Susan Boyled over

A picture tells a thousand words!

Shame it all ended up this way. A nice enough woman was taken out of her natural environment and put into a world of stress. She was described as having learning difficulties; we did not get the full SP on the nature of these problems. It cannot have helped when she went mega-star after her semi-final led to zillions of YouTube hits and The Big Time in America.
The bits that have leaked out about her being admitted to The Priory suggest that it was a move directed by her actual conduct and not exhaustion so it may well be that she will suffer some more lasting impairment.
The only consolation about her not winning is that she did not go on and explode big time. I do not subscribe to limiting choices and opportunities for those with mental problems. They may need special handling but should still be allowed to have a go. It might well have been justifiable for the Talent organisers to 'adjust' her marks so that she did not go into the super-heated competition and the other pressures that come with instant stardom.
Nice to see that I am not alone in my theory

Looking in from the outside

It struck me that we were being somewhat parochial in this expenses/allowance scandal. Whilst we knew all about a 50P chocolate bar we had no information as to how foreign onservers viewed the odd half million evasion on a property transaction.
I went looking and found this from Germany. It was written by a Brit - from the Grauniad no less - but the supposition it was drafted for German consumption could make it somehow 'foreign'

Not so one sided

Back in the early 50s, I lived in Gibraltar. The Spanish town of La Linea was just a short walk over the border. I used to go quite often; it was cheaper than Gib, seemed a little more 'foreign' than home where the police dressed just like Dixon of Dock Green and the ladies were nicer there. When the season came around, I started to follow the bull fights. Then, it was just as one now follows football. There were the stars that one followed. Some bull breeding estates were better than others and their bulls were star attractions.
I became a fan almost by accident. My girl friend suggested we go. This involved sandwiches, leather wine bags and sitting in the warm afternoon sun whilst a stylised ritual went on.
My first encounter did not create any great feeling one way or another. I could have left then and never been conscious I was missing anything. However, in the second duel the matador got just that bit careless and the bull had him. Old suit of lights was tossed some 10 or 12 feet into the air and it was almost as if the bull watched and caught him on a horn to the midriff. The man was dead before the bull dropped its head and let him slither to the ground.
The custom is that one of the other fighters has to come into the ring and finish things. As the bull is by now quite aware of how the man will react it is doubly dangerous and not a lot of time is wasted in despatching it.
I saw that it was not a totally one-sided ritual and was a regular visitor. I saw one or two more serious injuries or one of the lead-in players was caught or perhaps a horse rolled over. We all did silly things in our youth; I would not want to go now. As for banning it, that is a matter for the countries where bull fighting continues. I am told it is fading away and I'm in favour of that.
But I do still remember those sunny afternoons .....................

Look for the silver lining

Well may he smile! The pressure is off him while we all fulminate about MPs on the make.
He was under some pressure for his proposed solutions to the banking fiasco. 'Some' because I was never convinced that his opponents were making the maximum effort to oppose.
Now, he has merely to mutter that all is in hand. None can get onto his case as they all have their own skeletons falling out of every cabinet door and the wish is to keep things quiet.
Now his PR advisers have taught him how to smile, he is well ahead even despite what the polls say. The Conservatives surged ahead in a short time but we should remember the old adage "what goes up may come down" If there are many more Sir John's with their gross profits on property dealing then the boy David may need lessons in smiling.

All we want are the facts

I feel like emulating Sgt Joe Friday in seeking just the facts. The facts of what the boys and girls are getting up to at Westminster. It all comes so fast and packaged in such volume from the Telegraph that the full enormity of it takes a while to assimilate and process.
So, thanks to Private Eye for clarifying just what the entitlements are. It does seem from these revelations that the whole thing was a well planned theft right from the start. Well up there with bullion robberies from Heathrow or breaking into London safe deposit boxes. It does seem a shame that the media now making profits from extended sales of chip wrappings were unable to spot these preparatory acts at the time.
Well, now we know. I still find a lot of mileage in Nadine Dorries' claim that the monies advanced were never really expense claims at all but were a salary-enhancing allowance by another name. Whatever. The current problem is how to get better controls. Sweeping up after those who have torn the backside out of the system is all very nice but we should have the mechanism to get it right and then merely have to monitor it rather than have secret squirrel letter writing from the money seekers to the money issuers. Overall, there has to be a sanction that we can be assured is free of cronyism. The woman Kirkbride seemed to have support from Cameron and Brown seems to waver from outrage to understanding depending upon who is spotlit. Just as it is deemed that we send our democractically chosen representative to Westminster, we should have the ability to call them back if they fall from the standards we expect or the course of action that was manifestoed. I'm not advocating anything new here - I think it is known as Recall?
The situation regarding second homes is quite easily solved. The idea that a pied de terre needs a duckpond - still less a duck chateau - is a nonsense. Allowing Members to purchase property and then letting them refurbish or extend it prior to filling it with goodies at our expense is a recipe for fraud even before one grants them exemption from the charges we have imposed on selling such places. No - put them into rented furnished accommodation. There would be a rental range and the Government would pay rents directly. Occupying as a tenant a property owned by a fellow MP would be a no no. That covers the standards of second homes and the costs. If a landlord wants to redecorate or change something he is free to do so but any additional rent has to be within the agreed scale.
Digital cameras and all the other toys? MPs should have these issued from a central store. Known costs, economy of scale and greater efficiency. Staff - employed by the Government. Vetting to include checks that they are not some second cousin twice removed of the Member. Establish secretarial pools that are kept busy all the time and we would not need so many.
Running things this way would remove most of the grounds used by MPs to disassociate themselves from the rates and taxes the rest of us have to sustain.
If all this avoids us having to endure the teeth of Esther Rancid MP - it will be well worth the effort!

