BARDINESS

Bardy: Hiberno-Caledonian; def: bold, audacious, defiant.

"Originally a North Briton, nowadays I keep one foot in London and one in Laguna, Philippines. That's quite a stretch - 6,716 miles to be precise." 

Another Argy Bargy.....?

 

The Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has recently described Britain as a "crass colonial power in decline" because they are refusing to hold talks over the future of the Falkland Islands.

This appears to have rattled a sabre with the UK's Ministry of Defence, and they have decided to send HMS Dauntless down into the South Atlantic in what seems to be a statement of intent - that intent being that the Falklands are not open to negotiation, that they have been a British protectorate since 1833, and that is how they will remain.

Putting aside the economic reasons for holding onto the islands - British oil companies are drilling for oil in the region, for example - the small population of the Falklands are British and wish to remain so.

Zujava....(or the A-Z of Squidoo)

 

 

I'm writing about Zujava because it conveniently puts my catagory list with a range from A - Z.

Prior to that I had to settle for Wizzley as my last word.

Coincidentally both of them are online writing sites, both of them appear to have spun off from Squidoo lensmasters, and both of them seem to have the same people contributing. 

Farcebook....

There was a Trojan Horse at the gate and it wasn't from the Greeks - at least I think not. But I can understand why these insidious viruses are called as such. They hide behind apparent innocuous posts on facebook and other social networking sites, embedded in the link like a parasitical worm.

Not content with causing mayhem, infecting the computer attaching itself like a bloodsucking leech, but it grows and multiplies like bacteria. Indeed the word "trojan" is far too good for it and as we all know it is the synonym of"malware". Some of these can be harmless, others can be extremely destructive, but the fact is that someone somewhere is designing these dastardly bugs and whilst they are at least contained to the IT world, one can only hope there aren't any mad scientists around who can replicate them in the medical one. Otherwise we are potentially doomed.

Not unless we can carry around a human form of antivirus software to blitz the bastards before they can send us all bonkers.

The Bourne Legacy - It's more fun in the Philippines!

Philippines President Benigno Aquino says the filming of the latest "Bourne" movie in Manila will boost tourism and jobs.

"The Bourne Legacy" is the fourth in the franchise, and as I recall the gist of them follow an ultra-tuned US assassin with a heart, who suffers from amnesia.

He hasn't completely lost his memory, because he still knows how to travel all over the world with impunity, adopting a range of disguises, utilising a plethora of techno gizmos, speaks a variety of languages, and has combat skills which would shame Bruce Lee and knocks off his enemies like skittles.

He's like a rogue absent-minded James Bond 00?

"#It's More Fun in the Philippines!"

What is? Well everything according to the Philippines Department of Tourism - It's the new slogan and has replaced "WoW Philippines!" (which I thought was rather good) and some other one which was so mundane that I can't even remember it! 

More fun in the Philippines is a bit like Marmite - you either love it or hate it (now there's a ditty you wouldn't forget in a hurry).

Anyhow, to mixed review, and some cheeky wit, the slogan has gone viral on the internet. Particularly with tweeters and the ubiquitous meme manufacturers.

The Malabar Spider - Courage without Balls....

"Australians wouldn't give a XXXX for a Seahorse's Willy!" was a Bardy post I wrote in 2009.

It was a lighthearted observation about the reproductive abilities of Seahorses, and for reasons at the time I linked it to the famous advertising slogan of Castlemaine Beer: "Australians wouldn't give a....etc" 

The female seahorse has it's own penis, which she uses to deposit her eggs into the belly of the male, who then secretes sperm to achieve external fertilisation and.....anyway, you'll have to read that post to see where it was going.

A Euphoric Novel Calendar for 2012....

This is post 80 for 2011, which averages 6.6̅6̅ a month. That’s a periodic number by the way, and the line above the numbers after the decimal point is called a vinculum. Which means recurring.

In this case “6” repeats a further 15 times. Indigestion springs to mind, but a good dose of liver salts should cure the problem for those of my readers who suffer bilious attacks after each of my indulgences.

Thanks to Microsoft Word I am able to utilise the symbol in this post. I rarely use MS Word unless I am writing a letter, and most of the time I use Notepad. From which I copy and paste into TypePad which I can then arrange, edit and add images to my heart’s content.

The Philippines - Drowning in a Storm of Semantics...

Most of the 1000 fatalities in the southern Philippines typhoon and flood disaster this December lost their lives "due to the process resulting in primary respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in a liquid medium". That is the Philippines Department of Health (DOH) definition of "drowning".

Apparently many drowned because they couldn't swim. There is barely no research to back up this statement, but according to the Philippines Daily Inquirer newspaper, it is based on anecdotal evidence. Lifeboat volunteers were asking children bobbing up and down in the sea, surrounded by dangerous logs and clinging on for grim death "Can you swim?"

The suggestion is that if they had the basic skill many would have survived.

What is the implication I wonder? Here you have one of the worst disasters to hit the Philippines for many years - a disaster which experts had been warning about regularly; a disaster compounded by illegal logging and deforestation; uncontrolled slum dwellings along river banks; over population; and instead of addressing all of those factors, the victims are blamed because they carelessly failed to learn to swim! How inconsiderate!

Floyd Mayweather - a fair weather bling boxer.....

Floyd Mayweather has come up with many excuses to avoid a fight with his nemesis Manny Pacquiao, but the latest has to be the best.

Can it be that he manipulated a prison sentence to avoid a confrontation?

Having been convicted of a domestic assault, he has been sentenced to three months imprisonment.

This will severely put back any plans to fight Pacquiao, and even if he gets an early release, or even if he gets a successful appeal, it would mean that there will be no potential meeting in the ring for eight months or more. 

Why is this such a big deal? Two reasons - boxing is about the purse, and a contest between the two adversaries would produce millions of dollars win or lose for the contenders, and secondly, Mayweather has exposed himself as a charlatan, an opportunist and a thoroughly devious individual, who has a track record of resorting to unsportsmanlike conduct time after time to avoid a fight with Pacquiao.

The Seven Year Itch...........

There are 320 million coconut trees in the Philippines and they occupy 28% of the agricultural land area.

Yet 14% of them are considered dead or dying and there has not been any substantial replacement. That's nearly 45 million.

A 60 year old tree won't bear many nuts and should be cut down for lumber. A tree (or palm - for the pedantic) is at its best between seven and twenty five years when they can produce 40 to 60 nuts a year.

Sustainable agri-management would ensure replacements but farmers are reluctant due to a combination of poor returns, El Nino weather patterns, and many are poor tenants who don't own their land and are paid peanuts by the land owners who even expect rent to boot!