[wales] leading the way to a house of lords

Wow! How's this for an issue?

The people of Wales call upon the Prime Minister to end Unicameralism* in Wales by creating a second chamber, modelled on the House of Lords, entirely appointed to scrutinise the work of the elected Assembly.

The people of Wales are so annoyed by this lack of a Welsh House of Lords that so far only two people have signed the petition other than the author.

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' he chortled in his joy. I have been arguing for a House of Lords, unaccountable to the governing party, for a long, long time.

Here are my proposals for the English Parliament, though I was still thinking Britain then. Then come follow up posts here, here, here and here.

Some good Christmas Eve reading for all.

Of course, it is only logical that the EU regionalization is henceforth scrapped, that England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own bicameral parliaments and that the upper houses embody, as I mentioned to AlwynapHuw:

... the country's traditions - comprised of historians perhaps, [national] lords, not English, church leaders and so on ...

The UK or Britain can be retained for defence purposes, such being administered from the Isle of Man.

[nepal] the times they are a changin'

Fascinating story of a monarchy on the doorstep of China now changing to a republic:

Nepal's major political parties have agreed to abolish the world's last Hindu monarchy as part of a deal to bring former communist rebels back into the government, the one-time insurgents said Monday.

The communists, who are known as the Maoists, ended their decade-long rebellion last year and later joined the country's interim government. But they withdrew in September, demanding the monarchy be immediately abolished.

The current monarch, King Gyanendra, heads a dynasty that dates to 1769, when a regional ruler led an army down from the hills and conquered the ancient city of Katmandu.

Gyanendra came to the throne in 2001 after a palace massacre in which the crown prince is accused of gunning down Gyanendra's older brother, the late King Birendra, and much of the royal family and then killing himself. The murders helped pierce the mystique surrounding Nepal's royalty.

Wonder how much influence China itself or the U.S. had on this matter? Also, what is the future for Hinduism?

[wassailing] and maybe just a little mulled wine

What are your favourite carols = the ones you'd most like to hear tomorrow evening when they come round wassailing? The Top 10, according to the Classic FM poll:

1. O Holy Night

2. Silent Night

3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

4. In The Bleak Midwinter - Darke

5. O Come, All Ye Faithful

6. Once In Royal David's City

7. In The Bleak Midwinter - Holst

8. O Come, O Come Emmanuel

9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem

10. Coventry Carol

So do you have your ensemble ready? Don't forget to take a hot toddy with you when you go and in order to extract maximum cash, select just two or three carols and sing them over and over. But no less, as this will get you a beating.

Mrs. Beeton's recipe:

INGREDIENTS.- To every pint of wine allow 1 large cupful of water, sugar and spice to taste.

Mode.-In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavour is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling-point, when serve with strips of crisp dry toast, or with biscuits.

The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar.

The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately cleam, and should be kept exclusively for the purpose. Small tin warmers may be purchased for a trifle, which are more suitable than saucepans, as, if the latter are not scrupulously clean, they spoil the wine, by imparting to it a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers should be used for no other purpose."

[quote quiz] five by two

Click for pic

The task

There are ten quotes here. Five people spoke or wrote all ten, two each. Try to match them:

1 I like a man who grins when he fights.

2 You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone.

3 I am not young enough to know everything.

4 America is the land of the second chance - and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.

5 Last week, I went to Philadelphia, but it was closed.

6 Paying alimony is like feeding hay to a dead horse.

7 I’ve spent a lot of time searching through the Bible . . . for loopholes.

8 A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.

9 Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

10. When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.

The authors

a] Groucho Marx, b] WC Fields, c] Winston Churchill, d] Oscar Wilde, e] George Bush Jnr

The answers

1c, 2e, 3d, 4e, 5b, 6a, 7b, 8d, 9a, 10c

[winter solstice] 'tis the season of goodwill

Click to zoom

In an earlier post, your humble correspondent wrote:

My whole current mentality is a siege mentality - to prevent being dragged into things.

Interesting then that this morning I was dragged into an issue that I have neither the time nor the inclination for at this exhausted time of year. It was done very cleverly, in such a way that I had no choice but to respond swiftly. Trouble is that no one else is remotely interested either.

