Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[UKCruiseJeff]

Thanks for the Links Jeff and for the US-centric comments Terry, interesting reading and a very deep and muddy pool.

Europe has a long history of division and conflict and little of unity , so one assumes that it's all going pear shaped sometime.

The world , of course, is economically on a knife edge with a catastrophic crash seemingly inevitable.

Has Brexit lit the fuse ?

 

I wish I hadn't thought so hard about your comment but it really did hit the target.

 

It is an awful time to be English rather than the easier British. The more you think, the more horrible it all seems.

 

At the moment, we have come to the end of a relationship, where we are told retrospectively that we went through a secret marriage without us knowing, and we are being told that we will be punished for getting "divorced" when we didn't even realise we were married. But this isn't the people speaking, It isn't even the democratic voice of our representatives speaking, it is a bunch of people none of us elected or even heard of who have powers we didn't even realise we had given them.

 

We are also being told by our the Scottish and Northern Irish brothers and sisters that that they feel more European than British. It is hurtful. But this isn't the people speaking it is their political representatives. As English we'd always been generous and understanding, and have supported the lifestyles of both with incredible cross subsidies and very little interference. We couldn't have tried harder. But it isn't the people speaking.

 

And today we heard that 150,000 people lost their lives, and a million people displaced and hundreds of millions made unsafer, in order to remove a single man, at the whim largely of two men who did a secret deal, and that it was all a "con", avoidable, unplanned and the world has been made an unsafe place, and the two people that did this will never be held accountable and feel no remorse.

 

Not a good day.

 

Jeff

[ernieb]

I'm sorry , but I got lost in that last paragraph. Obviously I missed something today. Who are the two men and what happened to the 150,000 people?

Thanks.

Ernie.

[tgh]

I'm sorry , but I got lost in that last paragraph. Obviously I missed something today. Who are the two men and what happened to the 150,000 people?

Thanks.

Ernie.

 

see Jeff's post #3872….

[les37b]

I'm sorry , but I got lost in that last paragraph. Obviously I missed something today. Who are the two men and what happened to the 150,000 people?

Thanks.

Ernie.

 

The leaders of the US and UK.... One of which wanted to complete what Daddy started and the other wanted to feel more important and appreciated being a sock puppet.

 

The US were reeling after 9/11 but despite Saddam being a monster, he had nothing to do with the event that heightened this anger and need to hit out.

 

In case you weren't aware, yesterday the Chilcot report (7 years in the making) was released and is quite damning. It stops short of suggesting tony bLIAR should be arrested as a war criminal, but only just. I fully expect him to face civil action taken by relatives of those who lost their lives in a war that should not have happened.... At least not the way it happened.

 

And the vacuum left has given rise to IS..... But Mr Bush still insists the world is now a safer place due to his war. Couldn't be further from the truth IMHO.

 

Great articles Jeff..... We really are on the same Hymn sheet regarding Juncker's Junta.

[UKCruiseJeff]

I'm sorry , but I got lost in that last paragraph. Obviously I missed something today. Who are the two men and what happened to the 150,000 people?

Thanks.

Ernie.

 

 

Between 14th - 16th April 1983 when George Bush senior made a triumphant visit to Kuwait a plot to assasinate him was thwarted. The attempt was attributed to Saddam.

 

Subsequently when justifying the action in Iraq Bush junior added "After all this was the man who tried to kill daddy". Some freel that this was the primary consideration in Bush junior's mind when invading Iraq ie unfinished family business. Regime change is illegal under international law. There was no plan to rebuild Iraq following Saddam's execution. The Chilcot report states that Blair intended to invade Iraq having decided to 8 months before Cabinet or Parliament were consulted. Chilcot also said that the war was a first rather than last resort, that when inspectors didn't find WMD that this was taken to mean that they had been hidden, when it actually meant that there weren't any. We were also told that the British people were willfully misinformed about WMD as an excuse for the war. We were also told there were no plans for Iraq post-invasion. It has sown the seeds of Al Quaeda, and Isil and has sunk into a civil war. 150,000 Iraqis have died and a million displaced. It sowed the seeds of trouble in Syria, Eqypt etc etc.

