Saturday, February 2 2019

09:00 After breakfast, Lois and I drive to the local Sainsbury’s supermarket to go food shopping. On the way, we swing by the local pharmacy to pick up Lois's cholesterol pills.

The outing is a bit of a test for me because I haven't been out of the house for three days because of my cold. On top of that, I first have to clear the ice and snow from the car's windows - brrrrrr !!!!

It doesn't make sense to buy too much food today, so just a quick trip. We can't buy a lot of frozen foods at the moment - our freezer is in a doubtful  state, and it isn’t working to its usual standard, which is a little worrying.

our local Sainsbury’s supermarket

As usual, when I'm sick, I feel like I've become a very boring person, which is a bit of a shame for Lois, if that's true. I don't have the faintest idea why I feel I have to entertain and amuse Lois. It's just one of my many stupid knee-jerk gut-feelings (mixed metaphor), but I can't do anything about it. Lois is more than capable of entertaining herself, I have no doubts about that.

I have spent far more time in the bed and on the bed than usual - not just at night, like a normal human being, but during the day, like a crazy person; and I’m not just talking about my long afternoon naps - sometimes I sneak up the stairs and lie down for a few minutes to recharge my batteries.

I recently read,  however, that bed can a dangerous place - journalists working for the influential US news website Onion News recently reported that the famous comedian Max Ruckle, whose heyday dates back to the 1930’s, almost injured himself over problems with his Murphy bed.

The mustachio’d Ruckle, dressed only in his pyjamas, fluffy slippers and floppy nightcap, revealed to journalists that he had finally gotten the best of  his new house's problematic Murphy bed.

"That ought to do the trick," said Ruckle at the end of a long 45-minute fight with the defective bed, after repeatedly stomping on the mattress to hold it down, and becoming frantic every time the bed suddenly sprang upwards and trapped him inside the wall.

"So the bed’s trying to make a monkey out of me, eh? Well, it takes a lot more than a pile of springs to outwit old Max Ruckle!”.

Sources confirmed that the sleepy Ruckle then blew out the flame from his candlestick and jumped into the bed, instantly causing the house walls to collapse outwards in all four directions.

Flashback to the 1930’s: Ruckles Murphy bed in happier times

A little scary, but also a kind of warning, not to take your bed for granted - your bed is more than capable of turning against you, if you do not pamper it, no doubt about that!

11:00 We come home and I start unpacking my new electric shaver - I ordered it the other day from Amazon because my old one is starting to become unreliable to say the least. I plug it in to recharge the battery for the first time.

This is roughly the limit of my technical skills at the moment. Lois has offered not to ask me to drive her over to Tewkesbury tomorrow so she can take part in her sect’s two church services - she will just stay home and take part online instead, which is kind of her. The bottom line is that, if possible, I want to be fit enough to be able to take the bus into town on Monday, to pick up my new glasses and have them adjusted etc.

12:00 We listen to the radio for a bit, an interesting discussion in the series "The invention of free speech". This episode deals with the development of freedom of expression in political views. The host of the programme is the charming historian Farai Dabhoiwala (crazy name, crazy guy).

Until the end of the 17th century, the chances of getting away with expressing one's political opinions without risk of being punished were a bit random to say the least. And if you criticised the monarch, you would almost certainly get yourself into a lot of trouble - no doubt about that.

The first example Farai talks about is the trial of John Stubbs in 1579. Stubbs published a series of political pamphlets in which he criticised Queen Elizabeth I’s to plan to marry the Duke of Anjou, a French Catholic, whom Stubbs said would constitute a danger to the Anglican church.

Elizabeth prosecuted Stubbs for treason and demanded the death sentence. The jury convicted him, but refused to sentence him to death, which was kind of them: the authorities, in their mercy, just chopped off his right hand and sent him to prison for several years – my god, poor Stubbs !!!!

In the 16th century, the authorities chopped John Stubbs' sright hand off

for criticising Queen Elizabeth's controversial wedding plans

- good grief, what madness !!!

Stubbs was not intimidated, however - he taught himself to write with his left hand, and continued to publish political leaflets from his prison cell. What a man!

It seems hard to believe, but in the 16th century, expressions of opinion were considered “divisive” (unless it was the king or queen doing the expressing ha ha ha!).

However, by the late 17th century, the principle had been well and truly established that all citizens had the right to express their opinions. Parliament had acquired supreme sovereignty after the civil war and the system in parliament was a two-party one, which would not have worked without channels of debate - and political freedom and freedom of expression were considered inextricably linked.

