You're known by the company you keep

As Libya has made nice with the West, its political royalty has adopted the traditional pastimes of the British upper class. Or at least, one of them has. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi and the man who escorted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi to a hero's welcome back in his country, recently enjoyed a charming gathering with some of Britain's most respected politicians, according to Charles Moore at the Spectator. Tony Blair's wife Cherie was at the partridge shoot, plus other unnamed guests with "double-barreled or European princely names." Gaddafi likes the sport so much he's blown away nearly 40,000 partridges in Tripoli, once in the company of a Formula 1 driver. Moore writes that shooting birds is preferable to "blowing up airliners," but it’s odd that British leaders would associate with "a member of the family responsible for the biggest terrorist atrocity ever committed against British citizens."

Afgahnistan. Brown shows Obama the Way.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Wednesday that he will send more troops to Afghanistan, stepping into an uncomfortable debate between President Barack Obama and his commander for the area, General Stanley McChrystal. At the moment the White House is debating whether or not a troop increase is necessary, Brown's decision takes a firm stance towards escalation. British officials told The Wall Street Journal that Brown has found "a lot of common ground" with McChrystal, although Downing Street is careful to say that they don't intend to interfere with the American policy debate. Brown will send an additional 500 troops to Afghanistan, bringing the British contingent to 9,500. The Americans have 68,000 there and McChrystal is advocating for 40,000 more.
You can read more on thus subject in the Wall Street Journal.

Nobel Prize for Obama - Is this some sort of joke?

One of the first comments I read relating to Mr Obama being awarded the Nobel prize, came from Lech Walesa, former leader of Solidaritet (the Polish Trade union). He aptly remarked, "Too soon. Too fast." I personally lost faith in these awards when the Peace Prize was given to the former PLO gangster, Arafat. How long will it be before they are honouring Mugabe?

I am taking the liberty of reproducing an editorial in today's Times, with the hope that the future decsion makers of the Nobel awards do not continue to bring the future of the foundation into more ridicule

"When Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, the satirist Tom Lehrer remarked that he saw no further need to perform as the award had made satire obsolete. By offering the world’s most prestigious political accolade to Barack Obama, a man who has held office for barely nine months, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is in danger of putting the entire comedy industry out of business.

The committee has put hope above results, promise above achievement. The prize undermines the selfless triumphs of earlier winners. Indeed, the award’s obvious political intent looks partisan, a signal of European relief at the end of the Bush presidency.

The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama’s action in “strengthening international co-operation between peoples”. That is a worthy aim and America’s re-engagement in multilateral diplomacy has been warmly welcomed by its allies. But it is hard to point to any substantive results yet. Much was promised to the Muslim world in the President’s speech in Cairo; on the ground, the failure still to achieve any tangible progress towards a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians has left all sides disillusioned. In Moscow, the talk of pressing the reset button in relations was welcome, as was Mr Obama’s abandonment of the US missile shield in Europe. But so far none of this has led to the scrapping of any more nuclear warheads.

The nomination of Mr Obama, among more than 200 other contenders, had to be made within weeks of his inauguration. Was this a message of support for the election of America’s first black president? Or was it a self-defeating way of trying to align the peace committee with the excitement that marked his first few weeks in office? Mr Obama yesterday responded with characteristic eloquence and modesty in announcing his acceptance. He would, however, have done better to have let it be known to those sounding out the White House beforehand that he saw the prize as premature, ill judged and embarrassing at a time when he is preoccupied with fighting a war in Afghanistan.

There have, of course, been previous awards that have been widely condemned as undeserved. The most contentious was probably the 1973 prize to Dr Kissinger and Le Duc Tho for their talks on an end to the Vietnam War. Dr Kissinger had just backed the US bombing of Cambodia, and Le Duc Tho — the only nominee to reject the prize — negotiated in bad faith while the Communists prepared plans to invade South Vietnam. Some awards, especially those to Arabs and Israelis, have proved overoptimistic; others, such as the 2005 prize to Mohamed ElBaradei, have been politically partisan.

This year there was no shortage of qualified contenders, men and women who may not have the glamour of Mr Obama but who have easily fulfilled the criteria of individuals who have done their utmost, often at great personal cost, to promote peace, reconciliation and human rights.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the Zimbabwean Prime Minister, may seem naive in his faith in sharing power with President Mugabe. But no one can doubt the courage of a man who has been tortured and imprisoned for his actions in defence of democracy. Denis Muwege is a physician in war-torn Congo who has opened a clinic to help the many victims of rape. Senator Piedad Córdoba has mediated in Colombia’s civil war. Greg Mortenson is an American former US army medic who has made it his mission to build schools for Afghan girls in places where warlords and drug dealers kill people for trying. All would have been worthy peace prize winners.

