http://www.shakingoff.com Silence tells me, secretly, everything Sun, 03 Jul 2011 04:35:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I am ze Fascinator!  I have been sent from ze future to wear stupid hats. So apparently Kate changed outfits five times in 24 hours.  Now this is pure speculation but the only reason I can think of to change your clothes that often is if you poop your pants.  Now ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2011/07/03/silly-hats-make-me-more-republican/ I strongly disagree with the EU bailing out Ireland in this time of crisis.  It is because I am reminded of another crisis in European history, a much, much more serious one in which Ireland turned its back on its continental brethren. On July 17, 1941, continuing from a conversation started ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/11/28/throw-the-irish-to-the-dogs/ Meant to post this awhile ago... Much ado has been made about Chancellor Merkel’s comments in regards to multiculturalism in Germany, that it has “utterly failed.”  At least they tried.  Certain former leaders of Germany were decidedly against multicultarism. But frankly, I’m not surprised.  Multiculturalism is doomed to fail because too many ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/11/08/multiculturalism-is-doomed-to-fail/ On the 8th of October it was revealed that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.  Since the award was first given out in 1901, China has undergone massive change.  Widespread unrest led to the overthrow of the 2000+ year old empire and the ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/10/14/the-norwegian-nobel-committee-redeems-itself-somewhat/ This one is long and disjointed but it’s important. “Woman Is the Nigger of the World” – John Lennon wrote that song in the early ’70s and I only just recalled it when I was part way through this post. Sadly, although there have been many advances, the phrase still rings ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/09/08/woman-is-the-nigger-of-the-world/ StarCraft II is, in a word, awesome.  The graphics are awesome, the levels are awesome and the cinematics are awesome.  The new units: awesome.  The old units: still awesome.  Raynor: awesomer than ever.  So, yeah... awesome. But, lest I be branded a fanboy, or what hip hop fans describe using the ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/08/04/musings-on-starcraft-ii/ When King James VI of Scotland ascended to the throne of England he dropped his regnal number for his new title becoming simply “James of England.”  This is because England, unlike Scotland had had no previous rulers named James and it made explicit that, despite being in a personal union, ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/07/03/what-happened-to-queen-elizabeth-i-of-canada/ In welcoming Elizabeth II, Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (incidentally also the name of my favourite doo wop group), prime minister Stephen Harper made the interesting claim that the queen had visited Canada more times than any other Commonwealth country.  Now the key words here are “visited,” “more ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/06/29/a-foreign-monarch-has-landed-on-our-shores/ On the 24th of June, 1948, the Soviet Union, then the occupying power of what would become known as East Germany began a full blockade of the three sectors of Berlin soon to become known as West Berlin. The Soviets were sure the Western Powers would soon give up and ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/06/03/the-poor-palestinian-people/ The following is an unproven hypothesis that I nevertheless consider to be very likely.  Either that or it was serendipity. Georgia’s entry to Eurovision 2009 was the most genius diplomatic manœuvre I have ever seen.  Faced with a militarily humiliating (but diplomatically empowering) defeat at Russian hands, Georgia was not too ... http://www.shakingoff.com/2010/05/31/the-fun-side-of-diplomacy/