This is a very happy day, one on which the sun seems to shine brighter, and the world glows with a special warmth. Of course, to those of you who know me well, the reason will be obvious. My team, Manchester United, the best football team on the planet, has won the Premier League in England. It was a glorious season, made all the better for our having won out over three of the best teams in Europe, all of whom play in the same English League. Well done to Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool for staying so close, and making such a fight of it.
The club has played exceptionally over the season, scoring more goals and letting in fewer than any other team. They won the league by going out for each game with total self belief, knowing that they would score. They were exciting, entrancing and better than all the rest. Not easy in the best league in the world. The same league that supplied four (each country in Europe is entitled to a maximum of its four highest placed teams into the European Champions League) of the quarter finalists and three of the semi finalists of the Champions League.
Now, with an allowable party period of a day or two to get over, the mighty Manchester United will fix their eyes on trying to win the European Champions League Final in Moscow against Chelsea in a little more than a week. It will be a tough game, but it seems appropriate that Man U are in the final fifty years after the Munich air crash decimated the club. That team will be watching over the progress of their successors, and they will be smiling.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
This, Our Fascist Future?
The Fascists in pre-War Italy and Germany took away liberties whilst re-directing the attention of their populations. It was the same kind of cheap trick that a magician might use, the trick of sleight of hand, misdirection. In the UK and the USA this is again becoming fashionable, indeed politically correct in the UK.
On British television the Government’s department, DVLA, the motor vehicle licensing authority are running an advertisement that graphically shows a couple’s car being crushed because they had not paid their annual car tax. I can understand a fine, even a very large fine, but why crush their car? This is beyond an acceptable charge allowing people to use their cars, this is Draconian.
In the States the actor, Wesley Snipes, didn’t pay his tax. The Internal Revenue Service prosecuted him for this. He is undoubtedly wrong, and surely he’s a fool. Snipes offered to pay the court all the money that was due, and he offered fines and penalties. His offer to pay was accepted and, in addition he has been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. Why, what does this achieve except to demonstrate to the rest of us what could happen to us all in other words they are making an example of the very stupid Mr. Snipes. Making examples of idiots is not the intention or design of the law.
The British Foreign Minister, David Miliband, was on The Politics Show this morning and stated, with a straight face, that “There is less chance of your being affected by crime now that at any time since 1981.” What planet is David on? If the government has statistics to back this claim, then they are fixing the statistics to suit their argument. The first casualty of our diminishing democracy is clearly the truth.
We are witnessing the politics of envy writ large. In the UK there are a new range of car tax charges that escalate with the size of the car’s engine. This is meant to encourage us all toward the use of smaller engine capacity vehicles, which have a lower carbon emission. Added to this we will soon see a similar system of Congestion Charging for cars entering London. For myself, with two cars to pay for, I have no hesitation in stating that I shall have to downsize my cars, not because I want to, but because I am being compelled to do so through these stealth taxes.
There is yet another Government advertising campaign on British television in which the average citizen’s lifestyle is demonstrated as leaving a literal carbon footprint, as each footfall leaves a trail of oil on the floor. The message is that we should all use less energy. This would be laudable if there was evidence attached, telling us in real, forensic terms, the benefits and costs of such a policy. Right now the entire hypothesis is founded on the unproven theory that global warming is man made. Following that argument we should all be compelled to reduce our use of fossil fuels and therefore we could put into reverse global warming. I repeat there is no undeniable proof, just a politically correct argument.
The way we live our lives should be our choice in a democracy. If we want to live a certain way, perhaps eating more vegetables and fruit or being more “green” then that is our right. It should not be allowable for our governments to make such behavior compulsory. That is the clear trend in the UK and it is wrong. We are on a slippery slope of decreasing liberty and increasing compulsion. It is time for everyone to wake up and tell the politicians to back off.
It used to be that what happened first in America was soon followed by us in Britain, and now it feels as if that has reversed itself. So watch out in the States, this "Big Brother" society is something we all need to be aware of and to combat, before it grows too big to resist.
