EU Spectacle
The word spectacle is carefully chosen, since this is what the current drama of which Greece is the symptom, not the cause, has become. It no longer bears any relationship to coherent democratic leadership or process of governance in a workable political and currency union. The cancellation at a moment’s notice of a summit of all EU leaders is extraordinary.
There is a problem with Greece, but it is not that difficult to solve. Indeed this blog working alone would be able to negotiate a workable solution. What is proving impossible is to find an acceptable solution, because the institutions normally established to process decision making at national and international levels are not there, or there in such abundance nobody can detect who is in charge. And to make matters worse the structure of the currency itself is unsustainable as it lacks a treasury and a finance minister answering to an elected government. A committee of finance ministers at loggerheads, elected by only one member state in each case, on conflicting mandates and to differing electoral timetables will work only in the good times and becomes dysfunctional under pressure.
So all we know at this moment is that Greece may or may not go bust tomorrow, the euro looks more like an impediment to growth than an engine of it, and the reputation of the EU as a coherent political union is severely damaged. Beneath that a big gap is developing between the north and the south of Europe, between the politicians and their electors everywhere and between those in the eurozone who want to stand firm to high principle even if it brings the whole thing down, led by the Germans, and by those who feel pragmatic reality demands compromise, led by France and Italy.
At the heart of of this crisis now engulfing the whole EU are three violated principles. You cannot have a democratic political union without an elected forum from which all authority flows. You cannot have a currency which cannot be printed. You cannot have capitalism which does not permit debtors to go bust. The first is violated because the whole EU is wrongly configured. The last two are rescinded because Germany says No.
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Linda
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Aug 01, 2016 09:27PM
Gary has made a hobby out of doing ancestry research the past couple of years. He has done my relatives and his both. I had an ancestor in World War 1 named Thomas Howard Dietrich (notice the German name). He is working on a website about him. He is also working on one about his ancestor in WW1, etc, He likes to do historical research of this kind. It is amazing what he discovers.
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Though I despair of ever being able to get back to Venice and maybe even Italy itself because of the cruise schedule, the Syrians, and the terrorist threats, yes, I actually did visit Venice once when I was in ninth grade. (Gary and Kenny have never been to Italy at all). To be more accurate, it was the summer between ninth and tenth grade. We went to Rome, Florence, and Venice and took a train from Venice to Munich, stopping in Innsbruck on the way. The hotel whose name I cannot remember was right around the corner from St. Mark's Square and right off the Grand Canal. I have photos of pigeons landing on my mother and my brother. We ate lunch on the Square at one of the many tables there and watched glass blowing demonstrations. We toured St. Marks. But the Doges' Palace made more of an impression on me. It reminded me of Ben Hur with little slots for food for the prisoners. They even showed us how the prisoners marked time on the walls of their cells in the dungeon.Mostly everything we saw was right on St. Mark's Square, although there was the Bridge of Sighs, too. And oh yes, Byron's Palazzo Mocenigo. But we also took a motor launch to the beach at the Lido and rented a cabana. I have a photo of myself sitting on the beach in my new purple and white polka dot bathing suit and my mother and sister in their beach hats. (My father was always taking photos). We also took a one day tour to the islands of Murano and Burano. I remember a girl on the lace making island refusing to take my American Express Travelers checks at the time. She didn't recognize them.
Did you visit any of these places?
Yes, I remember being in northern Europe last summer. The weather would change all the time. You would wake up and find sun. Then it would change to rain and later back to sun. The temperature would change, too. You could start out without a sweater and need one later or visa versa. And this was in Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium, not England. Oddly enough the day we were docked in Southampton on June 10 when we walked to the Tudor House and Garden the weather was sunny and fair the whole day. It was brisk but just perfect for touring around. It was better weather than we had on July 13, 2012 when we went to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and the New Forest, and that was a whole month later. When we returned to Southampton on July 2, 2015 for the return voyage I think it was cloudy. When we were in Liverpool on July 4 it was also cloudy. So the best weather I experienced in England as an adult was on June 10 last year.
