Griffin - an embarrassment to the nation.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20110510+ITEM-017+DOC+XML+V0//EN

"Mr President, the explosion at Chernobyl was a disaster, but let us keep it in perspective: 64 people were killed by Chernobyl radiation over 23 years, and it caused an unknown proportion of 6000 cases of thyroid cancer. These are tragic figures but they pale into insignificance compared to the death toll on our roads. Yet, while no one is using road traffic accidents to campaign to ban the motor car, a small army of leftists is using Chernobyl to push for an end to nuclear power.

I do not doubt that they mean well but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The same people meant well when they helped to create the biofuels rush, pushing the price of food beyond the reach of the world’s poor. Tonight millions of children will go to bed slowly dying of hunger because people on that side of the House meant well: that is what the fuzzy ideals of the Utopian left do in the real world.

The impact of a nuclear ban would be even worse because the alternative to nuclear power is not wind farms and solar panels. In our energy-scarce, post-peak oil world, the alternative to reactors is mass starvation." 

Nick Griffin, speaking at the debate on Nuclear Safety 25 years after Chernobyl

Is this really the sort of person we want speaking on our behalf in Europe? It sounds like the rants you hear in a Wetherspoons at 4pm on a Wednesday afternoon. This is a serious issue and having some clown trying to score cheap political points on a British platform is just degrading.  

SCP Creepiness

http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/main

I've recently got back into this website after losing track of it for a while. Definitely worth a browse - some of the entries are very well written and thought out although you have to sort through some dross to get there.

http://scpcb.wordpress.com/

Anyway once you've read a few try this. A free alpha game based on some of the scarier ideas from the site. I've recently completed Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Only two or three of the multiple endings depending how you count it, no spoilers please!) but this really made my hair stand on end. Something about the simplicity of it and the unremitting ordinariness of 95% of the play time I think (along with the suspense from knowing some of the scarier things on the site).

My first play I noticed nothing unusual until floor 14. Then a strange Cheshire cat grin in red and orange appeared from the darkness. 'That wasn't too scary' I thought and went on. Floor 19 was the first really scary thing, as I arrived at the bottom of the stair case a sort of white and black mime creature appears and then disappears with a discordant note in the music. I back off, hyperventilate for a bit and then keep going. Finally on about Floor 23 I'm walking down an unremarkable corridor when a gong goes off and everything goes pitch black. The lights come on but I don't see the enemy before it finishes me off. Red screen. Chills. 

Economist underestimates Hollande

http://www.economist.com/node/21553446

The Economist are doing their usual outburst of indignation at the idea that anybody might want to vote for anybody who doesn't sleep with a copy of 'An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations' under their bed.

Still ironic to see that the have gone from labelling him as a 'Mr Normal' who plods on despite his deeply uninspiring nature to the more exciting sobriquet 'The rather dangerous Monsieur Hollande'. If Hollande can win the first round of voting with a split left-wing vote it doesn't bode well for the other governments of Europe that are pursuing 'austerity' measures at all costs. Cameron will undoubtedly be paying attention.

Bombing in Central Ukraine provokes conspiracy theorists

http://rt.com/news/ukraine-dnepropetrovsk-explosion-tram-127/

 Sad that this sort of thing has happened but the Russia Today comments are gold - three pages blaming: 1) The Vatican 2) The Muslims 3)The CIA 4) Polish Special Forces 5) The Jews 6) MI6 7) The Ukrainian government 8) Lone terrorist 9) Mossad 10) Trade Unionists 11) The Mafia 12) NATO 13) Russia Today 14) Jesuits 15) The Russians 16) The Rothschilds

 It's like a mash up of every conspiracy theory since 1786. Although they missed out the Freemasons. And the Communists.

Liberia sentence

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17864387

 "Victim Jusu Jarkar said: "This is a happy day. I have not been able to do many things because my arms were cut off, but today I am happy.""

 What a monster. I hope that this is the first of many convictions of dictators and heads of state who abuse their own people.

The Funny Side of Car Crashes?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,828091,00.html

Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour?

Spanish King having hip surgery

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17712841

I shouldn't laugh but there are a lot of shady missing details in this story. What was a 13 year old doing with a gun? Why was the 74 year old king hunting elephants? Do the Spanish monarchy not believe in bodyguards or are they just amazingly incompetent?