On British television the Government’s department, DVLA, the motor vehicle licensing authority are running an advertisement that graphically shows a couple’s car being crushed because they had not paid their annual car tax. I can understand a fine, even a very large fine, but why crush their car? This is beyond an acceptable charge allowing people to use their cars, this is Draconian.
In the States the actor, Wesley Snipes, didn’t pay his tax. The Internal Revenue Service prosecuted him for this. He is undoubtedly wrong, and surely he’s a fool. Snipes offered to pay the court all the money that was due, and he offered fines and penalties. His offer to pay was accepted and, in addition he has been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. Why, what does this achieve except to demonstrate to the rest of us what could happen to us all in other words they are making an example of the very stupid Mr. Snipes. Making examples of idiots is not the intention or design of the law.
The British Foreign Minister, David Miliband, was on The Politics Show this morning and stated, with a straight face, that “There is less chance of your being affected by crime now that at any time since 1981.” What planet is David on? If the government has statistics to back this claim, then they are fixing the statistics to suit their argument. The first casualty of our diminishing democracy is clearly the truth.
We are witnessing the politics of envy writ large. In the UK there are a new range of car tax charges that escalate with the size of the car’s engine. This is meant to encourage us all toward the use of smaller engine capacity vehicles, which have a lower carbon emission. Added to this we will soon see a similar system of Congestion Charging for cars entering London. For myself, with two cars to pay for, I have no hesitation in stating that I shall have to downsize my cars, not because I want to, but because I am being compelled to do so through these stealth taxes.
There is yet another Government advertising campaign on British television in which the average citizen’s lifestyle is demonstrated as leaving a literal carbon footprint, as each footfall leaves a trail of oil on the floor. The message is that we should all use less energy. This would be laudable if there was evidence attached, telling us in real, forensic terms, the benefits and costs of such a policy. Right now the entire hypothesis is founded on the unproven theory that global warming is man made. Following that argument we should all be compelled to reduce our use of fossil fuels and therefore we could put into reverse global warming. I repeat there is no undeniable proof, just a politically correct argument.
The way we live our lives should be our choice in a democracy. If we want to live a certain way, perhaps eating more vegetables and fruit or being more “green” then that is our right. It should not be allowable for our governments to make such behavior compulsory. That is the clear trend in the UK and it is wrong. We are on a slippery slope of decreasing liberty and increasing compulsion. It is time for everyone to wake up and tell the politicians to back off.
It used to be that what happened first in America was soon followed by us in Britain, and now it feels as if that has reversed itself. So watch out in the States, this "Big Brother" society is something we all need to be aware of and to combat, before it grows too big to resist.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
A Wonderful Day
Some days are made to remember for all the right reasons. Today was like that. The sun was shining and our daughter and her husband, Matt, and wonderful son, Archie, 3 and a half years old of blond, beautiful fun were to come over for lunch.
There is no big story here, nothing to shout about, no big message, just a small piece about love.
About mid-day the family arrived, carrying deli food which, if you like that kind of thing, seems to come direct from heaven, via a place called Yummies in Radlett. I don't have shares nor even know the current owners, but I still think they were sent for our pleasure.
I received two phone calls today, just before the family arrived, from my cousins. They had both heard from my sister about the very bad day I I had that I reported to you a couple of weeks back when I was on a cruise ship in Mexico. They both wanted me to know they cared. It gave me a very warm feeling that both my cousins, who know me so well, still do care, just like I was still a little boy in the warm embrace of the family.
My daughter and her family settled in, and we all sat outside in the lovely, warm sunshine. The last couple of days there had been a duck, who we'd named Mrs. Puddleduck, who had taken up residence in our garden. I hoped that she'd come to greet Archie, but she decided to be elsewhere. So we inflated the puddling pool and watched everyone have fun. Georgia, my daughter, is pregnant with her second child, due in July, and its wonderful to see her in bloom at the same time as the rest of the world.