This year, however, no prize has been given for peace. Instead, this is a Nobel prize for politics."
The Times 10.10.2009

Britain betrayed over Lisbon referendum

Amid the continuing brouhaha over what the Tories should do next, this central betrayal should neither be forgotten nor forgiven.

The British have traditionally been suspicious of referendums. Although we have had half a dozen in the past 40 years, they are widely considered inimical to our idea of parliamentary democracy, whereby policies are debated during election campaigns and decisions then taken by our elected representatives. In 1975, the Conservatives were opposed to a referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the Common Market. Margaret Thatcher, newly installed as the party leader, denounced the concept as a constitutional monstrosity devised simply to keep the Labour Cabinet together.
However, Mrs Thatcher recognised then that this might not be a position that would hold for ever. She believed that it might be necessary to call for a referendum on an issue that divided the nation, but not the parties, making a general election an inappropriate instrument for settling it. A V Dicey, the great constitutionalist, also saw a role for the referendum in the British system: “It is the people’s veto; the nation is sovereign and may well decree that the constitution shall not be changed without the direct sanction of the nation.” At the Tory conference in Manchester yesterday, William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, proposed making it a binding statutory requirement on future governments to hold a referendum whenever new competences or areas of power are transferred to Brussels – though this may no longer be necessary once the wide-ranging provisions of the Lisbon Treaty have taken effect.
In recent years, Labour has staged referendums on Scottish and Welsh devolution, to endorse the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland, on regional government in the North East and even to ask Londoners whether they wanted an elected mayor, hardly a matter of great constitutional moment. What they all had in common was that they involved a transfer of power on which the people should be consulted, as they should have been before the United Kingdom ratified the Lisbon Treaty. The treaty was pushed through by the Labour Government, not only without a referendum, but without any popular debate that might have justified leaving the matter to Parliament: during the 2005 general election campaign, all discussion of the latest great leap forward in Europe (then known as the European constitution) was considered unnecessary because the matter was going to be put to a referendum. The fact that it never was is not the fault of the Conservatives, but of Labour, which reneged on its election pledge. Amid the continuing brouhaha over what the Tories should do next, this central betrayal should neither be forgotten nor forgiven.
Daily Telegraph. 05 Oct 2009

The Health Guru

I’m sure that many of you have already read the Health Guru’s tongue-in-cheek advice but bear with me for reproducing the interview. It certainly helped me look on the bright side of life while recently recovering from a trying operation:

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it...don't
waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up
your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can
extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live
longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay
and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more
than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system.
Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass
(green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your
recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine,
that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even
more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain.
Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have body fat, your ratio is one
to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular
exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No
Pain...Good

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!!. Foods are fried these days in vegetable
oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more
vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the
middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You
should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO ...... Cocoa beans ... another vegetable!!!
It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had
about food and diets and remember,

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather
to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - strawberries in the
other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming -
WOO HOO!

Pandemic Panic

We are correct to worry about the Mexican swine flu strain (influenza A (H1N1) and its worldwide implications but should we be panicked, as we now seem to be with every large scale health scare,into practically putting ourselves into quarantine.

There are total of 19.5 million people living in the metropolitan area of Mexico City, of which 8.8 million live in the city. Just over 100 people in Mexico are thought to have died from the swine flu strain, although only 25 cases have been confirmed. The World Health Organization says that 985 cases of the virus had been officially reported, across 20 countries, with only 26 deaths.

Do these figures really justify the irresponsible call for the cancellation of business travel and holidays to Mexico. We are still in the throes of a world financial crisis and empty flights and hotels will do nothing to improve Mexico’s present financial plight.

Waterboarding

To whom do we owe the CIA’s interrogation regimen? According to ABC News, “the CIA's secret water boarding program was designed and assured to be safe by two well-paid psychologists now working out of an unmarked office building in Spokane, Washington.” Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell, both former military officers, founded Mitchell Jessen and Associates and “together designed and implemented the CIA’s interrogation program.” Their associates say that they “boasted” of making $1,000 a day from the CIA. Neither had any experience as interrogators before the CIA hired them.

I very much doubt that the CIA paid Jessen and Mitchell for the water board design. If they did they were very stupid because it has been in use by the police in Latin American countries for many years and they know it. If they didn't, they should have read,“O Plata O Plomo?” (Silver or Lead?) by James Kuykendall (2005). Kuykendall, a top DEA agent, was even present while the Mexican police interrogated a couple of the major narcotics traffickers by use of this technique.

