The Lazy Cook

Here's a recipe I came across on the Net.  It's simple if not as quick as I usually like, but what drew me to it was the name - how could you not fall in love with something called shakshuka?  So, here goes -
In a frying pan, put a little olive oil.  Add some chopped onion (which you can buy ready chopped in a jar from the supermarket) and some chopped garlic (ditto) and fry for a couple of minutes.  Add a sprinkle of chilli flakes and a tin of chopped tomatoes, season well and simmer for a good ten minutes or so until the mixture thickens.  Make a couple of holes in the mixture and break an egg into each and continue to cook until the eggs are to your liking.  And there you are.
This recipe comes from the Middle East and can be eaten as is, or bulked up with mince, or cheese or peppers or anything really.  Give it a go.

We don't want to go?

It is seriously being suggested that Parliament should vote down any bill designed to give effect to the recent Brexit vote.  So - can they do that, and would that not create a constitutional crisis?  Well, in order - yes and no.  The two things you have to hold on to are (1) the referendum had no legal force - it was simply an expression of the popular will, and (2) under our constitution Parliament is sovereign - which means it can do anything it wants to.  So if Parliament decided not to pass the necessary legislation to enable the Government to start the process of withdrawing from the EU, it would be a serious matter and might well precipitate a general election, but would not be unconstitutional.

Hoist by your own whatsit.

Have you read that this petition to have a rerun of the referendum, which has now garnered over three million signatures, was originally set up some time ago by a Leave supporter at a time when it seemed Remain were likely to win and he wanted to make it as difficult as possible for them by requiring a winning vote of at least 60% on a turnout of at least 75% which he has admitted he thought next to impossible.  His idea has now been hijacked (as he sees it) by the Remainers.  Talk about the Law of Unforeseen Consequences!

Reflections...

So having taken the weekend to mull the situation over, how do I see things now?  Well, first off, I think we're in a real mess and I don't see an easy way out.  We're in a mess because nobody really saw this coming.  The general feeling was that Remain would win a reasonably comfortable victory, and it appears that no concrete practical plans were made for the alternative.  Secondly I wonder to what extent this was in essence a mid-term by-election result - in other words was this just a case of people using the opportunity to give the Government a kicking without any real thought for the consequences.  Third, while I would hardly characterise 52% - 48% as a "decisive" result, this is democracy - there will be winners and losers and the losers have to accept it and take it on the chin.  I'm not entirely sure why Scotland should consider that somehow this doesn't apply to them. And if we accept Scotland as a special case. how about Northern Ireland?  How about London? How about me? Where does this stop? And lastly, what about the kids?  My grandchildren are furious that their future has been determined (destroyed as they see it) by an older generation who won't have to live with the consequences.  Like I say - a mess.

Well, I never!

Did you know that custard is bulletproof?  Apparently it's a non-Newtonian fluid which, as I understand it, means that under normal circumstances it behaves like a liquid but when subjected to a massive shock (like being hit by a bullet) it instantaneously turns into a solid.  And this is not just an "Oh, fancy that" story - there are plans to use the technology to make better body armour for soldiers.

Words, words.

Until recently, I never really understood the expression "the moon is made of green cheese".  Firstly the moon isn't green, and secondly do you know of any cheese that's green?  Blue, yes, but green?  So I felt a bit of a fool when it was explained to me the other day that green didn't refer to colour, but simply meant unripe - and of course young unripe cheese is creamy-white - like the moon.

The people have spoken

So - how do I feel this morning?  Well, disappointed - I voted Remain.  Disillusioned - this (a narrow win for either side) was the result I least wanted - see last Tuesday's post.  And dejected, because I foresee this leading to the breakup of the United Kingdom - not just Scotland leaving but even more so Northern Ireland, who will now be faced with their north/south border becoming the border between the UK and the EU and I don't think they will want to have to cope with that.  So, all negative feelings I'm afraid.  And poor Gibraltar...!

Cream tea

So that's jam and cream on a - what?  Sconn or scown?  And do you put the jam on first or the cream?  Well, in the manner of these things, research has been done, and it seems by a small margin, that sconn (to rhyme with gone) has it over scown (to rhyme with 'phone).  But when it comes to the topping the result is clear - it's jam topped with cream rather than the reverse.  And the cuppa to go with it?  Strong tea - milk in first?  Don't make me laugh - tea first followed by milk is the way the overwhelming majority of us want it.

Who she??

Have you heard of Mary Seacole?  If not, I'm not surprised, but you might find that the name becomes more familiar over the next few weeks, because she is to have a statue of herself unveiled at St Thomas' Hospital in London and not everybody is happy about it.  So, what's the story?  She was a Jamaican "nurse" during the Crimean War - I have put the word nurse in inverted commas because there is much dispute as to how much nursing she actually did and how effectual it was. What she did do was to set up a small hotel behind the lines and provide room and board for sick and wounded soldiers.  She had no formal medical training and what nursing she did was based on the folk medicine of her Caribbean childhood.  There is little doubt that she was very popular among the soldiers, so why the fuss about the statue?  Well, it's not so much about the statue as about where it is to be erected.  St Thomas' Hospital is closely associated with Florence Nightingale and the decision to site the statue there has been seen by some as a suggestion that the two women were equally important in the history of nursing whereas to many, all that Mary Seacole did was to "sell wine and sandwiches".  

