By George, we’ve done it, in the immortal words of Henry Higgins. My wife and I have reached a sales agreement on our little house here in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England. I say “reached an agreement” because in U.K. a sale is never final until the final documents are signed before any monies are paid: no “earnest money” here, the sale really favors the buyer, not the seller. In any case, we will have a cash sale from a charming and, I suspect, affluent mother/daughter combination who live in a nearby East Sussex town. I think our house is intended for the daughter.
I am relieved to have this sale agreed before we leave for home in Florida September 11, but I hope we can expedite the legal paperwork, but, knowing lawyers, that won’t be easy. I’ve lost a few days to talk to our lawyer and the buyers because it has been Bank Holiday this past weekend through Monday, the equivalent of Labor Day in the U.S., just a week earlier. Time is running short. We have some household goods and furniture to dispose of, and I hope to get with the buyers to see what they would like to select from the house and then dispose of the rest, probably to Ali Baba and the forty Thieves, as I refer to liquidators who come in and pay 10 cents on the dollar, if you’re lucky.
We are taking some goods back to America and have made arrangements with an International shipper to come in, after we leave, pack up the items we want and ship by sea. When you ship by sea, it is not weight that counts but volume, and we will have a 25 cubic foot container for our stuff. We have a beautiful nest of four carved nest tables with silver inlays, inherited from my wife’s parents (who owned this house for sixteen years), plus another small table, some china items and personal effects.
On top of this, we have a daughter arriving for a short visit September1, who will return with us on the same flight to Atlanta where she lives, while we then fly on to Fort Myers, Florida. Naturally, we want to entertain her, but it is going to be a juggling act, doing things with her while we clear the house details. She is a great organizer and can be of help, but we also want her to have a good time.
It is the end of an era. My wife’s parents bought this town house, the middle one of three connected homes in 1977 and lived here until 1993 when my mother-in-law went into a nursing home and my father-in-law to live with my wife’s sister and husband briefly before he went into a nursing home. They died within seven months of each other in December 1993 and July 1994. So, it has been in the family almost thirty-five years.
We rented the house for the nine months we weren’t here and, in a couple of cases, for a year when we did not come to England. For the last ten years, we have rented, through an excellent letting agent to mature students who took good care of the house and would go home for the summer while we occupied the house. Their rent for nine months usually covered our expenses for the summer, which was a nice deal.
My wife and I,to a lesser extent, feel sad that we won’t be coming back to this house. It is in a wonderful section of town called Meads; in fact, Meads was once an independent village and, even now, has the characteristics of an independent village with its own center of town and shopping area. We are located next to the downs, beautiful rolling hills leading to the chalk cliffs overlooking the English Channel. We could even see the channel from our bedroom windows. We are about a mile from a famous lighthouse called Beachy Head, a light house standing next to sheer white chalk cliffs in the channel. This is the part of England over which The Battle of Britain was fought in 1940.
We’ll probably come back for shorter visits and rent a larger house or apartment for children and grandchildren when they visit, but not for three months.
Yes, it is definitely the end of a wonderful era in our lives.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
THE SLIMEBALL OF THE SUMMER SWEEPSTAKES
It’s always a close competition with so many horses asses competing for the title of Slimeball of the Summer, but here’s my list, in ascending order, of candidates. Change the order around any way you desire. You have to remember, I’ve been out of the country for over two months, so I may not be current on some recent sleazes that have not been brought to my attention.
10. Jim Tressell, former Ohio State football coach. Talk about really messing up big time. One of the plum coaching assignments, now kaput, because this Godly Man couldn’t tell the truth when he should have and made a bad situation worse. And the university for whom he worked is just about as bad.
9. Roger Goodell and his N.F.L. cronies. They almost cost us a football season. Drag it out, baby, and make ‘em sweat.
8. The Tea party for contributing to the gross ignorance of domestic and foreign policy. To hell with government, just CUT, CUT, CUT, the simplistic answer to all our problems.
7. Michelle Bachmann/Rick Parry---a dual entry for slander and untruths even above and beyond the pigsty of campaign politics. The wacky right is right on again for distortion and pure crap. Whose turn is it to be accused of treason?
6. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, a joint award. As leaders of the Republican congress, these two were so intent on making the President look bad and playing 2012 election politics that they pushed the country to the edge of a financial precipice. Politics first, the economy second has been the byword for too long.
5.. The Murdoch triangle of Rupert Murdoch/ James Murdoch/Rebecca Brooks and the swarmy, sleazy, hacking mess and abuse of power where covering your ass was carried to a brand-new extreme. They may not get out of this one quite so easily.
4. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, that pillar of French politics with the ever-open fly, who escaped justice, thanks to a pile of money and a disadvantaged victim with an inconsistent background. Will he run for President of France? Don’t bet against it. Stay tuned.
3. The Pakistani Intelligence Service for years of disservice to the U.S.A. who supports their country and mission, only to have these bastards help the Taliban by providing shelter and, I’m sure, intelligence. A special thanks for allowing the Chinese to photograph and get a piece of the skin of the Chinook helicopter that crashed in the bin Laden raid. Of course, you believe them when they say they didn’t know bin Laden was there. Right, and your check is in the mail.
2. Colonel Gaddafi---almost #1 in a photo finish for forty-odd years of tyranny and crazed fanaticism. I hope they hang him by his thumbs, or, better yet, by his privates when they find him. Lockerbie is remembered!