I felt a desperate need for confectionary so I asked Archie and Matt if they wanted to accompany me. Archie was ready in an instant, and Matt soon thereafter. We walked to the sweet shop and Archie soon found the penny sweets, which now cost two pennies. He made his selections that he handed to the proprieter, a middle aged lady from the Indian sub-continent. When she had finished and handed Archie his bag of sweets, I paid for them. Archie then said, "Now Poppa can spend some of his money on himself." We laughed, as I did so, purchasing some stuff for the rest of the family.
After buying some quickly melting ice cream on the way back we soon walked back to consume our purchases and relax in each other's company. At the end of the day, with the warmth still in the air, the kids went home. Later there was a phone call from Georgia. She told me that, when Matt was putting Archie to bed, my grandson said, "Poppa's a very nice man isn't he." He could give me no bigger gift.
What a great day.
There is no big story here, nothing to shout about, no big message, just a small piece about love.
About mid-day the family arrived, carrying deli food which, if you like that kind of thing, seems to come direct from heaven, via a place called Yummies in Radlett. I don't have shares nor even know the current owners, but I still think they were sent for our pleasure.
I received two phone calls today, just before the family arrived, from my cousins. They had both heard from my sister about the very bad day I I had that I reported to you a couple of weeks back when I was on a cruise ship in Mexico. They both wanted me to know they cared. It gave me a very warm feeling that both my cousins, who know me so well, still do care, just like I was still a little boy in the warm embrace of the family.
My daughter and her family settled in, and we all sat outside in the lovely, warm sunshine. The last couple of days there had been a duck, who we'd named Mrs. Puddleduck, who had taken up residence in our garden. I hoped that she'd come to greet Archie, but she decided to be elsewhere. So we inflated the puddling pool and watched everyone have fun. Georgia, my daughter, is pregnant with her second child, due in July, and its wonderful to see her in bloom at the same time as the rest of the world.
I felt a desperate need for confectionary so I asked Archie and Matt if they wanted to accompany me. Archie was ready in an instant, and Matt soon thereafter. We walked to the sweet shop and Archie soon found the penny sweets, which now cost two pennies. He made his selections that he handed to the proprieter, a middle aged lady from the Indian sub-continent. When she had finished and handed Archie his bag of sweets, I paid for them. Archie then said, "Now Poppa can spend some of his money on himself." We laughed, as I did so, purchasing some stuff for the rest of the family.
After buying some quickly melting ice cream on the way back we soon walked back to consume our purchases and relax in each other's company. At the end of the day, with the warmth still in the air, the kids went home. Later there was a phone call from Georgia. She told me that, when Matt was putting Archie to bed, my grandson said, "Poppa's a very nice man isn't he." He could give me no bigger gift.
What a great day.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Is This What You Want?
What do we value more than life itself? Freedom. I write this with some certainty because many of our fathers and grand fathers died to preserve our freedoms from tyranny and oppression. Like many of you I think these freedoms, soaked in the blood of our forefathers, are being stripped from us in the UK, one by one.
This might appear alarmist, but it is, nevertheless, a common theme of many conversations in our country. The stripping away of freedom doesn’t happen with suddenness or crudity, it might not even be intentional, but the results are nevertheless deeply worrying and to be opposed. Read The Diary of Anne Frank, the story of the young Jewish girl growing up in war torn Holland during the Nazi occupation and you can witness a perfect example of how freedoms can be stripped away from the individual in almost acceptable, imperceptible increments. This happened in Holland where the Jews were forced to wear a star to set them apart, then not allowed to ride their bicycle, then not allowed onto the trams, then to own businesses, then to educate, then to be educated, be doctors and so on without end.
In today’s UK we don’t have oppressive racial laws, quite the opposite. Here we have the beginnings of a cross between the seminal books, Animal Farm and 1984, both by the late, great British author, George Orwell. The state is becoming progressively more all seeing and all knowing and not many are yet resisting. All the measures we will point out were supposedly originated as counter terrorism actions. What we should be doing is evaluating the need for these measures and understanding where these abuses of our personal liberty will inevitably lead.
If you dare to question any of these measures you are always told, “If you’ve done nothing wrong why would you worry about these measures?” The implication is that you must be guilty of something or you would quietly go along with any of these new measures. Well, I’ve done nothing wrong that I know of, and I strongly object. The truth is if this were a right wing government putting such measures in place then the country would be rioting on the streets to fight against them.
