Son of former Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher, and a self made man of means was arrested yesterday in connection with the overthrow of a foreign power in Africa.
There is more to this story that the press have access to at this time and we await the soap-opera of a story to play out over the next weeks. Will HM Government step in? The overthrow of a leader in power since 1979 is the same year Maggie became PM, is their a connection?? One for the consipiricy therorists.
In the meanwhile my attention on Wednesday evenings is dedicated to playing chess with my brother-in-law Mac. This week playing at "home" rather than "away" I stepped away after loosing two games, the second being a bizzare game with my king stepping up and down the board removing pieces along the way. In a pincer movement between a queen I simply could not take and a rook that is a power piece in Mac's chess game I was squeezed into checkmate despite being one move away earlier in the game for a win.
I look forward to my Wednesday evenings, for the conversation and for the chance to stretch a few gray cells in a challenging game of chess. This week I beleive my game had significantly improved on our last game night two weeks ago. I look forward to next week.
LONDON CHIMES by Malcolm Friend. An expat Brit from London who now lives near Philadelphia.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Adoption update.
For those following the complete story on The Red Thread we have just received work from CCAI in Colorado that translation of our dossier is complete and our papers are due to be sent to China within the week.
It is with some sadness that CCAI staff member Hillary who has so professionally guided us along the papertrail, passes the baton to another CCAI staff member as our adoption journey continues. Both Taney & I agree that Hillary has helped us both immeasurably over the last months.
Now the real waiting begins...
It is with some sadness that CCAI staff member Hillary who has so professionally guided us along the papertrail, passes the baton to another CCAI staff member as our adoption journey continues. Both Taney & I agree that Hillary has helped us both immeasurably over the last months.
Now the real waiting begins...
Monday, August 23, 2004
The more things change... the more others seem the same.
I have not had any doubt that moving to America was a good thing for me both personally and professionally. In the last week I received an email from a former manager of mine, a senior manager who I deeply respect.
It would not be appropriate of me to publish who this gentleman is, or the company that I worked for at the time. I will simply refer to them as "Hatfield" and those who know be personally will understand.
Perhaps I should have called this post the seven-year-itch, things change other remain the same. The name of the organization has been changed under the new ownership that quietly passed me by. Yet the one thing I truly find interesting is that many of my old colleagues are still there. Doing exactly what I am not sure but one thing I have gleemed from the list of names this email was circulated to suggest that my role at this organization was as high as I could climb without a significant change or career path that indeed did happen.
Had I remained, my career would surely have stalled with no clear opportunity for advancement. My career path certainly took the road less travelled before moving to America where the sum of my accrued qualifications, skills and experience have taken me to heights truly unattainable in the UK.
This email is vindication of a sort that the choices I ultimately made were right not wrong. The scenery along the way has certainly been interesting and has forced me to take a long clear look at myself and my ambition.
In the UK I lived within pre-set parameters, this is all you could do, this is how far you could go, now more. My new rule book, "The American Dream" throws out this career model and replaces it with green lights down the highway as far as you are prepared to work for it.
I have a good and valued friend who also worked for this organization in the UK the same time I did. He moved on and on since into another industry where I do agree with him that the lessons learned in Hatfield prove very helpful in business today.
In conclusion, this email has clearly reported to me that the more things change (in my life) the more things have stayed the same (in a life I have left behind).
It would not be appropriate of me to publish who this gentleman is, or the company that I worked for at the time. I will simply refer to them as "Hatfield" and those who know be personally will understand.
Perhaps I should have called this post the seven-year-itch, things change other remain the same. The name of the organization has been changed under the new ownership that quietly passed me by. Yet the one thing I truly find interesting is that many of my old colleagues are still there. Doing exactly what I am not sure but one thing I have gleemed from the list of names this email was circulated to suggest that my role at this organization was as high as I could climb without a significant change or career path that indeed did happen.
Had I remained, my career would surely have stalled with no clear opportunity for advancement. My career path certainly took the road less travelled before moving to America where the sum of my accrued qualifications, skills and experience have taken me to heights truly unattainable in the UK.
