Dear Reader! Bonjour!,
After a very pleasant evening last night, doing a spot of writing and catching up with my Rioja drinking, I decided to ‘stress test’ my bank by telephoning them to ask if a payment had come in. I was put through to a call centre and passed the security checks. I had waited for some time for this and the Rioja had taken hold. The operator was taken by surprise when I ordered a pizza and then asked him what toppings he had. He wasn’t very amused. I was a bit over refreshed and rather bored by the long wait. It can be fun, sometimes, to be an awkward customer with banks. I shall be writing to The Governor of The Bank of England to say that I am at my country’s disposal in these BIG SOCIETY days should he want any further bank ‘stress testing’ done.
This morning, I rose rather earlier than usual at 4.00. I found many good stories on the online newspapers – NOT The Times of course now they have hidden by a paywall – and, at 7.00, I walked up to have breakfast at the Battersea Grill near Battersea Bridge. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that it did not open until 7.30 so I amused myself by buying some more Marlboros, checking my balance on the ATM machine in the newsagent and purchased The Indie and The Sun.
I then saw a guy – almost certainly Nigerian from his accent – nicking tomatoes from a pile of small vegetable boxes left outside the cafe. [I have taught and met a lot of Nigerians so can generally recognise them – and very amusing most of them were!. I am a fan of the louder Nigerians who laugh a lot.] The man appeared to be slightly drunk. He had an opened can of cider in his hand. I asked him what he was doing. He became very abusive. I asked him again why he was taking tomatoes which did not belong to him. One of the waitresses arrived and opened up the cafe. I told him to put the tomatoes back. He became even angrier, told me that I could get *kill-ed* for doing this. I’m getting a bit old for this sort of nonsense but I was relaxed – doing Karate and Kendo in my youth for many years assisted (Not forgetting my ruthless exercise regime with Smokedo). He was braced to throw a punch – which suited me just fine. People who are not trained, invariably are not balanced when they throw a punch. This is why it is a relatively straightforward matter to side step, grab the assailant’s wrist and use one’s other hand to snap the assailant’s elbow into a locked position and put them down. The pain from the elbow and pressure applied to the nerves around the wrists drains the assailant’s enthusiasm for fighting fairly quickly. At which point, a foot on the neck tends to discourage further activity. This is the theory of it – although, unfortunately, I had to use it with a pisshead many years back.
Fortunately, I did not to have to deploy such methods in middle class Battersea at 7.15 am. After calling me various names, saying that he would wait for me and punch my head in, that I could be *kill-ed* again, I thought it best to use the other technique of ‘command and control’ and tell him to fark orf. Ludicrous man! He did and I settled down at my usual table to have an excellent English breakfast. I was greedy this morning and asked for some beautifully cooked chips!
***
A quick return to The Staterooms to do some writing on my new Tort book. This, I have to say, had no appeal at all. I did read the excellent blog post by lawyer and blogger Jack of Kent about the win in the libel courts yesterday in the case of Kaschke v Gray, Hilton. This is a very important decision for all bloggers and I raise my hat to Dougans and Jack of Kent for their pro bono work on this, Osler and other matters. Lawyers do not always get a good press. These lawyers deserve a bit of praise and they certainly get it from me.
It would be well worth your time, if you are interested in libel law or blogging, reading these:
Victory for Gray and Hilton
Jack of Kent blog post
Judgment: Kaschke v Gray, Hilton.
Kaschke’s response – which I have to say is rather dramatic. I am, of course, allowed to express an objective opinion on what I have seen published on the internet.
John Gray has become a fat ponze
I came to the view that Ms Kaschke’s blog post, in response to losing the libel application yesterday, was ‘dramatic’ simply by reading her own opening to her blog post… I quote…
I have to let out the frustrations somehow that I collected today when I sat the High Court to listen to Stadlen J’s useless judgment.
John Gray is just a fat ponze now, he is part of the political establishment, having gotten the Labour Party Councillor post. Alex Hilton has gotten away with his tactics and Robert Dougans looked like a clown who spend most of his time stammering and didn’t know what he was doing. Or maybe his bad conscience over how he tricked me out of my claim, finally caught up with him, it is possible that he still might have a tiny drop of humanity in him, but its not certain…..
It goes on…..
UPDATE
It would appear that Ms Kaschke did not appreciate my comment and giving her an opportunity to respond by linking to her blog post.
Henchman? Moi?
I won’t, of course, be seeking any legal remedy for being called a *Henchman* – I have better things to do than waste my time on litigation.
Guido Fawkes is usually on the button. Here is his take on the matter:
Court Report : Loonie Leftie (Tory Party Member) v Hilton & Gray
And so to other matters…..
Catholic church embarrassed by gay priests revelations
Guardian: Vatican on defensive again after magazine exposes priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex
And then I went orf to The Square to have an early morning glass of vin rose with my americano and some Marlboros. All in all, an unusual morning. The day can only get better. I plan to ensure that this is the case
I asked yesterday on twitter: “To haircut or not to haircut……Whether ’tis nobler on the head to suffer the hacks and cuts of an outrageous barber….or look like Lear? ” I enjoyed my visit to the choppers in Battersea Square. A lovely Spanish hairdresser did the business…. I removed the tache myself some weeks ago.
Pic right – I would not, after all, wish my readers to think that I am pictured top left. That is my alter ego!
Best, as always
Enjoy your weekend
Charon
***
Ahem… re the earlier drugs liberalisation hoo-ha: read Daniel for me yet, M’Lud?
I’m on the case…. mea culpa. Have emailed you!
More podcasts sir. Resume them in earnest. Western civ itself may depend on it.
Holden Oliver – Five planned for next 2-3 weeks. Had a short break….. but back this week with some pretty heavy issues!