1. President Assam of Syria in a tight race edges out Gaddafi. Under the protection of our dear loyal friends and allies, the Saudis, he has got away with murder and despotism on a wholesale scale for years. Now his bloodbath is beginning to catch up to him when even the Saudis are turning against him. He has not been our friend for a long time, allowing his country to be a conduit for terrorists,and loves to fuel up the Mideast fire. I really rate him #1 because he is still a clear and present danger, whereas Gaddafi has had it.
I’m sure you can add a lot more---but here’s a good start!
10. Jim Tressell, former Ohio State football coach. Talk about really messing up big time. One of the plum coaching assignments, now kaput, because this Godly Man couldn’t tell the truth when he should have and made a bad situation worse. And the university for whom he worked is just about as bad.
9. Roger Goodell and his N.F.L. cronies. They almost cost us a football season. Drag it out, baby, and make ‘em sweat.
8. The Tea party for contributing to the gross ignorance of domestic and foreign policy. To hell with government, just CUT, CUT, CUT, the simplistic answer to all our problems.
7. Michelle Bachmann/Rick Parry---a dual entry for slander and untruths even above and beyond the pigsty of campaign politics. The wacky right is right on again for distortion and pure crap. Whose turn is it to be accused of treason?
6. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, a joint award. As leaders of the Republican congress, these two were so intent on making the President look bad and playing 2012 election politics that they pushed the country to the edge of a financial precipice. Politics first, the economy second has been the byword for too long.
5.. The Murdoch triangle of Rupert Murdoch/ James Murdoch/Rebecca Brooks and the swarmy, sleazy, hacking mess and abuse of power where covering your ass was carried to a brand-new extreme. They may not get out of this one quite so easily.
4. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, that pillar of French politics with the ever-open fly, who escaped justice, thanks to a pile of money and a disadvantaged victim with an inconsistent background. Will he run for President of France? Don’t bet against it. Stay tuned.
3. The Pakistani Intelligence Service for years of disservice to the U.S.A. who supports their country and mission, only to have these bastards help the Taliban by providing shelter and, I’m sure, intelligence. A special thanks for allowing the Chinese to photograph and get a piece of the skin of the Chinook helicopter that crashed in the bin Laden raid. Of course, you believe them when they say they didn’t know bin Laden was there. Right, and your check is in the mail.
2. Colonel Gaddafi---almost #1 in a photo finish for forty-odd years of tyranny and crazed fanaticism. I hope they hang him by his thumbs, or, better yet, by his privates when they find him. Lockerbie is remembered!
1. President Assam of Syria in a tight race edges out Gaddafi. Under the protection of our dear loyal friends and allies, the Saudis, he has got away with murder and despotism on a wholesale scale for years. Now his bloodbath is beginning to catch up to him when even the Saudis are turning against him. He has not been our friend for a long time, allowing his country to be a conduit for terrorists,and loves to fuel up the Mideast fire. I really rate him #1 because he is still a clear and present danger, whereas Gaddafi has had it.
I’m sure you can add a lot more---but here’s a good start!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
AMERICA'S POOR GRADES
The President in a recent speech to the country referred to America as an AAA country, defying the downgrading of American credit by Standard & Poor to AA1/2. I think the American people---well, at least a good part of them---are AAA quality, but the politicians rate a “D”. Furthermore, let’s not make S. & P. the villain of the piece. Let’s put a large part of the blame where it belongs: on the politicians. By their inflexible stands, political posturing and lack of leadership, we got, unfortunately, what we deserved.
Certainly politics played a major role in creating a climate of turmoil and suspense which made a bad situation even worse internationally. Things were bad all over in a good part of the western world with our recession showing no signs of abatement and Europe in a euro crisis with the weak members hovering on the brink of bankruptcy. And, I might add, below the surface, a few things are rotten in the state of China. Psychologically, the inability of America to resolve the debt crisis quickly and thoroughly really gave a setback to our standing as the number one nation. Don’t think that didn’t contribute to the S. & P. decision.
To exacerbate matters even more, the debt crisis solution is a bandaid---a temporary patch until the matter can be studied further and recommendations made. It is not as if the problem was brand new, but we have refused to deal with it constructively and thoroughly for much too long. The world is seeing this, and it does no good for our respect.
I’ve been on the soap box much too many times about the politicizing of America and the dangers of polarization. I’m now seeing it from a different perspective here in England and realizing how important our leadership is in the world. We haven’t done a good job of leadership by example. I wish I could see a change coming---but I don’t. It’s really well past wake-up time.
We are going to have to work extra-hard to be AAA in every way.
Certainly politics played a major role in creating a climate of turmoil and suspense which made a bad situation even worse internationally. Things were bad all over in a good part of the western world with our recession showing no signs of abatement and Europe in a euro crisis with the weak members hovering on the brink of bankruptcy. And, I might add, below the surface, a few things are rotten in the state of China. Psychologically, the inability of America to resolve the debt crisis quickly and thoroughly really gave a setback to our standing as the number one nation. Don’t think that didn’t contribute to the S. & P. decision.
To exacerbate matters even more, the debt crisis solution is a bandaid---a temporary patch until the matter can be studied further and recommendations made. It is not as if the problem was brand new, but we have refused to deal with it constructively and thoroughly for much too long. The world is seeing this, and it does no good for our respect.
