Disqus - Latest Comments for Walm

Re: Cyclists! Why do they ride in the middle of the road?

Walm — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 14:40:12 -0000

Why not learn how to drive instead of endangering vulnerable road users?
If you can't safely overtake a small slow-moving bike then you are a moron who shouldn't be behind the wheel.

Re: Cyclists! Why do they ride in the middle of the road?

Walm — Wed, 13 May 2015 08:37:45 -0000

Whether or not they should be - they aren't compulsory. Deal with it.

Re: Cyclists! Why do they ride in the middle of the road?

Walm — Wed, 13 May 2015 07:09:53 -0000

What about those arrogant and rude drivers who choose to ignore motorways!!!?? How dare they use a different route than one I randomly demand is preferable?
Cycle paths are OPTIONAL.
Read the highway code.

Re: Being skeptical about UKIP and their claims; Are they racist? Libertarian? Rational?

Walm — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 17:54:12 -0000

Ah. I understand now. I probably have it backwards but I always had the impression that the kippers just enjoyed being jingoist bigots and suddenly realised that was popular with a bunch of (somewhat fairly) aggrieved blue collar workers who lost their jobs to cheaper labour. Then in order to build on that popularity they had to justify backwards their non-existent working class roots.
What I find so astonishing about this disgusting party is that they are basing an entire political party on the argument about what to do with a few hundred thousand extra people entering the country each year.
They are essentially making up all of the rest of their policies with absolutely no clue or even a consistent agenda.
It would be like saying "vote for me and I will give you an astronomically small improved chance of keeping or regaining your job - but I have no idea how to do it much less any unintended consequences or clue about how to run a country with FAR BIGGER MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES."
VOTE WALM!

Re: Being skeptical about UKIP and their claims; Are they racist? Libertarian? Rational?

Walm — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 18:47:52 -0000

Great piece. My only (biased) complaint is that you seem to object to their funding by the city yet criticise them for not sticking to the (pro-city - I think) libertarian principles.
Firstly, the city funds the Torys far more and secondly a couple of hedgies funding a party doesn't necessarily represent the view of the majority of them.
And in any case - guilt by association with hedge funds is the sort of populist illogical BS I expect in the guardian comments not on this excellent blog.
To an incredibly large extent hedge funds are at worst amoral (its a zero sum game). A very tiny minority are immoral.
Perhaps I missed it but I would love to see a post explaining why pension fund managers (which is essentially what HFs are) are so evil!

Re: The Remnant Newspaper - An Open Letter to 'Hobbit' Star, Stephen Fry

Walm — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 10:36:28 -0000

While nicely written you have unfortunately made a very simple error here.
I completely agree with the analogy about risk taking in children and the kindly father.
However, to take the analogy to the correct level you have to go one stage further.
No only do the children inevitably die owing to some RISK-RELATED mishap such as falling into a puddle. They are also completely randomly and unnecessarily slaughtered in great numbers.
In simple terms - there is just FAR TOO MUCH random suffering.
Bone cancer teaches God's children nothing about the merits of a risk-reward based pain/pleasure spectrum.
Prima facie we could learn all we can learn about trial and error with a whole lot less disease and earthquakes.
Hence God is either unnecessarily cruel or a figment of the deluded imagination.

Re: Is Islam a Religion of Peace? The Debate.

Walm — Fri, 16 Jan 2015 08:17:33 -0000

Saw the comments from Yahya Adel Ibrahim in this article and thought of you JMSP!
http://edition.cnn.com/2015...

"As it is clear that the cartoons are to be published again, Muslims will inevitably be hurt and angered, but our reaction must be a reflection of the teachings of the one we love & are angered for," Ibrahim said. "Enduring patience, tolerance, gentleness and mercy was the character of our beloved Prophet."

So I guess this Imam is basically preaching lies?
Since you have actually read bits of the book in question and don't have an axe to grind (if you permit such a phrase), I am going to believe you rather than the head of PR for what seems to be an utterly deplorable religion.

It used to grind my gears when idiot CofE preachers talk about the "virtue" found in the teachings of the bible, because OBVIOUSLY before JC rocked-up everyone wandered around in a state of total amoral confusion with no idea what was good or bad. An entire world of Camus' L'etrangers if you will. Thank goodness for JC because without His word I would be raping and pillaging as much as the next man... /s.

