Diary of a Superannuated Soul - w/e 22nd September 2001
John Copeland
Beyond the hyperbole of the hacks, it is interesting to observe that
the more serious commentators are now pointing to Israel as being
largely responsible for prompting the terrorist attack on New York
last week. The view being put forward, possibly as a somewhat
regrettable expression of the anti-Semitism that is never far below
the surface in England, is that it is the irresponsible action of the
Israeli Government, particularly under the terrible Sharon and backed
up by America military aid, that has resulted in the anger of the
Arabs. Even on the evening after the terrorist attacks last week,
Israeli tanks were making their familiar incursions into Arab lands.
Whatever action the Americans take in a very understandable
retaliation that will no doubt see the capture of Asamos bin Laden,
there will still be the problem of the troubles in the Middle East,
and somewhere along the line, presumably after a decent interval so as
not to give the impression of appeasing the Arabs, President Bush
will have to rein in Israel. A start might be made in withdrawing all
foreign aid so that there is less money for yet more armaments. I
have always believed that it was a bleak, dark day for the Middle East
when the British Mandate ended and the state of Israel was set up on
the 14th May 1948, and all history has proved it so to be.
With Mrs. Copeland I journeyed down in her Ford Fiesta to Essex, where
we will be spending until Monday morning with mother-in-law. We
stopped for a pint of Abbot ale at The King William IV, always in
excellent condition at this old beamed pub. We sat outside, though
the weather was chilly and there was an endless stream of cars along
the road which has all manner of quite dangerous "traffic calming"
measures. Just around the corner several youngsters under the
supervision of some adults were clearing the weeds out of a fairly
large ponds, even four and five-year-olds enthusiastically taking part
in the clearing-up operation.
Mother-in-law seemed well and in good spirits. Mrs. Copeland went off
with her to the family grave after lunch, but I stayed behind,
finishing "River Town - Two Years on the Yangtze". I thoroughly
enjoyed this well written book in which the young author spent two
years training trainee teachers in the Chinese town of Fuling. He
clearly enjoyed the experience, though he found the Communist
propaganda sickening: "I could almost bear the falseness and the lies,
but I could not forgive its complete absence of humour. China was a
grim place once you took the laughter away". I have now started
reading the Alanbrooke War Diaries, 1939-45, which promise to be
interesting.
We went out to supper at "The Square & Compass" at Fairstead in Essex
in the evening. This once charming, small country pub, where the
yokels used to drink their pints of bitter, has now been enlarged to
become a fairly expensive restaurant, but as far as I am concerned it
has lost much of its former character. I can see, though, that Essex
Man will think of the increased dining facilities as a great
improvement, but it is not for me. Nevertheless, it has to be
admitted that the publican - a very energetic woman of a certain age -
was very attentive and clearly manages the place extremely well. She
told us that she had never eaten meat or fish since her fierce nanny
made her eat such unacceptable food when she was a child. With
drinks, the bill for the three of us came to £53, which is far more
than we usually pay.
SUNDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
Household chores at mother-in-law's during the morning, including
window cleaning. Later on I went round to the local shop to purchase a
newspaper, deciding to buy "The Observer" as we will have "The Sunday
Times" waiting for us on our return home tomorrow. Over the years I
have never much cared for "The Observer", disliking its sneery
left-wing views and its support for feminism, many of the
correspondents seeming to be blatant lesbians. Today I found it to be
just as bad as ever, with a long article written by some woman
proclaiming the continuing need for feminism. Dreadful stuff. The
paper is not a patch on the Sunday Times, though I suppose if you are
a teacher or social worker you might like it, and the newspaper
clearly appeals to women.
Following a siesta after lunch, we went to have afternoon tea at the
splendid house and extensive garden of brother-in-law Andrew and his
wife Pat, being joined by Mrs. Copeland's
sister and her 12-year-old daughter. Andrew has recently had a
conservatory built onto his house, and it really is a most impressive
and substantial edifice, one of the finest conservatories I have ever
seen, making me very envious. The irony, though, it that the family,
which includes an 11-year-old son, now spends all its time n the
conservatory, seldom using the sitting or dining rooms unless
entertaining.
