They really are full of shit in England and there is no free wireless internet connection in Uxbridge or not at least in the twenty or so cafes I went into and I am not going to pay five pounds an hour or ten pounds a day or forty pounds a month for the t-mobile hotspot at starbucks and so it was that I found myself with nothing better to do than jump into the tube and take myself into the west end, knowing that there is a wireless connection in Foyles bookshop, only to find on getting there that the connection is down and it rained and rained and rained and rained and rained and rained and off I went all the way back up to Uxbridge and, no doubt, using up all twenty pounds credit on my travel in the process. That is what I mean when I say they are full of shit; they take the money out of your pocket as if they have some sort of divine right to it as if they think, it has no right to be in your pocket. There was the eight pounds plus for the couple of coffees at the Bar Italia the other night, there are the astronomical fares even when you are using a discount card, there are silly three pound tags put on simple sandwiches and there was the wee lad in Foyles today, sticking a tea bag into my cup and asking me for one pound fifty. The money in this job at Brunel University is not bad but I will need it and I am forced to think about Mr Mcawber's advice to David Copperfield, "income £20 year, expenditure £19 19s6d, result: happiness. Income £20 a year, expenditure £20. 0s. 6d., result: Misery." London really is a part of the world where you can just about imagine Frank Lampard's or Michael Ballack's or Dimitri Berbatov's wife coming home and giving the star kicker a heart attack on saying, "I've just done a wee bit of shopping on the Kings Road darling".
The news is being dominated by the situation in Georgia and a showdown, which has been coming for some time. There is a report in the Guardian suggesting that the west would be advised to stay out of the conflict over South Ossetia and I can only agree.1 The hypocrisy of Messrs Bush etc is sickening and his saying that the territorial integrity of Georgia has to be respected just makes you want to puke. Forget the territorial integrity of Serbia when it is convenient but emphasise it in Georgias case when it facilitates your own geopolitical goals. The people of South Ossetia want to join North Ossetia and they do not want to be a part of Georgia and to think this Georgia has been pushing for NATO membership. Of course, had that have happened we might now find ourselves going to war with Russia. The mind boggles and for Russia and the USA it is all about oil as it was in Kosovo. In this case, however, if there is any moral argument it has to be on Moscow's side. No doubt, Washington and Moscow are already having a chit chat.
1 'The Guardian' August 9, 2008, p29.
1 comment:
I would hazard a guess, that since your arrival in 'Ye Old Blighty' apart from our notorious summer rain and more so this year, that maybe what is getting you more than a little down is our weather?
If you were a tourist then I could well understand your grip, having paid to travel to UK and pay exorbitant hotel rates, overpay for food & drink plus un-reliable transport with lousy weather thrown in, you would have a reasonable case for complaint.
Remember 'FAGAN' and his gang roamed the streets of London, the only difference between then & now, is that he is alive & well practising his tradecraft in coffee bars with, dare I say it additional fees for internet access that only attract those not in posession of a 'Blackberry'?
The hypocrasy of western leaders regarding the territorial integrity of sovereign states borders, undermines us all, however, they do say that we get the leaders we diserve. Whoever said this deserves to be horsewhipped on Royal Ascot day, before the Queen, then let the races begin.
Lets hope the Georgians don't take too much of a beating, and that the Russians take a bloody nose for their troubles then leave this economically fragile region to resolve their problems without the big hyper vigilant Russian bear breathing over their shoulders.
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