7 ms·
Did somebody just try to buy the British government?
- mhd 16y agoThe sheer eccentricity of the British never ceases to amaze me…
- arethuza 16y agoThe House of Lords is to eccentricity as Silicon Valley is to software.
- patio11 16y agoThe House of Lords is the one thing I think the Founders ditched from the monarchy which had real value. We got the Supreme Court instead, which resembles a HoL from a dystopian future where only lawyers are trusted to remember the spirit of the nation.
- mustpax 16y agoIsn't the senate supposed to be the American counterpart to the House of Lords?
- barry-cotter 16y agoNot really, but kinda, when Senators were elected by the State legislatures.
- smh 16y agoThis function of the House of Lords has recently been replaced with a newly created Supreme Court. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_Kin...
- DanI-S 16y agoHearing you say that stirs the kind of flag-waving patriotism in my British mind that is usually reserved for Americans watching live sports.
- pragmatic 16y agoRight, just Americans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism I think all nationalities can go a little crazy over sportball.
- jamii 16y agoI would think that flag-waving nationalism is almost entirely unrelated to tearing up the stadium and eating the seats.
- wyclif 16y agoVoted you up, since it seems apparent to me that every Western country has sportsball fanaticism.
- DanI-S 16y agoI'm afraid you may have missed my point...
- mhd 16y agoThe poster above mentioned that US sports spectators get patriotic, not crazy. I've watched people watch Baseball. You'd have to add 1000s of them together to get the calorie burn of one Dutch/English/German hooligan. Calorie intake on the other hand…
- arethuza 16y agoHear! Hear!
- danohuiginn 16y agoLord James is small fry. This is a country where, in 1976, the former [thanks, zb] Prime Minister summoned 2 journalists to his office, and declared to them: "I see myself as a big fat spider in the corner of the room. Sometimes I speak when I’m asleep. You should both listen. Occasionally when we meet, I might tell you to go to the Charing Cross Road and kick a blind man standing on the corner. That blind man may tell you something, lead you somewhere."
- rlmw 16y agoWhilst this initially sounds like a hilarious anecdote Harold Wilson did suffer from Alzheimer's disease which causes a sustained and permanent mental deterioration once it sets in. Also there are severe question marks over the veracity of this particular quote, suggesting it was made up in order to promote the sales of a book called 'The Pencourt File.'
- zb 16y agoFormer Prime Minister.
- gjm11 16y agoIt seems to me that the simplest explanation is that Lord James of Blackheath is barking mad. One commenter at Stross's blog remarks that he's had a stroke, which may or may not be relevant.
- arethuza 16y agoAccording to his Wikipedia entry he apparently tried to buy MG Rover in 2005 - which arguably supports your explanation.
- enko 16y agoWell, seems to me the reason you'd think that is because you're stupid. It's not your fault - you were probably just treated roughly as an infant. Wait, what's that, you don't think casting aspersions on someone's mental capacity is a valid counterargument? Well then.
- almost 16y agoIt seems perfectly reasonable to consider madness when discussing the possible reasons for that speech having been made. It's not like the parent comment is trying to make a counterargument against anything, he's just wondering what's happening here.
- gjm11 16y agoI wasn't offering a counterargument. I was taking it as read that what he says probably isn't true because (1) it sounds very very implausible and (2) if you read what he actually said, it looks like the kind of thing deranged people say; and offering an explanation for how it might be that he came to say such strange things. (There is further reason for suspecting LJoB's mental state; his most recent other speech in the Lords is pretty weird too.) If you think that my suggestion that LJoB might be off his head is so ridiculous that no sensible person would make it, or that the way I expressed it is so incoherent that no normal person would write what I did, and if you happen to want explanations, then you absolutely should be considering the possibility that I'm stupid or crazy. [EDITED to add: Especially if you know that in fact I was treated roughly as an infant in a way that would tend to damage my brain. Which, as it happens, doesn't appear to be the case.]
- sjs 16y agoSerco?
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- sorbus 16y agoContext (since I had no idea what Serco meant): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serco_Group http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serco_Group "The Guardian has called Serco "probably the biggest company you've never heard of." "
- icegreentea 16y agoHoly crap. These are the guys who run my driver's testing? I had no idea that the guy checking my eyesight was part of a group that supports the British Armed forces. Talk about bizarre.