As those of you who have read my blogs or articles before will know I have grave reservations about the 4.5 million CCTV cameras we have in place. Do we really need anything like this number, and do we need to be photographed 300 to 400 a times per day? The argument in favor of those that support this level of surveillance is that this amount of cameras has allowed our security forces to quickly capture the perpetrators of some of the terrorist attacks against our society. I believe this argument has some merit, but is the price greater than the result?
Don’t forget that we are being photographed all of the time, whatever we’re doing, and wherever we are. Remember that in the UK many of the local authorities have hidden cameras in hundreds of thousand of our rubbish bins to check whether we are correctly separating our trash as instructed. Is this the kind of society you want to live in?
This might appear alarmist, but it is, nevertheless, a common theme of many conversations in our country. The stripping away of freedom doesn’t happen with suddenness or crudity, it might not even be intentional, but the results are nevertheless deeply worrying and to be opposed. Read The Diary of Anne Frank, the story of the young Jewish girl growing up in war torn Holland during the Nazi occupation and you can witness a perfect example of how freedoms can be stripped away from the individual in almost acceptable, imperceptible increments. This happened in Holland where the Jews were forced to wear a star to set them apart, then not allowed to ride their bicycle, then not allowed onto the trams, then to own businesses, then to educate, then to be educated, be doctors and so on without end.
In today’s UK we don’t have oppressive racial laws, quite the opposite. Here we have the beginnings of a cross between the seminal books, Animal Farm and 1984, both by the late, great British author, George Orwell. The state is becoming progressively more all seeing and all knowing and not many are yet resisting. All the measures we will point out were supposedly originated as counter terrorism actions. What we should be doing is evaluating the need for these measures and understanding where these abuses of our personal liberty will inevitably lead.
If you dare to question any of these measures you are always told, “If you’ve done nothing wrong why would you worry about these measures?” The implication is that you must be guilty of something or you would quietly go along with any of these new measures. Well, I’ve done nothing wrong that I know of, and I strongly object. The truth is if this were a right wing government putting such measures in place then the country would be rioting on the streets to fight against them.
As those of you who have read my blogs or articles before will know I have grave reservations about the 4.5 million CCTV cameras we have in place. Do we really need anything like this number, and do we need to be photographed 300 to 400 a times per day? The argument in favor of those that support this level of surveillance is that this amount of cameras has allowed our security forces to quickly capture the perpetrators of some of the terrorist attacks against our society. I believe this argument has some merit, but is the price greater than the result?
Don’t forget that we are being photographed all of the time, whatever we’re doing, and wherever we are. Remember that in the UK many of the local authorities have hidden cameras in hundreds of thousand of our rubbish bins to check whether we are correctly separating our trash as instructed. Is this the kind of society you want to live in?
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Educating all the Children
“…If we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children” – M.K. Gandhi
A woman named Jessica Hale, who makes documentary films, made me open my eyes to the fact that the future changes the world will need to undertake will rest heavily or lightly on the shoulders of the world’s youth. How many people know or care what the differences are between an illegal alien, a legal alien, an economic migrant from the newly expanded European Union territories that are allowed entry, or someone from Rumania or Bulgaria, who are not allowed entry to our fair shores. I could go on but you get the picture. We don’t have a true number of the people in the UK, and we’re drowning in our own ignorance.
As Jessica correctly said, if you ask these young people what an asylum seeker is or what organizations like the UNHCR does, and most look at you with blank stares or they would more likely look away to avoid the question. As world crisis spreads it seems more and more important to educate the very age being most effected by social persecution. In thirty years our children will be running the world. If children are sheltered from the wrong doing of today how can they prepare to turn things around for the millions who already suffer?
It is our responsibility to make future generations aware of social and political issues that will directly affect them throughout their lives. Our children must be educated so that we enable them to recognize similarities between themselves and the refugee children, as well as show global concern, social responsibility, empathy and respect for others.