Maybe you are giving me an accurate description of what went on. But it makes so little sense that I cannot understand it. State/local government involved but power companies are involved here. They are owned by a consortium. Some are owned and operated by one utility. But none are financed or owned by China or any other foreign government. If Britain wanted a foreign government to finance its nuclear plant, why didn't it turn to a US power company? I don't know if such a thing is possible, but at least you would not have security concerns.Frankly I am surprised that it is allowed for Britain to have China build a nuclear plant. Behind the scenes, don't the US and Britain discuss such matters?
Yes, it was the cafe with the orchestra. I remember them playing while we were eating. I might even have a photo of it. But I don't think we stayed at the Danieli. I think it was a smaller place. I shall make a project of sending you a map of Venice with the exact location marked. I do remember the exact location but not the name of the hotel. I was only fifteen at the time, you see. Maybe you can figure out the name of the establishment.
Interestingly enough, Edward does have a gold pocket watch from his great-grandfather at Waterloo. It plays a part in Key to Lawrence when Edward falls into King Abdullah's tomb in Petra for one thing. As far as the Victoria Cross goes, Edward should put it in his pocket or conceal it in a case. He does not want to be recognized. So I will have him do so.
We looked up this story online about the nuclear power station. It sounds very crazy indeed. And China is making smart remarks about it, too! I would think they would not open their mouths. For instance I don't hear them saying much aloud about America. But then considering that the whole Chinese economy is dependent on its trade with Long Beach, California, I guess it doesn't dare. Personally I wouldn't have anything to do with a Chinese reactor. Just think, you could say the reactor was "made in China". You must know what thoughts that evokes. "Made in China" means not only cheap but it doesn't work and it might be dangerous like Chinese drywall and Chinese pet food which has been banned in most stores. If anything I would pass laws limiting the ability of certain private companies to interact with China at all.
I will make all these corrections and send the same two paragraphs back to you. By the way, did you ever get the Audible version of Captive at the Berghof part 1?
This blog of yours "Brexit Negotiations" not only makes good points, it is eloquent. It has an historical sweep to it. It is almost as if you could use it as the plot for a series of novels about the history of Great Britain. But I am not sure what you mean by the rest of Europe letting you go, though. What does that mean? I thought you were already gone.If you are talking about trade, I am sure the North Sea trade will continue.
Colonel Ware had seen too much already. He crept silently around the cove and headed into the woods. He found a vehicle that an eager functionary had driven from London to greet the Fuhrer. The official, whoever he was, had been so much in a hurry that he had abandoned his keys in the car. Edward took advantage of unknown Nazi sympathizer's euphoria to drive the vehicle away towards Salisbury, some one hundred thirty-eight miles distant. He had to discover if Dora had fled with Churchill, too.He passed heathland with purple heather in bloom. It brought back poignant memories of his college days when he and T. E. Lawrence used to take hikes in the South Downs. Things were not that simple anymore.
He did not stop until he reached the New Forest. There he shielded his car behind a clump of oaks while he took off his officer's uniform that was all he had to wear in the French prison. He already had his Victoria Cross from the last war in his pocket. He had not wanted anyone in the prison to steal it. And now back in England it would not be safe for anyone to recognize him as a Colonel in the British Army.
He drove as quickly as possible, watching out for spies along the road sent by von Wessel. Every time he entered a tunnel formed by trees arching across the road he wondered what would be around the next bend. He examined the larger clumps of gorse bushes on the heath for eyes peeking up and out of it. He froze when he saw a pair of yellow eyes fixed on him. But a wild horse quickly rose and fled across the road followed by a few foals.
His estate seemed to rise from the heath in the distance. He could make out the turrets and towers of the nineteenth-century neo-gothic manse.
I didn't mean for the yellow eyes to belong to the pony or horses. This is especially true since the eyes seem to be hiding behind a gorse bush. Maybe I should revise the passage like this:He drove as quickly as possible, watching out for spies along the road sent by von Wessel. Every time he entered a tunnel formed by trees arching across the road he wondered what would be around the next bend. He examined the larger clumps of gorse bushes on the heath for eyes peeking up and out of it. He froze when he saw a pair of yellow eyes fixed on him. Was that some sort of strange animal or a person with colored glasses sent to spy on him? A wild horse quickly rose and fled across the road followed by a few foals as he stepped on the gas.