Edited for a neat quote:

Robert Mugabe starves his population to death. Nothing. The Janjawid commit genocide in Darfur. Nothing. Gordon Brown bankrupts the country. Nothing. Then someone buys an unnecessary trouser press. Pandemonium.

Re-writing history

These mash-ups of a classic film are all over the place. This one appeared within an hour or two of the game ending. I think the fact that one, with time, gets to know the actual film clip adds to the fun.

Adolf with One Ball was the ogre of my youth and the way he is portrayed here is, so far as I can recall, just how I visualised him back then. We seem to have lost that ability to identify the leader of an enemy nation as an individual; I never saw Saddam in any form, just his country.

Support local industry

Though I moved away from Kent with little sadness, it was more my reverse apartheid* stance that led to it. We had a lot of experience of other counties in more than 20 years of taking self-catering holidays in England and Kent was up there as a place with much to recommend it.
So - let me direct you to a link that asks for some small piece of action on the part of individuals that will benefit many. Oh and yes, the blogger deserves support!

Online petition supporting Kent & British Food

By Chambers @ The Chamber

We have received the following from Frazer Thompson (of the English Wines Group) and thought there might others of you who would also want to add your names to the No 10 online petition "We passionately support Kent business and the need to support local products and services. Sign our petition and you can not only give the Government an even bigger headache, but also support our County's fantastic Food and Drink businesses! This isn't some Nationalist scheme advocating isolationism - just a way of ensuring that our food and drink culture starts to become embedded in our thinking and for our obsession with price to be tempered by our awareness of the economic, environmental and social benefits of local sourcing and our pride at the quality of our local produce. KCC have been fantastic supporters of this cause and we'd like that attitude to spread. It starts with HM Government... Sign up now please! Click this link then respond to confirm as instructed. Any help you can give to passing this message on would be appreciated http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/British-produce/ So, there you are daughter-of-mine. I've passed it on! * Reverse apartheid. Laws and social convention forbid me telling people I do not wish to know or have around me to Go Away in direct and forcible manner. I therefore keep myself away from them. Here in Scotland there is much less need for such personal action.

Arbiters of morality

The current spat about who might be a designated poet has awakened thoughts I had when my life required some knowledge of poetry. There were a number of poems back then where I felt that the sentiments ascribed were maybe not of the best.
So, maybe I was right? Someone has undertaken a blog on that very point. Starts off like this:

Would WH Auden have won the professorship, in 1956, had the sleepy electorate at Oxford been apprised by a hail of anonymous lettres de cachet alerting them to the fact that the poet's most famous love poem:

Lay your sleeping head, my love,

Human on my faithless arm.

was addressed to a 13-year-old schoolboy? Who would have won that year, had the "paedo-poet" been drummed out? Harold Nicolson was his rival for the professorship. But, hold on, wasn't he the complaisant husband who was happy to have his wife, Vita Sackville-West, diddle other poets' wives? Meanwhile, of course, Harold Nicolson did a lot of extra-marital same-sex diddling of his own. It was not merely immoral but criminal (as was Auden's love-life) by the brutal laws of the day. In 1956Lord Montagu had just got out of clink for committing the "crimes" Auden and Nicolson more discreetly got away with.

Fish head

Some sort of ray at the Sealife Centre near Oban. The tanks are open topped and as soon as I went to the edge to look closer, this fellow seemed to notice me and came across for a close-up look at me. I waved my hand above its head and it circled the pond but returned for more close study. Weird experience!

Click to enlarge

Soldiers eh!

Seems that soldiers are the same the world over.

A former member of the Chinese army takes a positive route to solving a problem in exactly the same manner as I would one of his English army counterparts.

Not a lot of people know this

One of the members of Parliament has spoken out about allowances. She blogged the fact that she was advised these were not so much refunds of necessarily incurred expenditure as allowances to take note of the fact that MPs were under-paid. This got up the nose of Tory Party Office and she had to remove her blog.
It was archived and is still available; well worthy of time to read it. Here is just a taste

"Just park a couple of facts for a moment, which you may not agree with but are factual.
The first is that MPs have always been encouraged, by whatever means possible, to draw down their ACA allowance in full. This is because it was upped in place of an appropriate pay rise.

The rules surrounding the ACA were deliberately sloppy in order to maximise the opportunity that MPs had to draw.
This was always felt to be the safest political method to remunerate MPs, rather than face the media backlash of a pay rise.

Parliament is in chaos. The public are angry. The Telegraph has upped its circulation.
There are 650 members of Parliament. In any walk of life, in whatever profession, you will find people who are dishonest. It will always be thus as long as we are all human!"

