(I discovered that they have a big bash to attend in Maidenhead so that's why they ventured out.)
The only thing I could think to do with my visitors was to drive past Reading Gaol and say, 'Oscar Wilde was incarcerated here. The Highlights of Reading Tour has now concluded.'
I had to contact my friend Madeleine who knows everything there is to know about Reading, and she suggested I take them to Henley for a walk along the Thames and a visit to a country pub.
Here is a pic of our walk. So beautiful....
Luckily for us it was a beautiful autumn day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, life was good.
(This is my friend Ann at the pub.)
6 comments:
Ha Ha -- That's funny! Whenever I think of Reading, I think of Thames Valley Business Park, home of Microsoft.
Do you think I should include that on future tours of Reading?
I'll bet no one else ever comes to visit me on a weekend anyway.
E, just do a tour of the canteens and coffee shops there (yum!)
In F-15E, an early flight simulator game (debut 1985) there were three theaters of war the player could fly and fight in. One was Kosovo, one was Venezuela, and the other Iran. Prophetic, huh?
I discovered that if you landed your F-15 on the highway outside of Baghdad you could taxi into town shooting people and buildings, and at a certain place a sign saying "Microsoft" would display over one of the taller buildings. I wondered why it was there, because anyone who ever was successful in getting F-15 to run properly on a pc in those days could not possibly have kind feelings for Microsoft.
Today I am almost scared to say how much time I spent searching for that building from the air- could such an admission lead to a rendition?
In the same vein, things have gotten really crazy in the US with police federalization and abuse. I don't know if any of you are aware of how outrageously the police in Pittsburgh have been behaving during the G-20 summit.
There is a radio broadcaster in the US named Alex Jones everyone loves to hate. Alex, six weeks before the attack on the Trade Center, predicted that the towers would be attacked and asked his listeners to call the White House and ask them not to do it. He was convinced the Bush administration would launch a "false flag" attack on the US to justify invading Afganhistan and Iraq.
Alex also inspired a kid named Luke Rudowski to start a group called We Are Change, a group that advocates for 911 victims families and won't shut up about asking for a new 911 investigation. This weekend Luke, Jason Burmas, and another fellow were in Pittsburgh reporting for Alex, and all three got arrested. Luke was using a bullhorn to tell people not to do what the Black Shirt Anarchists have been doing, inciting violence, and to have peaceful demonstrations. For his trouble Luke was beaten, arrested, and taken to a state prison for a day or so where he was kept with his hands tie-wrapped behind his back. This is the second time Luke has been unlawfully arrested- now he is charged with inciting riot while what he was doing was trying to prevent it.
The police have gone crazy over here. Anyone who thought Obama was going to put an end to this insane militarization of America were very very wrong. Look at this story about a Boy Scout Jamboree recently held in Wisconsin: http://www.infowars.com/jamboree-used-by-military-police-to-indoctrinate-boy-scouts/
Do you think Obama has the power to do anything about it? I'm serious.
The problem with the job creation scheme called "security" is that no one has ever been known to say "You know, what we need around here is less security".
Can you imagine the outcry if, for example, Obama wanted to cut the TSA's budget by 50%. Now, that's a worthy policy if there ever was one, but it just couldn't be done. Think about it.
I don't know if Obama could do anything about it or not- my point is just that he isn't any different in this regard than Bush. In fact, Obama wants to create a domestic security service "as large, as powerful, and as well funded as the US military".
The truth is it is becoming frightening, both here and abroad. The Justice Dept isn't even pretending to go by the constitution in law enforcement matters anymore. The police have become something entirely different than they were 20 years ago. They definitely are targeting political dissidents here. The first time Luke was arrested he was attempting to attend a public meeting; a security guard told him he couldn't enter and when he tried to leave the police wouldn't let him and then arrested him for trespassing on public property.
In Pittsburgh the cops were driving around in their military vehicles sound-waving people who were doing nothing more than going about their lives, in areas far away from the summit meeting. It seems like they are using security as an excuse to make the people afraid, and lots of people are afraid of them now.
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