Margaret Thatcher is dead.

[Ben Kenobi]

Tomorrow I'll remember that you're still a c*nt!

Pussytwat, the novel Savaism, is the preferred nomenclature as it's not at present censored.

[Sava]

The thing that bugs me is that Thatcher and her ideological sycophants are all about privatization. Oh my god, the evil unions were ruining Britain. Everything is fixed because she gave away public assets to the detriment of the country! Everything is great when rich guys benefit!

But yet... she has a state funeral... at a time of "austerity" when the UK government is telling people they need to cut back. How about privatizing her ****ing funeral? Let all the rich guys and bankers pay for that.

I guess the cult of personality isn't so strong when it comes to footing the bill.

[Sava]

Pussytwat, the novel Savaism, is the preferred nomenclature as it's not at present censored.

All credit goes to Loinburger for that one.

[Ben Kenobi]

But yet... she has a state funeral... at a time of "austerity" when the UK government is telling people they need to cut back. How about privatizing her ****ing funeral? Let all the rich guys and bankers pay for that.

Actually, she declined one to be buried with her hubby.

[Sava]

Also... I keep hearing things like "she championed freedom!", "she restored British national pride!"... but yet, I've not seen or heard reference to one specific policy that produced a single tangible benefit for the country. She made poor people bear more of the tax burden. That's it.

All this other abstract bull****... well, it's the kind of thing a con man provides. She was a con artist just like the rest.

[Imran Siddiqui]

As mentioned, the Guardian's take:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/jan/09/cambodia

Ta Mok's lawyer, Benson Samay, said the court would hear details of how, between 1985 and 1989, the Special Air Service (SAS) ran a series of training camps for Khmer Rouge allies in Thailand close to the Cambodian border and created a 'sabotage battalion' of 250 experts in explosives and ambushes. Intelligence experts in Singapore also ran training courses, Samay said.

To allow Ministers to deny helping the Khmer Rouge, the SAS was ordered to train only soldiers loyal to the ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk, and the liberal democrat former Prime Minister, Son Sann, who were fighting alongside Pol Pot's Communists. However, Samay said the court would be told the Khmer Rouge benefited substantially from the British operation.

'All these groups were fighting together - but the Khmer Rouge were in charge. They profited from any help to the others. If they had won the war outright, then Pol Pot would have been back in charge,' Samay said.

The Khmer Rouge and their allies were fighting against the Vietnamese-backed puppet regime Hanoi had installed after ousting Pol Pot's extremist Communists and exposing the horrors of the killing fields.

In a classic piece of Cold War realpolitik, Britain - prompted by the Americans - appears to have given military assistance to the Khmer Rouge-led coalition, despite knowing of Pol Pot's atrocities, in an attempt to limit the power of the Soviet-backed Vietnamese.

'Thatcher, Reagan, Kissinger - they should all be on trial along with Ta Mok,' Samay said last week. He said the court would also hear that humanitarian supplies for Cambodian refugees in Thailand were diverted to the Khmer Rouge with, he claims, the knowledge of the Americans and the British. The court would also hear, he said, how the diplomatic support offered by London and Washington to the coalition led by the Khmer Rouge was 'a great help and morale booster' for Pol Pot's troops. The coalition retained the Cambodian United Nations seat throughout the Eighties.

If you want, you can put the blame on Thatcher, Reagan, etc, but it can also be read as an attorney embellishing things for the betterment of his client. That the aid was supposed to go to the non-Khmer Rouge elements, but ultimately benefited them - as US aid in Afghanistan was supposed to go to what is now known as the Northern Alliance, but got into the hands of the fundamentalists (such as OBL) as well.

[Ben Kenobi]

Well, it's the closest he's ever likely to get to one!

What's the ratio of sheep to people in Wales? I bet you're never very far from one...

Wow, 3.4 sheep per person. Must be heaven, Moby.

[Sava]

Gosh... Mobius vs BK. I don't know what side I don't want to be on.

[Ben Kenobi]

And I bet you're never far away from children...

True. I'm a teacher.

Now isn't it so much better to be out Moby so you can finally express your true love for sheep? I bet they really rustle your jimmies!

[Ben Kenobi]

Face it BK, you're a catholic male virgin - it's ingrained in your DNA to want to rape small boys.

I wasn't raised Catholic. You were raised Welsh however.

I never bothered becoming a shepherd

No need to become what you've always been.

[kentonio]

Also... I keep hearing things like "she championed freedom!", "she restored British national pride!"... but yet, I've not seen or heard reference to one specific policy that produced a single tangible benefit for the country. She made poor people bear more of the tax burden. That's it.

All this other abstract bull****... well, it's the kind of thing a con man provides. She was a con artist just like the rest.

You must have skipped the part where I talked about the council tax house selloff which gave millions of working class people a chance to enter the housing market for the first time ever. Thatcher conservatism had dick all to do with making rich people richer, it was about giving real people opportunity and social mobility. I wish the modern conservative movement would remember that more.

[giblets]

Wait, did you just say Andrew Sullivan is conservative?
That's even more ridiculous than the "Obama is a conservative!" schtick.

He's as much a conservative as Kentonio. It might seem baffling that anyone can love both Thatcher and Obama at the same time but then I guess British conservatives will just go along with whatever an authority figure wants whether it's smashing unions or implementing universal health care

[MikeH]

Re: The Street Parties

It's coming to light that many of the people partying in one of the widely reported parties were Chilean refugees who escaped from Pinochet's regime which Thatcher supported.

[Sava]

You must have skipped the part where I talked about the council tax house selloff which gave millions of working class people a chance to enter the housing market for the first time ever. Thatcher conservatism had dick all to do with making rich people richer, it was about giving real people opportunity and social mobility. I wish the modern conservative movement would remember that more.

How does regressive taxation policy give people more opportunity?

[Hauldren Collider]

He's as much a conservative as Kentonio. It might seem baffling that anyone can love both Thatcher and Obama at the same time but then I guess British conservatives will just go along with whatever an authority figure wants whether it's smashing unions or implementing universal health care

QFT, I was thinking of the kentonio comparison as well.