I took some photographs of Andrew's splendid array of roses.
Although most of them were past their best, almost qualifying for "the
last rose of summer", there were one or two fine survivors, including
one appropriately called "Peace". I thought that this rose might be a
suitable photograph for this week's diary.
Back at mother-in-law's about 8 p.m., we listened to "Sunday Half
Hour" and "Your Hundred Best Tunes". I read the Alanbrooke diaries,
finding it quite incredible that there was such unbelievable
incompetence in our army. Even though the British Expeditionary Force
(BEF, and nicknamed "back every Friday") had several months in France
to resist the German invasion of Belgium, our army proved to be
totally inadequate to the task, the Germans advancing and forcing our
armies to retreat, going through them, as General Paton would have
said, "like shit through a goose".
What is also so surprising, as Alanbrooke admits, is that there was
virtually no co-operation between the army, Air Force, and the Royal
Navy. Indeed, the impression that is given elsewhere is that the
services disliked one another more than they loathed the Germans. I
found it quite remarkable that Alanbrooke, who was based in England,
responsible for the defence of England after his humiliating retreat
via Dunkirk, makes absolutely no mention of the Battle of Britain, not
once mentioning the RAF in his diaries for July, August and September
of 1940 when the Battle was being fought.
What also comes out is that the Generals would always have their
slap-up dinners whatever happened, and that warfare was, in the early
days of the 1939-45 war, seen as a very gentlemanly, unhurried game.
Even at the height of the days when an invasion of England was feared,
Alanbrooke went home for a week's holiday. Although I have so far
read only 125 pages, I have already gained the impression that our
class-bound army officers would never have won the war without the
Americans.
MONDAY 17 SEPTEMBER
We departed on the home run to Lincolnshire at 10.30 a.m. A most
worrying drive home, for this morning younger daughter Kate was having
an operation to straighten out the big toe on one of her feet, the toe
having curved inwards and causing her a great deal of pain. The
operation, which was undertaken at the specialist foot department at
Grantham Hospital, involves breaking the bone in the toe in three
places and putting in a pin under a local anaesthetic, which was
obviously going to be a most unpleasant experience, but Kate bravely
decided to go ahead, returning home about 3 p.m. In the event, the
operation itself was not as bad as she had expected, and she did not
feel anything, but although she had been given a painkilling injection
and some mild painkillers to take home, the pain was very severe in
the evening, poor lass.
Kate will now be off work for about two months whilst the toe heals,
which is a long time, made worse by the strict instruction that she
has to have complete rest for the next fortnight. At least, though,
she now had the operation behind her, and will, we hope, soon be on
the mend. Years ago I would have said a prayer for her, but I no
longer believe in prayers as I find it increasingly difficult to
believe in the concept of a caring God, even though I still believe
in a Creator.
I cannot believe, for instance, that a God with any concern for
humanity would ever have allowed the terrible loss of life in New York
last week. Those who have religion will no doubt tell me that this
was all Man's doing, God not being at fault, but what point, then, is
there in prayer if Man is responsible for his own destiny? The
religious folk will argue, of course, that we pray to God to make us
better, but it would seem that the history of the world, even after
two terrible World Wars, shows that there has been little improvement
as a result of this supplication.
It is my view that the service in St. Paul's last week and the church
services elsewhere have very little spiritual value. Instead, it
would seem that these assemblies are important in bringing people
together, taking comfort in the glorious singing. Alanbrooke makes a
similar point about religion when attending a service in Lille
Cathedral on the 24th March, 1940: "There was little in the whole
ceremony to put one in harmony with God except the lovely music".
At home in the evening, catching up on the newspapers and reading some
more of the Alanbrooke Diaries. I was interested to see the leading
letter in today's "Times" making the point that we should look to
Israel to understand the Arab hatred for America. The correspondent
wrote: "It is astonishing that so many people understand the
cause-and-effect equation between the Holocaust and the creation of
Israel, yet cannot grasp that Israel's open licence for atrocious
behaviour in the West Bank and Gaza is the cause of the hatred in the
Middle East against it and its protecting power, the United States".
