Category: Chips on Shoulders

Fools rush in

I was foolish enough to mention Israel in my non-Yank post and Boa intimated she might comment at a later date. Probably a wise idea, judging by the current mayhem.

There is the Sec of State erecting a road-block before 20th January; the Pres Elect promising to sort it all out in no time; and Ms May (should I say ‘dismay’?) somehow managing to vote with the UN but oppose Kerry. Netanyahu meanwhile is white-hot with rage at it all.

Far be it from me to suggest anything by way of a road forward. Russia could annex The Crimea. Is the West Bank, occupied for almost 50 years, so dissimilar? Should the former occupants not be allowed to reclaim it? Or is such a comparison somehow inapposite? What are the rules?

Since the whole world (except Israel itself and its American cheerleaders) accepts a 2-state solution, what next?

 

Top marks to Anne

Not known for sycophantic reportage, I celebrate ‘young’ Anne for her diligence: 179 days’ duty in 2016. The PoW has put in 139, also highly creditable.

So what? I hear. Well, by sad contrast, the totally dependent Crown Prince of DK has managed to get out of bed barely 50 times and unlike Prince William, has no day job.

By ‘dependent’ I mean the local royals have no family wealth at all. They receive state funds every year to conduct their lazy lives and sponge on ‘friends’ who include them in their luxurious life-styles, here and abroad.

Resolved

It’s best to keep new year’s resolutions to oneself. That way, breaking them inspires least hilarity or contempt in others. Backside’s irritating irony would always be too much for me. But for all that, I can reveal I am resolved to kill the gadfly which my other head too often allows me to employ at others’ expense. I will brave his efforts to persuade me to harness a new one whenever I feel the urge. So! That’s done. And yes, I feel better already and hope that you, friends, will let us know how you intend to conduct yourselves in 2017. Or have you resolved to tell nobody?

A view from a non-Yank

While CT and CO are recovering from their culinary delights of yesterday, I’m asking myself why right-leaning US folk have such a dislike of Obama.

To many folk on this side of the Pond, he has shown a humanity sadly lacking among Presidents. He has tried to introduce affordable healthcare for all; he has refused to be sucked into the pro-Israel nonsense peddled throughout the Big Money clan; and he  refuses to accept the pathetic excuses for fire-arm ownership.

But I suspect there is a simpler reason: he is black, a proud family man of significant if not stellar education and he is sincere. Qualities hated by the red-neck tendency.

He will now be blamed for everything Trump disapproves of. And the gullible meeja will be delighted to give Trump credit where it is not deserved.

I’m sure I’m in for heavy incoming fire before the end of Boxing Day. But hey! That’s what Xmas is for, innit?

 

Well, is that her strategy?

Ms May is reputed to have given BoJo enough rope to hang himself with his appointment as Foreign Sec, realising that his outspoken style ill-fitted him for diplomacy. He always was a ‘ready, fire, aim’ kinda fella. So while David and Liam get on with Brexit, the nation’s favourite demagogue keeps on digging, more or less out of harm’s way for now. He will of course blot his copybook big-time very soon, so we will see if the PM will act.

But please, Ma’am, don’t bring back George Osborne! (Although who else could make a decent job of the Foreign Office?)

Mind your brassicas

They are the Marmite of veggies, the bane of bairns. And I love ’em.

Their growers have their own association (as you do) who are campaigning against boiling the little critters. Steam, stir-fry or microzap, they insist.

But I humbly suggest an easier way to max their flavour. Take a shallow dish, drizzle ’em with extra virgins, cover with foil and bake in the oven with the roast. Say 15 or 20 minutes – to taste. Crisp or not, you decide. And it’s true, sprouts improve with frost and don’t mention Brussels.

Reductio ad nauseam et absurdum

Imagine it’s one of Christina’s town meetings, redolent of popular meetings on the hill in ancient Athens. It’s government in action. We vote on municipal decisions, talk to friends, go shopping and feel involved in public affairs.

Yes, very democratic. Power wielded by the people. So should we give the town elders a bit more help by voting on the detailed implementation of decisions too? It might include a retrospective veto on a plan if we don’t like how it’s being carried out.

It is of course a recipe for administrative chaos. If an approved town plan can be un-approved, can it be re-approved too? Why not?

So, back in Westminster, could the barmy bremainers please wind their necks in and see how ridiculous they are. This town ain’t big enough for the both of us. It was high noon on 23rd June 2016 – and y’all lost. So do one.