Palin goes Tybalt

Skynews this morning gave the lovely headline:

Palin claims Obama consorts with terrorists.

Which instantly got the Shakespeare antenna twitching.

Tybalt, when he was searching for an insult, used the word consort ... ah, I said, maybe the woman (or her speech writer) has a classic education after all!

But no, it was only the editors at the British based news service who seem to have had an education.

Doesn't take away the Tybaltian nature of the insult though - and, as we all know, Tybalt was a rat.

A Palin in the Butt!

Couldn't resist this one ... The Guardian (link) quoting Simon Scharma on Ms Palin:

"she makes George Bush look like Karl Marx"

(and he's not over pleasant with the Other side either).

Nose - Face - Blood on the floor

Now, I know the average American politician has the intellectual processing powers of a beer fed slug, but yesterday's antics surely reach a new level of inebriate stupidity?

In order to 'save' money they wiped over a trillion dollars off the stock exchange ... erm, good maths at work there.

Mind you, I knew a head of an International American School who refused to employ American Maths teachers on the grounds that they couldn't do the maths they were supposed to be teaching. Seems the Republican (and sizable Democratic chunk) were taught by the international rejects.

The 'communist-threat' rhetoric too - goodness, which millennium are these people living in?

To actually hear a supposedly serious politician refer to the proposals of George (Der...) Bush as reflective of the actions of the Russian politicians in 1917 is tragic ... almost as tragic as the belief in the words held by the man's constituants back in the 'heartland' of the US of A.

But what can you expect of a bunch if ill educated hics - most of whom are creationists and are waiting for divine intervention anyway.

(Just thought I better confirm my liberal credentials by resorting to abuse.)

Pleased to see how both Obama and the old guy restrained themselves and didn't try to exploit the situation.

What I am not sure about is the reaction over the other side Pacific ... the markets fell, but not as much as expected. Then all was explained by a nice CNN reporter who pointed out that the Asian investors presumed that the American politicians would come back after the holiday (Happy New Year by the Way), do their calculations again and get it right this time.

Sorry - not the American way with mathematics.

Another thing I learnt in international schools - American children just say they are no good at math, their parent was no good at math so there is no point in trying.

Asian children (and mixed Europeans) just say I'll do it 'til I get it right ... and do.

HO HUm, what a world!

Annoyed in Romania

A double bus journey - there and back with a resulting boiling of the blood!

The article to the left is a pale reflection of attitudes here in Romania.

On the bus going, I overheard a conversation between a young child - only just speaking and indulging in a stream of consciousness. We went passed a 'Gypsy' House - much like the one in the picture. The stream of racism which came out of the child's mouth was unbelievable - obviously reflecting the indoctrination of the adults ... dirty gypsy, thieves, black ... etc.

Coming back, an umbrella had been left at the bus stop and a man getting on the bus picked it up and, as soon as he got on the bus asked aloud whose it was.

An older, dark skinned woman said it was hers - he instantly sneered at her and called her a liar - he'd seen her ethnic origins and classed her as someone who would steal and lie. It was a knee jerk reaction - he didn't even think. I looked around at the faces on the bus. Several people were smiling and one actually laughed.

A recent survey revealed the extent of racism in the country -not that a Romanian would recognise their attitudes a racist - "they just reflect the facts".

Another incident on the Television which horrified me (a lot on Romanian Television horrifies me) was a recent pair of raids on prostitution - one here in Timisoara, another in a different part of the country.

In the more civilised sections of the European Union, prostitutes are seen to be as much victims as criminals - it is the gang leaders and the bosses who are the targets. Not so here.

The tv was full of images of arrested prostitutes - film taken inside the police station! They were portrayed as cause and the source of 'the problem'. No mention was made of the pimps or the people behind the scene (possibly heavy bribes in the right place ensured that).

Not at all happy with Romania at the moment.

Lipstick on a Pig...

One wonders if Mr Obama had someone in mind with the comment - does McPain qualify as Kermit and is the Muppet Show returning with a White House Race special?

Know the enemy ...

Bad night – strange dreams.

Too hot to do anything during the day – including eat … !!!!

Not even in the mood to drink: A half hearted attempt to sink a couple of beers in the form of shandy failed miserably.

Not as miserably as the Romanian football team – which appears to have taken the example of the English team and gone down the drain. So too the Scots – not a nation I have an over fondness for at the moment (although they are doing great things for Romanian education). Pleased to see their precious national team hasn’t got a chance and that the sensible thing would be to field a British team in football … whoops, forbidden territory.

That unshaved, ugly traitor Mad Murray is unfortunately doing too well in his beloved USA (you can have him – give him States citizenship, please) at the expense of a real player (Mr Nadal) – but it’s taken a hurricane to help him out of the inevitable slaughter which was about to ensue as the clean shaved and respectable looking Spaniard recovered form.

Whilst we are over in the states it is worth mentioning that the Palin woman (real Republican Candidate for president) is accused of book banning ….

…. anyone shocked?

Mind you – as a schoolchild I was pleased the Catholic Church had their ‘index’ – a book with a list of books that they had banned. It was a great place to go for a quick smutty read in the library – it not only told you what was banned but why … so the fertile teenage imagination could fantasize about countless bestial and worse activities under the guise of ‘explanation’. I have to say I suspect anyone wanting to ban a book is more frightened of the power the words are having over them than over others. What happened to ‘know thine enemy’?

There is a seriously odd television channel here in Timisoara which perpetrates all sort of Christian nonsense (which I am quite happy with – no banning needed, just a quality state education) and provides regular moments of poor quality ‘healthy’ programming … pity the child exposed to that alone.

Self Promotion

For those interested in the mix of Shakespeare, Olympics and American politics, I have just blogged over on Shakespeare Experience a good one!

What is fascinating is the way in which so much of the actual violence of war and national competition seems to have been distilled into sport ... not that sport doesn't get violent.