The correspondent continued: "Had the rule of international law been
applied to and by Israel, I doubt if the poor innocent people in New
York and Washington would have paid the price they have done. Seeing
cause and effect with clarity, and doing something serious about the
cause, would be a far wiser course today for Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair
than talking about 'acts of war' and 'wickedness'". My sentiments
precisely, and I just wish that I had put them in such excellent and
concise terms.
Defying the laws of reality, the London stock market went up by an
incredible 143 points, but Wall Street, even with today's 0.5 per
cent cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve to stimulate the
markets, fell by a massive 684 points. The Wall Street fall was
proclaimed as the biggest in the history of the market, but this is a
totally false analysis. Expressed in percentage terms, the fall today
was nowhere near as big as the falls back in 1929, but it is
interesting to see how young hacks just out of short trousers and
gymslips can distort figures to make alarming headlines.
On the wireless programme "The World Tonight", one broker was saying
that the Wall Street fall was insignificant, and only to be expected,
and that the market would quickly rally. We shall see.
TUESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER
Daughter Kate was in such terrible pain yesterday evening after the
operation on her toe that she went to the Accident & Emergency
Department of the County Hospital at 11 o'clock, having to wait over
three hours before she was eventually seen. She was given an
injection of morphine, and the doctor attending her expressed surprise
that she had had the operation under a local anaesthetic, being sent
home with only a couple of mild painkillers. If the pain continues,
Kate can go back for another injection of morphine.
It amused me that "The Times" economics correspondent, Anatole
Kaletsky, who serves as a latterday Dr. Pangloss, had, as might be
anticipated, an article today saying that the G7 could sort out all
the economic problems in the world if only they try very hard. Our
Anatole is a great guy. Whatever happens, however grim the disaster
and whatever the evidence suggesting that things are going to get
steadily worse, Mr. Kaletsky remains convinced as ever that things
will soon pick up, and I do not believe that he is just being
deliberately perverse.
Even so, I would have thought that it is a trifle optimistic,
certainly flying in the face of all historical precedents, to suggest
that you can buck the market when it is so very obviously going down
into recession. What is so worrying today is the political
uncertainty, with nobody yet knowing what is going to happen, and it
is this unforeseeable set of circumstances that the markets loathe so
much, even greed being unable to overcome fear and worries about the
future.
However, despite all this rhetoric, it begins to look as if the
initial Chicken Licken pronouncements that the skies were falling and
that the world would never be the same again were somewhat
exaggerated, even if the media is determined to play the scenes of the
carnage over and over again, every news bulletin being extended with
special reports. So far it seems that President Bush is handling the
crisis well, making gung-ho threats to please the press, yet working
behind the scenes with other countries to formulate an alliance to
attack terrorism on a long-term basis. Basically he has to steer a
middle and difficult course between the hotheads who are demanding
nuclear attacks, and the bible-punchers who recommend turning the
other cheek, possibly forgetting that they owe their own freedom to
countless men and women who lost their lives in earlier wars in the
defence of democracy.
An e-mail I received from an English reader of the diary this morning
suggested that it should not be forgotten that many Americans were
financing IRA terrorists in Ireland, and that it was humbug for them
now, after being hit directly themselves, to argue that they had
declared war on terrorists wherever they might be. Perhaps, though,
this financing of the IRA and the cruel and heartless Government in
Israel will now stop.
Inflation last month rose to 2.6 per cent, which is above the
Government's target of 2.5 per cent, indicating that the statisticians
are no longer able to manipulate the rapidly rising inflation
figures. Repeatedly in this journal I have emphasised that inflation
was rising substantially in this country, and now this is being
officially endorsed, further proof that you read it here first. To
put interest rates down again, when all the evidence suggests that
inflation is rising sharply, is extreme folly, but the Bank of
England nevertheless reduced rates by 0.25 per cent yet again today -
an action which had no immediate impact whatsoever on the market, the
FTSE being down 50 points at the close of trading.
