That thread (including my own UK Politics Thread which was permanently closed in September 2019) was shut down for very good reason. I'm afraid experience has shown that such threads lead to too many petty back-and-forth circular arguments that go nowhere fast. I said nothing at the time about the closure of my UK Politics Thread as I was weary of the arguments and welcomed its closure. Of course in effect it made little difference anyway as there was the other newer (supposedly) Non-Argumentative Politics Thread still in existence. Of course it's been closed and reopened a few times since then, again for good reason. There are plenty of political forums on the Internet or Twitter where that sort of thing can be discussed. I say that in spite of being a political animal myself. I mostly stopped posting in any of the political threads in October 2019 and have never really looked back since. I would highly recommend it to other AJB members as a good life choice.
I'm still interested in politics of course but I just don't think that James Bond forums are the best arena in which to discuss such often contentious matters online. I had all of my political threads closed over at MI6 Community in February 2020 by request of the mods and I'd suggest the same type of policy be applied here at AJB. Even when you do close any of the Politics threads there still seems to be the phenomenon of political discussion leaching into other threads such as the one on Coronavirus which I take it has been closed due to more political squabbling. To be honest it's another thread I stay well clear of due to the nature of the subject being discussed and the petty point scoring that goes on there. A case in point (if it were needed) that politics is a toxic subject for any Bond forum.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I do feel that Coronavirus is an appropriate subject to discuss, as long as it does not descend into the kind of arguments you mention above, since it is the most important thing happening in the world right now. The thread is open again as long as things stay polite and impersonal.
I now remember where I read this claim. Lars Mytting has written a book about....... firewood titled "Hel ved" ("Norwegian wood"). You may not be surprised the book has sold well in this country, but you will be shocked that it's been translated into many languages and seen healthy sales internationally. A newspaper article reported this and said: "It's even been published in the Netherlands where using stoves for heating is illegal."
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,668MI6 Agent
I can see the advantages of not using stoves even though no other heating source creates such a nice atmosphere. The Netherlands is a small and densely populated country, and I imagine there aren't a lot of forrest to be used for firewood there. Air quality must be an issue. It's a problem in some cities here too. In this neck of the woods it's more a matter of controling the wooded areas. Today my father and I were cutting trees, by the way. It's manly work for real men, as Monthy Python has pointed out.
I didn't know where to post this so I put it here.
I watched OHMSS today (again!). When I first started to get interested in the world of Bond it was one of my least favourite things, now it is among my favourites. I especially like George Lazenby in the role as, just like Sean Connery, he is not play acting at being tough.
My question is this. On the beach when Bond has just rescued Tracy and Draco's men appear, why does one of them hold a knife to her throat? Surely they are there to protect her? As I type I realise that they might not be Draco's men? If not, who are they?
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 26,508Chief of Staff
Yes, they are Draco’s men. I think these guys on the beach hold a knife to Tracy’s throat to stop her from struggling and (possibly) trying to fight them off - and to discourage Bond from action against them...that way they can take her with minimum fuss and effort.
I'm in danger of turning this thread into the weather thread, but I need to tell someone of all the snow I've shoveled today.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,668MI6 Agent
We had a bit of snow here yesterday but it's melted away again. There are still occasional flakes of snow that blow around in the wind and it is still very bitterly cold so there could well be more snow on the way. There are some flakes of snow falling as I type this in fact. It comes and goes but isn't lying this time around.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
I just read the US is experiencing a crippling ketchup shortage. As a survivor if the great Norwegian butter shortage of 2011 my heart goes out to you. 🤗
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,668MI6 Agent
Today we had the best weather in..... 2021 with sun and nearly blue sky. After dinner I shoveled the snow off half the veranda, brought out a kitchen chair and listened to a podcast while tanning. Wonderful! 😎
A young man and an even younger woman were driving to a cabin just north of Oslo when the car got stuck in the snow. It turned out they were victims of a gaffe on the GPS map and for the last 10-12 kilometers they were driving on a ski trail! Don't you hate it when that happens? 🤣
I've just finished listening to the new episode of JBR. They have re-opened after the winter, much like a road through a mountain pass. Listening to Chris and Tom was extremely welcome, less like the opening of a mountain road and more like a heavy drinker happily falling off the wagon. 📻
Comments
The Not-So-Short-Lived-Pandemic-Thread? Perhaps we'd could do an AJB interview with Pres Macron? 😬
🤣 Thank you for the ideas, but I've now re-opened the Coronavirus thread.
That thread (including my own UK Politics Thread which was permanently closed in September 2019) was shut down for very good reason. I'm afraid experience has shown that such threads lead to too many petty back-and-forth circular arguments that go nowhere fast. I said nothing at the time about the closure of my UK Politics Thread as I was weary of the arguments and welcomed its closure. Of course in effect it made little difference anyway as there was the other newer (supposedly) Non-Argumentative Politics Thread still in existence. Of course it's been closed and reopened a few times since then, again for good reason. There are plenty of political forums on the Internet or Twitter where that sort of thing can be discussed. I say that in spite of being a political animal myself. I mostly stopped posting in any of the political threads in October 2019 and have never really looked back since. I would highly recommend it to other AJB members as a good life choice.