This email is vindication of a sort that the choices I ultimately made were right not wrong. The scenery along the way has certainly been interesting and has forced me to take a long clear look at myself and my ambition.
In the UK I lived within pre-set parameters, this is all you could do, this is how far you could go, now more. My new rule book, "The American Dream" throws out this career model and replaces it with green lights down the highway as far as you are prepared to work for it.
I have a good and valued friend who also worked for this organization in the UK the same time I did. He moved on and on since into another industry where I do agree with him that the lessons learned in Hatfield prove very helpful in business today.
In conclusion, this email has clearly reported to me that the more things change (in my life) the more things have stayed the same (in a life I have left behind).
An Englishman in America, "Back to School"
Villanova University September 20. Visit back again for my comments and thoughts
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Boscastle, a conspiracy by the elements?
Some 3,500 miles from Boscastle, or at least the remains of Boscastle Village and harbor my heart and prayers go out to those who lived and worked in the village so severely destroyed by a wall of water this week.
3,500 miles away today, I was engaged in a conversation with a colleague that in summary the point was how can two inches of rainfall create so much havoc, besides doesn't it rain all the time in England?
It is an interesting perspective and having some understanding of the mechanics of the water table and an appreciation for summer rainfall in New Jersey and Pennsylvania can offer some insight.
Boscastle is located in one of the most picturesque points along the northern coastline of Cornwall. To those needing a little more orientation, it is the pointed end in the south west corner, Boscastle is one of those little retreats, tucked out of the way not accosted by the trappings of commercial seaside towns like Minehead some way further to the east along the coastline in Somerset. For those looking for a slice of England's England, unchanged complete with local shops, a pub and a small harbor for the village fishing fleet that long since served as the main industry in favor of tourism you have some idea. A village with a narrow blacktop road leading alongside a pretty river towards the sea nestled in a green and pleasant valley.
The summer has been unseaonable wet, those in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the States located to the north and north east will testify that the summer weather patten has been similar here.
The water table has natuarally risen in the hills nestling Boscastle, that is to say the level of water underground has from all the rain increased to a level that the ground is waterlogged and cannot absorb any further rainfall. One practical example of this is to compare the level of water in a well in the summer and winter, the water level changes in the same way the water table changes. Different ground conditions can vary the level of the water table so that in any given area the height of the water table can vary significantly. Regardless of this lesson thie important fact is that the hills surrounding Boscastle had a limited capacity to absorb the two inches of rainfall that fell in the area in two hours. This matched the average rainfall in the area for the whole month in two hours.
While it certainly does seem to rain, or drizzle for more time than it seems to be dry or sunny in England, a popular misconception by visitors to the UK. The rain and drizzle while makes for damp and some may say miserable conditions, is not effective rainfall. The concept of an inch of more falling is unusual at least, while in the US summer storms can drop significantly more rainfall, creating flash floods that are reasonably well predicited ahead of time.
With the rain having no place to run off, the ground water simply used gravity to roll down the hillsides into the pituresque rivers that joined together and trickled normally next to the road past the village and into harbor and the sea.
The valley became a natural ditch, a one way for all the rain to channel and as more tain fell the wall of water reportedly nine feet deep swept down both rivers, joined to the south of the village and together ploughed thorugh the valley floor lifting and destroying everything in its path.
This was a rare example of the sheer power of mother nature in England.
Could the Boscasatle disaster have been averted? Probably not, the circumstances that led to the wall of water may be listed as a one in a 500 or 1000 year storm. Normally the hillsides have the capacity to absorb rainfall and that groundwater which runs off into the river has the capacity to flow at a higher level but safely into the sea. Boscastle is an old village, but the existing buildings are not so old to have seen a 1000 year old storm and possibly not even a 500 year flood.
Much of the coastline of Cornwall is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, aka Prince Charles. I was pleased to see that he was one of the first to the village and that the Ducy Trust will make a significant contribution that remains undisclosed at this time towards the rebuilding of the village.
