Better the devil you know...

Remember the theory that it was in fact a good job that the attempted assassination of Hitler failed?  The logic being that whoever would have replaced him would probably have done a much better job and prolonged the course of the war, if not actually changed it.  Well it appears the Democrats in the US now have a similar dilemma regarding the best thing for them to do now that they have some clout after the mid-term elections.  There are those who are calling for immediate attempts to impeach Trump, but on the other hand there are those who are advising caution on the grounds that he is doing a much better job for their cause by staying where he is and doing what he does

R.I.P.

June Whitfield - consummate professional with impeccable comic timing.  One of those actors who always seems to have been there.  Anyone remember The Glums?  Oh, Ron...

Simple maths!

If, according to a recent survey, as a pensioner, a glass if wine a day is good for me, it surely follows that several glasses a day must be several times as good for me!

Back to the treadmill?

A 'phone in every jail cell - what do you think?  Very much depends on what you see jail as for, I guess,  There are those who think that imprisonment should be a punishment - it should be an unpleasant experience designed to constantly remind you what a naughty person you are, or at least, have been.  Then there are those who see imprisonment as simply a way of separating those with anti-social tendencies from the rest of us - in which case there is no reason why, as far as possible,  they should be denied the normalities of life - like access to a 'phone.

Tick, tock

The question of changing the clocks has once again come to the fore.  You may remember that the EU was considering sticking with either Central European Time or CET+1 all the year round.  Well now it seems they have decided that this should happen in October next year - although they have yet to decide which time zone to go with.  And although by then we should have left the EU, it seems pretty certain we will follow suit.  Can't wait myself.

Personal

For various reasons, this is the first day we have all managed to get together, so this is the family's Christmas Day.  So it's ho-ho-ho and best wishes to you all.

Merry Christmas

...and God bless us - everyone

Who speaks for the dead?

The other day it was the 30th anniversary of Lockerbie, and as far as I can see, nothing has changed.  The "official story" has now taken its place as fact and part of history.  Depressing...

I am the greatest...

Martina Navratilova has raised a question that I posted about a couple of months ago.  Now that - it appears - we have the right to determine for ourselves what gender we really are, what's to stop a hitherto somewhat mediocre sportsman deciding that he's really a woman, and then competing against women and, thanks to his masculine physiology, sweeping all before him/her?  Press "sisters" anyone?

Sotto voce

Did Jeremy Corbyn mutter "stupid woman" at the Prime Minister?  Certainly looked like it, and lip readers seem to be pretty unanimous that he did.  But supposing he did - so what?  Might have been unparliamentary, but was it sexist, as some have insisted.  My understanding is that it would only be sexist if he said it because she was a woman - in other words, it was aimed at her as a woman, and I think it was pretty obviously aimed at her as a member of the government and "one of them on the other side of the House", and the fact that she was a woman didn't come into it.  So, not guilty, I think.