Ahead
of a 400th
anniversary in 2020 there's an odd spat taking place between the
ports of Harwich and Plymouth in the UK. Each of them claims to be
where the Mayflower
was built. They
agree that the ship sailed from Plymouth but Harwich insists it was
only there to take on supplies and
to pick up passengers from an accompanying ship that had sprung a leak.
The Plymouth brethren dismiss this as tosh. Each town has plans to build a replica ship, So, could we see them fighting it out in the Plymouth Sound? Or just racing to the US coast?
The
natives are getting restless:- Italy’s
new premier Enrico Letta is on a collision course with Germany after
vowing to end death by austerity, and warning that Europe faces a
“crisis of legitimacy” unless it charges course. . . Mr
Letta said Italy would abide by EU budget pledges but in reality he
seems to have broken with the core demands of the EU fiscal compact.
His
anti-austerity drive takes the eurozone into uncharted waters. It
comes as France, too, appeared close to breaking ranks with
German-imposed policy doctrines. A leaked version of French president
Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party’s text openly attacked
“German austerity” and the “egoistic intransigence of Mrs
Merkel”. More
here.
Spain's
economy shrank another 0.5% in the first quarter, which is not a good
start to the year. As
to the future, here's one pessimistic view:- It's hard to see
anything resembling a case for optimism. . . This is one of the most
terrifying things I have ever seen. Spain needs shock therapy for its
labour markets, but that's an impossible political sell when more
than a quarter of the population is unemployed. In an ideal world,
Spain would pair major reforms with major stimulus; in the real
world, it will drag its feet on reforms, try to cut its deficit, and
fall deeper into depression.
During
a long walk to a shop on the far side of town today, I found myself
contemplating some major questions:-
- Is there really a God?
- If so, why is faith in him so divided (Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Zaroastrian, Bahai, etc., etc.)?
- Do all these worship the same God?
- If so, why is His message so confused and divisive? And
- Why do only women have a VPL problem and not men?
I don't want to sound paranoiac but I suspect Facebook is trying to alienate me. It's bad enough having 'Suggested Pages' but today I had to get rid of the same one no fewer than 8 times. Each time I was told - This story is now hidden from your News Feed. Clearly not. If I were to quit Facebook, I wouldn't be alone, it seems.
Finally
. . . I may have invented Pineapple Porridge today. Here's the
recipe:-
Cook
a bowl of porridge
Take
this from the microwave and put it next to an empty glass
Take
pineapple juice from the fridge
Pour
some of it into the bowl of porridge instead of the glass
Decide
not to make new bowl of porridge and pour excess juice off the one
already made.
Eat porridge.
Not
quite up there with my Krispy Kipper (3 minutes in microwave
instead of 30 seconds) but tasty nonetheless.
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