His estate seemed to rise from the heath in the distance. He could make out the turrets and towers of the nineteenth-century neo-gothic manse.
Do you have a stables nearby? Do you ride horses? Gary did some horse riding when we first visited Tucson as tourists and stayed at the Tanque Verde Ranch. It is a guest ranch not far from here at the end of Speedway Road abutting the Saguaro National Park East which also is not faraway from where I am sitting right now. We had reservations for Gary to ride a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Alas! For one reason or another, he never got to go. But he did take several horse rides nevertheless.
I doubt if Americans are very good at saving either. And when you look into investments all they talk about is retirement savings. They don't talk about saving for anything else. Although when you look at mortgages and they demand 20% down, that's a lot of money for most people. You would think they would have to save for a down payment on a house. But then I notice that a lot of builders here are going into financing houses, too. They demand a lot less than 20% down.
You wouldn't think it would go anywhere, but if you look it up it turned out to be the longest running piece of litigation in British history. It got to the point where McDonalds wanted out of it but the protestors kept it going and going and going. It got very political. It even got appealed somehow to Parliament or your government. At the end the European Court of Human Rights got involved and ruled in favor of the protestors and against the British government, not McDonalds which was out of it by then. Sounds totally crazy. But then British libel law needs changed. What do you think?
How about this?He drove as quickly as possible, watching out for spies along the road sent by von Wessel. Every time he entered a tunnel formed by trees arching across the road he wondered what would be around the next bend. He examined the larger clumps of gorse bushes on the heath for eyes peeking up and out of it. He froze when he saw a pair of yellow eyes fixed on him. Was that some sort of strange animal or a person with colored glasses sent to spy on him? Suddenly to the right a wild horse quickly rose and fled across the road followed by a few foals as he stepped on the gas.
His estate seemed to rise from the heath in the distance. He could make out the turrets and towers of the nineteenth-century neo-gothic manse.
We are reading this novel aloud every day at lunch time. I am publishing it on November 8 just in time for the fall election since it is about the election of 1940 in the US. If I run into any more difficult passages I will send them to you. But only the very beginning of this work is set in Great Britain. Only the very first scene is set in Dunkirk in France. The rest is set either in Canada or the US. Remember this is the alternative history thriller when Hitler wins the Battle of Dunkirk and Churchill flees with Edward to America along with the British navy.
A choice between a hooligan and a witch? This is a British commentator? Could you send us the article? It sounds amusing. What I say is that you shouldn't look to government for solutions. Find them somewhere else. Unless what you want is entertainment. This election should prove to be very amusing. And no matter who wins it sounds as if it will continue to be very amusing. I should sign up once more for Rush Limbaugh commentaries and newsletters. Before 2008 Gary and I used to listen to him all the time on the car radio. Yes, this is definitely the time to sign up again.By the way, in Great Britain have you ever heard about Rush Limbaugh? At first I want to say you must have your own radio commentators about politics, but do you? Or is this only an American thing? Of course you wouldn't like Rush Limbaugh because he is very conservative.
You can say what you want about China. I would not trust them to build anything. And to buy a phone or a laptop made in China is far safer than to buy a nuclear power station.
I recorded this video one year ago yesterday, the day before we left Charlottesville, Virginia to come back to Tucson. I even say so in the video. I hope you will find this nostalgic. You can remember the time you spent in Virginia in the summer years ago. All the insect sounds are amazing! Here in Tucson it is much quieter.
British libel law curtails speech more than American libel law. I don't know all the standards, but this is what I've been told. I think the burden of proof is different, too. I think the burden of proof is on those accused of libel to prove that what they said is strictly true. In America the burden of proof is on the libeled party to prove that it is not true. In Britain McDonalds was able to get a conviction even though the activitists were mostly criticizing them about issues of public concern such as poverty in Third World countries and stuff like that. I think there is an exemption in America for accusations that have to do with broad issues of public concern. So Britain's laws need to be updated. That is what I was talking about. It isn't just McDonalds, it is the broader issues.