Most likely the buildings will all be found unsafe by the structural engineers. Sadly a twee cornish village will be rebuilt with modern building methods and will look less like its other cornish village neighbors. Time will tell.
Meanwhile in the US we are in Hurricane Season, Friday the 13th saw Hurricane Charley hit the west coast of Florida, landing close to Fort Myers with winds in excesss of 120 MPH. I have a volunteer who lives very close to Fort Myers and his home still stands, but he is one of the lucky ones, others in his town are flattened, homes lost, lives ruined and as of yesterday fifteen lives losts. It was not easy to read his email to me to ask if our organization could send food and water. The American Red Cross and other aid agencies were already on the ground doing what they do best in very trying circumstances.
Other reports close to Venice Beach report that the locals are protecting the remains of their homes with guns and rifles to prevent looting. Other areas were pelted with heavy rainfall, hail and highwinds before Hurricane Charley headed north and east to be down graded to a tropical storm. By the time in reach PA / NJ it was away off to the east in the Atlantic, with only summer rainfall refreshing our streets and gardens.
The national US News reporting from neighborhoods in Florida destroyed by Charley only offer a glimse into the power and terror of a hurricane. My thoughts are with those tonight who are still without power, water, food, and in many cases a roof tyo sleep under that is called home.
It has been some 12 years since anything like Charley has been seen in Florida. Then Floridians rebuilt and continued their lives. This time will be the same. Floridians know the drill, understand the risks and balance this against the beautiful seasonless weather all year around.
Florida and Boscastle, two very different disasters zones, united in resolve to move on after the fury of mother nature.
3,500 miles away today, I was engaged in a conversation with a colleague that in summary the point was how can two inches of rainfall create so much havoc, besides doesn't it rain all the time in England?
It is an interesting perspective and having some understanding of the mechanics of the water table and an appreciation for summer rainfall in New Jersey and Pennsylvania can offer some insight.
Boscastle is located in one of the most picturesque points along the northern coastline of Cornwall. To those needing a little more orientation, it is the pointed end in the south west corner, Boscastle is one of those little retreats, tucked out of the way not accosted by the trappings of commercial seaside towns like Minehead some way further to the east along the coastline in Somerset. For those looking for a slice of England's England, unchanged complete with local shops, a pub and a small harbor for the village fishing fleet that long since served as the main industry in favor of tourism you have some idea. A village with a narrow blacktop road leading alongside a pretty river towards the sea nestled in a green and pleasant valley.
The summer has been unseaonable wet, those in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the States located to the north and north east will testify that the summer weather patten has been similar here.
The water table has natuarally risen in the hills nestling Boscastle, that is to say the level of water underground has from all the rain increased to a level that the ground is waterlogged and cannot absorb any further rainfall. One practical example of this is to compare the level of water in a well in the summer and winter, the water level changes in the same way the water table changes. Different ground conditions can vary the level of the water table so that in any given area the height of the water table can vary significantly. Regardless of this lesson thie important fact is that the hills surrounding Boscastle had a limited capacity to absorb the two inches of rainfall that fell in the area in two hours. This matched the average rainfall in the area for the whole month in two hours.
While it certainly does seem to rain, or drizzle for more time than it seems to be dry or sunny in England, a popular misconception by visitors to the UK. The rain and drizzle while makes for damp and some may say miserable conditions, is not effective rainfall. The concept of an inch of more falling is unusual at least, while in the US summer storms can drop significantly more rainfall, creating flash floods that are reasonably well predicited ahead of time.
With the rain having no place to run off, the ground water simply used gravity to roll down the hillsides into the pituresque rivers that joined together and trickled normally next to the road past the village and into harbor and the sea.
The valley became a natural ditch, a one way for all the rain to channel and as more tain fell the wall of water reportedly nine feet deep swept down both rivers, joined to the south of the village and together ploughed thorugh the valley floor lifting and destroying everything in its path.
This was a rare example of the sheer power of mother nature in England.