It's a great pity that that had to happen because apart from that blot on the landscape, today has been fabulous. The panorama out there has to be seen to be believed and it's a further pity that I don't currently possess a camera to bring you shots of it.

The temperature is mild and the snow is lightly falling in big, soft flakes - but constantly. Roads are lined with mounds of vivid, glitening snow and the overall effect is of a hard-packed piste sculpted in a sort of tableau vivante, [if one can sculpt one of those].

Even further - I managed to pick up 12 James Bond DVDs dirt cheap and these include the first three Brosnan pieces I've been dying to see but could never find - until now.

Further even than that - today was "ladies day" and "Min Day" combined. Much cognac was imbibed and goodwill abounded. The last lady has just departed now. The hush outside and inside here in this warm room is so restful that I'd best et this posted and the quiz before Higham drops off into an inelegant snooze.

As Sean, of Omnium might say: "The Peace of the Night".

[russia-britain-europe] like the steps of a dance

Click on pic to zoom

First the news:

The European Union has called on Russia to reconsider its order to shut down two British Council offices. The Russian government said this month that the offices in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg had broken laws, including tax rules.

In a statement, the EU expressed its concern, citing the importance of culture in the "EU-Russia partnership". Relations between Britain and Russia have worsened dramatically since the London murder of Russian exile, Alexander Litvinenko, in November 2006.

Some comments

This is more complex than it at first appears. It involves alliances and written agreements. It also flies in the face of attempts to create good relations. Any Russia-watcher would know that when an article like this appears in Pravda, then this is a fair barometer of government intention overall.

It is essential that Russia listens to Europe and yet bilateral agreements should be exempt from being tied into other issues. In practice, of course, they are not mutually exclusive.

Britain thinks Russia was out of order to bump off Litvinenko within Britain. And yet this has not been proved and further, this man and others like Berezovsky were using their privileged status behind their British immunity to attack Russia.

America was faced with the same situation in Cuba. Would they have been justified in attacking the missile sites in Cuba? This is not the same question as whether they would have been justified in invading Cuba. The question is: "How far is a nation justified in eliminating a threat to its security, especially when that threat is hidden behind a host nation's immunity?"

This is the question behind Al Qaeda, behind Gaddafi and Lockerbie, behind Iraq, behind Iran.

And who is in the best position to judge a nation's security interests? Is it that nation itself or that of the people within the country from whence the threat is coming? Example - imagine that a group of Brits in, say, Holland, are hell bent on hurting Britain's interests by stymying trade deals, security cooperation and whatever else between Britain and Holland.

Holland acts to protect these elements. How far would Britain be justified in intervening? Leaving aside the wrongs and rights of the issue itself, surely Realpolitik dictates that somewhere down the track there'd be a lot of aggravation involving alliances and commitments to assist.

Whilst neither Britain nor Holland would desire this state of affairs, international conventions would dictate that things must proceed along certain lines. So both sides would foresee worsening relations but what choice would there be, when those elements being protected in Holland are continuing to harass and nobble Britain?

As a Brit, naturally I see our point of view. Living here so long and being on terms with certain people in government here, I see the other side too. What I can't see is an immediate solution to the issue.

Thoughts on the map at the top

The map is what Europe might have looked like today if the Nazis had, in fact, won. It can be seen that both the United Kingdom and Russia are unresolved issues. From historical documents, it appears that Britain would have enjoyed semi-autonomous status, not unlike what they will have when the EU formally takes over in 2010. This would undermine British nationalists' ability to muster and motivate anti-union forces.

Russia is another matter. The view here is that there was no doubt Germany intended to subjugate the Russians and use them as slave labour, the less useful going to the gas chamber. Hence the added piquancy to their resistance at Stalingrad. They were, in their own eyes, fighting for survival or oblivion. Churchill's own warning.

In Britain, this would possibly not have been the case and the noted sympathies between the aristocracy in Britain and the Nazi machine, which have been commented on so negatively, might have been a softening factor in Nazi eyes.

It seems more likely that the disintegration of the Nazi Empire might have begun within Germany itself. Interesting topic.