Protection from Pirates

Testifying before a key senate committee, Richard Phillips, the cargo-ship captain whose capture by pirates triggered a dramatic U.S. Navy rescue off the coast of Africa, called on the federal government Thursday to provide military escorts for international shipping vessels.
It seems to me that this would be a long and extremely expensive undertaking. Would it not be better and more cost effective for the vessel owners to employ private security companies to handle their own protection. I am sure that if the pirates were aware, that in the future, armed professionals were on board, they would quickly desist in their attempts to highjack ships and have to look for another and safer source of income.

Paperback Versions

Whenever I am in London and have the time, a must for me is a visit to both the new and second hand bookshops along Charing Cross Road. How saddening it was on my last tour was to find that Shipley Books, specializing in art books, since1983 and Murder One, authority on crime and mystery books since 1988 have closed down. Both these premises are probably destined to become new cafe bar franchises.
There are still a few shops left, Book Ends and Any Amount of Books being two of my favoured locations for rummaging but they are fast being crowded out by the Borders, Blackwells and Foyles, whose shelves are stocking less and less hard backs in favour of the commonplace soft backed versions.
Of course it is of benefit for all of us to be able to be able to purchase the less expensive paperbacks and I recently read that in France, future book publications will only be this format. But what about us collectors; will our shelves soon crammed with soft backed publications, that once or twice read tend to fall apart in your hands?
Ninety percent of the books I possess are second hand and no less enjoyable for it – at times even more so – than that pristine Christmas or birthday present. Recently and for reasons best known to myself, I picked up a second hand, 1985 copy of The Great Thoughts, edited by George Seldes, from the cramped and dusty basement at Any Amount of Books. It cost me one pound, fifty pence.
In the book’s introduction, Mr Seldes mentions George Bernard Shaw, who was accustomed to going from book shop to book shop in the Charing Cross Road, picking up a shilling volume and reading a paragraph or a page before deciding whether to buy or not. All I can say is; what was good enough for GBS is good enough for me, so please support your nearest and dearest second hand book store before it is too late.

Don't give up before reading this message

This is not a healthy life-style lecture, but it could be considered good news for those of you who were thinking - just thinking mind you - of giving up smoking. Did you know that taking up regular physical exercise over the age of fifty is as beneficial for men as quitting smoking? You didn't! Well you should also be aware that new research has found that men who begin exercising after 50 have the same life expectancy after 10 years as men who had always exercised. This recent study by scientists from Sweden's Uppsala University, found that starting to exercise regularly was as beneficial as giving up cigarettes.

Traditonal Banking

I for one cannot wait for the return to traditional banking. But what was traditional? Over the years banks have developed and discarded many traditions. Is there anyone left in these now disgraced institutions who will remember what the original ones really were?
I opened my first bank account in 1956, at a local branch of Barclays. A reference was required and for the life of me I cannot recall why or how, but I had obtained mine from the then Bishop of Hulme. With this document in hand I was respectfully ushered into the manager’s office to be politely offered a comfortable arm chair and a glass of Tio Pepe. I do remember that it was around eleven o’clock on a weekday morning (banks also opened on Saturday’s) and I made a mental note to return again at a similar hour, as the local village pub would not open it’s door for a further half hour.
The manager, a traditional gentleman if there ever was, chatted informally with me, delicately enquiring of my integrity and my plans for the immediate future. Whatever my grandiose aspirations at the age of twenty were, they obviously impressed him because we both had a second glass sherry and I was personally ushered out with an offer of a small loan, a cheque book and an invitation to return at any time for more.
My army pay book now replaced with my first cheque book, I proudly stepped forward into the awaiting world and headed for the village pub, by which time was then open. When my turn came to order, I set a round up for the rest of the bar and flagrantly flourishing my virgin cheque book and a pen; in a voice loud enough to be heard by all,demanded,
“You do take cheques, don’t you George!”
“Did Ginger. Did.” The landlord replied, exhibiting to myself and others present, a pint glass full of bounced ones. “But not any more.”