For God's sake, let's settle it!

There's this weird theory going round that the best outcome of the referendum on Thursday would be a narrow win for the Remain side.  The argument is that this would give the Government ammunition to go back to Brussels and say "Look, we damn nearly voted to leave - there will be pressure for another vote, you need to give in to more of out demands if this is to be avoided".  I see the logic but I hope that doesn't happen.  In my book, the best result would be a clear win for either side.  On balance, I'm still favouring Remain, but I would rather have a clear Leave victory than a close run thing.  What I want above all is for the matter to be decided once and for all - the worst possible outcome would be for things to continue as they have for so many years now, with the "Europe issue" as a sort of poisonous scab that we keep picking at, and I'm afraid that a narrow win for either side would probably have just that result.

Look to the skies...

Tonight is the full moon, and the June full moon is known as the strawberry moon, because it tends to coincide with the start of the strawberry picking season.  This year in particular is special because the strawberry moon coincides with the summer solstice (see 21/6/08) - something that only happens once in every 70 or so years.

Strange but true?

One of the weirdest football (soccer) rules I've come across is that you can't score an own goal straight from a direct free kick.  If it ever were to happen, the goal is disallowed and a corner kick awarded to the other side.

Jo Cox - R.I.P.

What is there to say?  If, as seems probable, this MP was attacked and killed because she was an MP, this is a desperately worrying turn of events.  I hope this is not connected to the forthcoming referendum, and the unpleasant campaigning that has been going on, but have a nasty feeling it might be.  Think everybody needs to take a deep breath and think twice before saying anything.

Euro 2016

What a graceless nerd Ronaldo is.  Following an entertaining (for the neutral) match where a plucky Icelandic team came from behind to draw 1-1 with Portugal, you would have thought congratulations (even if through gritted teeth) would have been in order.  But no - the greatest player in the world (that's his assessment) couldn't even bring himself to shake hands let alone say anything pleasant.  He described Iceland as having a "small mentality" and said they had had a "lucky night".  Nice one Cristiano - you are truly a giant among men.  And speaking of shame, I see our "fans" are doing us proud.  How long before UEFA - and maybe FIFA - have had enough, and kick us out?

Who's that man walking just behind the Queen?

Feel rather sorry for the Duke of Edinburgh - his (real) 95th birthday was completely overshadowed by the celebrations for the (official) 90th birthday of the Queen.  Her real birthday was of course several weeks ago.  The Duke has spent his married life taking second place to the Queen and it would have been nice if just for once he had been allowed to take centre stage, if only for the day.

Jumping to conclusions?

If, God forbid, there is a terrorist attack at any of the matches at Euro 2016, I don't think that anybody would seriously suggest that this would be an attack against the playing of football.  Why then is there an assumption that the recent atrocity in Orlando was aimed at the LGBT community simply on the basis that it took place at an LGBT venue?  Don't get me wrong - it might have been, but as far as I am aware we have no evidence to support that theory.  It may simply have been that that venue attracted a big crowd and provided the gunman with "easy pickings".  Anywhere where people are known to gather is at risk from this sort of thing - no coincidence that many of the mass shootings have been at schools.  Nothing to do with education.  I think people are putting two and two together and making five.

Fascinating fact...

Did  you know that the tin opener wasn't invented until nearly fifty years after the introduction of tinned food?

In or out?

Chatting with a friend of my wife's whose daughter lives in Spain - and has done for a dozen years or more - brought home to me how much leaving the EU would impact on her and those like her, and indeed on those Europeans living here.  At present an EU citizen can live anywhere in the EU with no need for permission, visas and the like.  But all that would change - my friend's daughter would have to come home, or apply for a visa which would be time-limited and subject to revocation at any time and for any - or no - reason.  Needless to say, both mother and daughter are hoping the Remain side will win the day.

Easy money?

How to become a millionaire with minimum effort?  Get insulted by José Mourinho!

No point in upsetting them?

Apparently a suggestion that the England football squad should take the opportunity while on the continent to pay a visit to the memorial to the battle of the Somme.  This would involve a round trip of some three hours, and has been declined on the basis that it would be "too draining" for the players.  This has resulted in many sarcastic comments of the "ah-diddums-den" type.  But I wonder whether the "too draining" comment necessarily referred to the journey.  I remember when on holiday in Crete going to a war cemetery at Souda Bay and it destroyed me - the sight of all those regimented white headstones - many simply bearing the inscription "Known To God" reduced me to a blubbering wreck and even the memory is enough to bring tears to my eyes.  I live pretty close to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas but have never dared go there because I know how it would affect me.  So maybe this is why it was considered to be not a good idea?

