Britannia, waive the rules!
Though he uses it for a slightly different purpose, Mark Steyn coins the pun that provides the perfect comment on the Ministry of Defence's authorization of the British hostages to sell their stories: Britannia, waive the rules! In the long Sunday Times (London) story on the waiver of the rules against profiteering while in service, one quote sticks out among many striking statements:
One of the hostages, Dean Harris, 30, an acting sergeant in the Royal Marines, told a Sunday Times reporter yesterday: “I want £70,000. That is based on what the others have told me they have been offered. I know Faye has been offered a heck more than that. I am worth it because I was one of only two who didn’t crack.”It's a bit of a comedown from "blood, toil, tears and sweat."
You have to go over to the Telegraph for the quote that provides the necessary perspective from the Iranian side:
Conservative parliamentarian Amir Hassankhani, a former member of the country's Revolutionary Guard and supporter of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told the country's semi-official Fars news agency: "The arrest and release of the British sailors proved that if Iran's issues and demands are overlooked at the international level, the Islamic republic can create different challenges for the other side."So we've noticed.
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