You see, in a single week this draughty archipelago has become host to the Big Time. Not only patronised by god’s gift to the monarchy, we have been graced by the EU finance mob trying to raise a tax on bank transactions – which the PM, Mrs Kinnock can’t agree with or disagree with. No change there then. But best of all the EDL are in the Second City, Århus, to ….. well, to demonstrate. Not sure why, except that an islamist group plans to object.
Let’s hope it’s all jaw, jaw; not war, war.
They’re on a 4-day state visit to Denmark, here being greeted by the Danish Crown Prince and his Tasmanian wife, Mary
They tell me that social life these days is all about getting the most friends on your FaceBook file. Not that you know most of them (in any normal meaning of the word) from Adam or Eve, or even care who they are; as long as you can parade their names and faces as being ‘yours’. Even today I received an email asking if I wanted to be ‘Linkedin’ with a chap in Coventry. Nothing strange there, you reply. My home town, old friend? Well, yes and no. The chap married a childhood/family friend about 45 years ago and I’ve never met him! Would I like to learn more about him and share my thoughts? Er, not really, but thank you for asking. (I think.)
Then there is the latest Starbucks gimmick – asking customers their names. “Hello, I’m Sherry and I’m your barista today. What shall I call you?” I shall of course now avoid Starbucks even more studiously than before, since I would be likely to disappoint them on several fronts. a) I just want coffee, not a weird beverage with a life history and geography thrown in. b) I prefer to be anonymous (people tell me I am, effortlessly). c) I hate American chumminess which seems to demand that we are all welcomed like immigrants at the Staten Island depot. It’s a cup of coffee FGS! d) Every other customer below the age of 50 will be studying their ipod/ipad/laptop/notebook, making even more cyberfriends and ignoring the aromatic reality of a coffee shop where normal people meet in person.
O tempora, o mores!
Nicolulla, pictured here with a recent squeeze, is the son of a Hungarian immigrant and a French mother of Greek-Jewish origin, was baptised a Roman Catholic and grew up in Paris, and is now married to an Italo-Brazilian. Glass houses and stones came to mind when he identified an excess of foreigners as the root of France’s woes. Continue reading “Too many foreigners”
Euthanasia is a favourite essay topic for students. Some probably think it’s the name of an exotic flower they’ve trodden on some time. Others will simply argue it is a good thing, given their own youth and the ‘remote’ prospect of terminal illness. Its relevance expands with age, I’ve found, and these days I’m not so sure it’s wrong (ethically, I mean). Whether it is practical socially is quite another isssue. Continue reading “Brave old world?”
I do like large-scale surveys, don’t you? They are fodder for every kind of evil logic and this one is no exception:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17196110
On the basis of its findings, I’m sure it’s best to be white and retired. Continue reading “Happy, darling?”
‘When I’m calling you, oo-oo-ooo, oo-oo-oo…..,’ with an attractive sub-continental accent. ‘ Good morning. You owe my company 500 bucks. So pay up very quickly before we doorstep you. Thank you very much.’
Now I’m pleased to report that these distant, unsolicited callers haven’t yet discovered the wilds of Vikingland – perhaps owing to their concentration on English-speaking victims – but a word to the wise – you might get a call yourself before long.
Witness the Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Indian-call-centres-used-for-5m-debt-collection-scam/articleshow/11999098.cms
So the Eurozoners are chipping another cool £110 bn. into the Greek pot – which is almost certain to be p*ssed away within a few years. At least that’s the view of the ‘markets’ this morning. Put another way, the neighbours have now subbed every Greek about £18,000 to zero effect so far. So why did the paymasters stump up?
Probably because they don’t want to wear the black hat. “We did everything we could, but the Greeks blew it,” they’ll say before long. Better than refusing charity and being blamed for the demise of a friend.
Is it? I wonder. Isn’t being nice to Greeks the same as being mean to the rest of the Europopulation? No contest then.
As far as I know, the USA has exploited China’s low-wage economy for decades, sourcing every conceivable consumer product via its mammoth retail businesses like Wal-Mart, to satisfy its people’s insatiable appetite for throw-away possessions.
On the back of this trade, which has allowed Chinese workers to improve their own standard-of-living and save money, Chinese banks have become major lenders to the creaking US economy, with dollars earned quite legitimately, and arguably saved the USA from serious embarrassment during the latest credit crisis.
Now Obama has the nerve to lecture Chinese leaders on their moral obligation to do ‘fair trade’, to allow their currency to float up to its ‘real’ market value! Otherwise the USA can’t export its cars to China.
Excuse me if I find this hard to swallow.
Boadicea's Chariot 
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