September is the month whose inflation level is used to calculate the
upgrading of welfare benefits and pensions, and we can be sure, as
happens every year, that there will be a substantial fall in
inflation, possibly seeing it going down to 2 per cent. The excuse
will be that the lowering of interest rates has led to lower
mortgages, and in all probability there will have been a dramatic fall
in the price of cabbages. It is all so dishonest, but over the years
we have come to accept the chicanery, all governments being guilty of
the manipulation. As my old granny used to say as part of her
homespun philosophy, much of which had a somewhat lugubrious content:
"What can't be cured has to be endured". I must remember that when
inflation drops substantially this month.
It seems quite extraordinary that there is so much faith in the
efficacy of interest rate manipulation, especially when Japan, now
with zero interest rates, is still very much in the economic doldrums,
with the Nikkei index now as low as 9679. Lowering interest rates to
prevent a recession is like taking aspirin tablets to cure cancer.
No businessman, however low interest rates may be, is going to invest
any additional sums of money when faced with the political and
economic uncertainties that now surround the world.
One indication of the unbalanced nature of the UK economy came today
in the announcement that Tesco, the supermarket chain, was to create
20,000 new jobs, all of them no doubt poorly paid, part-time, and
principally for women, whereas jobs in manufacturing industry continue
to decline. Supermarkets, Banks and pubs now seem to be the mainstay
of the UK economy, all of which are extremely vulnerable to any
economic downturn around the world. It really is quite frightening.
Wall Street, which opened up 4.42 points, recovered somewhat today,
ending the session only 17 points down. Considerable concern is
meanwhile being expressed that there seems to have been a bit of
jiggery-pokery in the substantial short selling of shares in insurance
and airlines in the days immediately before the terrorist attack on
New York. Short shelling involves borrowing shares, selling them to a
third party, then buying them back when the price falls, often giving
a substantial profit. Nasty stuff.
To see daughter Kate at 11 a.m. Following the morphine injection at
the county hospital last night she was not in quite so much pain,
which was a great relief. She seemed cheerful enough, albeit
somewhat tired and drowsy, having had several people to see her.
Unfortunately she faces several weeks of having to rest her foot, not
being allowed to put any weight on the toe that was operated on, and
this is no doubt going to try her patience, especially as she is a
great one for being out and about.
Between showers I put the door back on the woodshed, having fixed a
batten to the concrete surround. It has taken me three weeks to get
round to this assignment. I now have to paint the door, which will no
doubt not be done this month, especially on account of all the rain we
are having - day after day of heavy showers. The leaves are now
beginning to fall, and all too soon a start will have to be made on
clearing them up. However, I think I shall employ the services of a
gardener to clear them away this year, for I find the effort of
leaf-sweeping far too much for me at my advanced age. It is a task
that ancient Britons should not have to do.
Later in the morning I did some housework whilst Mrs. Copeland was at
work. It seems a strange state of affairs in a topsy-turvy world: my
wife out working whilst I am at home doing the hoovering. But with
the emphasis on service industries, offering employment principally
for women, this is the way the social structure and the economy in Lax
Britannica is now moving. In many ways it is not unlike the
conditions I saw in Egypt, where women toiled happily in the fields
whilst the men sat under the shade of trees playing cards, obviously
doing management.
I sat by the fire during the evening, reading some more of the
Alanbrooke Diaries, which are a little tedious so far as many of the
entries are concerned. We are told of the meetings he attended and
the people he lunched and dined with. It amused me to read that the
First Sea Lord, Sir Dudley Pound, fell asleep during many of the
meetings, but when it came to waltzing with Churchill during the
late-night drinking sessions at Chequers or the Admiralty, he had few
equals.
More of the Shadow Cabinet posts were announced by Mr. Smith today,
all of them, as expected, going to confirmed Eurosceptics, including
Bill Cash who was so disloyal to John Major during his premiership.
The frontbench is riddled with hatred and bigotry, presenting a most
unpleasant sight. Indeed, put them in black uniforms, and it is not
too difficult to imagine them goose-stepping along Whitehall, shouting
abusive slogans at the European Union. It is all very well saying
that they will never be elected in a hundred years with such an
outdated and callous creed, but as my old granny always used to said:
"Never say never".
WEDNESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER
There was the good news reported in the press this morning that
President Bush has forced Israel to withdraw from Palestinian areas in
the West Bank, the President obviously being wisely aware that this is
where all the trouble stems from. Prime Minister Sharon, clearly
recognising which side his bread is buttered on and from whence it
cometh, has obeyed, albeit very reluctantly and with all manner of
idle threats.
Appropriately, Richard Beeston, "The Times" Diplomatic Editor, makes
the point this morning that "America's closest ally in the Middle East
may be more of a liability than an asset". Apparently there is also
the very real possibility that America will sit on Sharon throughout
the coming campaign against terrorism, which is an essential part of
any policy towards the Middle East. President Bush is to be praised
for this action, knowing that he may upset the Jewish vote in America.
My opinion of the President, which was not all that high before the
terrorist attacks on New York, has accordingly gone up considerably.
Meanwhile, there have been hateful scenes of anger directed at Muslims
around the Western world. One American poster, displaying literary
standards that match the bigotry, had the wording "Avenge USA - killa
Muslim now!" Here in the UK there have been similar threats against
Muslims in many northern towns and cities, indicating that the we also
have horrible fanatics in this country. most of whom show no
understanding of the problems in the Middle East. We condemn the
Germans for their brutal treatment of Jews and other groups between
the wars, but it would be extremely easy to see similar thuggery
develop in this country given the right encouragement.
The e-mail I received today had some interesting sayings, making me so
truly thankful that I am not in the modern workplace anymore:-
You know you're living in the 21st century when:-
- You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
- You e-mail your friend, who works at the desk next to you.
- Your reason for not staying in touch with friends is that they do
not have e-mail.
- When you go home after a long day at work you still answer the
phone in a business manner.
- You've sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three
different companies.
- Your company's welcome sign is attached with Velcro.
- You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o'clock news.
- Your supervisor doesn't have the ability to do your job.
- Contractors outnumber permanent staff and are more likely to get
long-service awards.
- Board members salaries are higher than all the Third World
countries' annual budgets combined.
- Interviewees, despite not having the relevant knowledge or
experience, terminate the interview when told of the
starting salary.
- There's no money in the budget for the five permanent staff your
department desperately needs, but they can afford four
full-time management consultants advising your boss's boss on
strategy.
- Your relatives and family describe your job as "works with
computers".
- You read this entire list, and kept nodding and smiling.
- As you read this list, you think about forwarding it to your
"friends".
- It crosses your mind that your jokes group may have seen this list
already, but you don't have time to check so you forward it
anyway.
- You got this e-mail from a friend that never talks to you anymore,
except to send you jokes from the Net.
- This e-mail has 20 different disclaimer notes at the bottom,
telling you that the information is confidential, but you
forward it anyway.
Yet more rain today, making it impossible for me to continue with the
external painting of the house, still only half completed. We now
face the grim prospect of six months of winter, of rain and wind and
hardly any sunshine. It is the dampness and the darkness that I find
so depressing, yet I suppose I have to remember that I did not like
the few really hot days we had back in the summer. As Mrs. Copeland
says, there is no pleasing me so far as the weather is concerned.
One of the readers of this diary suggested in an e-mail today that I
should take a more positive attitude towards Autumn:- "I was thinking
about your attitude to Autumn for you see it a 'decline and decay'.
To use an "in" word - you could "reframe" that attitude, seeing it as
a time for rest, for hibernation, for reflection, for drawing in on
oneself. For new life always follows. Just think - no gardening, no
outside painting, an excuse to sit by the fire and read with a little
something warming at ones side".
In many ways I can appreciate these sentiments, for there is no doubt
that it is my delight on an evening to sit reading by a blazing log
fire as the wind howls and the rain beats against the windows. But
nowadays we seem to go straight into winter after a wet and cloudy
summer, seldom seeing the sun again until about April. We do not even
have the sharp frosts that can make the landscape look so wonderful.
Today's continuous rain and high wind brought down hundreds of leaves
in the garden, making the place look a real mess. All too soon the
trees will be bare, reminding us of the sad thoughts expressed in one
of Shakespeare's sonnets:
"That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the
cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds
sang".
