What the Heck?! Thread (Closed)

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solarz

Brigadier
I don't care one way or another about Brexit, but I have to comment on this article:

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Since my early youth I have been an enthusiast for the European Union. My mother was born in Brussels to a French mother and an English father, and I have many relatives in Belgium and France. In my teens I won essay prizes on the wonders of the EU, visited the European Parliament and generally thought supranationalism was
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. Later I
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to researching the life and thought of Robert Schuman, the saintly founder of the European project whose Declaration of 9th May 1950 is annually commemorated as Europe Day.

So how did I find myself, in the early hours of 24 June, celebrating our departure from the EU?

Over time, two considerations have eaten away at my Europhilia: one historical, one more philosophical. The history of Europe does not suggest it thrives under political unity. The High Middle Ages (for me the apogee of Western civilisation) were distinguished by the flourishing of innumerable independent political communities of every imaginable configuration, united by spiritual and not political power.

Even Edward Gibbon, no admirer of the Middle Ages, could not help but think the lack of political unity in the West was, after all, rather a good thing.

In all the pursuits of active and speculative life, the emulation of states and individuals is the most powerful spring of the efforts and improvements of mankind. The cities of ancient Greece were cast in the happy mixture of union and independence, which is repeated on a larger scale, but in a looser form, by the nations of modern Europe; the union of language, religion, and manners, which renders them the spectators and judges of each other’s merit; the independence of government and interest, which asserts their separate freedom, and excites them to strive for preeminence in the career of glory.

The comparison applies to our own time. During the referendum campaign, Eddie Izzard complained that Europe “had wars from Alexander the Great to World War II”. At first I wondered why he began so late as the 330s BC, but then it occurred to me that the preceding period refuted his case. When the Greeks
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in the 5th century BC, they did so as fiercely independent states. Relatively speaking, these were tiny states which nevertheless vanquished the might of the superpower of their age. And when Philip II of Macedon and then Alexander the Great unified Greece into a single powerful force, they exhausted its civilizational energies. Unity meant cultural death.

This brings me to the second reason I stopped supporting the EU. What was the great secret of Greece, the supreme achievement of Athens approximated or imitated by the other cities? It was that which Herodotus called the fairest of all names: Isonomia. Isonomia is untranslatable. British politicians call it “democracy-and-the-rule-of-law”. Literally it is equal-law, an equal share in making the law and equality before it.

Isonomia was in some ways perfected by the Roman Empire – until it became too large and slid into despotism. But by then, the faith of Christ had given to the city a social and geographical universality. The genius of the religious orders, supremely the Dominicans, fashioned the representative democracy that our own Simon De Montfort translated back into the political order with the creation of Parliament in the thirteenth century.

By the time of the referendum, I was convinced that great empires, even quasi-voluntary bureaucratic ones, are not what make Europe an ideal worth cherishing. Isonomia is the great ideal of the West, and Britain has a cherished history of defending that ideal. We did not contribute to that history by joining the European Economic Community in 1973.

The Commonwealth is in contrast a genuine expression of that ideal. One of the greatest blessings the Lord ever bestowed on this country was to allow us to lose our Empire (an impressive but highly questionable achievement) in so great a cause as the destruction of Nazism. How could we go quietly into the night of the neo-ancien regime?

As the Queen observed in 1976, “We lost the American colonies because we lacked that statesmanship ‘to know the right time, and the manner of yielding, what is impossible to keep.’ But the lesson was learnt. In the next century and a half we kept more closely to the principles of Magna Carta which have been the common heritage of both our countries. We learnt to respect the right of others to govern themselves in their own ways.”

While campaigning for leave, I met many people who supported and promoted Brexit. These are the people the chattering classes stigmatise as racists and xenophobes. They are not. They don’t call it Isonomia, but this is the ideal that burns in their breasts. They have a very vehement conception of what it means to be British and that conception is absolutely bound up with liberty-under-the-law. They are not happy with the idea of a country as an engine for the production of economic statistics into which any human fuel you like may be thrown. They see acceptable immigration as like the arrival of a new daughter-in-law; what they feel they have received instead is like the family next door moving in uninvited and taking over the house.

These are “the people of England who have not spoken yet”
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. On June 23 they spoke, and let us not forget.

I had to look up the definition of "apogee" just to make sure I'm not misunderstanding the author.

