Category: General

Strange times indeed. Past two mornings I’ve been drinking tea out of my Union Jack (it was bought on a boat) mug; I’ve been rooting for “us”. Finds out not long ago, “we” won a Calcutta cup. This is nothing to do with haircuts, is it?

The Chariot has been happily trundling along for many years, and within its own limited objectives has been reasonably successful. We’ve lost a few Charioteers to time’s fell hand, all of whom are greatly missed, and the odd one or two miscreants have been forcibly removed, to the relief of all.

It would appear that some of the Chariot’s guidelines have become dimmed in our collective minds of late, so for a refresher, why not read the paragraphs on the About page covering Moderation and Authors? It won’t take long, the link is just up there on the right.

And then, perhaps, have a squiz at FAQs -> Who can do what? -> Authors which adds some explanatory details for the forgetful.

In summary,

• each Charioteer owns his/her own posts and all the comments therein
• asserting that an idea or concept or fact is stupid, illogical or fallacious is fine
• asserting that a Charioteer is stupid . . . is definitely not acceptable

Have a nice day now, y’all. 😎

A very wise contributor to this forum recently said:

“I’m convinced that the best way to gauge the temper of the times in any particular place is to live there oneself’ “

He is absolutely right. And so I hope that he will understand that I am writing as someone who has lived in two countries that are not in the U.S.A – but are independent, democratic countries who elect their own Prime Ministers to do the bidding of their electorates.

Continue reading “Warning! Some may find this post offensive!”

It’s over a year now since CV19 appeared, allegedly in China, and rapidly spread world wide – that so-called global pandemic.

Are matters improving at last?

Continue reading “Coronavirus – forget governmental credibility”

I’m not altogether sure why I’m doing this but somehow feel that, on behalf of my nation, I ought to offer apologies to the rest of the world for yesterday’s disgraceful behavior in our nation’s capitol. I fear that such antics do after all reflect who we are – what we have become – rather than who we used to be. They’ve made us, the land of my birth, the laughingstock of many if not most other nations.

Some of those involved may vainly grope for excuses and may cite infringement upon personal liberty by things like Coronavirus lockdowns, mandatory wearing of masks, etc.. Such things do not wash with me.

At least the FBI are doing their job and are hoovering up all film, video and airline passenger lists that may lead to more arrests. As of this moment, they’ve already nabbed 52 people, more than I’ve seen arrested in any civil unrest before now. It’s also worth noting that, in two weeks, we’ll have a new President and a whole new Government who, hopefully, will bend their efforts to putting this sort of nonsense to bed once and for all.

Again, I apologize to all for any irritation, anger or whatever caused by this humiliating lapse within the United States of America by my fellow citizens.

This morning I received a message from an acquaintance, a woman in her 70s who grew up between Britain and Hunland. She asked me for my opinion on Adolfina Honecker’s, I mean, Angela Merkel’s, China deal. Having been distracted with other things recently, I hadn’t heard about it. (Funny how real life and work tend to get in the way of things) I took a Captain Cook and was amused.

Amused. Yes, I was amused. The EU will now increasingly become reliant on China. Had this been 20 years ago, I would have been more forgiving. Even 10 years ago one could have been relatively forgiving. After all, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao followed Deng Xiaoping’s maxim that China’s initials “PRC” should serve as an acronym for its foreign policy: please remain calm. Under Deng and his hand-picked successors, China sought to position itself as a stable, doveish but assertive alternative to an often histrionic United States. As the 1990s came to a close and the USA engaged in a catastrophic series of wars and foreign policy blunders after 9/11, Deng’s call bore fruit.

Continue reading “Turny Worms”

Here for starters is a listing of all the countries – large or small -that I’ve previously visited outside the UK, organized roughly north to south where Europe and Africa are concerned.

1. Finland (inc. Ivalo, 200 miles north of Arctic Circle)
2. Sweden (to verbally examine a PhD candidate’s thesis in public!)
3. Denmark (Copenhagen – somewhat disappointing)
4. Germany (Berlin especially memorable)
5. Netherlands
6. Belgium (Bruges highly memorable).
7. France (8 years full-time residence in historic port-town of Antibes on the Riviera, approx halfway between Cannes and Nice).

Historic country, vast array of scenery, but something lacking tourist-wise – lack of communication, joie de vivre?).

Continue reading “Suppose I were allowed to re-visit just one previous holiday destination only. Where would it be?”

Germany is a special place, special in the nest of three-headed, phosphorescent rats on the shores of Lake Karachay sense. Germany can be difficult to stomach at the best of times. After all, even seemingly mundane matters can give those of us with distinctly Anglo-Saxon leanings fits of the vapours. For example, in order to be enrolled in a “Krankenkasse”, I was instructed to provide a copy of my British health insurance card that does not exist. They were well aware that prior to my descent into madness, I mean, move to Germany, I had been living in the United Kingdom. They were also aware that there is no British health insurance card. Yet they requested it anyway.

Continue reading “Tilting At Windmills”