relatively lengthy period where nothing got past it. Looks like the spammers are winning the arms race again.

Update: I notice that there is a new version released. That should do the trick.

I notice that Doctor Vee has taken agin cats. The debate traces back to shuggy and the flying rodent. A couple of things spring to mind on reading some of the silly comments (accepting that some of them are deliberately silly).

Intelligence, aloofness and cruelty. Actually that’s three things…

The flying rodent questions cats’ widely presumed intelligence. Quite apart from research demonstrating that they are able to solve practical problems due to their instinctive inquisitiveness and opportunistic nature, any observation of them evidences this inquisitive nature and its indication of a degree of intelligence. One of our cats appears to be convinced that a mouse she once chased is still hiding behind the skirting board and checks periodically should it make a run for it. Of course, I could just be imagining it…

Doctor Vee and others appear to dislike cats’ aloofness; equating it to arrogance that would be unacceptable in human beings. This misses a vital point; they are not human beings and to attribute such features as arrogance is to indulge in anthropomorphism. The domestic cat, unlike the dog, is a solitary animal and does not display the same social behaviours inherent in a pack animal. It is this independence that appeals to those of us who share our lives with them. While they can and do live in groups, they are essentially solitary beings preferring to walk alone rather than in a group. This ability to manage by themselves makes them ideal companions for people with busy lifestyles – we can come and go and the cat is indifferent to it all. Why, Doctor Vee and The Flying Rodent appear to ask, do we share our lives with a creature that is indifferent to us, that couldn’t care whether we are there or not and, in exchange for bed and board, uses our legs as a scratching post, pukes over the carpet and may; if we are lucky; treat us to a purr. Chaps, you miss the point. It is precisely because of their indifference that cats are so appealing to those of us who adore and admire them. That and they are beautiful creatures to watch. A cat sitting on one’s lap gently purring lowers the blood pressure and relieves the stress of the workaday world – at least that’s what the research tells us. From personal experience, I find it relaxing and somewhat less damaging to my health than alcohol or tobacco. These creatures stay with me for no other reason than it suits them. They demands nothing of me that I do not willingly give. Our relationship is symbiotic. I do not own the cats in my life – I share my life with them and they with me. The relationship is voluntary.

There are complaints about hygiene (and morality, FFS!?!) on the Flying Rodent’s site. The Flying Rodent is doing as Doctor Vee is; indulging in anthropomorphism. What people see as unhygienic is simply grooming activity and is perfectly natural. Indeed, there is far too much obsession in modern society with making the world clean and hygienic to the point where we are no longer exposed to pathogens to the disadvantage of our immune systems.

Then there’s that old cliché about cruelty. This, from Doctor Vee:

They are pure evil. Full stop.

No, good doctor, they are not evil. Cats do not rationalise, therefore they are not capable of evil. People are, cats are not. Nature appears cruel to our eyes, but, then, we have the ability of reason. Cats do not. They are hunters first and foremost. That they have adapted to a life as symbiotic scavengers is simply a consequence of evolution. They are still at heart, hunters. The toying with their prey is nothing more than instinctive behaviour. In her book; Chats With Cats, Celia Haddon explains the instinctive hunting programming hard wired into the cat’s brain:

The hunting programme, installed by nature into the cat’s brain, is a set sequence of moves. These occur in a predictable serial order, one action succeeding another…

• See or hear prey.
• Stalk prey. This can take some time, with the animal slinking, then stopping to look. There is sometimes a final fast run forward. pounce on prey and grab. This is often a grabbing bite, or the victim may be held down by a paw with claws out.
• Bite prey. This is the killing bite at the nape of the neck.
• Tear off skin or feathers.
• Eat.

All these actions are immensely rewarding and fulfilling for the cat that performs them. Happiness for a cat is doing what it was designed to do: hunt. The hunting sequence is almost a compulsion. Each action follows the other; sometimes one move can’t be performed until the previous moves have preceded it. The sequence often stays in its set order.

In other words; it’s nature and nature is frequently fatal for organisms lower down in the food chain. It is not cruelty, it is survival of the fittest.

Perhaps, though, before accusing cats of cruelty (another example of anthropomorphism), the accusers might want to ponder on this; there is only one organism on the planet that kills purely for pleasure; is prepared to annihilate other species for its own ends; is prepared to cold bloodedly wipe out thousands of its own kind for spurious reasons such as power, greed, personal gain and hatred. That organism is not a cat.

