Suite et fin

Claire aimerait que je lui écrive en français de temps en temps et de toute façon nous n’avons pas encore testé si le site accepte les langues étrangères. Nous savons que notre hôte comprend bien le français donc il est capable de savoir s’il y a une critique sournoise de sa nationalité et des peuples Anglos Saxons. Peut être il me  permettrait d’utiliser ce terme, normalement banni à cause de la susceptibilité de nos hôtes, dans ces circonstances car il est bien la façon dont nous avons l’habitude de décrire les pays issus de l’empire Britannique et qui sont anglophones.

J’étais bien content de partir en vacances au Sud Ouest car c’est la région de la France que je connais le moins bien. Nous avions la chance d’être invité à passer du temps avec une famille issue de le Languedoc. Des vrais Occitans comme on dirait. Une famille simple sans prétentions et sans beaucoup de moyens, mais avec des valeurs de famille que l’on ne peut qu’admirer. Pas de famille recomposée pas de recherche de fric à tout prix. Des enfants bien élevés et bien éduqués et une maison impeccable.

Le couple en question est  issu de deux petits villages dans les Cévennes. Ils y étaient nés et ont passé leurs jeunesses dans cette région bucolique. Parmi les vignes, les collines, les sources et les vallées. En jeune couple marié ils se sont installés près de Béziers. Ils nous ont emmenés en promenade dans les collines de leurs enfances. Nous sommes partie du village de notre hôtesse vers le village de notre hôte. Nous avons vu les côtes des montagnes où leurs parents et ancêtres ont travaillé la vigne. Des vignobles maintenant abandonnés et retournés en friche. Nous avons vu le mimosa planté par le grand père de notre hôtesse près d’une source. Nous avons cueillis des fleurs pour poser sur la table de chevet de notre chambre d’hôte. Ils nous ont décris en détail la vie des vignerons d’autrefois .Une vie dure.
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Children

I will shamefully admit that I am not very keen on ‘other people’s children’, never have been, never will be.  Yes, I adore my own, there are friends children whom I adore, there are even a couple of my daughter’s friends who I love to bits, but on the whole, most kids I would never care much if I were to ever see them again.  This may sound harsh, it is not an attribute of mine that I am proud of, but this is how it is for me.

Case One: As you may well know, this past couple of weeks has been wonderful, weather wise, and you all know by now we have the standby olympic swimming pool in the back garden, well this is gathering around, what I nearly call, the pool users and they have been climbing out of the woodwork and the joy that comes with that has started.

The first point in case is this feral little boy from across the road.  On his own he is quite a sweet little lad, he is only 7, one of Ross’s classmates.  He comes from an absolutely terrible family, they could fill the Jeremy Kyle studio on a weekly basis, there are 8 kids, eldest being 18 and the baby who was born last year.   I won’t let Ross out on his own, he only turned 7  in march and he, in my opinion, is far too little to be out there playing with the traffic etc.
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Hills

So I’ve got this mate who is as keen as they get when it comes to cycling. To them, the best start to a day is to get out on the bike and sneak in a few miles before work. Foul weather or fine, muddy trails and water crossings make no difference, as long as they are out and about on two wheels, that’s what matters. So, I was particularly taken aback to find they don’t do hills. Or rather, they do them because they have to, in the same way that you have to finish your Brussels sprouts before you can have dessert.
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Barack Obama was not, in fact, legally born in the United States.

No, this will not be yet another allegation that Barack Obama was born in Kenya — he most certainly was not. There is not solid evidence, in fact, that he was born anywhere else but Honolulu, Hawai’i. The question which is necessary to pose for this blog is one of the actual legal status of the State of Hawai’i. Hawai’i, for those who do not know, was an independent kingdom until 1893 when a group of American business men decided to relieved the internationally-recognised queen, Lili’uokalani, of her throne and form a “provisional” government of the Republic of Hawai’i. These men, lead by Sanford Dole, yes, of the Dole Corporation, would be the ones who would eventually annex Hawai’i to the United States in 1900. This is where it starts to get interesting — the Republic of Hawai’i was never the legitimate government of Hawai’i so it was never in the position to sign Hawai’i up to anything. It is unconstitutional for the US government to sign a treaty with an illegitimate government. It is also unconstitutional for the US to simply seize and occupy the territory of another nation. In the case of Hawai’i, the United States has and continues to do so. Thus, the statehood of Hawai’i is itself unconstitutional. So was Barack Obama born in the United States? No, he was not. But for “birthers” to accept the real reason why would be far too much to bear.