Perfect Service

Turn on any channel these days and I guarantee you will see one or another of your favourite TV chefs in ego action, preaching, teaching, advising and now and again even cheating. You will see and hear about their one to five star establishments, which part of whichever ocean or river their fish was netted, how their beef was fed and delicately massaged and from which corner of their herb gardens the broad leaf parsley came from.
I am not knocking them. Far from it I enjoy these gastronomic TV programmes. I find them most helpful and informative and I have been known to attempt a recipe, first viewed on the box at 6pm, and served it up to my own guests at 8pm, albeit maybe not always as successful as the creations of Hesto Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsey or young Jaime’s.
What niggles me is the lack of time and praise given to the key people who look after the customers in these the ultimate establishments - the waiters. So I have come up with my own modest appraisal of waiters. I will not include the USA, where the waiter – servers or even waitstaff as they are sometimes called over there – will rush up to your table and introduce themselves by their Christian names and interrupt throughout the meal with, “Is everything to your liking sir?”
A European waiter will be more professional but still friendly. He knows when to appear at your table and not a minute before. He will not be pushing you into another bottle of wine or offering exorbitantly priced bottles of 20000 year old, glacier water from New Zealand. He is there to welcome, serve and assist you in your choice of food and wine, should assistance be required.
There is a dearth of good waiters in the UK and many restaurants are going the American way - offering bonuses for increased sales. In Germany waiters are normally inexperienced personnel, generally from Eastern Europe or from the Mediterranean countries, where their Latin warmth has little in common with service, and I shall not add comment to the seemingly rehearsed rudeness of French restaurant staff. The Austrian waiters as a whole are of top standard but it is the professionalism of waiters to be found working in the restaurants of Belgium and in Brussels in particular that I tip my hat to.
I have yet to have had a bad meal in Brussels. Add to this fortunate experience the impeccable table service to be found in this city’s many restaurants and I consider myself a lucky man. To me, it appears that the waiters, both male and female, take pride in their work and are equally proud of their profession. Their proficiency is obvious even as I enter the restaurant. I feel as though my custom is indeed welcome. Time is given for me to scrutinize the menu before the waiter suggests the specials of the day, taking care to explain local dishes, of which some are almost untranslatable. Their command of three languages, French, Walloon, and English being a requisite is amazing enough but I have also overheard customers being addressed in Spanish and Italian.
It is a pity that good service in the catering industry (the word industry well describes what is happening to gastronomy) is becoming a rare commodity but thankfully still exists in Belgium.

Women Clergy

I suppose I shouldn't bring religion into my blog because, as with politics, you're going to offend someone. However, at risk of upsetting you, I've just two issues to get off my chest.

I read yesterday, that the Church of England debated once again on the subject of female bishops; should they be permitted or not? Apparently the General Synod will now allow a draft law to be amended, which may or may not allow women to be ordained as bishops but not before 2014.

I have absolutely nothing against this and welcome the inclusion of more females into the church. There it is. My first issue resolved. But the second issue, of more importance to me personally is to halt the the removal of all that is sacred from the liturgy.

I used to be a regular Sunday church goer but over the years, as the Church of England modernized, I drifted away. I would like to see the church to return to its symbolic roots. No more of these modern sing-along and rock and roll concert, services and definitely no more holding of hands with all and sundry. Does this embarrassing physical connection with perfect strangers really bring us to spiritual harmony?

So let's have more of the female bishops, archdeacons and sundry paid and unpaid female clergy. They can't do a worse job than the males whom we have entrusted with our religion for the past 2000 years. But, please ladies, let's get back to the traditional sacred ceremony.

No Demand for Reading Material.

An illuminating conversation between two sales girls, which I recently overheard in an Oxford Street store.

“Oi! Mandy! What’s this then?” Holding up the strip of embossed leather to her colleague.
“Oh that! It’s a book marker.”
“What’s it for then Mandy?”
“It’s for books.”
“Ow’dj mean?”
“If you read a book you stick it inside and it keeps your page.”
“Eh? Do you read books then Mandy?”
“Nah! But some people do.”
“Wierd!”

Who am I going to turn to, now that my former role models in the financial world are in disgrace. Alan Greenspan, ex US Fed boss, Adam Applegarth, former Northern Rock CEO, Sir Fred Goodwin, Royal Bank of Scotland and Andy Hornby (HBOS), to mention but a few. These are just a handful of what I will call the "Midas Boys",” who have turned the financial world up-side and down. What I need to urgently know is who and where are the new geniuses who are going to lead us out of the unholy mess give us our jobs and our confidence back.

Only twelve months ago, I would wander the City, in jealous awe of those sharply dressed, yuppies, who I believed had the financial world at their fingertips. In restaurants, I would sit on the next table to them, straining my ears in hope for gleaning a crumb of insider information. I would sidle up next to a group of them in the bar, hoping for a drop of precious advice.