Another milestone

Back from the week in Oban. A very wet week; every day torrential rain at some times and sun at others so visit planning had to be flexible so we got gardens to coincide with sun and were under cover in the wet. We had a extremely good house to stay in with every luxury one could wish for. All in new condition so any day when we decided to give up early and catch up on the newspapers was made enjoyable.
I've called this 'Another milestone'. This in recognition to our conclusion that weeks away are not the best use of our time, energy and money. The hassle is just too much for us to really enjoy. We knew most of what we would see in Oban and were able to cherry pick. We've agreed that the future will be long week-ends. What we would have spent - energy and money - on a week will go for 2 or 4 day stays. Like our Norma birthday trip to the Dales which was quite perfect. Just the one suitcase jobs. Long haul holidays went after the Two Old Farts in A Canyon tour of America. Keith's wedding in Frankfurt I regard as out last European holiday and I have no eagerness to travel down to the Big Wen after my trip a few weeks ago. Three or four hours in the car will do me and that still covers a lot of ground we know and can choose to match the need.

Vacation

So, here we are on the West Coast of Scotland. About 8 miles outside Oban in an area we know reasonably well. We are in a very swish house sharing with Keith and Katrin and Katrin's brother. All over from Germany.
They are heavily into the tourism bit. Every night three sets of computers are researching mightily into where to see what, how to get there and what the weather will be. At the moment, fact and forecast are for wet windy weather so it has to be a set off as to just what rain will do on the days play. I find the concern with weather a bit amusing; it will be what it will be and the forecasts are really just that - forecasts. Here, one has to decide on going out or staying in with the papers and a good book. The old adage about there being no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing is very apt in my way of thinking. We are not so worried about where to go and what to see as we covered them in a number of previous visits so it is a case of sorting which one we will favour. This area is a gastronomes paradise with special attention to stuff from the sea; we will eat well but not, I think, too much of the vegetarian stuff!
I have spent as bit of time looking at the new search engine www.wolframalpha.com. Not a Google sort of searcher but ideal for aspy types such as myself. As an opener, I input my birthday as a search term. Amongst the results I got Time difference from today (Monday, May 18, 2009): 75.76 years which can be broken down to 3952 weeks and six days or 27,670 days. It was a Tuesday. That sends me off down nursery rhyme lane

Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

So, just how many of those 27,670 days were full of grace? Was there any especial week amongst 3952 of them? And, given the modern-day vocabulary, should I be glad I was not born on the Sabbath day?
I'm not so sure about this Grace thing. One for Google rather than the newcomer. One hit was this

Definition: Grace is God's unmerited favor. It is kindness from God we don't deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor we can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift from God. Grace is divine assistance given to humans for their
regeneration (rebirth) or sanctification; a virtue coming from God; a state of
sanctification enjoyed through divine favor

I'm fairly happy with that. It seems to suggest that it is a gift and that chimes. Sure as hell, I've certainly not sought grace but at least I am not graceless.
What was, just a short while ago a stay and read day has turned into a OK for a drive day but still a bit wet. Food beckons. More fin or shell to be attacked.

Adult toys

No, no - not what you may be thinking!
The Wood family starting from me has a fascination for toys. The kids toy chests were always over-flowing and that continued into adulthood. A toy is anything that is desirable. Shiny. Heavy. Well constructed. The main criteria is that whilst they work, they are almost totally impractical.
I today saw what must be the toy par excellence. It makes expresso coffee. When you may be out in the wilds where everyone demands such a treat. Beautifully made and presented. Makes a very good cup.

And I know a man who has one!
This makes my son the King of Wood toys.
For the moment anyway ....................

Only a dog

I was talking with someone the other day and he used the phrase "Just a dog after all". That was about the end of that conversation. I thought of 'just a dog' I shared things with.

There is more intelligence in those eyes alone than any 'just a dog' commentator has in their whole body. Brighter and a lot more fun than half a dozen Essex Girls.

A year in two minutes

This is something I could watch all the long day.

Boot on other foot chaps?

Comments from politicians and their Civil Servants re police being called in to investigate what a MP (Damien Green) had been getting up to.

David Cameron said “Does Gordon Brown think it is right for an MP who has apparently done nothing to breach our national security - and everything to inform the public of information they're entitled to know - to have his home and office searched by a dozen counter-terrorist police officers, his phone, blackberry and computers confiscated, and to be arrested and held for nine hours?”

Ken Clark said “Outrageous... There is no crime, this is an abuse of police powers, this is President Nixon's America - harassing a political opponent of the government. It should stop”

Harriet Harperson “We have got to be sure that whilst MPs are not above the law, that actually they are able to get on with their job without unwarranted interference by the law”

Nick Clegg “This is breaking with centuries of tradition about the independence of Parliament”

I’m sure you get the drift.

So why has the Met Police been asked to investigate the leaks about claims made by politicians?

The Joy of Sex

I will merely record the opening paragraph of a news report. It does not leave me speechless - just that my observations might lead us down avenues we do not wish to travel. Just one snide aside - this happened in the North East where the impression is of cloth caps and headscarves and dour family relationships.

How noisy can sex get before it is illegally loud? A jury in a forthcoming case in Newcastle Crown Court will soon have to decide this challenging question.