Could the Boscasatle disaster have been averted? Probably not, the circumstances that led to the wall of water may be listed as a one in a 500 or 1000 year storm. Normally the hillsides have the capacity to absorb rainfall and that groundwater which runs off into the river has the capacity to flow at a higher level but safely into the sea. Boscastle is an old village, but the existing buildings are not so old to have seen a 1000 year old storm and possibly not even a 500 year flood.
Much of the coastline of Cornwall is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, aka Prince Charles. I was pleased to see that he was one of the first to the village and that the Ducy Trust will make a significant contribution that remains undisclosed at this time towards the rebuilding of the village.
Most likely the buildings will all be found unsafe by the structural engineers. Sadly a twee cornish village will be rebuilt with modern building methods and will look less like its other cornish village neighbors. Time will tell.
Meanwhile in the US we are in Hurricane Season, Friday the 13th saw Hurricane Charley hit the west coast of Florida, landing close to Fort Myers with winds in excesss of 120 MPH. I have a volunteer who lives very close to Fort Myers and his home still stands, but he is one of the lucky ones, others in his town are flattened, homes lost, lives ruined and as of yesterday fifteen lives losts. It was not easy to read his email to me to ask if our organization could send food and water. The American Red Cross and other aid agencies were already on the ground doing what they do best in very trying circumstances.
Other reports close to Venice Beach report that the locals are protecting the remains of their homes with guns and rifles to prevent looting. Other areas were pelted with heavy rainfall, hail and highwinds before Hurricane Charley headed north and east to be down graded to a tropical storm. By the time in reach PA / NJ it was away off to the east in the Atlantic, with only summer rainfall refreshing our streets and gardens.
The national US News reporting from neighborhoods in Florida destroyed by Charley only offer a glimse into the power and terror of a hurricane. My thoughts are with those tonight who are still without power, water, food, and in many cases a roof tyo sleep under that is called home.
It has been some 12 years since anything like Charley has been seen in Florida. Then Floridians rebuilt and continued their lives. This time will be the same. Floridians know the drill, understand the risks and balance this against the beautiful seasonless weather all year around.
Florida and Boscastle, two very different disasters zones, united in resolve to move on after the fury of mother nature.
Friday, August 13, 2004
An Englishman in America debates British Olympic Glory 2004
Tonight millions worldwide will watch the opening ceremony of a summer olympic event that returns to its ancestral home in Greece.
Being part of the team that develop an olympic event remains but a dream. After other events I have had the honor and privilage of being part of, the olympics would be the ultimate event project. It is a good thing to have ambition, and for all the athletes competing in Greece in the Olympic Games, a gold, silver or bronze medal forms a part of their olympic ambition.
The summer of 2004 has not exactly been a great summer for British Sport, viewing the cumulative list of failures and good efforts, but not good enough in the field of professional British sport, one wonders how well the British olympiads will fare.
Twenty years ago the argument of many British athletes was that the sporting facilities in the UK were far and few between. The underdog argument that the Americans and the Russians who traditionally took away the bulk of the medals had better training facilities.
Fast forward to 2004. The British National Lottery has gone someway to providing funding for facilities. It has thanks to the weekly lottery players funds athletes through their World Class Performance Program. Some sixty-four athletes each receive between twenty and thirty thousand pounds each year for their training, performance standards are set by the lottery to enable them to receive this funding, yet the argument is placed that the standards are below olympic medal standards and furthermore some of these athletes meet the standards for their events but do not show clear effort to go the extra distance for olympic medal standard.
There are others who are accused by their peers of spending the lottery funding on playstations and games rather than use the funding for the purpose that it was truly given.
Do Britain have a team of athletes who are not up to the mark, but have "won" lottery cash to fritter away? The next two weeks will go some way to answering this question.
I would prefer to give the British Olympic Squad the benefit of the doubt. To perform a sport at the highest level does take a great deal of time and commitment. With the infrastructure and private funding to allow them to train to compete with the best of the best from other countries, the medal tables will judge.
How should we seriously measure the success of the British squad. Should it be as simple as how many make the finals of each event and the number of medals, a sporting gesture when 4th place is recognized as a good show, but no medal. Or should we look to each olympiad to do their very best and aim for gold?