I’ve been on the soap box much too many times about the politicizing of America and the dangers of polarization. I’m now seeing it from a different perspective here in England and realizing how important our leadership is in the world. We haven’t done a good job of leadership by example. I wish I could see a change coming---but I don’t. It’s really well past wake-up time.
We are going to have to work extra-hard to be AAA in every way.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
It’s a tricky subject, laden with emotional baggage, this matter of racism. Many racists lurk out there, carefully picking their spots to score points and speaking out in a carefully devised code. On the other extreme, you get the rigid politically correct who are too quick to look for and label any comment of criticism of blacks as racist.
A good example of the latter has caused a real brouhaha in U.K. David Starkey, a renowned historian who frequently appears on television, has been catching hell for remarks he made last Friday night on a program called “Newsnight” about the recent riots. Mr. Starkey was taken to task for daring to state that black “gangsta” influence of today had a major impact on the riots. In his words, “A particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture has become the fashion…It’s not skin colour, it’s cultural.” Even a few noted black supporters of education also condemned this influence. One named Tony Parsons wrote in "The Daily Mirror": “…without the gang culture of black London, none of the riots would have happened---including the riots in other cities like Manchester and Birmingham where most of the rioters were white.”
Starkey believes that it is a problem of social scale. At the top, numerous blacks have achieved success in the white elite world and been integrated seamlessly into that world. At the other end of the social spectrum, in addition to the black “gangsta” types, you have disadvantaged white youth merging into the same kind of culture and prone to the same uncontrolled behavior and destructive mores illustrated by the recent riots.
Where Starkey really touched a nerve---and many of his friends and supporters say he made a real mistake---was quoting Enoch Powell, a Northern Irish Member of Parliament back in the fifties and sixties, who was inflammatory and violently opposed to the immigration into Britain of colored races. He made a famous speech, known as ‘The River of Blood Speech” where he predicted racial war in Britain. Starkey brought Powell into the equation by reviewing historically the reaction of liberal elements in both the Labour and Conservative parties to Powell’s speech and their resultant efforts to combat racism by condemning the working class for their attitude on race and, to quote Starkey again, “…the white working class could never be trusted on race again. The result was a systematic attack over several decades on their perceived xenophobic patriotism”; in other words, race hatred became an excuse for super-patriotism and jingoism.
The result of this attack, this anti-Powellism, according to Starkey, was a loss of national identity. Starkey makes the point that in other areas of Britain, even where areas of deep unemployment exist, such as Wales, Yorkshire and Scotland, runs a deep streak of national identity in all classes. Interestingly, there were no riots in these areas. I’m no student of British sociological history or race relations. I do remember the impact of Enoch Powell forty years ago and his incendiary effect.
In America we have had more than our share of incendiary verbal as well as actual bombers, both right and left. Racial relations have been subject to pendulum swings throughout our history. I do believe, bit by bit, America is seeing the reconciliation of races, although it still has a long way to go. But, if you are old enough, think back forty years, and the improvement is palpable. I think---and hope---we are reaching a stage where constructive criticism, back and forth between the races, should be possible.
Part of this interracial dialogue should be the right to criticize on the part of both blacks and whites. If whites act badly, blacks should criticize and demand reform. And that coin has two sides: if blacks screw up, whites should have the right to criticize and demand a change---without being called “racists”. It is too easy a cop-out on the part of whites to call disadvantaged blacks shiftless and lazy. It is equally too easy for blacks to play the race card when it is unjustified. Fairness is a standard for both sides.
If we set and live by such a standard, then we won’t have to worry about black and white. Let’s chase the elephant out of the room.
A good example of the latter has caused a real brouhaha in U.K. David Starkey, a renowned historian who frequently appears on television, has been catching hell for remarks he made last Friday night on a program called “Newsnight” about the recent riots. Mr. Starkey was taken to task for daring to state that black “gangsta” influence of today had a major impact on the riots. In his words, “A particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture has become the fashion…It’s not skin colour, it’s cultural.” Even a few noted black supporters of education also condemned this influence. One named Tony Parsons wrote in "The Daily Mirror": “…without the gang culture of black London, none of the riots would have happened---including the riots in other cities like Manchester and Birmingham where most of the rioters were white.”
Starkey believes that it is a problem of social scale. At the top, numerous blacks have achieved success in the white elite world and been integrated seamlessly into that world. At the other end of the social spectrum, in addition to the black “gangsta” types, you have disadvantaged white youth merging into the same kind of culture and prone to the same uncontrolled behavior and destructive mores illustrated by the recent riots.
Where Starkey really touched a nerve---and many of his friends and supporters say he made a real mistake---was quoting Enoch Powell, a Northern Irish Member of Parliament back in the fifties and sixties, who was inflammatory and violently opposed to the immigration into Britain of colored races. He made a famous speech, known as ‘The River of Blood Speech” where he predicted racial war in Britain. Starkey brought Powell into the equation by reviewing historically the reaction of liberal elements in both the Labour and Conservative parties to Powell’s speech and their resultant efforts to combat racism by condemning the working class for their attitude on race and, to quote Starkey again, “…the white working class could never be trusted on race again. The result was a systematic attack over several decades on their perceived xenophobic patriotism”; in other words, race hatred became an excuse for super-patriotism and jingoism.