I attended a meeting that was addressed by Ron Lauder, the President of the American Jewish Congress and he said much the same thing. We won’t get anywhere without the kids knowing where they come from and where they’re aiming to go.
In Los Angeles I met with Rabbi David Wolpe, who was recognized by Newsweek magazine as the leading pulpit rabbi in America. We agreed that the future lay in educating the young. However therein is a dichotomy. If we, the liberals of the West, do our best to educate as many of our children as we can, what protects them from the haters in our world’s midst?
How do we get these horsemen of the apocalypse to stop poisoning the minds of their young? I honestly don’t think you can. I believe that there is nothing we can say or do to stop them hating us and wanting us dead. By us I mean the liberals, the West, the Jews, America, Great Britain and Israel, and not necessarily in that order. By them I mean the leadership of Iran and the terrorist organizations such as Hizballah, Hamas, Al Quada and the Taliban plus quite a large number of radical, fundamentalist Muslims. As everyone knows the leadership in Iran has called for the total elimination of the State of Israel and is developing the means to achieve this.
Therefore, and I say this with great reluctance, I feel the time has come to recognize that these are our implacable enemies and to stop trying to appease them and to stop talking with them unless and until they stop their campaigns against the world at large, and everyone I have listed in particular, renounced violence and declared this irrevocable. Then and only then, should we think about talking with them. I would impose a five-year waiting period before we did so, to prove they were serious in their intent.
In the meantime I would hit them time and again wherever they can be found and whenever the opportunity arises. This is a war, and they must be made to understand that they cannot continue to hit us with impunity. If we wait their attacks will proliferate, grow in size and be more spectacularly destructive, as threatened. The consequences of our waiting will be apocalyptic.
What do you think will happen if Iran staged a strategic nuclear attack on Israel?
Iran must be stopped before the clock chimes midnight.
If we can stop this disaster happening then perhaps, we can start to educate all the children, as this is so clearly vital. As John Lennon sang, Imagine?
A woman named Jessica Hale, who makes documentary films, made me open my eyes to the fact that the future changes the world will need to undertake will rest heavily or lightly on the shoulders of the world’s youth. How many people know or care what the differences are between an illegal alien, a legal alien, an economic migrant from the newly expanded European Union territories that are allowed entry, or someone from Rumania or Bulgaria, who are not allowed entry to our fair shores. I could go on but you get the picture. We don’t have a true number of the people in the UK, and we’re drowning in our own ignorance.
As Jessica correctly said, if you ask these young people what an asylum seeker is or what organizations like the UNHCR does, and most look at you with blank stares or they would more likely look away to avoid the question. As world crisis spreads it seems more and more important to educate the very age being most effected by social persecution. In thirty years our children will be running the world. If children are sheltered from the wrong doing of today how can they prepare to turn things around for the millions who already suffer?
It is our responsibility to make future generations aware of social and political issues that will directly affect them throughout their lives. Our children must be educated so that we enable them to recognize similarities between themselves and the refugee children, as well as show global concern, social responsibility, empathy and respect for others.
I attended a meeting that was addressed by Ron Lauder, the President of the American Jewish Congress and he said much the same thing. We won’t get anywhere without the kids knowing where they come from and where they’re aiming to go.
In Los Angeles I met with Rabbi David Wolpe, who was recognized by Newsweek magazine as the leading pulpit rabbi in America. We agreed that the future lay in educating the young. However therein is a dichotomy. If we, the liberals of the West, do our best to educate as many of our children as we can, what protects them from the haters in our world’s midst?
How do we get these horsemen of the apocalypse to stop poisoning the minds of their young? I honestly don’t think you can. I believe that there is nothing we can say or do to stop them hating us and wanting us dead. By us I mean the liberals, the West, the Jews, America, Great Britain and Israel, and not necessarily in that order. By them I mean the leadership of Iran and the terrorist organizations such as Hizballah, Hamas, Al Quada and the Taliban plus quite a large number of radical, fundamentalist Muslims. As everyone knows the leadership in Iran has called for the total elimination of the State of Israel and is developing the means to achieve this.
