Luther
I think that’s what’s called, ‘going out with a bang.’ I will miss Alice, but I have a feeling that big John will be back.
Boost?
There is a language in betting ads on TV that I barely understand and certainly do not speak, even though I pay Sky and BT a hell of a lot of cash to force them upon me.
There is only one thing I know for sure: there are way too many of them.
F*****g Tories!
Wage growth has outstripped inflation for the ninth month in a row and the UK employment level is at an all-time high.
— Read on www.gov.uk/government/news/employment-minister-welcomes-new-uk-employment-record
Last orders
Not before time. I know of at least one airport where it’s very difficult to find a seat that isn’t related to the sale of alcohol. Passengers who don’t want to drink have rights also and should have equal space airside.
In the court of public opinion
news.sky.com/story/kevin-spacey-charged-over-indecent-assault-claim-11591094
What’s the point of a trial? He’s been convicted already.
House of Cards
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-46623617
The Trump Presidency. I have laid off the Donald on Facebook in recognition of the feelings of family and friends in the US who voted for him for legitimate reasons.
However I doubt that they appreciate the damage that ‘The Trump Presidency’ is doing to the esteem in which that office has been held in the rest of the Western world.
Mudanza
The last two weeks have not been the most stressful of my life, but they’ve been up there, no mistake.
At the end of November, Eileen and I went out to Spain with no clear idea of what was going to happen. As it transpired, we moved house, something that has been on our agenda for the last twelve months and more. After eighteen years on the hill it was time for the house that we created and tweaked to pass into new and younger hands, and for us to find accommodation more suited to our needs.
We are happy to say that both ends of the process were completed more smoothly than we could ever have imagined. The physical side, though, that was a bugger. Frankly I would never have got through it without the help of my stepson, mi hijastro, Dominic Paul Harry Abernethy. Dom, you’re pure gold.
And one other: our amazing lawyer, Anna Abad, who overcame one hiccup and glitch after another, and even drove us to the station when it was all done. God bless you, Anna.
We’re on the plane home now after a fortnight camping in LaMod and living on sandwiches. A nod to you too Starkis. Our best wishes for the future go to Theresa and William, and our thanks to Carlos and Merce.
Adios.
Cyndy Lauper
Let’s be clear about this: I don’t rate Theresa May as outstanding Prime Minister material. However I acknowledge that it is unfair to judge her at the stage as her time in office has been dominated by a single unsolvable task that was not of her making. Aside from that her only major howler has been to suffer an attack of opportunism and throw away a working majority.
Let’s be clear about this also: there isn’t a single person on either side of the House who could have come up with a solution that would have commanded Commons support.
During the negotiations she hasn’t got everything right, but in the main she has behaved with decorum and dignity. That’s why I wake up this morning feeling disgusted.
We are shamed as a nation by the behaviour of our Parliament. We are shamed as electors by the vicious, hysterical abuse heaped upon the lady by the people we have sent there, both sides of the chamber and even in the middle, by the weasel who somehow wriggled into the Speaker’s chair in place of a much, much better man.
For the last few days we have seen these people show their true colours, Green with envy, White with fear and Purple with anger, hatred even at times. And none of them are beautiful.
We’re big on petitions these days so I would like to start another, demanding that the role of the Committee on Standards on Public Life be expanded to include oversight of parliamentary behaviour and powers of discipline over those who are guilty of discourtesy and personal abuse. If you would sign it, like or share this post.
Oh! Tu!
So a mobile phone network goes down and the world comes to an end? I haven’t laughed as much since the day granny caught her tits in the mangle.
Biter bit
news.sky.com/story/pool-of-support-for-mays-brexit-deal-even-shallower-than-first-thought-11564956
I had some hope that, the Prime Minister having done the deal, the National mood would change and would become one of ‘let’s just get it over with.’
But when Michael Fallon comes riding into battle with his lance aimed at her, she really is skewered. Of course this is the same Fallon she threw under the bus a year ago on the basis of a historic and unproven accusation by the sisterhood when a more reasoned response might have been to let him apologise to anyone he might or might not have offended and carry on in a job he was doing very well.
You got that one wrong, Theresa.
Crisis?
Having had builders in recently, and knowing that they are pretty much the same everywhere, I am concerned that Ken Bruce’s Popmaster quiz may be having a significantly adverse effect on the national economy.
Obscene
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46289499
Utterly immoral.
Contradiction?
The DUP is pro-Brexit, yes? So why is it digging its heels and blocking our departure?
Challenge
news.sky.com/story/briton-matthew-hedges-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-in-uae-for-spying-11559410
A life sentence after a five minute hearing with no legal representation? That can’t be allowed to stand. What is our Foreign Secretary (What’s his name?) going to do about it?
If Mr Hedges is what he says, an innocent, if naive academic researching for a thesis, HMG must go in hard. Grounding all UAE airlines would be a good start. Freezing all Emirates bank accounts and assets might come next.
If on the other hand, Mr Hedges is what the UAE says, what will we do? Own up, or throw him under the bus?