Being part of the team that develop an olympic event remains but a dream. After other events I have had the honor and privilage of being part of, the olympics would be the ultimate event project. It is a good thing to have ambition, and for all the athletes competing in Greece in the Olympic Games, a gold, silver or bronze medal forms a part of their olympic ambition.
The summer of 2004 has not exactly been a great summer for British Sport, viewing the cumulative list of failures and good efforts, but not good enough in the field of professional British sport, one wonders how well the British olympiads will fare.
Twenty years ago the argument of many British athletes was that the sporting facilities in the UK were far and few between. The underdog argument that the Americans and the Russians who traditionally took away the bulk of the medals had better training facilities.
Fast forward to 2004. The British National Lottery has gone someway to providing funding for facilities. It has thanks to the weekly lottery players funds athletes through their World Class Performance Program. Some sixty-four athletes each receive between twenty and thirty thousand pounds each year for their training, performance standards are set by the lottery to enable them to receive this funding, yet the argument is placed that the standards are below olympic medal standards and furthermore some of these athletes meet the standards for their events but do not show clear effort to go the extra distance for olympic medal standard.
There are others who are accused by their peers of spending the lottery funding on playstations and games rather than use the funding for the purpose that it was truly given.
Do Britain have a team of athletes who are not up to the mark, but have "won" lottery cash to fritter away? The next two weeks will go some way to answering this question.
I would prefer to give the British Olympic Squad the benefit of the doubt. To perform a sport at the highest level does take a great deal of time and commitment. With the infrastructure and private funding to allow them to train to compete with the best of the best from other countries, the medal tables will judge.
How should we seriously measure the success of the British squad. Should it be as simple as how many make the finals of each event and the number of medals, a sporting gesture when 4th place is recognized as a good show, but no medal. Or should we look to each olympiad to do their very best and aim for gold?
Thursday, August 12, 2004
An Englishman in America and an eclipse
Five years ago yesterday, in the late morning I stood transfixed in St. James Park in London to witness a very unusual sight.
A partial eclipse some 95% of the sun by the moon was clearly seen in the sky over London and indeed most of the United Kingdom with the exception of part of Cornwall in the south west that witnessed a total eclipse.
The weather, a favorite subject matter, generally masks many solar events from the eyes looking upward from Britain, but on this day, five years ago, the sky was virtually clear, up until the time of the eclipse, (typically).
I stood by the lakeside in St. James Park on the north side of the lake; Buckingham Palace was but four hundred yards over my right shoulder. Those familiar with St. James Park will also be familiar with the hundreds of waterfowl, ducks, geese herons and pelicans that live on the lake.
As the moon traveled across the sun, the late morning turned the light to dusk and the birds started to settle down as they would any other dusk, except this one was some ten hours earlier.
The park was packed with people. Many from the surrounding offices of Westminster, Whitehall, St James Park and Victoria had strolled into the park to witness for many a once in a lifetime event. The rooftops of the government building the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Treasury could also be seen crammed with people who wanted to see something most extraordinary from the daily Whitehall routine.
Impromptu office parties started up, blankets were place on the ground, and bottles of champagne were opened to celebrate the occasion.
I had broken away from my group to stand alone a marvel at the sight from the reflection of the still waters of the lake, occasionally looking up to sneak the briefest of peaks at the eclipse.
I remember a couple of ducks took fright at the thousand in the park, around the lake, and the early dusk, who took to flight, vocally “quacking” their concern. But most of all I remember stillness and silence.
Then the sun started to reappear from behind the moon. The ducks and other waterfowl resumed their midday activities and the crowds of office workers, civil servants and I returned to our offices surrounding the park. This memory is so vivid it hardly seems five years ago yesterday.
A partial eclipse some 95% of the sun by the moon was clearly seen in the sky over London and indeed most of the United Kingdom with the exception of part of Cornwall in the south west that witnessed a total eclipse.
The weather, a favorite subject matter, generally masks many solar events from the eyes looking upward from Britain, but on this day, five years ago, the sky was virtually clear, up until the time of the eclipse, (typically).
