Dogs That Don't Bark.

The horrendous terrorist attacks in Russia this weekend are probably best ignored- given that media attention is what the perpetrators want.

Whenever there are terror attacks, there are usually conspiracy theories. 9/11 trutherism is the most notorious variety but other forms exist.

However there don't seem to be many nutcase fantasies about attacks on Russian targets. This hasn't always been the case- a lot of people were suspicious about the apartment bombings in the 1990s for example. However none of the Chechen black widow attacks over the last decade have caused the "just asking questions" brigade to ask questions.

Could it be that Alex Jones and other leading lights in the conspiracy industry have pretty much sold themselves to the leading buyer of inane fantasies, Russia Today? It is the pretty much the only professional media outlet that will put these idiots on air and pay them so it isn't a surprise that they don't bite the hand that feeds them.

Things To Worry Less About

1. Romanians & Bulgarians coming over here. The migration from those two countries won't be anything like the scale of that which came with the entry of the central European states because they are a lot smaller in total and it isn't just the UK & Ireland to which they can migrate. Roma from Romania may cause problems but I doubt they are waiting until January the 1st so they can work here legally.
2. Food banks. There is no crisis of malnutrition among Britain's poor, food banks should be considered as melodramatic street theatre rather than a symptom of a real problem.

Putin Gay Update- Other People Are Noticing Now!

There's a joke going round this week:

People seem shocked that

1. Nelson Mandela died aged 95.
2. Tom Daley is gay.
3. England probably won't win the World Cup.

I'm thinking of becoming a fortune teller.

If anything Vladimir Putin's sexuality is more obvious than Tom Daley's was, but a biographer of the Russian president has noticed what I pointed out several years ago:

Author Stanislav Belkovsky claims Putin’s macho man image is a PR invention and his alleged affair with the gymnast Alina Kabaeva was made up.
In the book, Putin, Belkovsky adds: “Sex and a sex life to him are alien.”
He also speculates that Putin, famed for his topless wilderness shots, is “latently gay”.

I wouldn't go on about it, except for the obvious links with his anti-gay policies.

Quote Of The Day/Year/Century

Why don't people take the identity politics brigade seriously?

So what message does Movember convey to those whose moustaches are more-or-less permanent features? With large numbers of minority-ethnic men—for instance Kurds, Indians, Mexicans—sporting moustaches as a cultural or religious signifier, Movember reinforces the “othering” of “foreigners” by the generally clean-shaven, white majority. Imagine a charity event that required its participants to wear dreadlocks or a sari for one month to raise funds—it would rightly be seen as unforgivably racist. What is the difference here?

You really have to read the whole article to get the full effect of the article.