Therefore, and I say this with great reluctance, I feel the time has come to recognize that these are our implacable enemies and to stop trying to appease them and to stop talking with them unless and until they stop their campaigns against the world at large, and everyone I have listed in particular, renounced violence and declared this irrevocable. Then and only then, should we think about talking with them. I would impose a five-year waiting period before we did so, to prove they were serious in their intent.
In the meantime I would hit them time and again wherever they can be found and whenever the opportunity arises. This is a war, and they must be made to understand that they cannot continue to hit us with impunity. If we wait their attacks will proliferate, grow in size and be more spectacularly destructive, as threatened. The consequences of our waiting will be apocalyptic.
What do you think will happen if Iran staged a strategic nuclear attack on Israel?
Iran must be stopped before the clock chimes midnight.
If we can stop this disaster happening then perhaps, we can start to educate all the children, as this is so clearly vital. As John Lennon sang, Imagine?
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Travelling
Travel is no longer much fun. The hassle is so immense that it doesn’t feel like it’s worth it, until you arrive somewhere great. Today I am traveling between Los Angeles and London, a trip I have made several hundred times. It isn’t getting any better. Even if you know how to travel, and I do, there is just no easy way of managing all the small indignities they now put you through, all in the name of security.
Luckily I had my trusty BlackBerry with me as this had warned me yesterday that our flight was to be put forward thirty minutes. I was lucky again when they sent me another update just before leaving my daughter’s apartment to say that the flight was now going to be delayed an hour and a half, or one hour from the original time. I am now hopeful that it won’t be changed again. But from experience I expect it’s more about the airline, this time United, which will be consolidating flights that would otherwise be insufficiently full.
Today I had arranged for my hire car to be picked up at between 9 and 9.30. Of course no one showed, I called the number, and, after checking to see whether I had, in fact, sent an e-mail confirming the pick up, they said they would be with me shortly. They were, but of course it was another small aggravation.
The journey to the airport was uneventful, which is just how you want it to be. The baggage check in line was again an event. The idea behind this was supposed to be to liberate us from lining up. In fact what’s happened is that now there are a great many very confused passengers not knowing where to go, what to do and how to do it, and they’re all in my way until I am in the front of the line, similarly suffering from terminal confusion as my blood pressure rises. I had pre-checked in on line the previous night, but it didn’t give the simple message, just drop your bags off at the desk and we’ll take care of you. Well, maybe it did, but not in any way I could understand. I did figure it out but there were a couple of minutes where I wanted to hit the computer as it kept asking me questions I had already dealt with last night.
Once this was accomplished I had to join the big, Disney type, zigzag line wending its way to the customers and immigration officers. This is made much more entertaining by a great many people of various nationalities standing, oblivious to the fact that they’re in the way, as they wait for their friends and relatives to gain access from the access point, which is vigorously policed by another security person checking for boarding passes. Once these people have been carefully avoided I found myself being politely allowed through after being checked.
Yes, you guessed it, another line. This time to security, which is the only time I think there should be some time spent getting it right. The signs told us to remove our shoes, laptops, bum bags, sweaters and coats. This we did, now getting distinctly warmer as the people in the line moved at their various speeds. It is also where I discover I am not as fast as I thought, but much faster than some others. Eventually my stuff is safely loaded onto the plastic container and the conveyor takes it steadily off. As I come to the personal security arch the surly guard demands my boarding pass that I have carefully placed into my bag that is, even now, moving away from me on the conveyor. He shakes his head and looks at me with hate in his baleful stare. I clearly should have known, telepathically, that he would be the third person demanding this vital document within twenty yards. He allowed me, with absolutely no grace, to collect my papers from my bag and return to him. He growled something unintelligible and I was allowed through. Now I was hopping about trying to re-shoe myself as I placed my laptop back into my case plus find my sweater and bum bag. This takes place whilst people of every type and nationality suffer similar indignities all around me.