I stood by the lakeside in St. James Park on the north side of the lake; Buckingham Palace was but four hundred yards over my right shoulder. Those familiar with St. James Park will also be familiar with the hundreds of waterfowl, ducks, geese herons and pelicans that live on the lake.
As the moon traveled across the sun, the late morning turned the light to dusk and the birds started to settle down as they would any other dusk, except this one was some ten hours earlier.
The park was packed with people. Many from the surrounding offices of Westminster, Whitehall, St James Park and Victoria had strolled into the park to witness for many a once in a lifetime event. The rooftops of the government building the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Treasury could also be seen crammed with people who wanted to see something most extraordinary from the daily Whitehall routine.
Impromptu office parties started up, blankets were place on the ground, and bottles of champagne were opened to celebrate the occasion.
I had broken away from my group to stand alone a marvel at the sight from the reflection of the still waters of the lake, occasionally looking up to sneak the briefest of peaks at the eclipse.
I remember a couple of ducks took fright at the thousand in the park, around the lake, and the early dusk, who took to flight, vocally “quacking” their concern. But most of all I remember stillness and silence.
Then the sun started to reappear from behind the moon. The ducks and other waterfowl resumed their midday activities and the crowds of office workers, civil servants and I returned to our offices surrounding the park. This memory is so vivid it hardly seems five years ago yesterday.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Doomed and full of tears + 19 days = :)
I invite you dear reader to visit my other blog The Red Thread, that chronicles the adoption journey of my wife and myself to bring home our daughter named until referral as "Little Blossom" from China.
International adoption is an emotional rollercoaster for many parents. I offer this post as a very a small slice of the turmoil behind the so called paperchase in dealing with government departments necessary to compile and authenticate the necessary papers for an adoption.
My wife posted the following nineteen days ago on the yahoo group APC (adopting parents from China) that has tens of thousands of people registered all at different stages of their adoption journey. The posting was titled Doomed and full of tears
Well I thought I would give you all an update on my saga of the I797 aka
I171H. On Monday and Tueday I have been holding my breath hoping against hope that
the I797 would be in the mailbox. As some of you know ...Marcia at the home
land security office in Philly sent a letter on June 23 that the CIS had
problems with our Homestudy and wanted an addendum from our social worker because
the SW paraphrased some lines so after finnaly getting a hold of our SW who was
on vacation for a week got us pages to replace the phrased ones. I sent that
to the Philly office which arrived on July 6th to Marcia who at this point said
she was going on a week vacation, a week and three days went by and I called
and I was informed that Marcia has been called to military service for a week
and will be back in the office Monday well now today is Wednesday and hope and
praying as I go to the mailbox today and again saw nothing I was near tears
and I called the office always fearing the worst and was informed that Marcia
was out of the office today. I just started to cry what do you mean she is out
is there someone who does paperwork when someone is away the lady on the other
end of the phone said we are short staffed and I said choking back tears can
I please speak to a superviser I tried to collect myself as I waited another
woman got on said she was the supervisor I told her my sagga and how I realise
that people have things to do but I have been waiting since my papers arrived
in your office July the 6th to hear anything, anything at all then it all came
upon me I started to cry I said to this lady that everytime I go to the
mailbox and hear nothing all I can think is that's one more day added till I see my
baby's face or that one more thing will be wrong sobbing I said please help
me. She asked did I send in I600 I said I sent in all that I was asked to send
in a I600A a homestudy the corrected pages and my fingerprints of my husband
and myself I gave her the file number she asked for my phone number I gave it
to her twice and she said your phone number is diffent on a message you left
with us before and corrected that number and said she would call me back.... she
didn't call me back today and now I am sitting here feeling like a fool I had
no idea I would simply burst into tears on the phone and since she has not
called me back I have had terrible thoughts like because I was sobbing down the
phone she won't want to deal with me so bottom of the pile etc.
I am having a really hard time being positive about all of this. I feel
doomed.
~Taney
Taney received nearly 100 emails of support from great people on APC who offered comfort, sympathetic words and support. It also created a very vocal thread of posts disgusted at the service provided by Homeland Security given the fees paid by adopting parents and the recent significant increases in fees. It was deeply touching.