Serious, he thinks the Middle-friggin'-Ages was the apogee of Western civilization?? Is he like, a fan of dysentry and bubonic plague?

The rest of the article is riddled with distorted history. If the Greek "independent" city states were so awesome that they beat the Persian "superpower" empire, then how did they get conquered (oops, I mean "unified") by Mr. Alexander? The whole Sparta-Athens rivalry couldn't possibly have had anything to do with it, could it?
 

delft

Brigadier
I don't care one way or another about Brexit, but I have to comment on this article:

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I had to look up the definition of "apogee" just to make sure I'm not misunderstanding the author.

Serious, he thinks the Middle-friggin'-Ages was the apogee of Western civilization?? Is he like, a fan of dysentry and bubonic plague?

The rest of the article is riddled with distorted history. If the Greek "independent" city states were so awesome that they beat the Persian "superpower" empire, then how did they get conquered (oops, I mean "unified") by Mr. Alexander? The whole Sparta-Athens rivalry couldn't possibly have had anything to do with it, could it?
Amen.
 

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
Has any one studied the Diplomat row between Russia and U.S.? Here is the link from BBC
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And here is the google street view of the place
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Make your own judgement who to believe.

A person exists a cab in dark, with street light above head, making it impossible to identify, walks straight to a heavily guarded facility without promptly showing his ID to the guard. Neither did he intended to. The time it takes him from the cab to the barrier (the forbidden boarder) is less than 3 seconds, another 3 seconds into the building.

There are hundreds people work in the embassy complex, police guards shift, there is no way nor procedural requirement on the guard to memorize every face.
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
Has any one studied the Diplomat row between Russia and U.S.? Here is the link from BBC
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And here is the google street view of the place
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Make your own judgement who to believe.

A person exists a cab in dark, with street light above head, making it impossible to identify, walks straight to a heavily guarded facility without promptly showing his ID to the guard. Neither did he intended to. The time it takes him from the cab to the barrier (the forbidden boarder) is less than 3 seconds, another 3 seconds into the building.

There are hundreds people work in the embassy complex, police guards shift, there is no way nor procedural requirement on the guard to memorize every face.

Good thing this didn't happen in America or the 'diplomat' would probably have been riddled with bullets.

I'm not impressed with the security arrangements at that door, as there should have been a full barrier to stop people from just walking up to the door straight off the street like that.

However, given the way the security check point was set up, I really cannot see what the Americans have to whine about with this incident.

Being an embassy staffer, he should have known there was a security check point there and slowed down to identify himself and show ID before heading for the doors.

Having failed to do that, and approaching doors very quickly, just what the hell did anyone expect the Russian policeman guard to have done? Wave the guy by without doing his job of verifying his ID and checking him for, oh, I don't know, weapons or bombs?

Because I'm sure the US government or media would never dream of blaming Russia if a terrorist just walked up into its embassy off the street without the Russian police on station doing anything to stop him after he failed to stop at the checkpoint and show proper ID. :rolleyes:

Somehow I think in the version told by the alleged CIA man to his bosses in the embassy, things went down very differently.

But now that this video has surfaced, I really cannot see how any reasonable person could blame Russia.

America has egg all over its face with this silly overreaction, but obviously could not possibly admit they were wrong because the 'optics' would look bad, so we have this pointless tit for tat squabble.
 

taxiya

Brigadier
Registered Member
Good thing this didn't happen in America or the 'diplomat' would probably have been riddled with bullets.

I'm not impressed with the security arrangements at that door, as there should have been a full barrier to stop people from just walking up to the door straight off the street like that.

However, given the way the security check point was set up, I really cannot see what the Americans have to whine about with this incident.

Being an embassy staffer, he should have known there was a security check point there and slowed down to identify himself and show ID before heading for the doors.

Having failed to do that, and approaching doors very quickly, just what the hell did anyone expect the Russian policeman guard to have done? Wave the guy by without doing his job of verifying his ID and checking him for, oh, I don't know, weapons or bombs?

Because I'm sure the US government or media would never dream of blaming Russia if a terrorist just walked up into its embassy off the street without the Russian police on station doing anything to stop him after he failed to stop at the checkpoint and show proper ID. :rolleyes:
I agree with the security setup at that door. Actually there should be only one entrance, the main entrance like US embassies in most other countries.

