This Christmas period, our thoughts turn to those poor people who spend the yuletide in hospital. This Christmas we heard how Nelson Mandela was being treated for a lung infection and gallstones in a South African Hospital, Margaret Thatcher opened her presents while in a Hospital bed after an operation to remove a growth from her bladder and former President George Bush was hospitalised over Christmas with a fever.
Turned out it was the elder George Bush who was eating the turkey amongst the tinsel on his hospital bed and not the one Russell Brand called the retarded cowboy who done so much towards bringing peace to Iraq and Afghanistan.
I wish Mandela a speedy recovery, am not really fussed about George Bush but hope that whatever hospital Thatcher was in, the person responsible for administering her pain relief went home for the bank holidays.
20 comments:
nice Lucy. remember that maggie was supported for many years by brit votes...
q
So we're not allowed to make fun of people who are democratically elected? Sheesh, thought police alert...
I expect she got a lump of coal from Santa. Imported coal of course because she shut down all the mines. If there is any justice her bandages were put on by the wife/son or daughter of a miner. Not too tight are they Mrs T? Can't feel your legs you say? Shame, my shift has ended, cya Thursday.
cheezy,
wishing pain on someone is fun? that doesn't sound like you dude...
q
lucy,
whatever. i don't really care. also, i'm aware that it isn't real. not very becoming of you though.
q
So would it have been okay if i had told her it was time to go and to walk into the light? That's more acceptable than a bit of humour about her nurse going home?
"wishing pain on someone is fun?"
Depends how you do it. I reckon Lucy manages it quite amusingly.
lucy,
awwww, you took that personally. seems about the same to me.
cheezy, humor is in the eye of the beholder...
q
I didn't take it personally, just thought it was very hypocritical of you to react to a jokey post about Mrs Thatcher in hospital while on your blog you are saying you want Hugo Chavez to die while he is in hospital. I may not like Thatcher but i wouldn't go that far to actually want her to 'give it up and walk into the light'.
If i remember my history, Thatcher and her Government were not fond of Mandela and the ANC and called them terrorists and when he visited here, Mandela refused to meet her so the timing is quite ironic.
All i can remember of Bush senior is the Gulf War and him going to Asia and being sick and fainting.
lucy,
it didn't sound very jokey. and it wasn't nice. hugo has had his day.
q
Erm, isn't it Thatcher who's had her day? i.e. more than 2 decades ago? Chavez is the current President of Venezuela!
Besides which, as citizens it's one of our most cherished rights to take the piss out of politicians, past and present. Especially if the joke is germane to their actions (i.e. 'imported coal').
Others may say things about other political leaders that I personally disagree with, or think is unfair... but I still like to see this kind of commentary - it reminds me that I live in the UK and not in North Korea or Saudi or Singapore or Buenos Aires or in some tinpot little junta-state in the Deep South where they call for your deportation if you say things that don't conform to the majority viewpoint.
It couldn't have been more obvious a joke if it was wearing a red nose and a squirty flower, seems like only you decided it wasn't. You willing Hugo Chavez to die wasn't very nice, was downright distasteful while he was seriously ill, and you were not joking. Your moral compass need some serious adjustment if you can claim a joke about being in pain for a few days is worse than a willing to see someone die.
Q - If you want to talk to some English people who are honestly and sincerely (no joke) looking forward to the day when Thatcher shuffles off this mortal coil, I can point you in the direction of some of them. They're not hard to find.
Here's one...
And here's another!
cheezy, i don't want to read about people that hate chavez, or castro - both men that i find useless - though superior to DG. why would i want to read about people that hate thatcher when i agree with many of her views?
frankly, i really don't like to read or interact with extremes on either side of the political spectrum. for the record, i only read the blogs of lucy, nog, and occasionally DG (it's like sniffing bad milk when you know it is bad).
lucy, you mind your moral compass and i'll mind mine thank you very much. it wasn't bad to wish hitler ill and i don't think it is bad to wish ill on chavez, castro, and a whole bunch other tyrants in the middle east.
q
"why would i want to read about people that hate thatcher when i agree with many of her views?"
Well, for a start, I wasn't trying to give you something to read. Those were both YouTube links, not links to text. Secondly, you don't have to read anything that you find distasteful. However, for my own part, I always like to read a wide variety of stuff that challenges me. I've read lots of stuff about Thatcher myself, and when I studied British politics back in the early 90s I was known as being rather more pro-Maggie than many of my classmates (and indeed the lecturer, who hated her guts). My views on the Thatcher years have been evolving over time - and in many respects still are - and can't easily be summed up in a couple of sentences. I don't wish her dead - or even ill - myself, but I can see the humour in those who do, as long as it's done with a bit of wit.
I draw the line at reading David's blog though. Whether I happen to agree or disagree with him on any particular issue, the one constant is that he's a crashing bore with not a single solitary idea of interest. Isn't he?
PS: I think you who might want to look at your own moral compass somewhat, to so casually conflate Hitler and Chavez. Bad call.
cheezy - i consider hugo a tyrant so i put him the tyrant category. admittedly hitler is in a league of his own, well he has company like stalin, lenin, saddam, and mao. i'm not saying hugo approaches any of those tyrants. hugo isn't even as bad as castro. still, i see hugo’s methods as those of a tyrant. The ends rarely justifies the means. not a bad call.
as for myself, i also read a wide variety of stuff. luckily it is a requirement of my job as futurist and competitive intelligence guy so i get access to sources too costly for most folks. my regular sources include papers: ny times, wsj, la times, chicago trib, usa today, and more. then there are magazines like the economist, financial times, mckinsey, hbr, sloan, and corp exec board, and more. i read at least a dozen non-fiction books yearly (even part of my annual job review). The books I read tend to be about history, innovation, economics, politics, anthropology, and futures. Im lucky in that i get to work with several leading universities, economists, futurists, and government policy makers. I like foreign news for alternative views so I read a Japanese, French, German, Russian, Korean, Spanish, and British paper weekly. For online news I watch/listen too npr, aljezzera, fox, cnn, msnbc, bbc, and more. My job also allows me to be member of cool associations like the world future society, forrester, gartner, and others. Bravo for you and me.
q
Poor Lucy, you are still having to deal with the two moronic juveniles Q and C who continue to white-ant your blog!
Of course, the former is reading my blog so there is a tiny hope for his eventual redemption.
With C, he is so far up himself that he is lost forever!
Anyway, all my best for the holiday season to everyone (with no exceptions!)
Q: That's not the widest range of materials, I guess... however I'd have thought it was wide enough to prepare you for a bit of earthy humour directed at old Maggie T without you batting too much of an eyelid.
David: I am, as ever, laid out flat by your coruscating wit.
No more, please, no more... and a very happy new year to you, young man.
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