I called in to see daughter Kate at 11 o'clock. Fortunately she is
very much better, having had a better night and not being in so much
pain, which was good and relieving news, giving the hope that the
worst is over for her. Even so, she is going to be out of action for
a very long time, having to have complete rest for several weeks. At
the moment she is in reasonable spirits, but I fear that boredom will
soon set in. You have to be old and senile like me to be able to rest
properly, relaxing in the deadening stupor of the Third Age.
Whilst at Kate's I scanned through "The Daily Mail" which she takes.
Inside there was an advertisement from the Department of Social
Security saying that welfare cheats should watch their back, for they
were being targeted. I wonder whether there are any proposals for the
Inland Revenue to place similar advertisements for income tax cheats?
Had the chimney swept today, which cost £15. There was an incredible
amount of soot, due largely to the extensive use of logs. We have the
chimney swept twice a year: once in the Autumn and again at the end of
February. The chimney has been smoking recently, so I hope that this
latest sweeping will have cured the problem.
I took some items down to the Lincoln City Council refuse disposal tip
in the afternoon, arriving there just on 4.30 p.m., only to find it
closed. It seems incredible that such a poor service is provided, but
then this is what we nowadays expect with local authorities. Although
I am generally opposed to privatisation, there are many local services
that could well be taken away from the various councils. As it is, we
now pay more and more in council taxes every year, usually in the
order of 7 per cent annual increases, but each year the services get
steadily worse. When you see some of our bird-brained councillors
this is not surprising.
Sat by the fire in the evening, reading some more of the Alanbrooke
Diaries. It rained virtually all day. Terrible weather, but gone are
the days when we had an "Indian Summer" during September.
I was disappointed to hear on the wireless news programme "The World
Tonight" that Beryl Bainbridge was not on this year's Booker Prize
shortlist. The selection for the shortlist often gives the
impression, rightly or wrongly, that it is made on the basis of
vendetta and spite; of being a matter of who is in favour and who is
out, rather than any regard for literary merit.
There was also the disappointing news that David Dimbleby had not been
appointed as the new Chairman of the BBC; instead, the post had gone
to a card-carrying Labour luvvie, not that this was in the least bit
surprising. No doubt Mr. Dimbleby, with his high standards, decency
and decorum, would have been far too elitist for the downmarketed
Banal Broadcasting Corporation.
The London stock market had another bad day, with the index falling by
127 points. Wall Street, which was down 430 points in early trading,
rallied somewhat to fall by only 144. I was rather surprised to hear
Anatole Kaletsky saying on "The World Tonight" that there will be a
"short sharp recession". This is not his usual optimism, but I
suppose he will say that the emphasis is on "short".
THURSDAY 20 SEPTEMBER
One of the great pleasures I have in my retirement is reading "The
Times" in bed each morning for about an hour before getting up about
8.30 a.m. There is no doubt that getting up late, having a relaxing
breakfast about 9 o'clock, is a true delight, and as my of my retired
colleagues has put it: "It's so wonderful being able to have a rest
after breakfast!"
On the other hand, there are occasions when reading "The Times" causes
me to become extremely bad tempered, making me want to bang my head
repeatedly against the bedboard in anger and frustration, especially
when I read the awful Section 2 which is dominated by women writers.
In today's issue the film critic, Barbara Ellen, is pouring her
traditional vituperative scorn on the latest films, today's victim
being Speilberg's latest offering called "A.1", with the comment that
"you leave the cinema feeling you've been sold, if not a puppy, then a
Furby". Farther on our Barbie tells us that the film "melts into a
glutinous sub-Disney jelly", whatever that is.
Whenever I read Miss Ellen and her ilk all my political incorrectness
in disliking women writers for their silly sentimentality,
spitefulness and subjectiveness comes to the surface, and I become
ever more convinced that men should not read these emotional
outpourings. This feeling was further enhanced when I read a piece in
the Section 2 on the post-traumatic stress of last week's terrorist
attack, written by Carol Midgley, who told us: "If the medical
definition of depression is a mood of sustained sadness, hopelessness,
despondency and fear, then the people of Britain are suffering
collective depression."
