The first of the two-day national strike of public sector workers went off rather like squib only four out of the 28 public sector trade unions took part and it was mainly the schools which reflect so thousands of parents were inconvenienced and the children lost today’s education, for what effect? I suppose we should be grateful that at least it was a peaceful demonstration unlikely Greeks who seriously rioted causing a great deal of damage to property and injuring a number of their police force. The British economy is tenuous enough without the additional strain of rolling strikes from its public sector. Perhaps the strikers should be more grateful that they have a job and that, for example, they do not work for Lloyds bank and become one of the 45,000 who have, or will, lose their job over the next year so.
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Ladies semi-final day at Wimbledon saw the favourite Sarakova and Kvitova goes through to Saturday’s final. In the junior boys section, young Broady creditably played himself into the semi-finals.
While all this was going on my Alice had a tea party with another Alice (Everard), one of ‘my lovely’s’ best friends, who sadly recently lost her dear husband George, and Liz ‘Moon’, a friend from early childhood. Two very interesting ladies. They joined me in the study which is nice for me to be able to join in the conversation . Alice number two is bravely continuing to teach English to high-powered overseas students who come to England to attend the Cambridge summer schools. She brought her beautiful lucher, Amber, with her as well as a very generous bottle of champagne/for me and some lovely white roses for ‘my lovely’.
As I say ‘the Moon’ is a very talented artist who Alice commissioned to paint a conversation piece for my 70th. birthday which now hangs in my office/Liz was really clever in that she has managed somehow to reflect aspects of out daily life in the reflection of the office windows. The main house is shown in one of these reflections with Miles, Chloe and the grandchildren standing outside. Another reflection shows ‘my lovely’ feeding the donkeys Also included in the picture is the ‘running” postman (he used to compete in national athletic meetings) and, of course, our splendid long serving gardener, Peter. Through the open door oF the office I can be seen at my desk flanked on the other side by my secretary. On the front step on the office, Woody, my beloved Labrador, now alas no longer with us, is shown being flirted with by Pandora – our black and white cat. It is such a fun piece of work and one which gives me a great deal of pleasure. Incidentally Moon is Liz’s ‘nom de plume’, chosen because she married an astronomer.
For your amusement I have included a copy of a letter and lady received from the Canadian authorities a response to higher letter questioning our they dealt with any terrorists within their control. I do hope I do not give offence to any of my readers who happened to being gauged in the business of terrorism!!
ADOPT A TERRORIST A lady Canadian libertarian wrote a lot of letters to the government, complaining about the treatment of captive insurgents (terrorists) being held in Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities. She received back the following reply:
National Defense Headquarters
M Gen George R Pearkes Bldg, 15 NT
101 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K2
CANADA
Dear Concerned Citizen,
Thank you for your recent letter expressing your profound concern at the treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists captured by Canadian Forces who were subsequently transferred to the Afghanistan Government and are currently being held by Afghan officials in the Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities.
Our administration takes these matters seriously and your opinions were heard loud and clear here in Ottawa.
You will be pleased to learn, thanks to the concerns of citizens like yourself; we are creating a new department here at the Department of National Defence, to be called ‘Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers’ program, or L.A.R.K. for short.
In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to divert one terrorist and place him in your personal care.
Your personal detainee has been selected and is scheduled for transportation under heavily armed guard to your residence in Toronto next Monday.
Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud (you can just call him Ahmed) is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of complaint.
It will likely be necessary for you to hire some assistant caretakers. We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommend in your letter.
Although Ahmed is a sociopath and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his ‘attitudinal problem’ will help him overcome these character flaws.
Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences.
We understand that you plan to offer counselling and home schooling.
Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers.
We advise that you do not ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group.
He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.
Ahmed will not wish to interact with you or your daughters (except sexually) since he views females as a subhuman form of property.
This is a particularly sensitive subject for him and he has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the new dress code that he will “recommend” as more appropriate attire.
I’m sure you will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the burka over time.. Just remember that it is all part of ‘respecting his culture and religious beliefs’ as described in your letter.
Thanks again for your concern. We truly appreciate it when folks like you keep us informed of the proper way to do our job and care for our fellow man.
You take good care of Ahmed and remember we’ll be watching.
Good luck and God bless you.
Cordially,
Peter MacKay
Minister of National Defense