In 1720, two journalists, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, published their famous "Cato’s Letters", which became massively influential in Britain, also in the colonies. They praised free government, freedom of opinion, and freedom of speech, claiming that only wicked rulers were afraid of what their people were saying about them.

Pharai's next example dates from 1763: Catherine Macauley, who also claimed in her history of England, that there are no clearer signs of a malicious government than one that attempts to limit what people said and wrote. By the way, the publication of her views constituted another new phenomenon in the 18th century, in that for the first time women had begun to play a much greater role in public life.

Catherine Macauley (1731-1791)

However, problems arose in the 1790's when the government became worried about the French Revolution and they began to crack down on radical politicians. Many radical politicians were prosecuted by the Attorney General for treason or the like, but most of them were acquitted by juries, with the famous exception of Thomas Paine, who was found guilty in his absence, despite the rhetoric of his brilliant lawyer, Thomas Erskine.

Interestingly, radical lawyers and writers took a particularly cunning stance. Instead of an outright assault on government censorship or restrictions, they instead accused the authorities of trying to undermine "ancient" rights to freedom of expression and freedom of opinion. They often accused them of trying to undermine the 1688 constitution ("the world's most perfect"). This approach was always very effective when it came to persuading juries or public opinion, I have to say.

Erskine was careful not to support Paine's radical opinions, basing his defence on the idea that a free press was needed to identify errors in the country's progress towards perfection. It was precisely this freedom that had created our great system, and only this freedom could preserve it, he said.

He acknowledged that Paine's vision was not compatible with the British system, but claimed that "opinion is free - only conduct is in the domain of law". The idea that discussion was dangerous was a recent development and was an idea we must drop as soon as possible, he said. Let argument oppose argument, and reason oppose reason, and in this way every good government will be safe and will never find itself in danger.

It just goes to show that the moment you mention words like "tradition", "precedence" and "history" in Britain, the whole country falls flat on its face, and few people dare challenge you, even governments - and you can be as radical as you like - what madness!

Flashback to October 2014: we visit the city of Thetford

and see the statue of Thomas Paine in the town centre

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap. I get up at 3:30 pm and Lois and I relax with a cup of tea on the sofa.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television. An interesting documentary is on, all about the famous department store Harrods in London.

We hear that the basement houses the department store's stables, where the company's troupe of Frisian thoroughbred horses originally lived, the ones who used to pull the company's delivery wagons. Of course, why not!

in the basement lived the Frisian horses,

who pulled the department store's delivery wagons – my god, what madness!

In the 1920's, Daphne Milne bought a cute teddy bear for her little son, Christopher Robin, in the store's toy department. Later, the teddy bear was named "Winnie", after the family visited the London Zoo, where a large black Canadian bear had recently arrived. The zoo's bear was called "Winnipeg" - and this gave the AA Milne the idea to call his fictional bear "Winnie the Pooh" (1926) - and the rest is history.

AA Milne, Christopher Robin, and "Winnie the Pooh"

The UK's first escalator was installed in the store in 1898, but staff were concerned that the experience might be too exciting for the store’s customers. So they paid a footman to stand at the top with a tray in his hand, filled with brandy glasses for the men and smelling salts for the women. My god, what madness !!!

 the UK's first escalator:

but it was too exciting for many of the customers - yikes!

My goodness, what a crazy world we live in !!!!

Flashback to June 2013: Harrods in happier times - 

Lois and I visit Harrods chocolate department - yum yum!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

09:00 Efter morgenmad kører Lois og jeg over til det lokale Sainsburys-supermarked for at gå madindkøb. På vej smutter vi ind i det lokale apotek for at hente Lois’ kolestorolpiller.

Udflugten er lidt af en test for mig, fordi jeg ikke er kommet ud af huset i tre dage på grund af min forkølelse. Oven i købet skal jeg først rydde isen og sneen fra bilens ruder – brrrrrr!!!!

Det giver ikke mening at købe for meget.  Vi kan ikke købe en masse frosne fødevarer for tiden – vores fryser er  i en tvivlsom tilværelse, og den fungerer ikke på dens sædvanlige niveau, hvilket er lidt bekymrende.

vores lokale Sainsburys-supermarked

Som sædvanligt, når jeg er syg, føler jeg at jeg er blevet til en meget kedelig person, hvilket er lidt af en skam for Lois’ vedkommende, hvis det er sandt. Jeg har ikke den fjerneste anelse om, hvorfor jeg føler, jeg er nødt til at underholde Lois. Det er bare en af mine mange dumme refleksmæssige mavefornemmelser, men jeg kan ikke gøre noget ved det. Lois er mere end dygtig til at underholde sig selv, det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om.

