I don’t know about you but I am an immigrant (invandrer to the locals). And it is not a term of affection, I’m afraid. Not that I look like one. My lived-in, Aryan features are a snare and a delusion for the unwary; they offer comfort – until I open my mouth. Then I suddenly receive the looks of fear, boredom or disapproval reserved for that class of human beings called immigrants.
As I mentioned yesterday, the Windmill Wars around here seem to be going against us, so we spent some sunny October hours at the weekend exploring a new (for us) area to the East. ……where Mrs J was astounded to find an architectural style completely new to her.
England’s defeat by 15 runs looks respectable by comparison with the bashing Australia have taken today. 74 runs deficit is alot! And Chris Gale makes it all look so easy
Give England back KP (joke) and there’ll be no stopping ’em next time.
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Yes, this is the Chariot’s Law Week! And this time, Auntie Beeb is getting it in the neck! She’s paying some staff via their own private companies rather than direct, which means they can pay substantially less income tax. The Public Accounts Committee reckons that’s morally, if not legally wrong, having already forced a couple of thousand civil servants to give up a similar arrangement.
Now this strikes me a something of a conundrum. Either it is legal to employ people in this way (as I have been during one of my incarnations) or it isn’t. The Gordian Knot is the gubmint’s to cut, but what it cannot do, imho, is to play the morality card whenever they suffer PR problems. It would be like giving special tax breaks to, say, married couples and then implying that such couples were exploiting the system.
Of course the Dept. of Envy is quick to point out that some of the Beeb’s beneficiaries are famous names. So what? Does that somehow validate their gripe?
What do you think? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/9587937/BBC-complicit-in-tax-avoidance-for-household-names-say-MPs.html
I’m surprised if anybody of my advanced years hadn’t already heard of the DJ’s disgusting practices during the ’60s and ’70s. As a family man with a Yorkshire spouse, based oop narth and inevitably aware of ‘pop’ culture, not least from my children’s conversations, I certainly knew that he had a ‘dodgy’ reputation among teenage girls. For all his much-vaunted good deeds as an unpaid porter at Leeds Infirmary, he was widely reputed to have ‘unusual’ sexual preferences. The fact that he was never nailed for them was probably due to the laissez faire attitude surrounding the whole entertainment industry at the time – and before the social media even existed to report what was really going on. It is a moot point whether the higher echelons of the BBC were aware of Savile’s activities or even considered them their business. Weird was (and still is) very good for audience ratings.
Victory for Europe in the Ryder Cup yesterday afternoon was sweeter for its achievement in the face of the unsporting behaviour of the Chicago mob, egged on by some of the USA golfers themselves. And the resilience of the European players faced with a mountain to climb (from 6 – 10 down) was inspiring. They had to take eight of the 12 singles to retain the Cup and went a half better to win it outright. Tiger Woods’ bogey at the 18th typified the American collapse from their pomp of the first two days.
Well done, lads! Great entertainment!
The last I heard, wee Alex was defecating defecting, but obviously One either didn’t know or is happy if the wee defector still sings his liege lord’s song. Not sure who’s paying the piper here, whoever the Bonnie Lass of Fyvie may be. But maybe it’s all over for defection when the fat man sings with One.
I’m reminded of this fact by Christina’s frequent anecdotes which round up all sorts of facts of every imaginable kind. Christina, you’re the Herodotus of the modern age! A strange comparison you may think, but akshully (thanks, Furry) the father of European history displayed an encyclopedic memory for both the valuable and the trivial, be it politics, geography, family life, war or mythology. He called it his ‘enquiry’, a record of his travels around the known world in the middle of the 5th century BC. “Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε” – “This is a presentation of the enquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassos”.
Boadicea's Chariot 
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