Abebooks Disappointments

I used to be a great fan of Abebooks, however my two most recent attempts to buy books have soured my opinion of the site and its booksellers.

When I was able to buy a reading copy of a rare classic in July I was delighted - at least until after three weeks delay the bookseller said it was lost in the post (apparently the seller knew of many similar losses because of problems at his local sorting office) and immediatedly refunded my payment.  I would have given that explanation more credence if an immediate search to find an alternative hadn't produced books at prices at least £30 more expensive. So I'm still looking out for a sensibly priced copy of the book in question. And I'm still waiting to receive and complete the Royal Mail lost post compensation form ....

Then today I received an email from the seller of another book apologising that it was unavailable because it had already been sold. Surprise, surprise, the next availailable copy on Abebooks was £11.00 more expensive.

So in future I will consider that booksellers reserve the right to change their mind about fulfilling contracts if they find the book is on sale elsewhere for higher prices, that is if they agree to me returning the book for a full refund after I've read it. Fair's fair...

Treat Them The Same

Remember a few weeks ago when the world and his wife went diplomatically ape over a Foreign Office letter to Ecuador in which a threat to unrecognise its embassy in London in order to arrest a bail absconder wanted for alleged sex crimes in Sweden? Can't do that, Vienna Convention Article 22 states the embassy is inviolate. And then the Arab mobs storm American embassies and consulates because of a Youtube film clip they'd been told to hate. Do we get the leftocracy saying that mobs ought to obey international law? No, it's the fault of the West for inciting the rabid dog of muslim public opinion. How hyprocritical. Until these countries have proper revolutions and free themselves of the stupid shackles of religion in order to think for themselves, the people will hate themselves for their weakness and shift the blame onto others. Treat them the same. All the muslim/Arab ambassadors should be called in and told, without coffee, that they must protect our diplomats or lose their wives' shopping rights at Harrods.

Update 25 September: How can the Arab/Muslim world be offended about a silly film when they obviously have such a good sense of humour about Jews and Israel? Not.

Update #2 25 September: When I read of and see TV reports of the Syrian civil war and the contempt for human rights shown by both sides, I have two thoughts, firstly, contrast the extreme efforts made by the IDF to protect civilians during the 2006 Lebanon War against Hizbollah and Operation Cast Lead, and secondly, thank goodness for the IDF's protection of Israel's borders from genocidal tyrants like Assad. If that's what Arabs do to each other, what would they inflict on Israelis?

Topless Duchess of Cambridge Photo

Oops! More care needed to compose the picture. What did you expect to see?



I'm sure my finger wasn't anywhere near the lens.




I think someone nudged me.

(Actually, the original of the pictures is an excellent image found on wikipedia).

 Why a Froggy gossip mag considers photos that properly fall into the category of pervy voyeurism to be in the public interest is far beyond my comprehension.

I hope the magazine gets hammered in the libel courts.

Will HS2 Go With Justine Greening And Theresa Villiers?

I certainly hope so. They don't approve of airyplanes - choochoos are more their (19th century) idea of transport. Turn Heath Row into West London Regional Airport and develop Manston into South East Hub Airport. The Ramgate- Ashford link to the HS1 trainline could be upgraded. Then spend the £32 billion budgeted for HS2 on upgrading the intercity and local rail network in order to boost the economy outside of the South East.

Met Office Outlook September -November 2012

Let's see how well they predict rainfall for Autumn.