One final thought; I can contemplate a life without human interaction. I cannot imagine life without a cat.

Just to demonstrate that Blair’s Labour party does not have the monopoly on arrogance, conceit and self-serving egotism, we get David Cameron daring to lecture us about Britishness:

The subject of community cohesion, for understandable reasons, has become prominent in our national conversation over the past few years. But it is a challenge we have faced before: the question of how we live together is as old as humanity itself. Throughout history, there have been periods when Britain has not been entirely comfortable with itself or individual communities within it.

The expression “so what?” springs to mind. We are what we are, we live where we live and national identity is an accident of birth. Sure, we imbibe the cultural norms and preferences inherent in the society in which we grow up and live, but so what? Why should this be any business of politicians?

Who would now question the contribution made by Jewish people to British society - or even talk about there being a conflict between being British and Jewish? And yet, only 50 years ago, this was exactly the debate going on in both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. More recently, Britain’s Irish community was questioning and being questioned about its loyalty to Britain.

Yes, so? Why, exactly should the Irish community express any loyalty to Britain? Why, indeed, should any of us? Or, more specifically, why should anyone presume to question our loyalties, least of all a jumped up, self-serving charlatan such as a politician, someone who demonstrates daily that loyalty is a word unheard of in their dictionaries.

While Cameron does make some fair points in his piece, in particular regarding freedom and the rule of law, overall it is mere political grandstanding from an insignificant politician attempting to jump on the bandwagon being driven by the Chancellor. My patience snapped with this remark:

Inspiring as well as demanding loyalty from every citizen will require a new crusade for fairness.

Excuse me? Just who, exactly does this poltroon think that he is, demanding loyalty? Loyalty is earned, much as respect is earned (a lesson Blair has yet to learn). So far the politicians who manage the legislation in this country have earned neither from me. What they have earned, in abundance, is my absolute contempt. David Cameron may demand what he likes. What he will get is a two-fingered salute. He can take his demands for my loyalty and stick them where the sun don’t shine.

I’ve just installed a forum plugin. For those of you inclined to start a discussion – as opposed to responding to whatever I may decide to talk about, then feel free. The link is in the sidebar. You need to register to comment, but it isn’t difficult and I won’t ask you for money…

Once more I find myself castigating the BBC for the quality of its reporting. This morning the story was that of the woes beleaguering the home secretary over overfilled prisons and his advice to the judiciary regarding sentencing. So far, so good. Then a brief look at the newspaper headlines and how they reported the judges’ reaction. Then the voice-over asked “how many paedophiles will be released instead of going to gaol?”

What?!? Okay, so one person convicted of downloading child porn was given a suspended sentence this week. Another was released on bail pending sentencing. At least one, possibly both, should be incarcerated by now and that is a fair enough comment – if we were commenting on these cases (although as notsaussure points out, not necessarily). However, what was going on here was subtly different. The BBC was deliberately pressing sensitive buttons to create a reaction, rather than simply presenting the facts.

Of course, one could point out that a government that insists upon creating 3,000 new offences might also have had the foresight to realise that it would need more prison places…

The News of the World (no, I won’t link to the festering, loathsome shits) is, without doubt, one of the biggest turds floating in the sewer that is the British Red Top press. Rank hypocrisy and outraged faux moraility while peddling what amounts to soft pornography characterises its appeal to the ignorant masses that buy it and perpetuate its heinous behaviour. For a long time I have wondered whether the slime balls who make others’ lives a misery in order to titillate the Sunday readership would ever get their well deserved comeuppance.

It would seem that the wait is over:

The editor of the News of the World resigned this evening after his paper’s royal editor was jailed for four months for unlawfully intercepting telephone messages from Princes William and Harry.

Oh, my… And these are the people who complain loudly about the peccadilloes of others with fingers pointing, screeching in outraged indignation. How do the mighty fall. Excuse me while I indulge in a little schadenfreude.

Minutes after the verdict Andy Coulson, the News of the World’s editor, announced his resignation, saying that he took “ultimate responsibility” for the behaviour of his reporters.

What’s the expression just waiting to trip off the tongue? Oh, that’s it… good riddance to bad rubbish. Although, bad rubbish doesn’t come close to describing these iniquitous parasites. This isn’t just satisfaction on behalf of the people whose phones these arseholes tapped, it is also a little victory for everyone hounded and entrapped by them.