The result of this attack, this anti-Powellism, according to Starkey, was a loss of national identity. Starkey makes the point that in other areas of Britain, even where areas of deep unemployment exist, such as Wales, Yorkshire and Scotland, runs a deep streak of national identity in all classes. Interestingly, there were no riots in these areas. I’m no student of British sociological history or race relations. I do remember the impact of Enoch Powell forty years ago and his incendiary effect.
In America we have had more than our share of incendiary verbal as well as actual bombers, both right and left. Racial relations have been subject to pendulum swings throughout our history. I do believe, bit by bit, America is seeing the reconciliation of races, although it still has a long way to go. But, if you are old enough, think back forty years, and the improvement is palpable. I think---and hope---we are reaching a stage where constructive criticism, back and forth between the races, should be possible.
Part of this interracial dialogue should be the right to criticize on the part of both blacks and whites. If whites act badly, blacks should criticize and demand reform. And that coin has two sides: if blacks screw up, whites should have the right to criticize and demand a change---without being called “racists”. It is too easy a cop-out on the part of whites to call disadvantaged blacks shiftless and lazy. It is equally too easy for blacks to play the race card when it is unjustified. Fairness is a standard for both sides.
If we set and live by such a standard, then we won’t have to worry about black and white. Let’s chase the elephant out of the room.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
A NEW DYNASTY
Two years ago, I wrote a blog, extolling my new appreciation of Cricket. Since that time I have come to like it even more. I’m still a baseball fan, which some of you out there compare to watching grass grow in terms of excitement---but I don’t agree. Cricket is even more leisurely in pace, but, when the action gets underway, it’s plenty exciting and artful.
What makes it so interesting today is that England is entering into a dynastic period. England is playing India, previously the #1 team in the world, and has murdered them in three successive test matches, really routs, and is now ranked first in the world. All the sports writers and ex-players/commentators are saying it will continue this way for years to come. They are suddenly blessed with the maturation of young talent with a host of young players waiting in the wings for their chance to play for England. It’s rather like the Yankee dynasty in the forties and fifties or the nineties when nobody could handle them on a regular basis as new talent took over from old talent.
The major reason for England’s revival is a new emphasis on physical conditioning, plus intense analysis and practice in the arts of the game. In addition, County (remember here, a county is like a state) Cricket is similar to the minor league or a farm system where players have the opportunity to develop their skills. All the modern trappings of sport, like sports psychologists, trainers, masseurs, high speed photography---all the scientific and esoteric voodoo---are being utilized and turning Cricket into serious business.
The result is an Augustan Age where England is expected to dominate for many years to come. Many critics think that this current squad is arguable the best ever, matching or possibly exceeding the great Australian teams of the past. The Aussies have dominated the game over longer periods of time than anyone, but right now they are mediocre.
So, even if you aren’t an aficionado of the game of Cricket, it is still fun to witness the cream that has risen to the top. Supreme talent in any sport is fun to be a part of and to watch.
I am getting my kicks. I say, old boy, isn’t it brilliant? But I still check the baseball box scores daily…
What makes it so interesting today is that England is entering into a dynastic period. England is playing India, previously the #1 team in the world, and has murdered them in three successive test matches, really routs, and is now ranked first in the world. All the sports writers and ex-players/commentators are saying it will continue this way for years to come. They are suddenly blessed with the maturation of young talent with a host of young players waiting in the wings for their chance to play for England. It’s rather like the Yankee dynasty in the forties and fifties or the nineties when nobody could handle them on a regular basis as new talent took over from old talent.
The major reason for England’s revival is a new emphasis on physical conditioning, plus intense analysis and practice in the arts of the game. In addition, County (remember here, a county is like a state) Cricket is similar to the minor league or a farm system where players have the opportunity to develop their skills. All the modern trappings of sport, like sports psychologists, trainers, masseurs, high speed photography---all the scientific and esoteric voodoo---are being utilized and turning Cricket into serious business.
The result is an Augustan Age where England is expected to dominate for many years to come. Many critics think that this current squad is arguable the best ever, matching or possibly exceeding the great Australian teams of the past. The Aussies have dominated the game over longer periods of time than anyone, but right now they are mediocre.
So, even if you aren’t an aficionado of the game of Cricket, it is still fun to witness the cream that has risen to the top. Supreme talent in any sport is fun to be a part of and to watch.
I am getting my kicks. I say, old boy, isn’t it brilliant? But I still check the baseball box scores daily…
Sunday, August 14, 2011
AIRBOURNE EASTBOURNE
In mid-August every year, our summer home, Eastbourne in East Sussex, England, hosts a fabulous Air Show with a wide variety of planes, present and past. It starts on Thursday and ends Sunday evening, this Eastbourne Airbourne, as it is officially known. On the Grand Parade, the main drag on the English Channel, which is famous for its Carpet Gardens of an infinite variety of flowers in an infinite range of colors arranged in geometric patterns, vendors set up stands in a nearby park area, representing a range of services from snack foods to t-shirts to toys to pennants to displays by the Royal Air Force, the R.A.F, with personnel to answer your questions.
One year the city fathers or Eastbourne Council, as it is known, really let greed get the best of them and decided to charge an attendance fee for those in this central area. DUH! How do you charge for air space or people looking up? It almost ruined the show. Everyone simply went elsewhere to view the show, and the vendors got really pissed off as their business fell off precipitiously because no one showed up! A couple of councilors who were up for election the next year got their butts whipped by indignant Eastbourners. The council did not try that ingenious “money maker” again.