 

On TV yesterday evening we head the bizzare story of how Emma Sky found herself Governor of Kirkuk "by accident" and in a very random way in June 2003. At first I found her account just unbelivable but a bit of reading shows what she says was true. This is her account given to the Guardian in 2012. Sobering reading.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/15/iraq-emma-sky-us-military

 

Jeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

I'm sorry , but I got lost in that last paragraph. Obviously I missed something today. Who are the two men and what happened to the 150,000 people?

Thanks.

Ernie.

 

Ernie ...... I was rude. I forgot to welcome you to the cooler. Regards to Chattanooga! Choo .... choooo...... :)

 

Jeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

Thanks for the Links Jeff and for the US-centric comments Terry, interesting reading and a very deep and muddy pool.

Europe has a long history of division and conflict and little of unity , so one assumes that it's all going pear shaped sometime.

The world , of course, is economically on a knife edge with a catastrophic crash seemingly inevitable.

Has Brexit lit the fuse ?

 

Sadly the Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena were one of our first clients and they claimed to be the oldest bank in the world. Their board meetings were something you could never forget. Sadly it looks like there is a serious risk of them failing. The Italians may be the next to have a vote. Who knows?

 

"Italian officials are trying to find ways to shore up the country's financial system. "

 

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/06/investing/banks-italy-brexit-crisis/

 

Jeff

[spinnaker2]

Skulduggery and politics.

Synonyms?

[les37b]

Sadly the Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena were one of our first clients and they claimed to be the oldest bank in the world. Their board meetings were something you could never forget. Sadly it looks like there is a serious risk of them failing. The Italians may be the next to have a vote. Who knows?

 

"Italian officials are trying to find ways to shore up the country's financial system. "

 

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/06/investing/banks-italy-brexit-crisis/

 

Jeff

 

The Germans and French will be too entrenched to allow anything to get in their way of their "punishment" and will bail out whoever.

 

Some of the things coming out of the mouths of these Eurocrats really are not doing them any favours (Like Farage's gloating comments didn't). Continually telling us "we must be punished" for rejecting a dictatorial system which has gone too far to just ignore (and will continue to get worse), really is not a good place to pretend to negotiate.

 

Its not Britain that should leave the EU, its Juncker, his ideals and his cronies. Hollande can join them. (And Tony Bliar!)

[UKCruiseJeff]

The Germans and French will be too entrenched to allow anything to get in their way of their "punishment" and will bail out whoever.

 

Some of the things coming out of the mouths of these Eurocrats really are not doing them any favours (Like Farage's gloating comments didn't). Continually telling us "we must be punished" for rejecting a dictatorial system which has gone too far to just ignore (and will continue to get worse), really is not a good place to pretend to negotiate.

 

Its not Britain that should leave the EU, its Juncker, his ideals and his cronies. Hollande can join them. (And Tony Bliar!)

 

I was listening to farage during the live feed and to be honest I think he has been given a bad card on this. They were shouting really quite nasty abuse at him when he stood up to speak, and I thought he was quite restrained considering what was being shouted at him.

 

Whatever else, if people think the way you and I and some think of these things we owe the chance to reassert sovereignty to him, and in the moment he gave the wake up call to the EU will in the future and hindsight will be seen as a pibotal moment in history. An unknown beer drinking politically incorrect man who caught the sense of the people and engineered change outside of the political club.

 

I'm pretty clear about all this. We are going to have a terrible time for a few years. But we are the most talented trading nation in history matched only by the Chinese who we need to understand and learn from better. We know where the EU is heading, we can see it as epitomised in Drunker Juncker. A man that went from a department of a dozen to 30,000. We also know where an unbridled UK could be out of it given time.

 

Hold the line. That is all we need to do.

