2013 — 20 August: Tuesday
"Shadowy Whitehall figures"1 have yet to show up to destroy my hard drives...
A little over two months ago I was contacted by a very senior government official claiming to represent the views of the prime minister. There followed two meetings in
which he demanded the return or destruction of all the material we were working on. The tone was steely, if cordial, but there was an implicit threat that others within government and
Whitehall favoured a far more draconian approach.
The mood toughened just over a month ago, when I received a phone call from the centre of government telling me: "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back." There followed further
meetings with shadowy Whitehall figures. The demand was the same: hand the Snowden material back or destroy it. I explained that we could not research and report on this subject if we
complied with this request. The man from Whitehall looked mystified. "You've had your debate. There's no need to write any more."
... so (despite pondering [briefly] just exactly how stupid our lovely guvmint [and/or the saintly boy Dave] actually is) I shall nonetheless relax and enjoy my dual-purpose cuppa. It's
- Waking me up, and
- Warming me up
on this surprisingly cool morning. In fact, I've just realised the central heating was busily doing its bit until I turned the hall thermostat back down to 18C.
This curled my lips, too:
"We live in the most interesting times in human history ... the days of fulfillment," writes the Rev. E.W. Jackson, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia, in words that could have also come from the mouth of Saint Paul or Shabbetai Zevi or Hal Lindsey or any other visionary unable to accept the hard truth of the apocalyptic lottery: We're virtually guaranteed to witness the end of nothing except our lives, and the present, far from fulfilling anything, is mainly distinguished by being the one piece of time with us in it.
KBO :-)
Speaking of which: I've a lunch to pack, and some walking clothes to find. It's nearly time I wasn't here... Having first enjoyed a small technical debate and exchange of political views with my meter reader. Like me, he can't understand why there is no public backlash against the imposition of so-called "smart" meters. Which, among other dubious benefits, make it possible / easy to cut off supplies to individual households at the flick of a switch. Probably by a shadowy Whitehall figure.
Back, and in full-on feet-up mode, after a pleasant six-mile ramble around a golf course in New Alresford. The washing machine is now working harder than I am.
I really don't...
... understand what the Gods of NPR have against me, but my latest (cheap and cheerful — that may be a clue) IceCrypt S1500c digital satellite box has just gone completely castors up. It was working fine mere minutes ago, and now is dead in the water. "Bother!" said Pooh. There will be some relocating of kit in the near future.
One of...
... last Tuesday's trio of films — The Guard — turned out to be a perfect gem, easily on a par with In Bruges. I had been tipped off that this was so, though not until after I'd bought it. I like it when that happens.