I'm still interested in politics of course but I just don't think that James Bond forums are the best arena in which to discuss such often contentious matters online. I had all of my political threads closed over at MI6 Community in February 2020 by request of the mods and I'd suggest the same type of policy be applied here at AJB. Even when you do close any of the Politics threads there still seems to be the phenomenon of political discussion leaching into other threads such as the one on Coronavirus which I take it has been closed due to more political squabbling. To be honest it's another thread I stay well clear of due to the nature of the subject being discussed and the petty point scoring that goes on there. A case in point (if it were needed) that politics is a toxic subject for any Bond forum.
Thank you, SM, that sums things up nicely.
I do feel that Coronavirus is an appropriate subject to discuss, as long as it does not descend into the kind of arguments you mention above, since it is the most important thing happening in the world right now. The thread is open again as long as things stay polite and impersonal.
I read somewhere that using wood stoves for heating is illegal in the Netherlands. Can anyone confirmed or deny this?
I now remember where I read this claim. Lars Mytting has written a book about....... firewood titled "Hel ved" ("Norwegian wood"). You may not be surprised the book has sold well in this country, but you will be shocked that it's been translated into many languages and seen healthy sales internationally. A newspaper article reported this and said: "It's even been published in the Netherlands where using stoves for heating is illegal."
The use of wood stoves in the Netherlands has not been regulated as yet but the lobby group in this article has called for it to be:
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2018/03/lobby-group-calls-for-action-on-polluting-wood-burning-stoves/
I can see the advantages of not using stoves even though no other heating source creates such a nice atmosphere. The Netherlands is a small and densely populated country, and I imagine there aren't a lot of forrest to be used for firewood there. Air quality must be an issue. It's a problem in some cities here too. In this neck of the woods it's more a matter of controling the wooded areas. Today my father and I were cutting trees, by the way. It's manly work for real men, as Monthy Python has pointed out.
I didn't know where to post this so I put it here.
I watched OHMSS today (again!). When I first started to get interested in the world of Bond it was one of my least favourite things, now it is among my favourites. I especially like George Lazenby in the role as, just like Sean Connery, he is not play acting at being tough.
My question is this. On the beach when Bond has just rescued Tracy and Draco's men appear, why does one of them hold a knife to her throat? Surely they are there to protect her? As I type I realise that they might not be Draco's men? If not, who are they?
Yes, they are Draco’s men. I think these guys on the beach hold a knife to Tracy’s throat to stop her from struggling and (possibly) trying to fight them off - and to discourage Bond from action against them...that way they can take her with minimum fuss and effort.
Spring is a wonderful time of the year...
Yes, witnessing the garden blooming in April brings joy to my heart ☺️
Ha! You have our tomorrow's weather, today N24. It's been glorious (relatively) here today 16°C bright sunshine. Tomorrow will be dull and 2°C.
Will there be snow in Britain too tomorrow?
It’s 7am as I type this on Mactan and it’s already 27C 😁
We've had snow this morning and according to my weather app we're having rain at 1pm then sunshine at 2pm.
Just need some wind then I think we'll have a full set!!
Tonight we had snow and strong wind. I felt that was enough for April, but then the thunder and lightening started. 👏😂
I'm in danger of turning this thread into the weather thread, but I need to tell someone of all the snow I've shoveled today.
We had a bit of snow here yesterday but it's melted away again. There are still occasional flakes of snow that blow around in the wind and it is still very bitterly cold so there could well be more snow on the way. There are some flakes of snow falling as I type this in fact. It comes and goes but isn't lying this time around.
The spring continues....
I just read the US is experiencing a crippling ketchup shortage. As a survivor if the great Norwegian butter shortage of 2011 my heart goes out to you. 🤗
I'm sure they'll soon ketchup. 😉
Yes. Soon Biden will promise a million gallon of ketchup in the next hundred days. 😁
Can't they sauce some from elsewhere?
This should have been obvious, in heinzsight.
They'll soon be in the red again.
They're bound to come through when the chips are down.
Today we had the best weather in..... 2021 with sun and nearly blue sky. After dinner I shoveled the snow off half the veranda, brought out a kitchen chair and listened to a podcast while tanning. Wonderful! 😎
More snow news!
A young man and an even younger woman were driving to a cabin just north of Oslo when the car got stuck in the snow. It turned out they were victims of a gaffe on the GPS map and for the last 10-12 kilometers they were driving on a ski trail! Don't you hate it when that happens? 🤣
I've just finished listening to the new episode of JBR. They have re-opened after the winter, much like a road through a mountain pass. Listening to Chris and Tom was extremely welcome, less like the opening of a mountain road and more like a heavy drinker happily falling off the wagon. 📻