1436 days ago
This will be our second Christmas without my Godfather and Uncle, Christopher Booker. Every other Christmas in my life, Chris sent first my parents, then my father, then my father and myself a cheese from Cheddar: a real organic product from the county in which he lived and loved, Somerset. Last year, much to my surprise, a cheese arrived as normal. Knowing that he was dying he had, two years ago, placed orders for both 2018 and 2019. But this year I was rather resigned to that tradition ending. This morning a large box arrived at the Welsh Hovel.
2315 days ago
On Saturday myself, Brokerman Dan and Lucian Miers, aka the rogue bloggers, will walk 32 miles from the infamous Horse Hill “Gatwick Gusher” oil well to Woodlarks, aiming to raise £20,000 for that amazing charity. Reminder – Woodlarks needs that cash to up its income from just £126,500 last year, to close its deficit and keep doing its amazing work providing holidays for handicapped folks who would otherwise get none. Yesterday was my last long training walk…
3933 days ago
Lord Chris Smith of the Environment Agency is at the eye of the storm. Not only has his quango failed abjectly to deal with the floods but it has now emerged that it has pissed away cash on non-core matters – like sponsoring Gay Pride – in a spectacular style.
As such I offer up this picture of Lord Smith of Finsbury and invite you to supply suitable captions in the comments section below.
For what it is worth my entry is:
Woman: “You just do not understand, the dykes across Somerset have failed and are now invisible.”
Smith: “I am on the case madam, we have just donated £20,000 to the Taunton Gay Pride parade”
Last week...
3939 days ago
I noted yesterday that if life on the Somerset Levels was not unpleasant enough right now, the poor bastards were faced not only with water up to their wastes but with a plague of politicians arriving to promise the earth and do nothing. The flood sound bites yesterday plunged new depths with Farage (UKIP) vs. Pickles (Con).
First up was the UKIP Fuhrer who demanded that the UK stop spending £11 billion a year on foreign aid and divert the cash to fighting the floods. One thing you may notice about UKIP is that whenever there is a problem that foreign aid cash is the answer. Want more hospitals? Axe foreign aid. Want more money for the armed forces? Axe foreign aid. Want to cut the deficit? Axe foreign aid. And so with floods in the news naturally UKIP thinks we should stop sending our cash off to Johnny Foreigner in Bongo Bongo land and look after folks back in Somerset.
As it happens I too would scrap foreign aid too
3940 days ago
What is worse than having your house flooded out? Or indeed being in any sort of human tragedy? It is having a troupe of politicians coming to see you afterwards. And so this week Cameron, Pickles, Farage some Lib Dems you have never heard of and ex Labour Minister Chis Smith (now running the Environment Agency) have all trouped off to Somerset to “see for themselves”, to show they care and to offer vague promises they know they cannot keep.
If I am ever involved in any great human tragedy and am lying on hospital or am waist deep in flood water my one request is that no politician comes to visit me. It will only make me feel more angry and resentful.
And so to win a 50% off token for Maribelle’s I offer this picture of UKIP leader Nigel Farage as he paid homage to the flood victims. I shall be dealing with his ludicrous but populist suggestions later. Please post your captions in the comments section below.
For what it is worth my entry is:
“ I am NOT a politician so you can trust me…it is this long”
