It’s got that I can’t view PP at work now because scrolling past that will mean a lot of explaining (we have 20 inch wide screen monitors at work so you can imagine how big the image is!)…!

Oh and Michael Jackson has apparently converted to Islam. WTF?

If true, the Moslems of the world have my profound sympathy.

Now, it’s no secret (well it is, we’re talking about the secret service here) that the CIA always tell the new president things that involve being an enemy to Islam while treating the hub of Islam, Saudi Arabia, as allies because they have money and, like Mr Krabbs from Spongebob Squarepants says, the only thing lovelier than money is more money.

Anyhoo, so they go up to Obama with lots of ideas to hurt Islam without offending Arabs, but Obama rejects them all.

‘But,’ protests the CIA, ‘If we don’t do something for the Arabs while being seen to damage the USA in some small way, they’re not going to give us money.’

Obama thinks long and hard and says: ‘I know. Force them to get Michael back into the studio…’

I had a friend from Belgium once. I mean, she’s still a friend… I used to love teasing her by saying I’d invade Belgium if I had some free time. Hehe. They still can’t form a bloody govt! shame.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TfHE2-ezilU&feature=related

Incidentally, my comment about the European wheel very deliberately avoided European Union. Iceland’s pitiful exceptionalism led directly to cowboy regulations and may well drag Europe further down. If the Icelanders want to go down the toilet with their independence, that’s fair enough. I just want my money back first.

Unless you are suggesting it is ok for states to take money in good faith and not give it back.

“Iceland is also the country that would not put its shoulder to the European wheel.”

Lucky Iceland.

Heh Sunny.

I gather that the level of investments in Icelandic banks amounted to each UK citizen giving each Icelandic citizen £16,000. Exactly how much help do these people want?

Investment and bad investors. Not “help” and “rogue state”.

No argument there, but I think we’re over the cod wars. It was a long time ago and, AFAIK, no-one died.

…would not put its shoulder to the European wheel. Their call, as a democracy. They doubtless have their reasons to value independance very highly.

Irresponsible maybe, but not rogue by any definition.

Iceland grew fat on the back of a wildly inflated currency it steadfastly refused to reign in, in the process distorting the global fincance market. Essentially, Iceland allowed a cowboy financial sector to grow unchecked. Later of course this is the country whose central bank more or less said that it would not offer to foreign investors the guarantees it offered to Icelanders.

Iceland is also the country that would not put its shoulder to the European wheel.

OK, maybe it does not meet the current day defintion around sponsoring terror. But Iceland has has a devil may care attitude and for them to moan about Britain not helping them was a level of gall that I would not have believed had I not heard it. I gather that the level of investments in Icelandic banks amounted to each UK citizen giving each Icelandic citizen £16,000. Exactly how much help do these people want?

The words ‘news’ ‘slow’ and ‘day’ come to mind..

re economy: Soros predicted so much of this, and still claims it will get worse. I don’t know if it’s a socialist’s wet dream through. If ever they had an opportunity to present an alternative argument, now is the time, and yet they have appear to have nothing of substance to say at all.

Rogue state is a term applied by some international theorists to states considered threatening to the world’s peace. This means meeting certain criteria, such as being ruled by authoritarian regimes that severely restrict human rights, sponsor terrorism, and seek to proliferate weapons of mass destruction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_state

Watch out for the Conservatives’ tax bombshell campaign on a bill board near you

http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/13/news/companies/enronoriginal_fortune/index.htm

It is well worth a read as it bottoms out an awful lot if issues that we see seven years hence.

The wider question is how has the collective mindset been convinced that a faux market can be created for everything – but that is a question that needs to be taken up with the voters as much as anything else.

Derek Wall – Sorry, are you suggesting that Iceland was a socialist nirvana prior to this year and that the big bad IMF has brought down the socialist land of milk and honey? That country has been a rogue state for three decades.

Really? Woah! What’s happened?

Ben