Rush Limbaugh is not evangelical. But he is political and conservative. Not that people like him aren't for entertainment, too. But you seem to keep missing the fact that American politics --- at least large swaths of it --- are for entertainment. European politics is much more serious than American politics. It is obvious why.As far as style of interviewing, there is a little of what you are talking about in news conferences when newsmen shout out questions for the President, etc. But to act like a cross-examining lawyer (you should have seen F. Lee Bailey perform at the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995 when cross-examining Officer Fuhrmann) you generally don't see that in American politics. The public would not like it. Most would consider it not very respectful. Even the Presidential debates aren't really debates in any academic sense. They are just a chance for each candidate to make mini speeches on certain topics. I can't emphasize enough how Americans like a show of unity and a pulling towards the center. Also the parties here are only superficially different and involve mostly personalities and a media circus. Hoopla. I looked at a photo online last night of the Republican convention, and it looked like a Hollywood set. You just don't have that sort of thing in Europe.
I bet you would. It is certainly a sound you do not have in England. I didn't even have it in Virginia, though supposedly coyotes have moved East. My mother claims that one of her neighbors saw one coming up the street in Pittsburgh. Rumor or fact? I don't know how somebody in Pittsburgh would know what a coyote looked like. I've seen them here. They look like straggly medium-size dogs. But you can instantly tell they are wild because they don't interface with people at all. If they see you at all, they run. They don't put up with people the way the bobcats do.
I don't know how the British libel law works or really even what it says exactly, but what I really don't like is how in Britain you can stop books from being published on the grounds that you think it might be libelous. I think it is called "prior restraint". Some years ago Prince Charles stopped a book by one of his servants from being published. Here you absolutely cannot do this. Even the federal government once could not st
This morning at the Safeway grocery store I saw a tabloid featuring Donald Trump and Mrs. Clinton on the front page. This was right at the checkout. Behind me I heard a man pontificating to several others standing in line. I think he was talking about the election. He said, "I don't know about him . . . If he gets there, the country will be worse. It's bad enough as it is." Then there was a pause and he added, "But I don't know about her!" If he was talking about the election, it sounds like a lot of "undecideds". What way will they swing? Or will it be an election with a low turnout? Or maybe Tucson isn't typical.
Tonight while we were eating dinner we decided to watch Trump's acceptance speech from the Republican Convention on You Tube. I've never heard him speak before. It went on forever. He had a loud voice. My favorite line was something like this: “I’ve made billions of dollars in business deals. Now I want to make America wealthy again.” Gary liked the line: “Hillary Clinton has everyone who works for her take an oath “I’m with her”. Trump says I’m for you.”He mentioned that he wanted to build a wall on the southern border which is very close to here. I don't know how much good that would do. He talked about "America First". That reminds me of Thomas Dewey in the 1940 election which is something I wrote about in Dark Horse. That's where I got that passage you edited for me about Edward driving across the heath to get back to Ware Hall. It sounds very isolationistic. The last time America was that isolationistic we had World War 2, which I think could have been prevented. (Not World War 1, though!)
Maybe we will even watch Mrs. Clinton or Mrs. Bozo as we would call her. I'll let you know what I think of that speech. But no matter what it is bound to make me think of the 1990's. Remember, I haven't followed her over the past eight years. I don't know anything about this crazy email scandal. Gary tries to explain it to me. It doesn't make any sense. All I know is that the Clintons were always involved in five scandals at once. That is part of the fun.
Did you watch any of this on You Tube? On the news? You couldn't possibly have watched it Live with the time zone difference.
Tonight at dinner we listened to recordings not of Mrs. Clinton’s speech at the Democratic Convention but Wendell Wilkie’s speech at the Republican Convention in Philadelphia in June of 1940 when you were one year old. There were lots of other clips of various political commercials about Wilkie and the Republicans. There was even a campaign song: “With Wilkie’s appeal we’ll sink the New Deal”. He kept on talking about Roosevelt’s wasteful spending. He also criticized Roosevelt for seeking a third term. He said it could lead to a dictatorship at home. Interesting historical note. And of course it has a lot to do with my novel Dark Horse.