Jeg har tilbragt langt mere tid i sengen og på sengen, end normalt – ikke om natten, som et normalt menneske, men i løbet af dagen som et vanvittigt menneske; og ikke bare mine lange eftermiddagslure - nogle gange sniger jeg mig op ad trappen og lægger mig ned i nogle minutter for at genoplade minde batterier.

Jeg læste for tiden, at sengen er et farligt sted – journalister, der arbejdede for den indflydelsesrige amerikanske nyhedswebsted Onion News, rapporterede for nylig, at den berømte komiker Max Ruckle, hvis storhedstid daterer tilbage i 1930’erne, næsten sårede sige i problemer med sin Murphy-seng.

Den overskæggede Ruckle, klædt i hans pyjamas, dunede tøfler og slapt-nedhægende nathue, afslørte til journalister,  at han endelig havde fået overtaget over sin nye hus’ problematiske Murphy-seng.

"Det har fikset det," sagde Ruckle efter en lang 45 minutters kamp med den defekte seng, hvor han gentagne gange stampede på madrassen for at holde den nede og blev afsindig hver gang sengen pludselig sprang opad og fangede ham inde i væggen.

"Sengen forsøger at gøre mig til en abe, ikke? Tja, det tager meget mere end en bunke spiralbunde for at overvinde gamle  'Max Ruckle!'.

Kilder bekræftede, at den søvnige Ruckle, så pustede flammen ud på sin lysestage og hoppede op i sengen, hvilket straks fik husets vægge til at kollapse udad i alle fire retninger.

Tilbageblik til 1930’erne: Ruckles Murphy-seng i lykkerligere tider

Lidt skræmmende, men også en slags advarsel, ikke at tage ens seng for givet – senge kan vende sig fjendligt imod én, hvis man ikke forkæler dem, ingen tvivl om det!

11:00 Vi kommer hjem og jeg går i gang med at pakke min nye elektriske barbermaskine op – jeg bestilte den forleden fra Amazon, fordi min gamle er begyndt at blive upålideligt for at sige mildt. Jeg sætter den til for at genoplade batteriet for første gang.

Dette er i grove træk grænsen af mine tekniske færdigheder for tiden. Lois har tilbudt ikke at bede mig om at køre hende over til Tewkesbury i morgen for at deltage i sin sekts 2 gudstjenester – hun vil nøjes med at blive herhjemme og deltage på nettet i stedet for, hvilket er venligt af hende. Bundlinjen er, at jeg ønsker, hvis muligt, at blive rask nok til at tage bussen ind i byen på mandag, for at afhente mine nye briller og få dem justeret osv.

12:00 Vi lytter lidt til radio, et interessant diskussion i serien ”Opfindelsen af ytringsfrihed”. Dette afsnit handler om udviklingen af ytringsfriheden i forbindelse med politiske optikker. Programmets vært er den charmerende historiker Farai Dabhoiwala (skørt navn, skør fyr).

Indtil sidst i det 17. århundrede var chancerne for at slippe af sted med at udtrykke ens politiske optikker uden at blive straffet, var lidt tilfældige for at sige mildt. Hvis du kritiserede monarken ville du sandsynligvis have rodet dig ind i noget – ingen tvivl om det.

Det første eksempel Farai taler om, er retssagen af John Stubbs i 1579. Stubbs publiserede en række politiske pjecer, hvori han kritiserede dronning Elizabeth 1. for at planlægge at gifte sig med hertugen af Anjou, en katoliker, hvilket han sagde ville blive til en fare for den anglikanske kirke.

Elizabeth retsforfulgte ham for forræderi og krævede en dødsdom.  Juryen dømte ham, men nætede at fordømme ham til døden, hvilket var venligt:  myndighederne huggede kun hans højre hånd  af og sendte ham i fængsel i lang tid – du godeste, stakkels Stubbs!!!!

I 1500-tallet huggede myndighederne John Stubbs’ højre hånd af,

for at kritisere dronning Elizabeths kontroversielle bryllupsplaner

-  du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Stubbs var ikke intimideret imidlertid – han lærte sig selv at skrive med sin venstre hånd, og fortsatte med at udgive politiske pjecer fra sin fængselscelle.