Everyone in Eastbourne can look up in their own backyard (or garden, as it is known here) in the late morning or afternoon and hear the drone of propeller planes or helicopters or sonic booms of the jets. One year, in 2005, on the sixtieth anniversary of the end of WW II, I was sitting in our garden one early afternoon when I heard the roar of multi-engines and looked up to see, descending over our house, a Spitfire, a P-51 Mustang and a B-24 Liberator bomber---shades of 1944-45! I was excited since my brother was Navigator on a B-24 in Italy, and I still get my kicks by the sight and sound of WW II planes.
Sometimes, when we were younger, we would climb up one of the steep downs (small mountains) and watch from the plateaus on top of the downs. Other times, including this year on Saturday, we would join my wife’s sister and husband, who live in Eastbourne, and view the air show from one of the rocky beaches where you could get an excellent prospect of the show.
Today, Sunday, we walked down to Helen’s Park, a half mile gentle walk downhill from our house. Helen’s Park has a beautiful expanse of green, plenty of park benches, a putt-putt eighteen hole golf course, children’s play area and a special section, surrounded by shrubs where local teams can bowl on the lawn, wearing their all-white outfits. We had a wonderful view of the air show from there. It is an idyllic setting, overlooking the English Channel, which today was in full glory, its colors ranging from aquamarine to deep royal blue, dotted by an armada of sail and power boats with an unrestricted view of the show. The park, as you would expect was loaded with families, filling the grass and benches. It was a Sunday summer scene the world over with the added benefit of a constantly changing air shows, ranging from sleek jets testing the limits of the viewing sky to old bi-planes turning on the smoke while they do barrel loops and figure eights.
The highlight each day is a spectacular display of precision flying and acrobatics by The Red Arrows, the RAF’s pride and joy, their equivalent of our Blue Angels. They give you your money’s worth in a show of forty-five minutes, including streaming red, white and blue smoke in arcs, circles and a final heart, after which they flip over in a victory salute and head back to base in Sussex.
Ah yes, summer time---and the livin’ is easy. And the Eastbourne Airbourne is real easy watchin'.
One year the city fathers or Eastbourne Council, as it is known, really let greed get the best of them and decided to charge an attendance fee for those in this central area. DUH! How do you charge for air space or people looking up? It almost ruined the show. Everyone simply went elsewhere to view the show, and the vendors got really pissed off as their business fell off precipitiously because no one showed up! A couple of councilors who were up for election the next year got their butts whipped by indignant Eastbourners. The council did not try that ingenious “money maker” again.
Everyone in Eastbourne can look up in their own backyard (or garden, as it is known here) in the late morning or afternoon and hear the drone of propeller planes or helicopters or sonic booms of the jets. One year, in 2005, on the sixtieth anniversary of the end of WW II, I was sitting in our garden one early afternoon when I heard the roar of multi-engines and looked up to see, descending over our house, a Spitfire, a P-51 Mustang and a B-24 Liberator bomber---shades of 1944-45! I was excited since my brother was Navigator on a B-24 in Italy, and I still get my kicks by the sight and sound of WW II planes.
Sometimes, when we were younger, we would climb up one of the steep downs (small mountains) and watch from the plateaus on top of the downs. Other times, including this year on Saturday, we would join my wife’s sister and husband, who live in Eastbourne, and view the air show from one of the rocky beaches where you could get an excellent prospect of the show.
Today, Sunday, we walked down to Helen’s Park, a half mile gentle walk downhill from our house. Helen’s Park has a beautiful expanse of green, plenty of park benches, a putt-putt eighteen hole golf course, children’s play area and a special section, surrounded by shrubs where local teams can bowl on the lawn, wearing their all-white outfits. We had a wonderful view of the air show from there. It is an idyllic setting, overlooking the English Channel, which today was in full glory, its colors ranging from aquamarine to deep royal blue, dotted by an armada of sail and power boats with an unrestricted view of the show. The park, as you would expect was loaded with families, filling the grass and benches. It was a Sunday summer scene the world over with the added benefit of a constantly changing air shows, ranging from sleek jets testing the limits of the viewing sky to old bi-planes turning on the smoke while they do barrel loops and figure eights.
The highlight each day is a spectacular display of precision flying and acrobatics by The Red Arrows, the RAF’s pride and joy, their equivalent of our Blue Angels. They give you your money’s worth in a show of forty-five minutes, including streaming red, white and blue smoke in arcs, circles and a final heart, after which they flip over in a victory salute and head back to base in Sussex.
Ah yes, summer time---and the livin’ is easy. And the Eastbourne Airbourne is real easy watchin'.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
BURN, BABY, BURN REVISITED
I think I was premature in a recent blog when I quoted W.B. Yeats: “Things fall, apart, the centre cannot hold”. After watching TV and seeing the newspapers reporting the devastation of London and other major cities in Britain by the vicious mobs, I think the quotation is even more apt now. Scenes of total anarchy fill global television sets, I’m sure, by now. My wife and I are lucky enough to be in a smaller town on the southeast coast, Eastbourne, and so far we are unscathed.
It reminds me of the late sixties at the time of civil rights turmoil when major cities like Detroit and Los Angeles were beset by the mobs with fires and looting. Anarchy is never justified; revolution and protest, yes, under compelling circumstances---but never berserk frenzied mob rule. That is what Great Britain has been experiencing these last few nights.