However, the con the Qur'an has managed to pull is far worse. Espouse intolerance and violence yet somehow persuade many (usually rational) truly tolerant people to defend it.
The very people the Qur'an aims to destroy are out on the streets defending it's right to destroy them!
My only explanation for such a state of affairs is that the vast majority won't have actually read it.
Frankly your post Jonathan makes me think that the "extremists" who follow Islam are really those who lead normal lives and DON'T go around murdering infidels. Those who are violent psychopaths are the true believers; they are just doing what they are taught.

Perhaps the one silver lining from this despicable act is that the tolerant liberals may question the de facto assumption (and it is clearly an assumption rather than fact based) that Islam really does teach peace.
Perhaps they WILL read the book and discover for themselves that Imam's in Australia are simply lying about their prophet.

Re: 'Fargo' lands Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons for Season 2

Walm — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 05:26:45 -0000

3 Spidermen and she is still referred to as from Bring it On. Ouch.

Re: Recap: Sons of Anarchy - Some Strange Eruption

Walm — Sat, 22 Nov 2014 08:47:08 -0000

No one seems to have noticed Tig's miraculous recovery. His stomach was riddled with shotgun pellets just yesterday! So not only are those cuts bullet proof and grenade proof - they also have incredible healing properties. Although as ever he had the best line with "just gay enough".

Re: $2 Billion and Counting

Walm — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 04:54:46 -0000

Nick said Spotify makes it worse. Mark said, no it didn't, the past was worse.
If you are a logician then I am a plumber.

Re: Emmys 2014: Strong performance for the Brits with three wins for Sherlock

Walm — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 03:42:40 -0000

Seriously - do you watch TV? Amanda Peet isn't in Game of Thrones and Heroes finished in 2010.

Re: Annoying Parents and their Fallacious Arguments: The Teachers’ Strike

Walm — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 06:24:01 -0000

Agree 100%.
Parents seem to cope with inset days.
Also - it's part of the tacit agreement with taking up a place in a state school - you obviously know that now and again there may be industrial action. (And that you may have to pay fines for removing your kids early.)
If you find it so abhorrent you are free to move the kids to a private school.
...what's that? ...more expensive you say? ...perhaps you should just STFU then and fully respect the right of collective action...

Re: Annoying Parents and their Fallacious Arguments: The Teachers’ Strike

Walm — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 05:17:56 -0000

Good work, Well argued as ever. I pay for school dinners as well as fines when I go on cheap holidays - so OBVIOUSLY teachers should pay for childcare in a strike. The causal link is absolute!
My only issue with the above is that I strongly suspect that in Victorian times you very much did have parents wanting the government to look after their kids - otherwise state schools wouldn't have come about! (Well except for those shoving their kids up chimneys I guess.)

Re: Black Friday hits the UK with Christmas discounts of up to 70 per cent for shoppers

Walm — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 07:34:29 -0000

Agreed - you don't need turkey at Christmas either - some rice and beans will meet all your nutritional requirements.
I refuse to eat anything that actually tastes nice I just eat what I need.
With my savings on unnecessarily delicious meals I enjoy a good Dickens, such as a Christmas Carol - or as I like to call it "Scrooges handbook to life - with annoying ghosts".
If you haven't read it - skip the last half.

Re: Kenny Kellogg: 7 Links on Sunday - Super Connectors, Houston's Dropbox Application, and Bottom of the Pyramid Businesses

Walm — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:17:03 -0000

Why wouldn't they check piracy stats?
I guess you could rely on Nielsen viewer ratings for shows when they originally aired but then you would miss gems such as AD and Family Guy (first time round).
Piracy stats have to be the cleanest set of current demand for shows; frankly, they would be muppets to ignore them.
Mind you, they thought qwickster was a good idea so god knows...

Re: Kenny Kellogg: Sunday's 7 Links - June 30, 2013

Walm — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 12:51:37 -0000

I know about the current bike hire but it is mostly to tourists sticking to the flat bits next to the sea - no? For a city wide scheme for everyone it needs to be an alternative to the cab or tube options. That simply doesn't work with big hills.