Dinna ask

The concern about DNA records leaves me cold. First off - let me state my position that if one leads a straight life, there can be no worries about who knows what about me. Having knowledge is one thing. Making use of it is another.
If a trace of my DNA at a crime scene meant that I would straight away be found guilty I would have concerns. The way things are, I have ample opportunity to refute the finding or to put forward an explanation as to why its presence was innocent or mistaken. No difference there so far as evidence is concerned. If a witness says that he saw me do such and such or heard me say whatever, that person is heard and it is up to me to deal with it. DNA speaks out to the same end but in a different manner.
I suppose many of the objectors have a overall Civil Rights motive in being agin' it. Fine. But, just as your freedom fighter is my terrorist, your Civil Rights are my oppressor. If someone does something to my detriment I want them identified, found and dealt with. All means short of torture should be permitted and utilised in that process. I have faith in the DNA association such as to accept that it is unlikely that two of us have the same DNA - known instances aside.
Defence counsel of today are well versed in dealing with such evidence. Contamination opportunities are rife. Repeated assertions of even a faint possibility of some forensic mishandling will lead a jury of laymen (laywomen - or is that something else?) to give the benefit of the doubt to an accused.
Yes - I may well be banged up for a long period prior to trial with all the risk and unpleasantness that may entail. Yes - I will be put to expense. There will be little mental stress if I know I am not the man they want. There are civil remedies open to me if the close detention were capricious.
Into each life a little rain must fall. I could well suffer very similar trauma from a traffic collision that was not my fault. The same sort of suffering might arise from the conduct of a spouse or from an employer. In the latter case, I might well be the cause of my own inconvenience.
On balance, I'm for retention of DNA records. There is, in my mind, a case for it being recorded at birth as a matter of course. If my remains were found in some state as to deny normal identification, DNA records could bring closure to my family and friends. When the time comes that my confused and tired brain directs me to wander abroad, I can be made known like a well cared for dog.

Evidence or punishment?

Gathering and presenting evidence from a four year old girl of serious sexual assault some two years previously is a tremendous challenge. The youngest witness I ever had to deal with in this respect was a six year old girl assaulted by her father. One has two pressures; not to add to the trauma and to ensure that the best evidence is presented in the best way. The molester must meet just desserts, the child must not be harmed.
My concerns were re-ignited by the case of Baby P's sister. The investigators of today have the technical resource of cctv both at interview stage and at court. However, at the end of the day one has to remember that the duty of a defending counsel requires him to ensure that prosecution evidence is tested. How far should he go? Might any temerity on his part open an appeal process - I would imagine there would be far greater resistence to subject the child to another bout of questioning should a retrial be considered.
I was, therefore, interested to read this comment on the process.

Deviant art

I got directed to a deviant art site. Really fantastic work there. Just an example.

Ghurka home?

I've held off on the debate about immigration rules for Gurkha troops. However, I suspect that the Brown-beaters have now boarded the bus to Outrage City as the story allows them lineage beyond any likely to be generated by the right or wrong of the actual immigration rights debate.

In my time I was stationed in close proximity to Gurkha troops. I was in a military police unit that was 85% Gurkha troops. I undertook a number of investigations involving them. I cannot say there was anything different about them in their make-up. They seemed to have a similar ratio of good and bad. Fat and thin. Good parents and not very efficient parents. So - nothing unusual there. They had officers who would not accept that Gurkhas could or would do anything wrong and saw them as paragons of virtue; this level of support was far in excess of that normally experienced with British officers and their British troops. There has been much said about the level of bravery in action. Our current troubles have demonstrated that bravery in other Nationals and Regiments is far more common than might be imagined. I do tend to think that there is a level of amok higher amongst Gurkha troops than others. My analysis of citations (In the old Indian Army) (Modern times but not complete) does suggest that they tend to rush into situations that are desperate.

They were recruited under terms that got them out of Nepal and into the British army. Their terms of service differed from British soldiers. There was no promise of resettlement in UK at the end of their period of service. Their pension was less on the basis that the cost of living in Nepal allowed them a commensurate life style to British pensioners for less. Now, there are a number who wish to retire here. I can see no reason why they should receive any special treatment. They were fully aware what they were getting into. Maybe they see it as unfair that they should have risked their lives in our service. They were fully aware what they were getting into. They may think that living in UK is their right. They knew what etc. etc. I can sympathise with their wish to leave Nepal but why here? There are considerable Gurkha communities in Hong Kong and in Brunei that they could join. There is talk of a debt of gratitude - where does this end? Think of those who supported the British cause in the colonies we have now surrendered - are we not grateful to them?

No - I think we have gone soft in our modern times. Do they have grounds for coming here? Yes, but individually no more than any other immigrant.

Of course I love you. Now go to sleep

There are a real mass of reasons that I find this law report amusing. A wife of seven years standing handcuffs herself to her husband in order to gain more of his attention. As the survivor of more than 50 years of marriage, I cannot see her reason for such desperate measures. Then, when he attempts to free himself, she attacks him so violently he has to call for police assistance. She ended up in court.

The reporter than inserts this observation " It seems unlikely the marriage can be saved." Well, he does seem to be very perceptive there. Another small giggle comes from his name - Gary Slapper. Shame the story was not about a wayward wife aka old slapper.

Mind you - he was somewhat lucky with the handcuffs.

Parents who care

There seems to be no depths to which human beings will not sink. The initial set of events - the death of the boy Peter - was horrific but the same man has now been found guilty of even worse behaviour.
The girl was not identified and there has been no disclosure of her parent's identity. I would conclude that she was a sister of the boy we now know as Peter. His mother, the partner of the killer and rapist, has been found guilty of a lesser charge connected with the sequence of the multiple rapes.