Ha ha.

Thanks to my little granddaughter for this one -

Why don't polar bears eat penguins?
'Cause they can't get the wrappers off!

Paris, here we come.

Is it time to consider our (that is - England's) chances in Euro 2016?  After all, we're on a bit of a roll - last 20 matches, won 16, drawn 2, lost 2. Not too shabby.  So what are our chances?  Problem as I see it is our defence, which doesn't look particularly robust. On the other hand, we now have a potentially free-scoring attack - if we play Kane, Vardy, Sterling and Rooney all together and give then freedom to roam and shoot on sight.  I think our strategy should be - attack, attack, attack.  Like the old Brazilian philosophy - if you score two, we'll score three.  After all, the Brazilians had no defence to speak of, but that never worried them - they were always confident they could outscore their opponents.  So what do I really think?  Quarter-finals - semis if we're lucky.

All for nothing?

I bet Cameron is wishing he hadn't called this referendum.  Whatever the outcome, the Tory party has torn itself apart and he is going to have to try and pick up the pieces.  And both sides have made it pretty clear that the referendum result in and of itself means nothing other than as an expression of the views of those who voted.  Farage stated a few weeks ago, when the polls were favouring the Remain side that if it was a narrow victory for them, as far as he was concerned that would not be the end of things, and now that the pendulum seems to have swung more towards the Leave side, many MPs are beginning to mutter that a Leave victory would not oblige Parliament to act on it.  It all seems a terrible mess for no good reason.  Whatever happens it is clear that the matter will not be settled.  It's going to be the Scottish independence referendum all over again, with the losers retreating, muttering and girding their loins for another go.

I want a Hungarian lesbian dwarf...

I thought it was illegal to advertise for a job in such a way as to make certain would-be applicants ineligible by virtue of their gender, race or other personal characteristics.  Well, if it is, it seems it doesn't apply to the BBC.  They are looking for a new host for their "One Show" programme, and have specified that they are looking for a male, over 30 from "an ethnically diverse background" (whatever the heck that means) and who has a regional accent - preferably northern.  Personally, I've little time for anti-discrimination legislation, but it exists, and surely this falls foul of it?

Top Gear

I used to watch it every now and again, and as far as I could see, it wasn't really a programme about cars - the cars were incidental.  What the programme was really about was the sort of schoolboy fun relationship between the three presenters - what the characters in Last Of The Summer Wine might have been like some thirty years earlier.  And so I think the attempt to remake it was sort of doomed from the word go - bit like trying to remake Morecambe & Wise without Eric and Ernie.  It may well settle down in due course and find its own voice but it won't really be Top Gear in anything but name.

It's in The Sun so it must be true...

Headline yesterday - "BBC slammed for showing Johnny Depp movie during prime time amid allegations he hit his ex-wife Amber Heard".  Anybody clock the important word there?  That's right - "allegations".  Quite apart from the fact that the BBC sets out its schedules well in advance, and this film would have been allotted this slot well before said "allegations" surfaced, we do still work on the principle of "innocent until proven guilty", don't we?

R.I.P.

Muhammad Ali -  I was never a great fan, and I've had my say (see 20 and 26/1/07), but clearly he was an icon to many and his death should not pass unnoticed.

One of those unfortunate things?

Where do you stand on this shooting of a gorilla after a young boy fell into his enclosure?  OK this was in America and not strictly within my remit, but the basic problem does I feel, transcend borders.  It has been suggested that the gorilla was posing no threat to the boy, and indeed was probably seeking to protect him, and therefore its death was unnecessary. Certainly was a shame he had to be killed, but what was the alternative?  Take a chance?  What if the boy had come to harm - what would people be saying now if that had happened?  Clearly the gorilla is in no way to blame for what happened - the blame, if indeed you see it in those terms - lies partly with the zoo, who should have made it far more difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to get into the enclosure, and partly with the parents, who should have been far more aware of what their little boy was doing.  It's always very easy to be wise after the event.

Birmingham pub bombings

Not sure I see the point in reopening the inquests into those who died.  Clearly they were unlawfully killed - we don't need an inquest verdict to tell us that.  I'm afraid that the Hillsborough inquest has set an unfortunate precedent  I hope that this inquest will not, like that one, turn into a de facto trial of the police and emergency services.  That is not what an inquest is supposed to be all about.

Out of the mouths of babes...

At this time of year, following the exam season, we invariably get posts from teachers or parents of the funny answers kids have given to questions.  Here's a couple I particularly liked - 

Q, Would you rather be stuck on a desert island all alone or with one person you hate?  Why?
A. I would rather be on an island with someone I hate, so I have something to eat.

Q. Write a sentence using the word point as a noun.
A I don't see the point of SATs.