I do trust that the stay in her Majesty’s prison is a painful one. It is certainly well deserved.

Trevor Matthews, CEO of Standard Life, experienced a slip of the tongue earlier this week and it got him into trouble.

The chief executive of one of Britain’s biggest insurance companies has been forced to apologise for using the phrase “nigger in the woodpile” during a staff presentation, it was disclosed last night.

Trevor Matthews, head of Standard Life’s life and pensions business, used the phrase at the company’s Edinburgh headquarters on Monday afternoon.

Mr Matthews, 54, was setting out the firm’s employee pension proposals when he was asked why plans to close the final salary scheme had been buried on page 126 of last year’s prospectus.

“That’s the nigger in the woodpile,” he replied.

Like Trevor, I recall the phrase as commonplace during my childhood. It is difficult sometimes to bite one’s tongue and avoid language that we used as common parlance throughout our formative years. These things just slip out and nothing is meant by them; they are clichés used to oil the flow of language, nothing more. Adult intelligent people realise this.

He was forced to apologise after a staff member made a formal complaint.

Which just goes to show that not everyone is adult or intelligent.

Fortunately in Bristol the dreaded threatened snow passed us by today. I detest the stuff and would be happy to never see any of it again in my lifetime. Global warming; bring it on…

The railways, though, managed to cock it up magnificently:

A major inquest was launched by both Network Rail and train operators this evening after a small dusting of snow threw much of the country’s system into disarray and turned the daily journey of millions of commuters into a nightmare.

Network Rail admitted that it had failed to spray enough anti-freeze on the points and rails as a precaution against the predicted bad weather.

So much for the winter weather plan, then. In an echo of the embarrassment of British Rail and the oft misquoted “wrong type of snow” we get this, from Network Rail:

…on Tuesday night, the fall in temperature was insufficient to automatically trigger the built-in points heaters which would have prevented them from freezing up.

Instead the train operators were confronted with what a Network Rail spokesman described as “loose wet snow”, which compacted between the points and caused them to jam.

“This is when you have a little snow which was compacted by the points. Had there been more, and had it been colder, the point heaters would have switched on automatically,” he added.

This is the “oh, fuck!” moment. Network Rail have contingency plans in place. You would think, would you not, that the plans include such contingencies as, er, snow. Well, yes, they plan for snow. Somewhere in the signalbox and operations managers’ offices there will be a winter weather plan that has a list of activities that kick in when the temperature drops and snow is forecast – such as going out to de-ice the points. They have point heaters (which will have been checked as part of the plan) and they have an antifreeze product that they can manually apply to the points – they also have folk who go out and apply it.

When temperatures are predicted to drop to around freezing point - but not substantially below - Network Rail would normally spray the tracks with a substance known as Magic Ice Stop to prevent them from jamming.

But…

A spokesman was unable to explain why this was not done extensively on Tuesday night. “We made a call on the information we had, but we may not have had the full picture.”

Yup; “oh, fuck!” Someone, somewhere, will be regretting that “call”. Nothing changes. Snow is a predictable phenomenon in this country. We tend to get it come winter time, And, come winter time it always takes us by surprise. Horrible, hateful stuff it is, but bringing the rail network to a halt?

Challenged over his description of Tuesday night as extreme, the spokesman added: “We are a temperate country, snow is extreme weather.”

Wrong answer. Come back Terry Worrall, all is forgiven. While senior managers are doubtless fuming, this is nothing new, is it? When it comes to fucking up royally, the rail industry is an expert. Not just getting the “call” wrong, but the subsequent media disaster. Network Rail needs to urgently review the performance of its corporate affairs team. Having seen it all from the inside, I can’t resist a chuckle. But, then, I wasn’t on a platform freezing my balls off waiting for a train this morning, so I can afford the luxury of a wry smile.

South Eastern Trains, which fared particularly badly yesterday with delays of up to an hour during the height of the morning rush hour, laid the blame with Network Rail.

Well, yes, who else? And that’s gonna hurt the bottom line with all those penalty charges stacking up like stranded trains on a snowbound suburban line.

Only in Britain could the failure of points to operate in extreme conditions be blamed on the snow not being cold enough.

Foot.

Shotgun.

Some assembly required.

Sigh…