Far be it from me to figure out what goes on in contemporary politics. Everything is always crazy, or at least it seems so at the time. I still can't figure out how Bill the Bozo got elected President in 1992. I would have re-elected Bush the Elder instead just as I would have elected Bob Dole in 1996. In 2000 we just barely got George W. Bush by the slimmest of margins. And since 2008 when I would have elected McCain it has gone so far downhill that I paid no attention at all to the election in 2012. I have to be reminded who the Republican was in that election. I don't even know his name nor do I know what he looks like. Things have gotten so bad that I wouldn't even care if Mrs. Bozo gets elected President. ANYTHING AND ANYONE is better than the current occupant of the White House. At least the Clintons are very entertaining and corrupt. They are always involved in five scandals at once. (Not the least of which will be that she gets elected President just because she was married to Bill the Bozo and not a real politician in her own right). If she gets elected we will almost certainly return to listening to Rush Limbaugh. He did Clinton jokes all the time. You could write a Clinton joke book.But it is too bad we can't have George W. again. During his Presidency I was more engaged in what was going on than at any other time. I actually listened to all his addresses and Freedom Speeches. I tuned in to his Inaugurations, etc. With the Clintons I will just get news bites from Rush Limbaugh who will be making fun of them and reporting scandals. I can't take them seriously, but they are fun.
Goodreads post: The odd choice of candidates is what keeps it all very entertaining! I went on Amazon this morning and saw a Donald Trump paper clip holder of all things.
As far as the Clintons go, I remember that there used to be a sign on the Mississippi River Bridge as you crossed from Tennessee into Arkansas that said: "Welcome to Arkansas Birthplace of President Bill Clinton". That got taken down. It certainly wasn't there when we drove back that way last year. They were part of the tabloid decade, the 1990s, along with OJ Simpson and Princess Di. It's like something coming back out of the past.
Lesser folk in Great Britain could publish their books here especially in the internet age.
Take it from me, it is more than a bit scary. My backyard reminds me of a wildlife park indeed with a constant parade of bobcats, coyotes, desert pigs, Gila Monsters, lizards, and rattlesnakes not to mention giant raptors. I have not taken one step into the backyard in six weeks since Putlitz discovered the rattlesnake outside our door. We have hired some landscape people to remove all the cactuses, wood, and old fences from the back of the property. But just this past weekend one of the men reported seeing another Gila Monster sunning himself.
Of course you do not have as much space as America. That is why the British settlers came to America to begin with. They wanted more space. For instance, in the Virginia colony not only second sons but also daughters could inherit land. There was plenty to go around. Whereas back in England only the eldest son inherited the family property. Second sons went into the military, etc. Right now we have no power. I don't know how fast I will be able to send the rest of the emails today.
The photo of the wheat field is magnificent. You must have a really good camera. Edward should see wheat fields like this on his way back to Ware Hall and think how after the disastrous battle the food produced here might be going to feed the German army instead of the English army.The power is back. There was an electrical storm. I am sitting at McDonalds eating lunch.
I might be conservative, but of course Wendell Wilkie is now only a footnote in the history of the US. He was the last “dark horse” candidate ever nominated by a major party, I think. Thus the title of the novel “Dark Horse”. But the term has a double meaning in my novel. Hitler himself also turns out to be another dark horse at the end of the book. Again I can’t emphasize enough that all of this is background research for the book.By the way, if I am so conservative, why do I also like Tony Blair. He wasn’t a member of the Conservative Party. He was the head of the Labor Party. Right?
Use Create Space. Get past the British libel laws. But is that how it works? If the British government did not approve of what you were writing, would it work to say you were publishing it not in Britain but on Amazon.com? Or is Amazon.co.uk separate from Amazon.com?