Ms Midgley continues: "The condition is manifesting itself in a
sudden compulsion to make intensive phone calls to like-minded
friends; in an ability to watch the same footage 40 times with
undiminished fascination; in the spectacle of once-lively pubs reduced
to knots of people asking each other 'Do you think there'll be a
war?'; in thousands of half-empty gyms where TV monitors, normally
blaring out MTV are quietly switched on to Sky News and News 24. Who
can be enthused about toning their arms when they might be under
threat from anthrax?"
As might be expected, "consultant psychiatrists" come trotting into
the article, ridiculously spelling out the terrible problems of
"post-traumatic disorder". Their sickening comments are so awful
and trite, showing us how horrible it is to have these charlatans,
hacks and psychologists alike draining every last possible drop of
emotion out of the recent disaster. Most people I have spoken to
during the past few days, whilst having every sympathy for the victims
of the terrible disaster, have commented more on being sick and tired
of the wallowing media coverage rather than experiencing any
collective depression of post-traumatic disorder.
If ever I become Prime Minister - and I may have left it a bit late to
take on this post - I shall immediately ban psychiatrists and
psychologists. I worked with these charlatans when I was Divisional
Education Officer for Lincoln, and I have never forgotten their crazy
recommendations. One of them, for example, suggested that the
authority, in dealing with a thoroughly nasty and badly behaved
15-year-old lout, should build an additional room onto the house in
which he lived on a rundown council estate in order to give him
"space". I still have that report. Crazy people, though they are not
so daft in realising that they are onto a Good Thing is today's
traumatic times.
In former times you would call round to see the vicar for a chat if
you were feeling a bit under the weather, or the wife was being a
difficult, or you were not sure which way the world was going. Now,
with the Church of England being on the verge of extinction, you make
an appointment to see a consultant psychologist who prescribes a pill
for post-trauamatic disorder - "that will be £50, thank you".
There is no doubt that I must stop reading Section 2 of "The Times",
recognising that it is for much young readers, principally women. It
is only right and proper that they should have their own section of
the newspaper, and I should rejoice that most of the main section is
written by men who are old enough to be their fathers.
In the main section I was in full agreement with a letter in which the
correspondent said that he had resigned from the Conservative Party
after 50 years of active membership following the election of the
right-wing extremist Duncan Smith: ".....The party to which I gave my
allegiance and enthusiasm was the party of R.A.Butler and Ian Macleod,
which offered a vision of a caring society, in which all could
partake. That party is now dead and buried. Every appointment made
by Ian Duncan Smith illustrates the lurch to the right of this party
which I loved. There can be no place for me and those who think like
me in such a party".
These are precisely my sentiments, for as I mentioned last week I do
not want to be in a party that will scream xenophobic abuse to our
friends across the Channel; who will slash expenditure on our public
services for tax cuts for the already over-rich; and who will hound
homosexuals, single mothers, and asylum seekers. Hateful stuff, and
horrible people.
Daughter Kate seems to be recovering well from her recent operation,
which is a great relief, for I have been very worried about her,
nearly suffering from "post-traumatic stress disorder". She spent
much of the morning sleeping after a rather restless night, so I did
not go round to see her until lunchtime. Instead, I went down to
the City Council tip, finding that they were open this time, which was
a relief.
Back home I resumed work on the external painting of the house,
rubbing down and preparing the kitchen window. Once this has been
painted I will have finished the rear of the house, which is by far
the most difficult section to paint. If the weather remains dry,
there is even a chance that I shall complete the whole exterior of the
house by the end of this month, some three months behind schedule.
Whilst I was working outside, the aerial acrobatic team known as "The
Red Arrows" was screaming over my house at an unbelievably low
altitude. Although I dislike this team at the best of times for their
frivolous and unnecessarily dangerous low-level flying and the
clowning around in the overhead skies, I find it unacceptable that
they are continuing to play around when many servicemen around the
world, including those from this country, face the prospect of going
to war in President Bush's proposed campaign against the terrorists.
No doubt it will be argued that the team's grounding would not help
the war effort, but I feel such expensive frivolity cannot be
justified at such a difficult time.