NINETEEN DAY ON FROM THIS POSTING
I added the following post that is also available on The Red Thread blog.
Taney spent most of the morning, copying everything for our dossier, signing checks, credit card authorizations and sending our completed dossier documents to Colorado with the help of our local Kinko's and Fed-Ex.
Since we started writing our adoption agency application last December 25, it has taken 7 months, 16 days and a couple of hours, minutes and seconds to reach this part of our adoption journey.
When asked the value of the paperwork, Taney commented on the value of nearly eight months of blood, sweat and tears.
Adding up the miles that application forms, home study visits, trips to state capitals, fingerprinting, and Washington DC that have been made to move our mountain of dossier paperwork it is according to my estimates around 14,000 miles. It is only a little over 8,000 miles to Hong Kong from Hatboro and to our daughter. I would say that our dossier is one heck of a detour to China.
Nevertheless, Taney & I are thrilled and delighted that our dossier is heading to CCAI in Colorado where it is to be translated and then sent to China, (DTC) dossier to China anticipated in about a month.
The pressure of paperchasing is now behind us, the process of ensuring each piece of paper is correctly notarized and authenticated by the right people and more importantly in the right order. The confusion of having papers generated from the UK, and two states, Pennsylvania and New Jersey adding in the need to work with multiple government departments simply added to "fun" of the paperchase.
A deep sigh of relief can be heard from both of us today, August 10 will be a red letter day in the Friend family as the day the dossier was completed.
Now we wait for the call to tell us that our dossier has been sent to China. Then we wait a little longer for the referral of our daughter and our first photograph. Then we go to get Little Blossom!
I am not sure how I will cope with the waiting, at least for the past 7 months we have been active, doing something, getting papers together, making calls, chasing papers, chasing people, motivating others to get on board now we simply wait.
Taney and made it very clear in the last post that we have many people to thank. I want to add to the list a little more. To Taney who has truly managed the papertrail for us both and made sure that "one more day" was not an option.
If Taney has called me her rock, then Taney is my lighthouse who has lit the way along the adoption journey this far. Taney has made an awesome project manager in this part of our adoption journey and has created a binder that contains all our paperwork has grown and be ordered and organized just so that everything is easily to hand.
Thanks also to both our families who have provided an ear and a shoulder when the delays from Scotland Yard and the Homeland Security became unbearable.
Thanks to our friends and family who so kindly wrote such beautiful references as part of our home study.
To repeat Taney, also to Hilary, Manager of the Dossier Department at CCAI who has been a great source of help, advice and motivation.
And finally thanks to my colleagues at MSAA, especially those in my department who have heard the ups and downs of the last months and have been understanding in working with me around personal days used in the process, Terry, Tina and Brenda, not forgetting Gary, Peter and Mary.
There is very little I can write that portrays quiet as clearly the rollercoaster of adopting parents.
Every child deserves loving parents.
This is what we so badly want to give our daughter and that day has drawn so much closer today.
International adoption is an emotional rollercoaster for many parents. I offer this post as a very a small slice of the turmoil behind the so called paperchase in dealing with government departments necessary to compile and authenticate the necessary papers for an adoption.