The police are suffering from an image problem. So much emphasis in the last twenty-five years has been on stressing community relations, cultural and racial sensitivity and trying to seem like nice guys that in a trauma such as now they don’t have the respect for authority among the multi-cultural sections of London and the other big cities, who have only seen spasmodic acts of authority on the part of the police, especially the young.
Many factors contribute to this anarchy. Britain is in a period of increasing austerity with cost of living high, unemployment, as well, and a general paranoia that the system is against the disadvantaged. The Conservative government is trying to limit welfare expense and to undo a system that has frequently made it better to be unemployed and collect a benefit check than to look for a job. In tough times, the general resentment is aimed at anyone in charge.
Then add in another surefire ingredient to guarantee trouble: lack of familial authority. How many of these kids have only a single parent, who spends a good part of life, if she (or he) is lucky, working? Without or with a minimum of parental guidance, kids flock together and look for things to do, quite often involving trouble. Today, in an age of sophisticated digital communication with countless ways to stay in touch, to reach increased number of people, it is so easy to spark mass action. The word spread from one enclave of rioting and looting to many more pockets of discontent where new recruits could eagerly and quickly be recruited into action.
Somehow a respect for the authority of police has to be re-emphasized and restored. As one columnist put it, we have to have a police force, not a police service. Right now, the prime minister has told the police to get out there in maximum numbers, and 16,000 were on the streets of London last night. I don’t advocate in normal times the use of water cannons, but it is time for their use and a good blast of tear gas, as well.
The whole horror story is crystallized in the House of Reeves, a furniture business in the Clapton area of London where five generations of the Reeves family had earned a living since 1867. The Reeves had survived in three centuries, through two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the London Blitz. Rioters burned it to the ground two nights ago. They could not loot it because furniture is too big to carry any distance, so to hell with the Reeves, burn it down.
Sounds of the sixties---burn, baby, burn. It is not the answer. A new legion of youth needs to learn that fact.
P.S. After I wrote this blog, today I saw the headlines: an eleven year old boy, a well-educated young woman of nineteen and a thirty-one year old male teaching assistant were among those arraigned. Go figure!
It reminds me of the late sixties at the time of civil rights turmoil when major cities like Detroit and Los Angeles were beset by the mobs with fires and looting. Anarchy is never justified; revolution and protest, yes, under compelling circumstances---but never berserk frenzied mob rule. That is what Great Britain has been experiencing these last few nights.
The police are suffering from an image problem. So much emphasis in the last twenty-five years has been on stressing community relations, cultural and racial sensitivity and trying to seem like nice guys that in a trauma such as now they don’t have the respect for authority among the multi-cultural sections of London and the other big cities, who have only seen spasmodic acts of authority on the part of the police, especially the young.
Many factors contribute to this anarchy. Britain is in a period of increasing austerity with cost of living high, unemployment, as well, and a general paranoia that the system is against the disadvantaged. The Conservative government is trying to limit welfare expense and to undo a system that has frequently made it better to be unemployed and collect a benefit check than to look for a job. In tough times, the general resentment is aimed at anyone in charge.
Then add in another surefire ingredient to guarantee trouble: lack of familial authority. How many of these kids have only a single parent, who spends a good part of life, if she (or he) is lucky, working? Without or with a minimum of parental guidance, kids flock together and look for things to do, quite often involving trouble. Today, in an age of sophisticated digital communication with countless ways to stay in touch, to reach increased number of people, it is so easy to spark mass action. The word spread from one enclave of rioting and looting to many more pockets of discontent where new recruits could eagerly and quickly be recruited into action.
Somehow a respect for the authority of police has to be re-emphasized and restored. As one columnist put it, we have to have a police force, not a police service. Right now, the prime minister has told the police to get out there in maximum numbers, and 16,000 were on the streets of London last night. I don’t advocate in normal times the use of water cannons, but it is time for their use and a good blast of tear gas, as well.
The whole horror story is crystallized in the House of Reeves, a furniture business in the Clapton area of London where five generations of the Reeves family had earned a living since 1867. The Reeves had survived in three centuries, through two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the London Blitz. Rioters burned it to the ground two nights ago. They could not loot it because furniture is too big to carry any distance, so to hell with the Reeves, burn it down.
Sounds of the sixties---burn, baby, burn. It is not the answer. A new legion of youth needs to learn that fact.
P.S. After I wrote this blog, today I saw the headlines: an eleven year old boy, a well-educated young woman of nineteen and a thirty-one year old male teaching assistant were among those arraigned. Go figure!
Monday, August 8, 2011
ELITISM---I'M ALL FOR IT!
The headmaster of Eton, the famed British public school, known to many Americans who are Ian Fleming fans or crossword puzzle devotees as the school attended by James Bond, 007, has made an interesting statement. Tony Little, the headmaster, caught the attention of the British world by defending “elitism”. This term has come to mean to most of the politically correct snobbery and class consciousness and therefore to be avoided.
Eton has certainly appeared to the politically correct as the bastion of class consciousness and snobbery. In the process, it has turned out countless prime ministers, prominent politicians and business leaders. William and Harry both attended there. It is safe to say the alumni they have turned out can certainly be classified as “elite”. Eton, Mr. Little points out, offers financial assistance to those academically gifted but in need of help and is looking into building endowments to help such students. He admires the way major American Universities have stressed such campaigns to augment endowment.