 

We had two bottles of champagne today for lunch. The eating stuff wasn't that hot to be honest but the drinking stuff was lovely.

 

:)

 

Jeff

 

Jeff

[UKCruiseJeff]

Skulduggery and politics.

Synonyms?

 

Spins,

 

I have had lunch and will not be able to say "syonyms" for a while without a run at it and making more of a fool of my self than I normally do. :eek:

 

I like your venetian piccies by the way. Memories aren't what they use to be.

 

:)

 

Jeff x

[UKCruiseJeff]

Les,

 

I meant to tell you. I know you are a gadgets man. Let me place temptation in your way. I will say this only once.

 

Bose QuietComfort 35 Bluetooth headphones.

 

;)

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

Sadly the Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena were one of our first clients and they claimed to be the oldest bank in the world. Their board meetings were something you could never forget. Sadly it looks like there is a serious risk of them failing. The Italians may be the next to have a vote.

"Italian officials are trying to find ways to shore up the country's financial system. "

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/06/investing/banks-italy-brexit-crisis/

Jeff

 

Appreciate from Jeff this very interesting CNN story on the potential problems with the Italian banks. YES, when the "books" are bad and loans are not being re-paid, it is like a flashing "red-light" saying . . . warning, warning!!

 

I thought this quote from the CNN story was key:

"Other Italian bank stocks have fallen by about 30% since June 23, when the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. Italian officials are trying to find ways to shore up the country's financial system. Italian banks have been choking on bad debt for years, but the U.K. vote has thrown their problems into sharp relief."

 

As I noted earlier, when nations "run out of money" that creates problems and consequences. Clearly Italy and other Euro nations do not have their own "printing presses" to create more and more AND MORE money. Germany and the Euro bosses control those financial "details".

 

Unique reporting by Jeff on "We had two bottles of champagne today for lunch." Not sure that I could drinking that much mid-day and be able to function well for later in the day. Jeff is a better man than me for those things.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 214,473 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[jpalbny]

 

Bose QuietComfort 35 Bluetooth headphones.

 

Jeff

 

These look very nice! Hmm.

[UKCruiseJeff]

These look very nice! Hmm.

 

I had you on my list as being a candidate for these .....;)

 

It was a tough decision seeing as the last QuietComforts were still working although falling apart.

 

The thing that swung me was being tired getting tangled with the cable on flights and strangling myself. The Bluetooth also controls the volume and tracks ie pause, next and last tracks and can be used with a phone. The noise cancelling is stunning.

 

I was listening to Abbey Lincoln and Stan Getz, with Wimbledon on the TV (who needs sound) ... and the ability to simply get up and wander to the fridge, and wherever ..... ;) ...... without taking the headphones off etc is lovely.

 

Don't hesitate JP, you know it makes perfect sense.

 

Jeff

[les37b]

I had you on my list as being a candidate for these .....;)

 

It was a tough decision seeing as the last QuietComforts were still working although falling apart.

 

The thing that swung me was being tired getting tangled with the cable on flights and strangling myself. The Bluetooth also controls the volume and tracks ie pause, next and last tracks and can be used with a phone. The noise cancelling is stunning.

 

I was listening to Abbey Lincoln and Stan Getz, with Wimbledon on the TV (who needs sound) ... and the ability to simply get up and wander to the fridge, and wherever ..... ;) ...... without taking the headphones off etc is lovely.

 

Don't hesitate JP, you know it makes perfect sense.

 

Jeff

 

Phew!

 

I did look them up when you posted.... I'm not a big fan of Bose if I'm honest.... but I'm sure they.re good.

[TLCOhio]

From the New York Times in the past few minutes, they have this headline: "Race for Britain’s Prime Minister Down to Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom" with these opening story highlights/comments: "One way or another, Britain will have its second female prime minister. The governing Conservative Party took another step on Thursday in its process to replace Prime Minister David Cameron, winnowing the contest to two candidates — Theresa May, the home secretary, and Andrea Leadsom, the junior energy minister."