Deciding that sustenance was desperately required I found my way to the inappropriately named, Food Hall. It is a motley collection of awful places that no one, however hungry, could ever want to eat at. It was now about 11 am and so it seemed that breakfast would be nice. It appeared in large type on the menu. With great expectation I ordered this delightful looking dish. Of course, you know that breakfast was no longer available. The young lady who told me this said it as if this was obvious. I ordered something that approximated the same type of thing, and received a $25 revolting mess. I will never again complain about our British airport food establishments; they are so far superior it doesn’t bear comparison.
Now I am patiently waiting for my delayed plane, but that, and the journey is a story for another day. I just hope United Airlines and Los Angeles International Airport conspire to make it as uneventful and boring and efficient as possible.
Post script. Arrived safe but tired in London. Had the customary and lengthy route march from the plane to the customs, immigration and baggage halls. It is only fair to mention that the cases came through almost immediately; the car park worked well, and from landing to being on the road took less than 25 minutes. Wonderful, now for some sleep!
Luckily I had my trusty BlackBerry with me as this had warned me yesterday that our flight was to be put forward thirty minutes. I was lucky again when they sent me another update just before leaving my daughter’s apartment to say that the flight was now going to be delayed an hour and a half, or one hour from the original time. I am now hopeful that it won’t be changed again. But from experience I expect it’s more about the airline, this time United, which will be consolidating flights that would otherwise be insufficiently full.
Today I had arranged for my hire car to be picked up at between 9 and 9.30. Of course no one showed, I called the number, and, after checking to see whether I had, in fact, sent an e-mail confirming the pick up, they said they would be with me shortly. They were, but of course it was another small aggravation.
The journey to the airport was uneventful, which is just how you want it to be. The baggage check in line was again an event. The idea behind this was supposed to be to liberate us from lining up. In fact what’s happened is that now there are a great many very confused passengers not knowing where to go, what to do and how to do it, and they’re all in my way until I am in the front of the line, similarly suffering from terminal confusion as my blood pressure rises. I had pre-checked in on line the previous night, but it didn’t give the simple message, just drop your bags off at the desk and we’ll take care of you. Well, maybe it did, but not in any way I could understand. I did figure it out but there were a couple of minutes where I wanted to hit the computer as it kept asking me questions I had already dealt with last night.
Once this was accomplished I had to join the big, Disney type, zigzag line wending its way to the customers and immigration officers. This is made much more entertaining by a great many people of various nationalities standing, oblivious to the fact that they’re in the way, as they wait for their friends and relatives to gain access from the access point, which is vigorously policed by another security person checking for boarding passes. Once these people have been carefully avoided I found myself being politely allowed through after being checked.
Yes, you guessed it, another line. This time to security, which is the only time I think there should be some time spent getting it right. The signs told us to remove our shoes, laptops, bum bags, sweaters and coats. This we did, now getting distinctly warmer as the people in the line moved at their various speeds. It is also where I discover I am not as fast as I thought, but much faster than some others. Eventually my stuff is safely loaded onto the plastic container and the conveyor takes it steadily off. As I come to the personal security arch the surly guard demands my boarding pass that I have carefully placed into my bag that is, even now, moving away from me on the conveyor. He shakes his head and looks at me with hate in his baleful stare. I clearly should have known, telepathically, that he would be the third person demanding this vital document within twenty yards. He allowed me, with absolutely no grace, to collect my papers from my bag and return to him. He growled something unintelligible and I was allowed through. Now I was hopping about trying to re-shoe myself as I placed my laptop back into my case plus find my sweater and bum bag. This takes place whilst people of every type and nationality suffer similar indignities all around me.
Deciding that sustenance was desperately required I found my way to the inappropriately named, Food Hall. It is a motley collection of awful places that no one, however hungry, could ever want to eat at. It was now about 11 am and so it seemed that breakfast would be nice. It appeared in large type on the menu. With great expectation I ordered this delightful looking dish. Of course, you know that breakfast was no longer available. The young lady who told me this said it as if this was obvious. I ordered something that approximated the same type of thing, and received a $25 revolting mess. I will never again complain about our British airport food establishments; they are so far superior it doesn’t bear comparison.