We will hear repeated calls for the crucifixion of the social care workers who are already in the Hall of Blame for Peter's death. That is understandable at first take but it does seem they were trying to brush out floor waters with a rake. The work load we have had disclosed must surely mitigate against even half-way protection. A phrase I have found telling was 'Social workers do not kill children'. For all we can know, the workers may well have had events on their work load where the risks were more apparent and gave priority to these. In the case of Peter and, in my conclusion, his violated sister, there would be no parental suspicion as to what was going on in a house of horrors but I see these events as another example of where we are in parenting. We have all forms of swift communication and surveillance but still failed these two kids. Punishment of the two involved here will do little to correct this - those involved right now in child abuse and neglect will just say 'they won't catch me' and continue their evil ways.

Just a small image of what I mean - how did the parents allow this to happen? Why did the photographer or bystanders not intervene? It may seem amusing but it illustrates just what I mean by negligent parenting.

Lost for ever?

The media today is re-focussing in the little girl Madeline McCann. It is the second anniversary of her disappearance. We have seen a computer-generated update of the initial Missing Person photograph. As a media cynic ('there is nothing they will not do to increase sales'), I have the idea that if the parents had not initiated this fresh outburst of activity, then the Media would have. We do not seem to hear whether anyone has counselled them that the child has been murdered; I think it would be a kindness for some scientific exposure of this possibility.

There is a perception amongst investigators that abducted children are murdered with a very short time of their being taken. This is summed up as " Seventy-four percent of children who are kidnapped and later found murdered are killed within the first three hours after being taken, and 99 percent are killed within the first 24 hours". Note this is related to 'found murdered' and not to the totality of abductions, This finding is supported by other statistics that the prime reason for he children being taken is sexual gratification and once used in this manner, the child is an embarrassment to the abductor.

As the parent of four children, one of whom was lost due to cancer, I cannot imagine how it would effect me to have this 74% theory explained and confirmed, Equally, I cannot think how I could live the rest of my life not knowing what had happened. I have my doubts about what is described as the process of closure.The alternative is so horrific that I think there should be some procedure put into operation to at least offer this to parents and family. It would need the most careful handling - I think of the term 'being cruel to be kind'

Another swan sings.

Just back from an overnighter in London. Down yesterday on the train, a 40 minute meeting with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and then on the town prior to train home today.

Just as I have already had my final ever long haul air flight and my final ever European holiday, this marked the last of my trips to London. It was just too much stress on the old body. My back gives in quite quickly carrying anything like an overnight bag and a few files. The actual travel is OK so I suppose I might make a lightweight run. The meeting was some contingency planning that SoS wanted to make regarding the publication by Lord Saville of his Inquiry findings of events of Bloody Sunday on 30 January 1972.

I was there when the thing went off at Londonderry and ran the first immediate investigation so it would be nice to be in at the death. Others at the meeting included three Generals and a very senior MOD official. And me. How a humble WOI got dragged into that sort of body, I'll never know. I have nothing to be afraid of but it seems our meeting was to debate just what needed to be done if there were any problems with the cover of anonymity given to many of the military witnesses should Saville attribute blame.

Seeing it might be the Final Night of John's Proms, I decided to make a bit of a night of it. The very first posh restaurant I went to was in 1942 when my father took me to a business lunch at Veerasawamy's Restaurant in Regent Street. I know not why - he was not one given to acknowledging fatherly treats. I was obviously impressed as it became a favourite watering hole for me as I progressed through courting and into marriage. During my time in the Army, we went there whenever we returned from foreign climes. Although it was an Indian restaurant it bore little resemblence to any such establishment of today. Possibly the best description would be to liken it to a Government resthouse in pre-Merdeka Malaya. It was the burra sahibs version of Indian eating. The food was vaguely Home Counties English with added spices. None of that curry stuff that the natives eat dontcherknow! Such dishes were available but were not the foremost items on the menu. Right from my first visual memory it had a sort of run down, faded charm. The staff were very discreet but one's glass was kept topped up and dishes came and went in an almost discreet manner.

Well, it has been sold by the Veeraswamy family who ran it since 1926. The new brooms have refurbished it. No red flock wallpaper-style; the idea seems to represent the spread of the cuisine from North to Southern India. Very opulent decoration without very much OTT features.

So, this was the setting for my final experience of London dining. I invited my daughter and an Internet friend I'd not met other than over the ether. She brought her man but, even as a host, I have to say that my night was made wonderful by Caroline's bringing my grand-daughter Liberty along as a totally unexpected surprise. Liberty is a mid-teenager going on 25'ish and is so bright that she sparkles. She was in no way fazed by being in a party of oldies and held her own in conversation. And wine drinking! We did the usual thing of ordering a wide assortment of personal choices but robbing each other's dishes. It was a wonderful few hours that went by all too soon.

So, as the retreat from Empire progressed with many milestones, I've touched another milepost in my retreat. Sad I'll not see it's inside again but warm memories of some very very fine times are still with me. Last night was the cap put back on the bottle. I can live with that.