I owe a lot to George Bush and that time in history for the novels I am writing now. Right after 9/11 during the fall of 2001 I wrote a novel about the Third Crusade called Romance of the White Rose. The preface to it reads as follows: Lady Elizabeth Fitz Roy, the "chiefest spy" for King Richard I, (her code name is Witch of the White Rose) is swept along from Vezelay in France to Messina in Italy to Acre, Arsuf, and Jaffa in the Holy Land as she does all but fight in the Third Crusade. She meets such antagonists as King Phillip Augustus of France, Prince John, the Veiled Lady, a Moslem man in a hooded cloak, Lady Damaris, and a hunchbacked servant.
Everyone wants to defeat King Richard. If they cannot do it on the battlefield, they will resort to intrigue. Elizabeth cannot figure out why the most dangerous of the conspirators, the Moslem in the hooded cloak, whose face she seldom sees, is so intent upon kidnapping her, hiding her away in a harem in a walled palace in the Holy Land, and keeping her there no matter what Richard offers as a ransom. She had better find out. For although she has been drawn closer to Richard, for whose protection she is responsible, she finds herself falling in love with this dastardly, heathen Saracen!
This historical romantic thriller novel by Linda Cargill was written after September 11. I hope to use the Third Crusade, where Richard fought against Saladin, as a kind of "distant mirror", in the words of the medieval historian, Barbara Tuchman, for our own troubled time. Perhaps we can lift the veil in which the modern Saracens seem enshrouded just as the heroine, Elizabeth, must do in medieval times.
In 2006 after the German YA horror line ended, I wrote The Black Stone about a slightly futuristic 9/11. Then I wondered how it had all gotten started, modern terrorism that was. That is when I thought of Lawrence of Arabia, went back to World War 1, and started on the Edward Ware Thriller Series. If it hadn’t been for 9/11 and George W Bush, I might never have thought of the series.
I am glad you like the book cover and you preordered, but you already read the book. If you ever want to get yourself a book cover —- I know you don’t believe in spending money on such frivolities but just in case —- I bought it on http://www.selfpubbookcovers.com. I liked it because it seems to be a dignified lady figure against the background of London.
If it isn't a particularly good camera you must have excellent picture taking skills to make the most of the Chinese phone camera. But even I have noticed that my phone camera takes very clear pictures. It doesn't have a zoom. It isn't good for night photography or anything like that but outside on a sunny day it is wonderful.
Your Nikon looks even bigger than my Canon Rebel SLR camera. How do you carry it around? That is my biggest objection to SLR's other than the fact that they are more complicated to use. When I'm cooking and want to take photos, I try to always use the SLR. The other cameras don't do as well with close up photography.
I am sure Blair can appear in public or at public meetings just as I am sure that George W. Bush could travel to England if he wanted to. These people cannot be that unpopular, and even if they were they have the right to appear in public and travel. It would be illegal to stop them. You make it sound as if Blair were trying to escape a Nazi prison camp and had dogs and guards after him to drag him back at the first sighting. Ditto with Bush. You make it sound as if he would be assassinated if he appeared in your country.Your most discredited politician was not Blair but Neville Chamberlain as far as most Americans are concerned. Nobody can get over the Peace for our time stuff. If he could appear in modern day New York, a bunch of Jews would probably carry on a protest. But that doesn't mean he could not show up.
If you sell it on amazon.co.uk, is that considered to be in Great Britain or in cyberspace? But then your books are also for sale by Amazon.com.
I don't think of George Bush being elected in 2000 as a "worst thing". I thought of it as a saving grace. I have not seen many elections I like. That is one of the few. It is probably one of the reasons I don't like to pay much attention to elections. There is almost always something going on that I don't like and which agitates me.I think George Bush was elected in 2000 by fate because he would be needed in 2001. Nobody knew that in 2000, of course, which is why I attribute his election to fate. I don't think anybody else could handle 9/11 as well or half as well.
What do you mean the templates are "tight"?
No, it is not poisonous but I don't like it in the house. Besides, at first we were not sure what it was. I don't recognize snakes on sight. And there was Putlitz with the snake again. I had to whisk him away and put him in the room. Gary had to catch the thing in a box and take it outside. How did it get in? We don't know for sure. But we think it was on the dropcloth we use for painting that we store in the attached garage (we don't use it as a garage but as storage). But sometimes the garage door is left open and snakes could crawl in. From now on no more dropcloths except plastic throwaway ones.I have attached two photos of the snake.
