no surprises

So, no surprise, the IICD announced today that all of the IRA's arms have been put beyond use (by which they mean, I believe, they're encased in rather a lot of concrete).

Further lack of surprise in the various parties praising this move; the UK Primer Minister, the Irish Taoiseach, the Irish President, and various other talking heads.

And of course least surprise of all at Ian "Ulster says No" Paisley:

Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley said there had been no transparent verification of IRA decommissioning in the announcement.

He said the church witnesses had been agreed by the IRA and as such could not be considered "independent".

Without a photographic proof, an inventory and details on how the weapons were destroyed questions remained, said Mr Paisley.

"This afternoon the people of Northern Ireland watched a programme which illustrates more than ever the duplicity and dishonesty of the two governments and the IRA."

His fellow party members, being a somewhat less intransigent lot, made noises that amounted to "yes, but what about the criminal activities?" (which also isn't particularly surprising)

Dear Ian, WTF? You do not approve of the witnesses chosen. This suggests you'd rather some other witnesses. In which case, they'd have been agreed by you, and "as such could not be considered independent". Furthermore, the IICD said that the inventory they made of the weapons is consistent with the security forces' estimates of IRA stockpiles. Since it's implicit in your attitude that you don't trust the IICD, their witnesses, or the IRA, in what way would a photograph, a list of weapons, or details of their destruction have changed your eventual statement, and given that, why did you even bother making concilliatory noises in the past few months? In fact, what the hell are you still doing in Northern Ireland politics, when even your own party members are moving forward without you?

You jerk.

ronebofh made me do it

Mr. EEEEEeeechverri, attempting to open up the floor asked me, (a) did this year's F1 season really suck, and (b) how dare I place any movie above Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?

In order to stop him from posting further to an essentially dead-end location (HINT: I rarely bother checking my syndicated feed for posts; just email me if you wanna discuss some random point I made) I am commenting here. Take that, non-sequitor boy.

( This could be long, or short, or you might not care. )