My Away Day

Getting ready for a pilgrimage to London tomorrow. I was invited to meet the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in advance of the publication by Lord Saville of his report on the Bloody Sunday inquiry. Having been there when it all went off, I thought I should get in on the final act less one; hopefully I'll live to see the final story. The MOD are picking up all my expenses including travel and overnight accommodation which is nice of them. I will feel like an illegal immigrant getting all that from the Government!

It will give me the opportunity to make my own trial of the latest electronic wizardry with my Touch toy. I have bought some Wi time and will see how I get on on the train, in the hotel and in the street.

Dinner is laid on with Caroline and a friend from Facebook.

Report on the whole thing comes later

Those at the back shouted ‘Forwards’. Those at the front shouted ‘Back’.

I cannot now remember where I read the words of the title here – some Colonial bust up I suppose. I am reminded of them by the two incidents arising from Police conduct at the G20-linked demonstrations. Given that we do not yet know the full circumstances behind the very dramatic video footage, I will refrain from direct criticism, What does intrigue me is the way that the events have polarised the public’s attitude towards the police.

I subscribe to a forum where the members have very forthright views and the vocabulary to express these in colourful language. For months now, there have been threads where treatment only just short of capital punishment has been advocated against what are generally referred to as chavs.  The overweening desire was that police act in a very positive manner. Full rigour of the law etc.

Now that we have images showing just what level of violence can be deployed, the firmness of character seems to have been diluted. It is fair to say that there is universal condemnation of police methods. There is a small proportion who condemn the way punishment was meted out but who attribute this to individuals and not as a Force policy.

Given that many of those who express anti opinions will have seen service in Northern Ireland at times when violent street demonstrations were common, this lack of sympathy for the individual copper is hard to understand. Whilst we see police armed with paramilitary weapons and riot kit, it would seem that there is a general air of restraint in their usage. The application of police baton and riot shield to civilians limbs and flesh should have led to many more injuries than were reported. The line where front line demonstrators meets front line police is a scary place. It is where the real effect of my title comes into play. The police press forward and, in the main, the public try and retreat. The people at the back in both parties are free to act – free to push on and free of the consequences where the two groups meet. Hitting a civilian with a view to getting them to put themselves at a range where they can do no harm to the police has absolutely no effect.

So, where do we go from here? Clearly, abandoning the streets to a mob cannot be permitted. There will be many who seek non-violent demonstration but the scenes of the attack on the RBS premises show that there are others with an agenda beyond mere demonstration. In terms of violence, the G20 crowds were relatively benign. The Poll Tax and Grosvenor Square were far more violent. What can happen if the thin blue line breaks was shown with the death of PC Blakelock who was hacked to death at Broadwater Farm. To take the easy road out and call for the use of the military to assist the civil powers is not an answer I would like to see introduced. Soldiers know only one thing when it comes to dealing with opposition – brute force and shooting to kill. Hearts and minds do not come into play at mob interfaces.

So, better training for the police or special police groups trained to deploy at demonstrations once tempers start to fray? My own choice would be specialist police. The French CRS were very effective when dealing with rioting after coming into being in Algeria. The Japanese have very specialised riot control forces where demonstrators resembled paramilitary forces and vastly outnumbered police. One of the problems I would anticipate in setting up such groups would be reluctance to finally destroy the image of PC Dixon. Unfortunately, Dock Green is now a far more violent place.

The Guardian has put together a collection of video recordings of the sort of thing I am concerned about.

De Blog am here

With all the fuss about El Gordo’s email problems, I feel a little hesitant at posting today. I had never imagined so much heat could be generated by the thoughts of one individual sent wandering off into the ether with little targeting or guidance.

Sure, Guido has a large following but I suspect that all his followers are of one mind anyway. Read one rant at the disclosures and you have read them all. For all practical purposes, nothing is served. Brown’s arrogance means that he will not ever consider himself in the wrong by employing personal staff with the attitudes now revealed.

If what was done – or planned to be done – was so very heinous, please tell me why Cameron has made so little of it? This annoys me more than the email plot really. If the Duty of the Opposition is to Oppose (a phrase of Winston Churchill’s father – he knew all about opposition), then Cameron is more of an ally than Leader of the Opposition. Whilst inertia has given the Tories a lead in the shadow election polls, that lead is not such that a few weasel words and empty promises would not lead to the return of Brown.

And that is something of far greater importance than a few schoolboy japes passed around amongst fools.

Casual day

We set off today to find a replacement armchair. Norma has killed hers; the seat bit is collapsed and, whilst it may be extra comfy, it looks scruffy. I had wanted a replacement club chair style and had checked out a few second hand dealers. Scarce and when I did find one it turned out that the design was not as accommodating as my memory had it. Next choice was a reclining thing with a foot extension. Comfort was the main selection criteria.

Fort Kinnaird is the home of furniture shops up this end of the world. My sought after style would be expensive if not closely supervised so we started off at the cheaper end of the market. Surprisingly, I found what I wanted at the otherwise despised DFS outlet. Electric with back recline and foot rest all included.  

We have to wait a bit as we want it in green leather rather than the black they hold as stock. It actually goes into far more recline mode – I felt as if I were about to give birth. This will be for me and Norma inherits the remaining armchair from the suite.

Of course, being at that end of the world we were not too far from our favourite foodie place and slid along there. No reservation but we are obviously known and a new table and seating arrangement was found and we were well ensconced.

