I am afraid that I am not a patient man, nor am I a good patient, and there is some froideur at the Chateau d’If due to my temporarily weakened state. Madame, friends, luncheon companions, and racing hosts are all bored by my condition. This condition manifests itself by, for example, a slow progress in the morning from the first-floor apartments in the West wing to the ground-floor East Wing day rooms, which requires a stopover in the Aspidistra Conservatory. There, I lie in the almost crumpled armchair so that the forward edge of the armchair, where the wooden frame can be felt through the near-defunct cushioning, can act as a lever to push my back into place. This then allows me to sit partially upright before moving on. The process takes about 40 minutes. The lower leg neuropathy, meanwhile, continues to emulate the impact of burning oil being splashed on it whilst being attacked by an incredibly poisonous Komodo dragon. It is tiresome and wearing, and it does not help my attention to racing.
From my few selections yesterday, I had three non-runners and a walk-over, and I fear more of the same today. So, I am not covering every TV race and will not do very deep research until nearer the off. Inevitably, this means that I will be 90% right! Forgive me. The regular desultory service will be resumed very soon.
I am less than thrilled that Jonathan Powell is now our National Security Adviser. For some reason, which no one has ever successfully explained, Powell once told a BBC Documentary, “Putin, Russia and the West”, how MI6 had in 2006 used a "fake rock filled with surveillance devices as a means of communication with their agents in Moscow". This was used extensively during the following year by Putin to not only damage diplomatic relations but also to attack and undermine many of Putin’s opponents.Powell has just finished his job as chief negotiator for the Chagos surrender deal, which handed over a vital military asset and sovereign British territory to a Chinese-aligned state. He seems to have forgotten that the only properly inhabited island is Diego Garcia, one of two key US bomber bases in the Indo-Pacific region, along with Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. He went on the radio afterwards saying: “These are very tiny islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean where no one actually goes.” His relationship with the Chinese government cannot be improved upon, as he was also the desk officer for negotiations during the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese, so he is already considered a very good friend to the Chinese State. He was not widely esteemed in either the Butler or Hutton reports, and it was widely suggested that his hand lay more heavily on the Iraq “hidden Weapons” dossier than Blair’s.
Please, God, don’t let him anywhere near the Channel Islands!
Talking of constantly losing bits of the dwindling empire to total strangers and overemphasising complete fiction to the benefit of others ….
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