I am puzzled as well of the conduct of that embassy staff for the sake of US embassy's own safety. With disbelief of his act, I am close to take this incident as a planned deliberate act to provoke the Russian police guard into a fight.
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
I agree with the security setup at that door. Actually there should be only one entrance, the main entrance like US embassies in most other countries.

I am puzzled as well of the conduct of that embassy staff for the sake of US embassy's own safety. With disbelief of his act, I am close to take this incident as a planned deliberate act to provoke the Russian police guard into a fight.

Always need more than one door for safety.

This looks like a side door/fire exit not normally supposed to be used (hence the bare minimal security and the small size of the doors).
 

ahojunk

Senior Member
This article on Brexit is amusing! :D

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Mugdha Kapoor Safaya
First published:June 28, 2016, 3:01 PM IST | Updated:June 28, 2016

In a historic decision on June 23, 51.3 percent people voted for Britain's exit from the European Union. But as the fallout of Brexit sinks in, many of them are wondering if there is any way to remain in the EU.

In the hope of calling for a second referendum, approximately 3.9 million disappointed 'remain' camp voters signed an online petition calling for a do-over. But, of course, calling for a second referendum doesn't seem to be a practical option. The decision has been taken and now a new leadership is due to take charge in October and carry out fresh negotiations with the EU.

PM David Cameron, gave a word of advice in his Parliament statement: "The nature of the relationship we secure with the EU will be determined by the next government, but I think everyone is agreed that we all want the strongest possible economic link with our European neighbours as well as with our close friends in North America, the Commonwealth and important partners like India and China".

But the most interesting piece of advice on Britain's future options was given by this Brit immigrant living in India.

In his intelligent Facebook post, Nick Booker-Soni, from Bath, UK, writes why Britain should forget everything and join India as her Union Territory.

Read his post here on why he feels so:

Dear Britain,

Should you have voted to leave the EU by the time I wake up - don’t worry - I have a solution that should relieve both 'remainers' and 'leavers' equally. A moment comes, which comes but rarely, when we step from the old to the new….I’ve cracked the ‪#‎Brexit‬ conundrum!

Cameron needs to immediately apply for Britain to become a Union Territory of the Republic of India.

Whilst historically speaking it seems only right and proper to give India a chance to rule Britain for a few hundred years - it actually makes a lot of sense for the British too!

Worried about jobs? India’s economy is growing 4x faster than Europe’s and will overtake the entire EU’s sometime in the 2030s - becoming twice the size of the EU economy by 2050. In economic terms alone every young Brit should wish to replace their garish red EU passport with a classy blue Indian one ASAP.

Worried about the future of the NHS? India already provides nearly as many Doctors to the NHS as the EU does - and that doesn’t even include those of Indian origin, born or educated, in Britain. 25,055 Indian v 30,082 EU.

Worried about diversity? With over 100 different languages spoken everyday and adherents of every religion - even Britain’s favourite materialist consumption - there truly is something for everyone here!

Worried about being understood? English is one of India's two official languages - which will be a huge relief for all those have struggled to communicate with their continental neighbours for all these years.

Worried about not being part of something bigger? India has more than twice the population of the EU. Half of which are under 35, so the bonus is no more worries about an ageing population!

Worried about where to go on holiday? The Himalayas are nearly three times the height of the Alps and thousands of miles longer - there are more sandy beaches along India’s coastline than all the coasts you can dream of - and India has tropical rain-forests and even a desert too! Plenty of visa free inter-railing adventures as well on the world’s largest railway network.

Worried about not being ruled by an elected bureaucracy in a far away land? We’ve got that covered as well! Nowhere on the planet has perfected the shuffling of paper and writing of rules better than New Delhi - what’s more India’s civil servants salaries are more than 10x lower than Brussels. Talk about getting more for less!

British MPs, the whole of Whitehall and even the Royal Family (subject to the return of the Kohinor) can all be pensioned off at the fast expanding and internationally renowned Best Exotic Marigold Hotel chain in Jaipur.

Which would free up the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and much of Central London to become a permanent Bollywood film set. With more viewers than Hollywood this is sure to help keep London’s tourist economy going - which within a decade or two will be mostly Indians in any case.

Embrace the 21st Century. Swap Brussels for Delhi. Say Goodbye to Little Europe and Namaste to Incredible India!

Yours in waiting,
An Immigrant of British Origin,
New Delhi, India
 
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