 

Two defenceless bream were soon consumed. We did not have our usual server; a very bright and chirpy young woman with strangely dyed pinkish/red hair and the male alternative was not up to standard but the food (and gin and tonic) amply compensated.

Of course, the gin and tonic disqualified me from driving but did make me suitable for a long deep sleep all the way home.

So – nothing planned but a fine day indeed!

Home is the Hunter

I am conscious that I have been away from here for some while. No real reason behind not blogging; just I have had other things to do with the time I feel like spending at the console.

When we got the replacement car after my older car was written off by Farmer Giles, I decided to add a few bits. There are a number of places up here where one can only get patchy reception on a car radio so I decided to get a transmitter so that I could play my iPod through the radio. That was not a total success in that the adaptor for the iPod was not readily available – it was relatively aged. I had been looking at the Touch for a while and decided to change to that as my music resource.

The Touch is a wondrous machine and more or less took over my life. There are so many applications – many of them free. Loads to try and reject. Those kept had to be configured to best advantage.

Another planned improvement to the new car was a hands-free phone fitting. I got one that clips to the sun visor. Setting up that took a while. I got a new phone as the Treo was not holding a charge and had to be reserved purely for use with the sat nav. Choosing and setting up a new phone took a while.

So, that is where I have been and what has kept me away from here.

I’ll try and do better. But, the Touch keeps nudging me ……………

No hole deep enough

Fabulous quote in the Mail on Sunday in its article on Gordon Brown's rage on Harriet Harman:

One former Minister said: 'When he calms down, he will know he cannot realistically kick her out of the Cabinet. That would play into her hands, with more freedom to boost her support among party members.

'But he may find another way to clip her wings and demote her. Harriet has no eye for detail so he could burden her with a job which is completely detail-driven and let her sink.'

It's not so much the touching use of the word "when" in relation to Gordon Brown calming down. It's more the cheerful cynicism of this quote.

The Prime Minister is being advised to appoint her to a major job, involving detailed work and therefore making an impact on daily life. He should do this, you understand, deliberately so that she should fail.

In other words, just to dish Harman, the Government is being urged to fail in an important area on purpose. They do well enough merely by accident.

Harriet Harlot

Brown must be sitting in his smallest room as a place of refuge with his head in his hands saying "What more Oh Lord? What more?"
I can, quite literally, not believe what I am reading here. A senior minister of the government of the United Kingdom is brushing aside the rule of law and opening the door to the rule of the wishes of the Prime Minister and/or that of the baying mob.
I am stunned. Is this what has come of more than two thousand years of British history? A bunch of spivs have walked in, brushed aside centuries-old rights and turned us into some sort of bizarre feral tyranny ... is that really it?
With an introduction like that, I have to include the words of the woman who will do anything to improve her leadership challenge:

"Sir Fred Goodwin should not count on being £650,000 a year better off because it is not going to happen," she told BBC One's Andrew Marr show. Ministers have said they would be prepared to take legal action and other unspecified measures to recover some of the money, saying the pay-out is inconsistent with the disastrous state that Sir Fred left the bank in. Ms Harman declined to say how the government would achieve this but made it clear it would not tolerate the award as it stands. "The prime minister has said that it is not acceptable and therefore it will not be accepted," she added. "And it might be enforceable in a court of law, this contract, but it is not enforceable in the court of public opinion and that is where the government steps in." (My emboldening)

What next - fellatio with the copper at the door of Number 10? "I'm a sucker for punishment" said the Labour deputy leader.
Meanwhile ................
Meanwhile, conversion of the official residence of the Justice Minister has now been finalised.

Simple economics

Hilzoy tells the truth: I have been hearing for years and years about how the financial services sector pays such exorbitant wages because the people who work there are so immensely talented that they are cheap at $50 million a year. I never particularly bought that line before. But I never imagined that all those Masters of the Universe would do quite this badly. If we had paid them $50 million a year to go far, far away and leave our financial system alone, it would have been a bargain

The way we are - update

I reported on the near miss to immortality on Sunday before last.
Having done the immediate things on the day of the collision, I went on the offensive on Monday. I had Farmer Giles confirm his full acceptance of all responsibility in an email and that he would instruct his insurer to proceed on the basis that I would not be involving my people. That got me a very nice replacement car far better than the dead basic set of wheels my insurers would have allowed. My garage confirmed that my car was a write-off, The other party assessor was not due to be in the area for another five days but I convinced him that a total write-off would not take long to assess and he went there on the Wednesday. Two days early. By midday Friday, we agreed a value for my dead vehicle. £250 over the value shown in the trade-confidential guides as I was able to prove that it had been maintained regardless of expense and was all prepared for an already booked MOT five days after the accident.
And that is where it has stuck. A week to process a cheque and get it to me. The operatives seem to have understood that time is hire car charges but the shiny arses in the administration departments have failed to keep up the momentum. I've short-circuited the process and have agreed with my garage to collect the replacement tomorrow; he will trust the insurance people to come up with a cheque in the fullness of time. I'm left thinking the admin failure to show any initiative is part of where the country has gone wrong.
Personally, I've come out a bit ahead. The replacement is exactly the same model, five months younger with 33,000 less miles and an extra of a full length glass roof.