Now I am patiently waiting for my delayed plane, but that, and the journey is a story for another day. I just hope United Airlines and Los Angeles International Airport conspire to make it as uneventful and boring and efficient as possible.
Post script. Arrived safe but tired in London. Had the customary and lengthy route march from the plane to the customs, immigration and baggage halls. It is only fair to mention that the cases came through almost immediately; the car park worked well, and from landing to being on the road took less than 25 minutes. Wonderful, now for some sleep!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Remembering
Yesterday, here in Los Angeles, the annual Holocaust Memorial Day, “Yom Hashoah”, took place. In a city that is home to one of the biggest Jewish populations in the world, this is bound to be a big, impressive event. It was more than that.
Held in the Pan Pacific Park adjacent to the Los Angeles Holocaust Monument. It was attended by most of the local and state civic dignitaries and a large crowd, all covered by a huge tent shading them from the bright Spring sunshine. The theme this year was to commemorate 70 years since Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass – Shattered Hopes.
During the speeches Britain got a special mention because it was the only country that allowed Jewish children from Germany into our country on the famous Kindertransport. No one else, including America allowed large Jewish groups, of any age, an escape from the Nazis.
The speeches, particularly those by Jacob Dayan, the Israel Consul General and Rabbi David Wolpe from LA’s Sinai Temple, were spellbinding, powerful and compelling. I had the good fortune to have had a meeting with the Rabbi a couple of days previously and I know him to be an extremely thoughtful and incisive man. Listening to him make a speech we all realized why Newsweek magazine had recently selected him as the top pulpit rabbi in America.
There was a beautiful musical interlude featuring the cellist Barry Gold from the Los Angeles Philharmoic Orchestra. In addition The Tova Concert Singers were excellent. There were so many outstanding speeches and presentations it seems wrong to select just a few. But special mention should be made of the Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who made his understanding and support for this event and Israel, from a Gentile, American perspective, clear and unequivocal.
The Rabbi told his audience that the one thing we must do, as a minimum, if we are not to repeat these horrific mistakes in the future, is remember the name of one person who perished in the Holocaust. I turned to my sister to remember the name Weisberg, the name of my father’s mother’s family who were all lost in the Holocaust, in Warsaw. None of us know their first names, what they looked like, what were their dreams and aspirations, what football team they supported, what music they listened to, or anything else, other than that they were our family. They were killed because they were Jewish. We ended with the words, Never Again.
Held in the Pan Pacific Park adjacent to the Los Angeles Holocaust Monument. It was attended by most of the local and state civic dignitaries and a large crowd, all covered by a huge tent shading them from the bright Spring sunshine. The theme this year was to commemorate 70 years since Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass – Shattered Hopes.
During the speeches Britain got a special mention because it was the only country that allowed Jewish children from Germany into our country on the famous Kindertransport. No one else, including America allowed large Jewish groups, of any age, an escape from the Nazis.
The speeches, particularly those by Jacob Dayan, the Israel Consul General and Rabbi David Wolpe from LA’s Sinai Temple, were spellbinding, powerful and compelling. I had the good fortune to have had a meeting with the Rabbi a couple of days previously and I know him to be an extremely thoughtful and incisive man. Listening to him make a speech we all realized why Newsweek magazine had recently selected him as the top pulpit rabbi in America.
There was a beautiful musical interlude featuring the cellist Barry Gold from the Los Angeles Philharmoic Orchestra. In addition The Tova Concert Singers were excellent. There were so many outstanding speeches and presentations it seems wrong to select just a few. But special mention should be made of the Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who made his understanding and support for this event and Israel, from a Gentile, American perspective, clear and unequivocal.
The Rabbi told his audience that the one thing we must do, as a minimum, if we are not to repeat these horrific mistakes in the future, is remember the name of one person who perished in the Holocaust. I turned to my sister to remember the name Weisberg, the name of my father’s mother’s family who were all lost in the Holocaust, in Warsaw. None of us know their first names, what they looked like, what were their dreams and aspirations, what football team they supported, what music they listened to, or anything else, other than that they were our family. They were killed because they were Jewish. We ended with the words, Never Again.
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