 

Great analysis/predictions by Jeff and others.

 

Full story at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/world/europe/theresa-may-andrea-leadsom.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 148,369 views for this posting.

[tgh]

Les,

 

I meant to tell you. I know you are a gadgets man. Let me place temptation in your way. I will say this only once.

 

Bose QuietComfort 35 Bluetooth headphones.

 

;)

 

Jeff

 

I have a pair of QC3 that are almost new as I found the bulk of carrying them all trip compared to the airline nr headphones .. not worth the hassle.

FF to my upcoming Cclass flight to sin and they have been dug out and are on the charger. I recall when buying them having some trepidation as there were already some cordless headphones on the market… Obsolescence marches on….

 

The 'Oz election result is not finalised , but a conservative government will continue to "rule" down under , with (one hopes), a suitably chastened and wiser multi millionaire Prime Minister.

The social engineers have now had some successes much to my chagrin.

"Group failure" ( ie Camel construction ) is seen as more honourable than individual success in the mind of much of the population.

I'm now quite sure I can smell smoke and hear the faintest notes of a vibrating string...

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good morning/afternoon/evening (delete as appropriate :D) tgh.

 

Your decision re your headphones was the right one. Until the Bose 35s Bluetooth, the first wireless over ears, the only other option you would have had was probably poorer noise reduction on non-Bose but decent sound with other brands. Travel headphones - particularly planes - really gives Bose their edge, but sitting at home there are better options. When I got my original ones they were QuietComfort 2's and I was so pleased with them I bought wifey a pair as a surprise pressy and gave them to her just before her next flight. In real terms they were more expensive than my new ones. She loves hers. I love the new ones they are leaps ahead of what they replaced. They aren't the very best of the sound range but these things are always going to be a compromise between noise reduction and sound quality, but most will be delighted. mI Love them.

 

The situation in Oz is difficult for us here to fully understand because we haven't been as close to the evolving story.

 

Do keep us in touch, and if you have the patience please inform and educate as you understand stuff that I for one do not and I am an insatiable learner.

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

The 'Oz election result is not finalised , but a conservative government will continue to "rule" down under , with (one hopes), a suitably chastened and wiser multi millionaire Prime Minister. The social engineers have now had some successes much to my chagrin.

 

Appreciate this update and these details from "down under". Have not followed this recent Aussie election cycle as closely as I had in earlier years when BOTH of the main parties there had two different times when their incumbent PM's got dumped mid-term by their own fellow party members.

 

Politics, as always, can be strange, with many different "twists and turns". France is getting ready for elections late this year and early next year. That one could be wild, too!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 40,358 views for these postings.

[UKCruiseJeff]

On a slightly different topic, are there any other Brits who think that miriam margolyes is a national treasure. She is so impish, naughty, delightful, clever, funny, and the youngest 75 year old anywhere?

 

 

Jeff

[jillyf]

She is now living in Australia.

I have seen her one woman show and loved it.

Lately we saw her on a TV show where several British people went to Jaipur in India to see if they would like to retire there. I can't remember who else was in the show but I think they were celebrities probably recognised by Brits.

I think Miriam didn't enjoy it much ( particularly the heat ) but some considered returning to live.

[lincslady]

Yes, Miriam Margolyes is something of a treasure - perhaps we should suggest her for Prime Minister?

 

Any Brits now have views on which of May and Leadsom is more suitable for the top job? For me, the more we hear about AL the less and less suitable she seems to be. I am pretty old-fashioned, in that I find total honesty to be very important, and have a bit of an aversion to people who 'big themselves up'.

[Tothesunset]

AL certainly has the CV behind her. As well as running the UK's investment institutions single-handedly don't forget her less well-publicised achievements:

 

…Created the NHS

 

Had a number 1 hit with Elton John

 

Led a team of US Navy Seals to kill Osama Bin Laden

 

Sunk the Bismark…

[les37b]

Project fear is dead..... long live project fear....