- genghy 16y agoThe guy is a comic - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/101021-0001.htm#10102148000635 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/t... "They decided to devote the words to the most obscene account of Hermann Göring having sexual congress with a lady kangaroo, which ultimately proved fatal to him because it would not stop jumping. After that, the Reverend Wynn decided that there should be no more of that."
- Luc 16y agoThere seems to be a misunderstanding in this article that Lord James is a member of the government. As far as I can tell from his Wikipedia page he is a member of one of the houses of parliament, but has never been a member of government.
- ryanc 16y agoBy this logic you wouldn't call a US Senator a member of the US Government?
- gloob 16y agoThe parliamentary system is rather different from the US political system. Notably, there is "the government" and "the opposition", which are usually (but not necessarily) the two largest parties in the parliament. (Disclaimer: I'm Canadian. This is how it works in Canada. There are differences between the Canadian and British systems, but they are much smaller than the differences between the American and British systems).
- frobozz 16y agoI have no idea how the terminology is applied in the US, but in the UK, it does not include every Tom, Dick or Harry that manages to get themselves a seat in Parliament.
- nihilocrat 16y agoThe usage of the term "government" in commonwealth countries, following the Westminster System (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_system), refers more specifically to the executive branch (prime minister and cabinet) currently in power and not the state in general. Since the Prime Minister and his/her cabinet are merely MPs in high positions, the division between executive and legistlative in terms of personnel is not nearly as clear-cut as it is in US politics.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago>The usage of the term "government" in commonwealth countries, following the Westminster System (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_system), refers more specifically to the executive branch (prime minister and cabinet) currently in power and not the state in general. That's very interesting, I don't think Scottish, English or Welsh people use "government" it that way though FWIW. What word does one use for the government if the word government is co-opted for the Cabinet & PM?
- dansingerman 16y ago419 Scam aimed at goverments. Probably these people: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_International_Treasury_Control http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_International_Treasur... Significant excerpt: "The OITC proposed to invest US$150 million in a hydro-electric project in the region, subject to Ullauri placing $20,000 in a bank account in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a deposit. She paid in the money as requested in December 2005 but several months later there was no sign of the promised millions from the OITC.[11] In mid-April 2006 Ullauri publicly denounced the OITC as a fraud and lodged a complaint against its principal, Ray Cchat Dam, and two Ecuadorians said to be its local agents.[12]"
- thaumaturgy 16y agoAh, and there's a connection, too: the OITC and David James were both involved in bidding to rescue MG Rover. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4681369.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4681369.stm)
- angusgr 16y agoApparently he's quoted as saying it's not the OITC. http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/security-bullet-in-10000166/lord-james-foundation-x-not-a-scam-10020958/ http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/security-bullet-in-10000166/lor... Although why a more mainstream news organisation hasn't picked it up, I do not know (too wacky?)
- dc2k08 16y agoLink to the recording: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/101101-0003.htm#10110215000101 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/t...
- djtumolo 16y agoCryptonomicon anyone? This sounds like a Neal Stephenson book, not Robert Ludlum.
- wildmXranat 16y agoMy personal banker's indiscretions are bubbling up to daily light. I told Morty to keep his personal business apart from mine and leave any trails pointing away from my accounts. This draws the line and he will be fired for this airing of my account's balances in plebeian circles. My apologies to the fine people of England and the circle of Lords unfortunate enough to have been bothered with the matter.
- mrjohnsly 16y agohttp://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=6811 http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=6811 Video from 22:42:30
- tlb 16y agoKeep in mind that by Billion he means 10^12, so it is actually a huge amount of money.
- gort 16y agoAre you sure? In Britain billion always means 10^9 these days; it may have been different decades ago.
- tlb 16y agoIt must, otherwise the argument about there not being 5 billion worth of gold in the world is silly. Baron Blackheath was born in the 30s and worked in banking in the 60s, so he certainly grew up with the 10^12 usage.
- jonhendry 16y agoThe UK government switched to the 10^9 usage in the early 70s. The amount of gold is irrelevant. The scammers have none.