Isn’t that a beautiful and appropriate heading to describe politics in this country at this moment. It, of course, means metamorphosis. The Liberal party has become unrecognizable during prorogation as its policies are now largely indistinguishable from those of the Conservative party. The problem is that poor Mr. Carney simply has not had enough time to think up new policies and has resorted to plagiarism as in his Oxford days. Oscar Wilde would have called it flattery.
Mr. Carney is telling us that his staying hand and wide experience guided the U.K. through the trials of Brexit and his experience with tax avoidance will be a huge asset to this country when he comes to power. We are also assured by him that he can stand up to Mr. Trump although the first round resembles a WWE mismatch. It seems that the Mark/Donald phone rapport was overstated and a Zelensky moment may still be ahead. It is beyond imagining that the thoughts of one man can have such a global effect. It tells us that the world is unstable and reminds us that in history evil supplants good at least initially.
After the WW2 the U.K. experienced a housing crisis, and prefab houses were being built. These were low-cost oblongs sheathed in corrugated asbestos. I do not know if the walls ever made anybody unwell, but they tended to crack, and bits would fall out of them.
In 1962/63 Malvina Reynolds, a writer and Pete Seager, the singer, introduced the Ticky-Tacky song all about small identical multi-coloured homes for replicants. Around that time in our hometown in Scotland a field of track homes appeared abutting to the main cemetery and the site of a defunct coal mine. This provided a nice balance. Fortunately, these dwellings were more imaginative, and most have lasted until today. We called them hen houses because they were so small. To my disappointment the hill of coal mine residue was slowly reduced in size as it was turned into bricks – as children we would climb to the top, admire the view and then descend on our bikes. Similar properties and schemes are suggested for this country all complete, no doubt, with mandatory E.V. charging stations.
Curling is a game of skill honed by years of practice. However, there is an element of chance as each rock is thrown and even consummate skill does not eliminate it. My suggestion is that high scores of five or more points per end should be held to a maximum of four points only. This would make the game fairer as it is virtually impossible to win if an opponent happens to score five or more points in one end. Curling, known as the “roaring game”, originated in Scotland. The name refers to the sound rocks make as they pass over ice separated from the surface of the water by pockets of air, not of course present under the artificial ice in curling rinks. Bronze winning Canada trounced China in this year’s Men’s World Competition. Scotland’s gold win over Switzerland capped my birthday week!