The London scheme had loads of teething problems because everyone hiring the bikes simply rode downhill and dumped them. They had to employ huge numbers of trucks to replace the bikes back up the hills.
And London is FLAT compared to SF!!

Re: Kenny Kellogg: Sunday's 7 Links - June 30, 2013

Walm — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 06:57:24 -0000

Perhaps I am being dumb but isn't San Francisco just about the last city that could successfully implement a City Bike scheme?

"Sure I'll just hop on my bike from the office (101 California for example) to say a meeting in The Fairmont."
I guess if the cardiac arrest doesn't kill me I will be happily crushed to death by the cable car that having trapped the front tyre (tire) in its tracks...

Re: Kenny Kellogg: 6 Links Every Saturday - June 29, 2013

Walm — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:45:55 -0000

"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans..."
The man can cook AND write!

Re: American network TV has raised its game

Walm — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 11:14:11 -0000

With respect Andrew I think you miss the point. The networks are a very different place from the cable channels. With guaranteed subscription revenues HBO could easily afford to ignore the lowest common denominator favoured by the ad execs and focus on taking enormous risks with The Sopranos etc...
An article pointing out that Breaking Bad is some pretty special TV would be indeed fatuous.
But for a network to invest in something like Elementary would have been impossible without the pressure from cable channels to provide something more engaging than HIMYM or TBBT.
That is why this article is worth writing. The networks need to know that they should be aiming for such praise as much as their more risky brethren.

Re: Kenny Kellogg: 6 Links Every Saturday - "I Ran for a Year," Colbert's Mother, Gandolfini and Camera Obscura

Walm — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 12:57:48 -0000

Coincidentally watched S01E07 of The Sorpanos yesterday. It has a scene where Tony bonds with AJ over ice cream right at the end of a signature angst-ridden episode. I guess it was supposed to leave the viewer feeling hopeful about the father-son relationship despite the inevitable problems Tony's chosen/not-chosen career has for his family.
Unfortunately watching the guy fooling around eating cool-whip squirted straight into his mouth was perhaps the saddest and most poignant scene of the whole series so far.
RIP

:-(

Re: Kenny Kellogg: Six Links Every Saturday

Walm — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:48:23 -0000

Fricking onions all over the place reading about the call girl. :(

Re: Government calls to curb cycle deaths

Walm — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:44:33 -0000

"in London cyclists are by far the greatest risk"
YES - finally! Somebody is standing up for those poor car drivers who have to do emergency stops!!
I mean some of them nearly smeared their make up as they put it on. Others certainly spilled their coffee. And the final poor bunch definitely dropped their phones mid-call.
We need more pressure groups to campaign on behalf of those at-risk drivers who might get a slight dent to their car's bodywork as they wrap a lycra-clad lentilist around their hood ornament screaming - "get off the road, can't you afford a car, pay some road tax and where is your blooming insurance...."

Re: Government calls to curb cycle deaths

Walm — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:37:41 -0000

Cyclists who kill people on the pavement go to jail and rightly so.
I am not sure how this has any bearing on whether or not we should respect the rights of cyclists on the ROAD.

Cycling on the pavement is illegal and rightly so.
However, it kills very very rarely.
I can find about 1 death a year written up in the press.
The DfT figures confirm this showing a very bad year as 2007 with 3 deaths.
In contrast 54 pedestrians were killed by CARS on the pavement that year.

But carry on Terrence - clearly if one tiny subset of a group (pavement cyclists) do something wrong we should totally ignore the rights of the entire group.
After all it is much more important to save 1 or 2 pedestrians than to save 122 cyclists.

Re: Deliver Big Impact on a Small Budget

Walm — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:20:23 -0000

Scott and Ben are heroes and as ever the advice here is invaluable.
It is amazing how much can be achieved when organisations throw off the shackles of the classic corporate structure.
Here with no egos holding onto power crowd sourcing flourished.
But best of all the reward from doing the right thing has proven that people happily give back with either their time, money or both.
Faith in humanity restored!

Re: The Ten Best baby monitors

Walm — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:23:25 -0000

Shame you got the price wrong on the Tommee Tippee - it's £159.99 at mothercare and at best £140 elsewhere.