That looks like a very nice Lowepro bag, nicer than the ones I see on Amazon.com. Where did you buy it? It resembles the really premium bags I used to see in the camera store I used to frequent in Charlottesville. In my case I almost never carry a camera bag even when going on long trips. I just slip the camera into my pocket or my handbag. Even if I were carrying the Canon Rebel I would either throw that into my handbag too even though it would not be a good fit or use the shoulder strap to carry it.By the way, speaking of handbags, my current handbag which I call the elephant tapestry bag makes an appearance in the Dark Horse novel. In fact it plays an important role. It looks somewhat retro so I think I can get away with this. I will show you a photo. I am about to post it on my website.
So what if George W. Bush would provoke protests? Protests are part of politics. In this country there are always protests and I think you have to register somewhere to get a permit and then you can only protest in certain places. I don't think that is much of an excuse for not visiting England. As far as your daughter not telling people that she was half American I think you must be exaggerating. What would these people do to your daughter? Shoot her? Assassinate her? I don't believe it!!! You say your wife's relations were aghast. How so? What exactly happened? Did somebody send them a death threat?Besides I know for a fact that Bush Sr. and Barbara Bush sailed on the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New York in May of 2012 right before we first sailed. That wasn't George W but it was still a Bush, and I don't remember any protests.
You are always telling me how unpopular America is now in Britain. During my two short visits during the past four years I certainly don't remember anything happening. No one pointed at us and exclaimed that we were Americans.
You fill out an income tax return and send it to the US because you sell on Amazon? Wow! Do you use tax software?
I would not have the skills either if left to myself. My only option would be to hire somebody like lulu.com to design covers for me and post them on Amazon. But that option is very expensive, and I don't like their covers very much. Instead of spending money on trips I would be spending it on getting my books up on Kindle and on my website. Instead Kenny designs my covers and posts my books up on Amazon. He designs my website, too. He is like an in house computer person. If you have any technical questions I will ask him. Even still I have spent small sums of money purchasing covers on selfpubbookscovers.com. I don't have an in house cover artist. My sister once painted a picture for the cover of To Follow the Goddess, though.
Yes, this was indoors. Last night Putlitz remembered the snake and went looking for him in the dining room once again. I don't know if the cat knows something we don't. I hope not.
It's not that I don't have any grasp or nuance or degree, I just don't think that they matter. Unless somebody is going to harm you physically, shoot at you, send you a death threat, etc., I don't think they are worth paying attention to. That is my point. Just because you are not popular doesn't matter. I am the type of person who has never been popular or widely liked. When I was a teenager I was used to be the odd man out all the time. I didn't wear the same clothes. I didn't read the same books. I didn't like the sports team at the high school, etc. I never showed up for pep rallies, parties, events like that. Plenty of people used to tease me for doing nothing except expressing my opinions about whatever we were discussing in class. The kind of treatment I got last summer in Liverpool would have been typical. Last summer all I did was write a review about the Cunard celebration in Liverpool. Apparently even doing that little (or that much) is more than most people do. Thus I get criticized. That happened in high school, too, on a smaller scale.So I assume that political leaders shouldn't care either what sort of reception they get.
How quaint! I didn't know you had to pay income tax in order to be a US citizen. Also I am not familiar with this business about Amazon withholding money under US Law. I have been selling Kindle books on Amazon since Kindle started. I have also been selling physical books under Amazon Advantage. Amazon has never withheld money for taxes for me the way an employer would do. Even when I had an agent, she didn't do that either. Neither did Scholastic, Harper Collins, or even Cora Verlag in Germany. I was considered to be an independent contractor, not an employee. Why they withhold money for you is mysterious. Do they do it because you are a British citizen, and Britain requires it? I know other independent contractors, too, in other fields. None of them as money withheld by their clients for them. It just doesn't work that way here.
