JohnL

oimissus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I used to run the book stall at my daughter?s > primary school. People seemed to think that is was > fine to donate torn, scribbled-in, > encrusted-with-food, missing pages books. They all > went into the bin. Because no-one would buy them. > Would you? When I was a youngster I loved reading what people had written in second hand books. But that was before social media :)

What happened to the second hand book stores of my youth - they were a treasure trove back then - the local one to me was called "Ralph the Books"

and talking of trade ambassadors - what's Tony Abbott done for us recently.

Sometimes I think the Irish Media have a sense of Schadenfreude (can't really blame them)

first mate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > SpringTime, who do you think would have caused two > reported explosions in last hour? Are you > suggesting it is a setup by US/UK troops to hasten > exit? If there were destabilisers and agents of foreign powers they would just stir up trouble in the background that made attacks more likely not direct the bombers.

Labour shortages - But right wingers are still saying those WFH will be made redundant as foreign workers can do their jobs.

I guess Raab won't be resigning. The guy is someone who always comes across to me as "small"

Sephiroth Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Beyond disgraceful but entirely in keeping with > this clueless, feckless, moral-free bunch of > shysters ?There won?t be a GardaWorld project any more with the embassy; your jobs are gone.? That sounds like a nice compassionate person.

We seem to have known anyway and this whole article about withdrawal was written in April. "At meetings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels on March 23 and 24, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken sought to put allies on notice that they should start thinking about how to conduct withdrawals of their own troops in Afghanistan, a combat disengagement that the Pentagon describes as a ?military retrograde operation.? " https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/17/us/politics/biden-afghanistan-withdrawal.html

malumbu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sleepy Joe seems to have slept through much of > this. Our lot were half awake on the beach. Or he did know and allowed it to happen (an election is 3.5 years away - he may have decided to get it over with). CNN said he wanted out after a conversation with (frustratingly I missed the who here)

IDS in parliament now "Did we say to USA why did they make the decision to withdraw air cover (then withdraw entirely)" I think the US didn't tell us and may have given up informing us of their intentions - they don't really trust us.

Taliban were meeting China last month as if they were already in power https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/taliban-have-important-role-in-afghanistan-s-future-says-china/2316462

If the former Iraqi Government was seen to have a future in Afghanistan then why was it not included in the negotiations about the future of Afghanistan ? you suspect some people knew this was going to happen.

If you do a search on "Nandos Brexit" you'll see the original reports seemed to blame Brexit but have been altered For instance "A Nando's spokesperson said: ?The UK food industry has been ... due to labour shortages linked to Brexit and soaring ingredient costs" Is in the google search but not in the report itself - so where did this "ghost" text come from.

If people don't care about Nandos they won't care much about loss of Democracy I guess.

Yes - I wondered what the world would do if the Taliban said "We will copy the Saudi form of Islam" - to an extent they are.

I wondered whether I'd been banned from the drawing room all these years until I saw the date. Can't help but think Biden secretly wanted troops out - I heard it said on CNN too.

Of course that news conference was about as realistic as the former Iraqi Information Minister

They basically just said they want to join the rules based international order.

First question is about women's rights "We will give all rights to women as given in the principles of Islam"

Also claiming they will allow education for all up to university level and they don't hold any grudges against anyone (even the USA) Is this "New Taliban" really going to last longer than a week.

The Taliban are holding a live news conference now with translations such as .. "Some miscreants have been causing trouble in Kabul"

Watching CNN yesterday and they said "there is no elegant way to lose a war" Whatever went on, doesn't seem much was shared with the UK though.

I would think if everyone gives a description you could pick out common features or voice characteristics. I know that most people will recall some of it wrong but it's better than nothing.

Make a day of it - but then when it comes to meeting the fellow students - if I remember my days as a student you really want to be there at the beginning before they all know each other.