Work had to be suspended when I went to visit Widow Nell after lunch.
She was suggesting that Osama bin Laden should be brought over to this
country "where there are already plenty of terrorists". In Nell's
view, Mr. Blair was in his element prancing around the world, greatly
enjoying the role of a world statesmen, yet in his own campaign
against terrorists in Northern Ireland he freed all the IRA murderers
from prison.
As I was travelling on the scooter to Nell's I went past a speed
camera in a 30 mph limit at a speed just under 40 mph - it could have
been between 36 and 38 mph. I gather the speed camera is one of the
new ones in which a photograph is taken of the front of the vehicle,
but as there are no number-plates at the front of scooters and
motor-bikes, I am wondering how they can be detected. I gather that
notice of intended prosecution has to be delivered to me within 14
days. It will greatly upset me if I am fined, for I have never had so
much as a parking ticket in all my many years on the road, always
having been a most law-abiding citizen.
At home by the fireside in the evening, reading some more of the
Alanbrooke diaries.
Heavy falls on Wall Street and in London again today, the FTSE seeing
a fall of 164 points, while Wall Street ended down 382. Alas, it
seems that the markets have much farther to fall . There was the grim
news that British Airways, which overcharges grossly on European
flights, is to axe 5,200 jobs, following in the wake of massive
redundancies in the American airlines. What I find so surprising is
that there are now widespread calls for our Government to give
financial aid to the airlines over here.
Ironically, though perhaps not surprisingly, such calls are being made
by people who believe that the State should interfere as little as
possible with private enterprise - until, that is, they cock things up
and need financial help for all the wrong decisions that they have
made. Even before the troubles of last week, most of the airlines
were in trouble, suffering from over-capacity, but all this is
forgotten in the present cries for help. It seems yet again that the
long-suffering British taxpayer has to make up the losses of poor
management.
FRIDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
Nearly every time I switch on the television set to look at the
financial reports, having to go through the television programme
before switching to Ceefax, I see that there is a drama being shown
in which some young woman is shrieking, shouting or sobbing, being
consoled by a despairing male who is trying to wipe away the tears.
That women should be depicted in this hysterical mode seems quite
amazing in these days of political correctness, especially as we are
told that women should be treated equally, especially in the
workplace.
I find it quite incredible that the United Nations has said and done
absolutely nothing about the present terrorist crisis, reminding us
all of what a useless organisation it is. Here in England, neither is
a word being said by the Conservatives, almost as if they have
disappeared off the face of the Earth, not that many people will
regret this disappearance.
With the sun shining and the temperature relatively warm, I
recommenced the external house painting after going in to town to
purchase some more paint and other materials. Unfortunately, a
section of the kitchen window that I am now painting has rotted away,
so painting was held up by having to repair this section. Mercifully
there was no sight or sound of "The Red Arrows", so I was able to
work in peace and tranquillity, hearing only the occasional bird give
the odd chirp.
Work continued on the painting after a lengthy lunch, and by teatime I
had managed to finish the window, so that I have now completed the
rear of the house. Tomorrow I must start on the front of the house,
and after that some re-pointing has to be done on the chimneybreast
within the roof void, the mortar having broken away and presenting a
fire hazard. I cannot say that I am looking forward to this job, but
it is impossible to get a jobbing builder to do such a small job these
days.
Further large falls in the FTSE and on Wall Street again today.
Things are looking decidedly grim, with thousands of job losses being
announced in the UK during the day. It really begins to look as if
the recession has come at last, and that things are going to tumble,
especially the housing market. It will be interesting to read what
Anatole Kaletsky has to say in his column in "The Times" next week.
Although a comparatively small matter, I have the problem that my
computer is on its last legs, really playing silly buggers by locking
up whenever I use it, the trouble having become so bad that I will
obviously have to replace the machine soon - yet this is not the time
to be buying a new computer, for prices will go down sharply during
the next few months. The trouble could not have come at a worst time.
It makes me thankful, though, that I did not spend money upgrading the
machine, for that would have been throwing money away, rather like
putting a new engine in a car with a clapped out body.