Mr. Little makes a valid point: the term elitist needs to be “reclaimed” as a measure of excellence in all walks of life, according to an article in "The Daily Telegraph". I agree totally with him. To me, and I’m sure to Mr. Little, elite should be a term of achievement. It has nothing to do with class or birth but with merit. Little points out elite is often applied to sportsmen of the highest caliber. “I would like the plumber I engage to be an elite plumber, and I want to see an elite doctor. It has to do with excellence,” Mr. Little stated.
The class system in Britain was much too powerful in the past. If you were born well-to-do or had the proper pedigree or background, “the old boy network” as it was known, in the old days you had a head start over less affluent or the middle and lower classes. The Old Boy Network is slowly but surely being pruned out of British life with a new emphasis on creating a meritocracy. It still has a long way to go, but the difference between now and fifty years ago is striking.
In the U.S.A. we have frequent instances also of the Old Boy Network: right family, right schools, right connections still are in evidence, although not even close to the extent of Britain. America has been, on the whole, a shining example to the rest of the world of opportunity unlimited for those who aim high, work and achieve the proverbial American Dream.
Now, unfortunately, in the last few years, we are witnessing an increasing emphasis on mediocrity. Don’t set the standards too high, or you might damage irreparably the psyches of the little darlings in school. Make the grade of "A" easier to get so that the kids can enjoy “achievement”. Such nonsense! What we need to do is put a new emphasis on challenging the students, making them strive for higher achievement and becoming the true elite. We need to create elite standards at which our students can aim.
Setting high standards gives meaning to achievement. Let’s start to build a new truly elite.
Eton has certainly appeared to the politically correct as the bastion of class consciousness and snobbery. In the process, it has turned out countless prime ministers, prominent politicians and business leaders. William and Harry both attended there. It is safe to say the alumni they have turned out can certainly be classified as “elite”. Eton, Mr. Little points out, offers financial assistance to those academically gifted but in need of help and is looking into building endowments to help such students. He admires the way major American Universities have stressed such campaigns to augment endowment.
Mr. Little makes a valid point: the term elitist needs to be “reclaimed” as a measure of excellence in all walks of life, according to an article in "The Daily Telegraph". I agree totally with him. To me, and I’m sure to Mr. Little, elite should be a term of achievement. It has nothing to do with class or birth but with merit. Little points out elite is often applied to sportsmen of the highest caliber. “I would like the plumber I engage to be an elite plumber, and I want to see an elite doctor. It has to do with excellence,” Mr. Little stated.
The class system in Britain was much too powerful in the past. If you were born well-to-do or had the proper pedigree or background, “the old boy network” as it was known, in the old days you had a head start over less affluent or the middle and lower classes. The Old Boy Network is slowly but surely being pruned out of British life with a new emphasis on creating a meritocracy. It still has a long way to go, but the difference between now and fifty years ago is striking.
In the U.S.A. we have frequent instances also of the Old Boy Network: right family, right schools, right connections still are in evidence, although not even close to the extent of Britain. America has been, on the whole, a shining example to the rest of the world of opportunity unlimited for those who aim high, work and achieve the proverbial American Dream.
Now, unfortunately, in the last few years, we are witnessing an increasing emphasis on mediocrity. Don’t set the standards too high, or you might damage irreparably the psyches of the little darlings in school. Make the grade of "A" easier to get so that the kids can enjoy “achievement”. Such nonsense! What we need to do is put a new emphasis on challenging the students, making them strive for higher achievement and becoming the true elite. We need to create elite standards at which our students can aim.
Setting high standards gives meaning to achievement. Let’s start to build a new truly elite.
Friday, August 5, 2011
ILLUSIONS AND REALITIES
“Pundits and political wise men have long dreamed of a “grand bargain”, which would arrest the growth of entitlement spending while raising tax revenue by closing loopholes. It is more or less the only formula that solves America’s budget woes while sharing political pain equally between the two parties. It is no coincidence that such a bargain lies at the heart of most recent bipartisan deficit-reduction schemes, including those put forward by the Senate’s “Gang of Six” and the president’s own fiscal commission. Both plans would have cut the deficit by roughly $4 trillion over the next decade, enough to put the debt on a downward path relative to GDP. Many hoped the debt-ceiling increase would be the vehicle to deliver it.”
The above is a quotation from one of the most respected magazines in the world, "The Economist", whose analytic style and skill are frequently “right on”. I am at a loss to understand why the President chose to ignore his own commission and the so-called Gang of Six, both of whom recommended reform of the tax structure and closing loopholes, as well as analysis for reform of entitlements. On too many occasions he plays the part of The Great Compromiser to our detriment.
The Republicans can spout from their soap boxes that increases in taxes will spell doom. The Democrats can climb on theirs and orate on the inviolability of entitlement programs. Somewhere, somehow, something’s gotta give, as the old song goes. Tax revenues have to increase by means of tax reform, and entitlement programs must be made more efficient and capped. There is no other way. One day reality has to sink in when serious and responsible congressmen, the President and assorted think tank pundits must get serious and down to work in dealing with the problem. Cut out the sound bites, the nonsense, and deal with the future of our nation.
I hope it’s not too long a wait. I’m getting really old, and I’d like to see it in my lifetime.
