Category: Techo stuff

Evening all!

Morse would have approved, I’m sure. All bobbies in southern GB will soon have to have degrees to join the force (sorry, service).

And they will akshully undergo training. Yes, really. Come on, you say, how hard can it be? Well, allegedly, they have to learn things to qualify for protecting us. Like doctors and the military, it is said.

Well I never! And not a firearm in sight.

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.

It’s getting darker

We are all ‘acclimating’ (Am.) to Trump’s regime. The twitting, undiplomatic rookie marches on, in anticipation of his inauguration. But soft! What darkness intrudes, stage left? It is the Prince of Darkness himself, the CIA chief! Even before the new Pres is in res (c Backside 2016) the Dark Side is warning him to play their game, not to upset their apple-cart.

Excuse me, but don’t the numerous security services report to the White House?

 

An unpalatable alliance

It seems that Donald and Vladimir might strike up an ‘arrangement’ to sort out ISIS. Shock horror and o me miserum I hear.

But hang about, as we say. There’s nothing unusual about marriages of political convenience. Boa and Christopher will cite a couple of dozen from the annals. As a layman I can think of a few. Between Winston and Josef for one. Nobody wanted to associate with the Russian Bear but when a common foe appears…..

It is equally concerning for the European bloc that Trump seems rather slow to recognise their star qualities and would rather pacify Russia than protect the endangered.

Different – but not necessarily impractical. Isn’t that what politics is about?

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.

 

The Danes have a word for it

The meeja are going on about it, hygge*, one of the year’s top ten words allegedly.

It’s funny how a common idea can become news. In this case the idea is already global. It’s what the British pub offers,  it’s what elderly denizens of Mediterranean villages enjoy at the taverna, it’s a family barbie in Oz. So why all the fuss this year? It can only be because some ‘opinion leaders’ have discovered a word to encapsulate the thought!

*So the Danes get credit for a Norwegian word pronounced hoo-guh.  But we’ll all stick to our own ways of doing it.