Det virker svært at tro, men i 1500-tallet blev udtryk af meninger betragtet som divisivt (medmindre det var kongen, der udtrykte dem ha ha ha!).  Men sidst i 1600-tallet var princippet imidlertid blevet godt og grundigt etableret, at alle borgere havde ret til at udtrykke deres meninger. Parlamentet havde skaffet suprem suveranitet efter den borgelige krig, og systemet i parlamentet var et to-partiers, hvilket krævede kanaler til debat – og politisk frihed og ytringsfrihed var betragtet som tæt forbundede.

I 1720 udgav to journalister, John Trenchard og Thomas Gordon, deres berømte ”Catos breve”, som blev massivt indflydelserige i Storbritannien, også i kolonierne. De roste fri regering, meningsfrihed og ytringsfrihed, og påstod, at kun ondskabsfulde herskere var bange for, hvad deres folk sagde om  dem.

Farais næste eksempel daterer fra 1763: Catherine Macauley, der påstod i sin historie af England, at der er ingen klarere tegn på en ondsindet regering, end forsøg på at begrænse, hvad folk sagde og skrev. Det var for øvrigt et andet nyt fænomen i det 18. århundrede, at kvinder for første gang var begyndt at spille en større rolle i det offentlige liv.

Catherine Macauley (1731-1791)

Problemer opstod imidlertid i 1790s, da regeringen blev bekymret over den franske revolution og begyndte at slå hårdt ned på radikale politikere. Mange venstreorienterede politikere blev retsforfulgt af Rigsadvokaten for forræderi eller lignende, men de fleste af dem blev frifundet af juryer, med den berømte undtagelse af Thomas Paine, på trods af retorikken af hans brilliante advokat, Thomas Erskine.

Det er interessant, at radikale advokater og forfattere plejede at anklage myndighederne af at prøve at underminere ”ældgamle” rettigheder til ytringsfrihed og meningsfrihed. Og de anklagede dem for at prøve at undermindere 1688-forfatningen (”verdens mest perfekte”). Denne tilgang var altid meget effektiv, når det kom til at overtale juryer eller den offentlige mening, det må jeg nok sige.

Erskine var forsigtig om ikke at støtte Paines radikale meninger, men baserede sit forsvar på idéen at en fri presse var nødvendig til at identificere fejl i landets fremskridt mod perfektion. Bare denne frihed har gjort vores system til hvad det er, og bare denne frihed kan bevare det, sagde han.

Han erkendte, at Paines vision ikke var kompatibel med det britiske sytem, men påstod at ”mening er fri – kun opførsel er i domænen af loven”.  Den idé, at diskussion var farlig, var en nylig udvikling, og vi må droppe denne idé  så snart som muligt, sagde han. Lad argument modsætte sig argument, og fornuft modsætte sig fornuft, og på denne måde vil hver god regering være sikker og ikke befinde sig i fare.

Tilbageblik til oktober 2014: vi besøger byen Thetford

og ser statuen af Thomas Paine i bymidten

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 15:30 og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om den berømte stormagasin Harrods i London.

I kælderen ligger stormagasinets stalder, hvor selskabets flok af frisiske racerne heste oprindeligt boede, dem der plejede at trække selskabets varevogne.

i kælderen boede de frisiske heste,

der trak stormagasinets varevogne – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

I 1920’erne købte Daphne Milne en sød bamse til sin lille søn, Christopher Robin, i magasinets legetøjsafdeling. Senere blev bamsen kaldet ”Winnie”, efter familien besøgte London Zoo, hvor en stor sort kanadiske bjørn for nylig var ankommet. Bjørnen hed ”Winnipeg” – og dette gav AA Milne idéen at kalde sin fiktive bjørn ”Winnie the Pooh” (1926) – og resten er historie.

AA Milne, Christopher Robin, og ”Winnie the Pooh”

Storbritanniens første rulletrappe blev installeret i magasinet i 1898, men personalet var bekymret over, at oplevelsen kunne være for spændende for magasinets kunder. Derfor betalte de en lakaj for at stå på toppen med en bakke i hænderne, fuld af brandyer for mændene og lugtesalt for kvinderne.  Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!

Storbritanniens første rulle trappe:

men den var for spændende for mange kunder – yikes!

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!

Tilbageblik til juni 2013 - Harrods i lykkeligere tider:

Lois og jeg besøger chokoladeafdelingen

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!!