Well that’s all over now. I can’t even see a dark pin striped suit without getting irrationally irritated. But the one good thing is that restaurants are now destitute of many of those arrogant, overloud traders and, in the bars and pubs, can be once again heard the common sense of your average man in the street.

What ever happened to the Gravy?

Dined out last night, in what would be called a first class restaurant. Not for the first time I commented on the quantity of sauce being served. The gravy itself was delectable but it had been applied to the meat dish with a fine paint brush; all very artistic but not what I would call nourishing.
It used to be that a main course dish comprised of plate, generously covered with meat or fish, potatos, rice or pasta, accompanied by a vegetable and complimented with a hefty helping of sauce. Nowadays, the plates have increased in size and shape and colour. I was recently served three small scallops on a gi-normous, black, triangular plate.
As the plates have grown in size, the food served on them has retreated to the middle of the dish and to spare the chef time, the meat, fish or whatever, is placed, pyramid fashion, on top of the potato, rice or pasta. This is then topped up with a minute portion of veg and perhaps a miniscule branch of deep fried parsley or aubergine for decoration. To cover the indecency of the half naked plate, the chef will then scribble a little sauce around the pyramid as if he is a Japanese line artist.
There used to be a piece of porcelain called a sauce boat but as gravy began to dry up like the water along the Nile valley, some gastronome invented the flat sauce spoon, which I suppose was to deter people from licking their plates, but even this wonderful innovation has now disappeared.
I am not complaining about quality because I’ll be the first to admit, that if you are willing to pay the price for it, restaurant food is getting better. But I do appeal to chefs in general to remember we are not all on a diet, and if you happen to be an ethnic English chef, please don’t forget the old staple, meat, potatos and gravy...lots of it.

There's always taxation

En route from Frankfurt to Koblenz and after passing the town of Bingham, for almost 60 minutes the train weaves its way through a valley and along the steeply terraced slopes, following every turn of the Rhine. At every bend of the river you are looking out of the window at history. The fortresses of Marksburg, Castle Ehrenbreitstein, Burg Lahneck, and the Pfalzgrafstein; the Palatine Count’s Rock, built around 1327, on a mid-river island, are only a few of the many ruins visible on the hills across the river. I’ve made this journey many times and I never tire of the magnificence of it and rightly so have UNESCO inscribed this area of the Upper Middle Rhine, as a World Heritage site.

I was aboard again today, enjoying a glass of Pils and the wintery afternoon view and flipping through God and Mammon, Protestants, Money, and the Market, 1790 – 1860’. I say flipping through because I don’t normally read text books but a colleague had pressed it upon me as I was leaving Frankfurt.
I was half reading and half watching the ruins pass by and thinking about the past owners of these castles, which were all built of greed. How would they have reacted to our present world financial crisis? Probably they would have increased the tax on the boats passing up and down the river.

Unpleastant task for today

Today I must travel to Frankfurt to perform the unhappy duty of closing down our European office. I’m not at all looking forward to it, considering the friendships I have made in this city over the past two years. I doubt that we are the first international company – certainly won’t be the last – who in 2009 have been or will be, forced to terminate a rental contact in this the European Financial Capitol.

I slept extremely well and woke up this morning in a rather elated mood. Obviously the true depth of my precarious future hasn’t yet sunk in but I’m sure that in the next few days reality will take over. Until then I had better enjoy this present and an indescribable feeling of freedom. It is though a heavy, sodden blanket has been removed from over my head, exposing the warmth of a summer Sunday.

There's no such thing as bad news

News is only as bad or as good as you, yourself make it.

Today my worst fears were confirmed. I have now joined the ranks of the other few million unemployed. Financially I'll be hurting big time and at my age, seventy three, I can't see too many companies jumping to employ me. I've been expecting the bad news for a few weeks and had been preparing myself for it. However, now it has happened I feel strangely relieved. I'll just have to start all over again. No point in being depressed, I'm free. No more business phone calls late at night and a 50% reduction in emails. What I will certainly miss most will be the travel; which is something I have been lucky to be doing all my life.

Thankfully I am and have always been an optimist; half full glass and all that. It's not done me any harm so far and it has kept me a happy character. In my short - it seems so - life I've seen and suffered the ups and downs that fate inevitably throws at all of us when we least expect them. Accepting these times of deep sadness or sublime happiness as inevitable chapters in the book of life is what it's all about.

One thing I'm determined to take advantage of during my new found freedom will be the time to try and put on paper my daily feelings; the sort of diary which I should have started way back in the ever diminishing past.