The above is a quotation from one of the most respected magazines in the world, "The Economist", whose analytic style and skill are frequently “right on”. I am at a loss to understand why the President chose to ignore his own commission and the so-called Gang of Six, both of whom recommended reform of the tax structure and closing loopholes, as well as analysis for reform of entitlements. On too many occasions he plays the part of The Great Compromiser to our detriment.
The Republicans can spout from their soap boxes that increases in taxes will spell doom. The Democrats can climb on theirs and orate on the inviolability of entitlement programs. Somewhere, somehow, something’s gotta give, as the old song goes. Tax revenues have to increase by means of tax reform, and entitlement programs must be made more efficient and capped. There is no other way. One day reality has to sink in when serious and responsible congressmen, the President and assorted think tank pundits must get serious and down to work in dealing with the problem. Cut out the sound bites, the nonsense, and deal with the future of our nation.
I hope it’s not too long a wait. I’m getting really old, and I’d like to see it in my lifetime.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
IT’S A RAINY DAY
It’s a rainy day in England after over a week of gorgeous sunny weather with the temperature ranging from 75F to 82F. It is reasonably rare to have over a week without rain here in Old Blighty, but now we’re getting a few days of miserable rainy and cool weather to teach us not to get complacent.
It’s a rainy day, a day to stay in and think about the miseries in the world.
Anywhere you go today, you are faced with malaise and pessimism about our lives. Ranging from Somalia and the Sudan suffering from severe famine and a mounting death toll, especially among the young, to the Arab spring-now-summer and the problems in Libya and Syria, to the usual standoff between Israel and the Palestinians, to the Eurozone debt crisis and the precarious state of the Euro and the possibility of more European nations in crisis, like Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland, to even the Chinese economy slowing down, to Japan’s radiation and clean-up problems to the recent soap opera in America with the battle of the debt limit increase---the world has the blues; it’s not just the U.S. A. hurting, it’s all over.
It's a rainy day. We are all so interrelated and interdependent today in this global village that if America coughs, Europe sneezes, Africa has a headache and Asia takes an aspirin. Headlines today in the Business section of The Daily Telegraph read: ”U.S. Recession Fears Hit Europe”. Stock markets around the world are nose diving at the news yesterday that the U.S. economy’s growth has slowed to a standstill.
It's a rainy day. I can’t tell you how many articles or radio/television comments I’ve heard during and after the debt standoff in America, shocked at the confrontation of the two parties and the inability to compromise and reach an agreement until the eleventh hour and fifty-nine minutes. Let me tell you, that display did not add stars to our crown. A few talking heads are wondering if this was the outward and visible sign of the beginning of the Decline of the American Empire. I must admit, the thought has entered my mind as I have witnessed from afar this ridiculous game of chicken.
it's a rainy day. So much constructive time to deal with our major problems has been wasted on this confrontation, time that should have been spent considering, analyzing and seeking solutions to our recession: time to study the Medicare and Health Insurance dilemma, the problems of our infastructure’s deterioration, the Income Tax reform, Social Security, unemployment---add your own pet peeve to the list. We seriously need to address the issues. This is doubtless a pipe dream as the extreme partisans of right and left want to slug it out some more in the 2012 elections.
It’s a rainy day, and, as William Wordsworth said, “The world is too much with me./Getting and spending we lay waste our time.” I’m tired of the waste.
It’s a rainy day, a day to stay in and think about the miseries in the world.
Anywhere you go today, you are faced with malaise and pessimism about our lives. Ranging from Somalia and the Sudan suffering from severe famine and a mounting death toll, especially among the young, to the Arab spring-now-summer and the problems in Libya and Syria, to the usual standoff between Israel and the Palestinians, to the Eurozone debt crisis and the precarious state of the Euro and the possibility of more European nations in crisis, like Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland, to even the Chinese economy slowing down, to Japan’s radiation and clean-up problems to the recent soap opera in America with the battle of the debt limit increase---the world has the blues; it’s not just the U.S. A. hurting, it’s all over.
It's a rainy day. We are all so interrelated and interdependent today in this global village that if America coughs, Europe sneezes, Africa has a headache and Asia takes an aspirin. Headlines today in the Business section of The Daily Telegraph read: ”U.S. Recession Fears Hit Europe”. Stock markets around the world are nose diving at the news yesterday that the U.S. economy’s growth has slowed to a standstill.
It's a rainy day. I can’t tell you how many articles or radio/television comments I’ve heard during and after the debt standoff in America, shocked at the confrontation of the two parties and the inability to compromise and reach an agreement until the eleventh hour and fifty-nine minutes. Let me tell you, that display did not add stars to our crown. A few talking heads are wondering if this was the outward and visible sign of the beginning of the Decline of the American Empire. I must admit, the thought has entered my mind as I have witnessed from afar this ridiculous game of chicken.
it's a rainy day. So much constructive time to deal with our major problems has been wasted on this confrontation, time that should have been spent considering, analyzing and seeking solutions to our recession: time to study the Medicare and Health Insurance dilemma, the problems of our infastructure’s deterioration, the Income Tax reform, Social Security, unemployment---add your own pet peeve to the list. We seriously need to address the issues. This is doubtless a pipe dream as the extreme partisans of right and left want to slug it out some more in the 2012 elections.
It’s a rainy day, and, as William Wordsworth said, “The world is too much with me./Getting and spending we lay waste our time.” I’m tired of the waste.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)