Manpower

I sent an email to a named individual in a government department. It bounced with the explanation that his mailbox was full. Repeated 12 hours later. Same result. Using the 'Contact Us' link on their web page returned a 404. I telephoned the department and got through to the head honcho's secretary. Having explained my problem she kindly gave me her email and said she would sort things out. The guy I wrote to had left six months ago; let us hope there was nothing urgent in his overflowing mail box.
I had a reply from the co-operative secretary telling me the name of the person I should contact. It was copied to eleven ( e l e v e n) internal addressees - ten of them in the IT department. As my query was in the text of my post to the secretary, she could have forwarded it to the man named in her reply.
I suspect there might be a tad of over-manning in that department?
I had reported the problem of the full mailbox to the postmaster@the site. No reply but I just wonder how many of the Legion of the Damned he might have e-mailed?

A police full hand gets flushed

Had I not read this on a police site, I would have assumed it was just another swipe at the police.

They do not need critics - they destroy their own reputation.

New speak

This message appeared on a forum that I haunt. Shows a certain bravado as text speak is attacked and there are a lot of male posters who have absolutely no feminine side, She wrote:

heya people, im new here so please dnt b mean, id like a blokes point of view,,
ive been wi m bf for lyk 2 years n he gets sex on tap (frm me ov course) n il do pretti much owt he wants,, soooo, y is it he has to watch porn when he's away on trainin or wteva, im nt big headed bt im nt ugly at all coz i just got scouted to be a model, but him doin this makes me feel like im nt doin it 4 him even though he swears im everythin he wants,, Is this just a basic man need, that doesnt have owt 2 do wi wt i luk like or our sex lives?
Id be great full for all your comments, im oni 18 so be kind

She was, of course, savaged by the attack dogs. For her posting at all and for the daft language. She took it in good part and re-submitted the question in perfectly good English.

So, able to write 'properly' and not amongst her usual group of pals, so, why resort to text? I liked the inclusion of a bit of dialect as well. 'owt to do wi'.

Haven't seen and not really sufficiently interested to check but has anyone written a novel or whatever in the New English? I can read her text and it does not offend me at all. The purpose of communication is to communicate and she has done that. So why do so many get uptight?

Interfering

It is not just oldies like myself who are denied the solace of euthanasia.

Even the creatures of the sea have to soldier on until all vital signs have worn themselves out.

And. lest anyone query why euthanasia? Read what can happen with our Notional Health System when it takes against you. And do not expect the lawyers to help there either.

Still waiting but too timid to complain

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has conceded that there have been unforeseen delays regarding an outstanding commitment made nearly 2000 years ago. In an official communiqué, the Vatican acknowledged: ‘although it was promised that the Meek shall inherit the Earth, there have appear to have been some delays fulfilling this aspiration, and we would ask the Meek to bear with us as we look into the possible causes for this apparent hold-up.’

May you live in interesting times

Nothing here for a couple of days as I have been a bit busy.
On Monday last I spent about five hours with a couple of senior police officers from the Historic Investigation Team working in Belfast. They had asked for a meet to discuss how we dealt with incidents where soldiers shot and killed civilians in Northern Ireland back in the early 1970s.
Funny thing was that I could recall details of almost every one they covered - and this without any advance warning of the ones they brought up. When I do look back, I can get almost total recall and it is this that made Monday such fun. The short term does not seem to be a problem; what happens is sporadic. I will start a sentence full of vim and vigour and then come to a word or name and - blank! Yet, there was not a single blank when reviewing something that took place near enough 39 years ago. We had plenty of jokes that only former police officers would see as funny. Or dare to make!
Another good bit about Monday was that it followed Sunday. Well yes - so what is new about that? Sunday was a day we could have brought our shuffle on the mortal coil to an end. I was with Norma driving to the Garden Centre near Edinburgh to get niceys fit for visiting policemen. On a main A class road near Lauder, at about 50 mph - dead straight, slightly downhill, no other traffic on the road and there was Farmer Giles in his Landrover in his farmyard on my right. He was travelling slowly towards the road. Not only towards but onto it; directly in front of me. I kissed his front nearside which deflected me to the left into the end of a drystone wall at the entrance to a farm house. From 50 down to zero in less than a car's length. Cue exploding air-bags. The charge smells awful and the bags get hot but they saved us from worse. I scraped a bit off my chin and we both had bruising later from the seat belts.
Farmer Giles appeared at my window and said it was all his fault as he had not seen us. Physically, there was absolutely nothing to stop him seeing us in broad daylight on an unobscured road. I concluded it was that he made the crossing from yard to house so many times a day that he stopped looking.
He took us to the farm house where plasters were applied and tea administered. Recovery arranged. Details ad-nausea exchanged before his wife drove us home. Really, could not have been nicer. He even sent me a copy of the e-mail to his insurers in which he admitted full and total responsibility. My car is a write-off but I have already identified a Picasso of identical specification and year of registration and have suggested this to his insurers as a simple way to close the whole problem down if they put me into the driving seat of that car cost free.
We shall see.
Tuesday was spent telephoning and emailing reports. I have just reported things to my insurers and not handled it as a claim. We picked up a hire car at Farmer Giles expense. I went and cannibalised my now dead car this morning and it was a bit of a shake to see the damage in the cold light of a couple of days later. There were ditches at the side of the road and we could very easily have rolled the car which would have resulted in a very much worse situation. Once again, I beat the Devil.