Saturday, October 27, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
On the way to Ramallah
Long stop over in LHR. But luckily or prehaps not, if you consider the visa card, departure is from terminal 4. Terminal 4 is more like a shopping mall than a departure lounage. So far have resisted the expensive silk ties, mon blanc pens, stationary and BOOK shop!
Starbucks is my friend... I have got to know him well.
Starbucks is my friend... I have got to know him well.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
A lull......
John Cleese's Letter To America
To the citizens of the United States of America:
In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (excepting Kansas, which she does not fancy).
Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium," and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise."
You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra'; you may elect to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you find you simply can't cope with correct pronunciation.
Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels (look up "vocabulary"). Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.
2. There is no such thing as "US English." We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize."
3. You will relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out Task #1 (see above).
4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in England. It will be called "Come-Uppance Day."
5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent.
Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.
6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.
All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect.
At the same time, you will go metric immediately and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
8. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling "gasoline") -roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.
9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with mayonnaise but with vinegar.
10. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.
11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer," and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager." American brands will be referred to as "Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
13. You will cease playing American "football." There is only one kind of proper football; you call it "soccer." Those of you brave enough will, in time, will be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the "World Series" for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.
14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due backdated to 1776.
Thank you for your co-operation.
To the citizens of the United States of America:
In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (excepting Kansas, which she does not fancy).
Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium," and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise."
You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra'; you may elect to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you find you simply can't cope with correct pronunciation.
Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels (look up "vocabulary"). Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.
2. There is no such thing as "US English." We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize."
3. You will relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out Task #1 (see above).
4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in England. It will be called "Come-Uppance Day."
5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent.
Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.
6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.
All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect.
At the same time, you will go metric immediately and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
8. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling "gasoline") -roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.
9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with mayonnaise but with vinegar.
10. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.
11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer," and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager." American brands will be referred to as "Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
13. You will cease playing American "football." There is only one kind of proper football; you call it "soccer." Those of you brave enough will, in time, will be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the "World Series" for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.
14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due backdated to 1776.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Strange and Horrible things happening in Indonesia
Airline meal ‘used to kill activist’
The former head of Indonesia’s national airline faces 20 years in jail over the killing of an outspoken human rights activist whose in-flight meal was laced with a massive dose of arsenic. The poisoning of Munir Said Thalib in 2004 silenced one of the most ardent critics of Indonesia’s military, a lawyer who, at 38, had spent much of his life exposing the corruption and human rights abuses wrought by its officers. Before his agonising mid-flight death shortly before landing in Amsterdam, Mr Munir had been preparing a report on human rights abuses in the provinces of Aceh and Papua.
Indra Setiawan, the former head of Garuda Airlines, and his deputy, Rohainil Aini appeared in the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. Their trials follow the 2005 conviction of Pollycarpus Priyanto , an off-duty Garuda pilot found guilty of Mr Munir’s murder but acquitted on appeal to the Supreme Court last year. The murder, claim Mr Munir’s supporters, may ultimately have been the work of Indonesia’s spy agency.
For the human rights activists still fighting Mr Munir’s cause, the case provokes grim memories of the 32-year dictatorship of President Suharto – an era in which the state effectively killed its opponents at will and its agents were above the law.
The trial is under close scrutiny as a test-case for the independence of Indonesia’s justice system nearly a decade after the fall of Mt Suharto.
Since her husband’s death, Mr Munir’s wife, Suciwati, has reportedly received death threats. She was also sent a decapitated chicken in a box and an accompanying warning not to connect Mr Munir’s death with the Indonesian military.
The former head of Indonesia’s national airline faces 20 years in jail over the killing of an outspoken human rights activist whose in-flight meal was laced with a massive dose of arsenic. The poisoning of Munir Said Thalib in 2004 silenced one of the most ardent critics of Indonesia’s military, a lawyer who, at 38, had spent much of his life exposing the corruption and human rights abuses wrought by its officers. Before his agonising mid-flight death shortly before landing in Amsterdam, Mr Munir had been preparing a report on human rights abuses in the provinces of Aceh and Papua.
Indra Setiawan, the former head of Garuda Airlines, and his deputy, Rohainil Aini appeared in the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. Their trials follow the 2005 conviction of Pollycarpus Priyanto , an off-duty Garuda pilot found guilty of Mr Munir’s murder but acquitted on appeal to the Supreme Court last year. The murder, claim Mr Munir’s supporters, may ultimately have been the work of Indonesia’s spy agency.
For the human rights activists still fighting Mr Munir’s cause, the case provokes grim memories of the 32-year dictatorship of President Suharto – an era in which the state effectively killed its opponents at will and its agents were above the law.
The trial is under close scrutiny as a test-case for the independence of Indonesia’s justice system nearly a decade after the fall of Mt Suharto.
Since her husband’s death, Mr Munir’s wife, Suciwati, has reportedly received death threats. She was also sent a decapitated chicken in a box and an accompanying warning not to connect Mr Munir’s death with the Indonesian military.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Winter Gardens
On Sunday we got a whole load of new shrubs put in to the garden. Kids helped with the autumn leaves.
Good News for Pet Lovers, Bad news for Woolly lemurs
Animal lovers in UK with a penchant for exotic pets can now keep sloths, raccoons or even emus after the Government relaxed the regulations on owning wild animals.
A total of 33 new species can now be owned without a licence after a review of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act deemed them not to be a risk to the public.
They include a number of wild cats, North American and crested porcupines, hyraxes, sand snakes, mangrove snakes and the Brazilian wolf spider.Woolly lemurs, tamarins, night (owl) monkeys, titi monkeys and squirrel monkeys also no longer require a licence under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act but are still covered by Cites, the international conservation legislation which regulates the trade in threatened species. And there are some new additions to the list of animals for which animal owners do need a licence, including the dingo.
A total of 33 new species can now be owned without a licence after a review of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act deemed them not to be a risk to the public.
They include a number of wild cats, North American and crested porcupines, hyraxes, sand snakes, mangrove snakes and the Brazilian wolf spider.Woolly lemurs, tamarins, night (owl) monkeys, titi monkeys and squirrel monkeys also no longer require a licence under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act but are still covered by Cites, the international conservation legislation which regulates the trade in threatened species. And there are some new additions to the list of animals for which animal owners do need a licence, including the dingo.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
B’day weekend.
This is the big weekend of Birthdays, kicking off, of course with Sandra Kristin who reached the big 9. Only one more and she´ll be into double figures. Her Dad on the other hand is aiming for a steady half century in a few few years. Sandra had her school friends round at Hringbraut for party and face painting. Beks and Dad did all the faces up as exotic mammals and it was big fun. Then we went of to Rafstöð to continue the fun with cozy evening card games. Early in the morning, Sandra got a second helping of pressies from all over the world.Then, it being Sunday, it was over to Dad, who went back to bed for a quick kipp, to be woken a short while later with the smell off coffee and the sound of singing. :) Dad was treated to breakfast in bed plus pressies. More breakfast was waiting downstairs and also cake. We had visitors on the afternoon and then we went to the movies, (sandra´s pick) and for there on to “Ruby Tuesdays” where Rebekka joined us for Dinner. A totally brilliant weekend !!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