My wife posted the following nineteen days ago on the yahoo group APC (adopting parents from China) that has tens of thousands of people registered all at different stages of their adoption journey. The posting was titled Doomed and full of tears
Well I thought I would give you all an update on my saga of the I797 aka
I171H. On Monday and Tueday I have been holding my breath hoping against hope that
the I797 would be in the mailbox. As some of you know ...Marcia at the home
land security office in Philly sent a letter on June 23 that the CIS had
problems with our Homestudy and wanted an addendum from our social worker because
the SW paraphrased some lines so after finnaly getting a hold of our SW who was
on vacation for a week got us pages to replace the phrased ones. I sent that
to the Philly office which arrived on July 6th to Marcia who at this point said
she was going on a week vacation, a week and three days went by and I called
and I was informed that Marcia has been called to military service for a week
and will be back in the office Monday well now today is Wednesday and hope and
praying as I go to the mailbox today and again saw nothing I was near tears
and I called the office always fearing the worst and was informed that Marcia
was out of the office today. I just started to cry what do you mean she is out
is there someone who does paperwork when someone is away the lady on the other
end of the phone said we are short staffed and I said choking back tears can
I please speak to a superviser I tried to collect myself as I waited another
woman got on said she was the supervisor I told her my sagga and how I realise
that people have things to do but I have been waiting since my papers arrived
in your office July the 6th to hear anything, anything at all then it all came
upon me I started to cry I said to this lady that everytime I go to the
mailbox and hear nothing all I can think is that's one more day added till I see my
baby's face or that one more thing will be wrong sobbing I said please help
me. She asked did I send in I600 I said I sent in all that I was asked to send
in a I600A a homestudy the corrected pages and my fingerprints of my husband
and myself I gave her the file number she asked for my phone number I gave it
to her twice and she said your phone number is diffent on a message you left
with us before and corrected that number and said she would call me back.... she
didn't call me back today and now I am sitting here feeling like a fool I had
no idea I would simply burst into tears on the phone and since she has not
called me back I have had terrible thoughts like because I was sobbing down the
phone she won't want to deal with me so bottom of the pile etc.
I am having a really hard time being positive about all of this. I feel
doomed.
~Taney
Taney received nearly 100 emails of support from great people on APC who offered comfort, sympathetic words and support. It also created a very vocal thread of posts disgusted at the service provided by Homeland Security given the fees paid by adopting parents and the recent significant increases in fees. It was deeply touching.
NINETEEN DAY ON FROM THIS POSTING
I added the following post that is also available on The Red Thread blog.
Taney spent most of the morning, copying everything for our dossier, signing checks, credit card authorizations and sending our completed dossier documents to Colorado with the help of our local Kinko's and Fed-Ex.
Since we started writing our adoption agency application last December 25, it has taken 7 months, 16 days and a couple of hours, minutes and seconds to reach this part of our adoption journey.
When asked the value of the paperwork, Taney commented on the value of nearly eight months of blood, sweat and tears.
Adding up the miles that application forms, home study visits, trips to state capitals, fingerprinting, and Washington DC that have been made to move our mountain of dossier paperwork it is according to my estimates around 14,000 miles. It is only a little over 8,000 miles to Hong Kong from Hatboro and to our daughter. I would say that our dossier is one heck of a detour to China.
Nevertheless, Taney & I are thrilled and delighted that our dossier is heading to CCAI in Colorado where it is to be translated and then sent to China, (DTC) dossier to China anticipated in about a month.
The pressure of paperchasing is now behind us, the process of ensuring each piece of paper is correctly notarized and authenticated by the right people and more importantly in the right order. The confusion of having papers generated from the UK, and two states, Pennsylvania and New Jersey adding in the need to work with multiple government departments simply added to "fun" of the paperchase.
A deep sigh of relief can be heard from both of us today, August 10 will be a red letter day in the Friend family as the day the dossier was completed.
Now we wait for the call to tell us that our dossier has been sent to China. Then we wait a little longer for the referral of our daughter and our first photograph. Then we go to get Little Blossom!
I am not sure how I will cope with the waiting, at least for the past 7 months we have been active, doing something, getting papers together, making calls, chasing papers, chasing people, motivating others to get on board now we simply wait.
Taney and made it very clear in the last post that we have many people to thank. I want to add to the list a little more. To Taney who has truly managed the papertrail for us both and made sure that "one more day" was not an option.
If Taney has called me her rock, then Taney is my lighthouse who has lit the way along the adoption journey this far. Taney has made an awesome project manager in this part of our adoption journey and has created a binder that contains all our paperwork has grown and be ordered and organized just so that everything is easily to hand.
Thanks also to both our families who have provided an ear and a shoulder when the delays from Scotland Yard and the Homeland Security became unbearable.
Thanks to our friends and family who so kindly wrote such beautiful references as part of our home study.
To repeat Taney, also to Hilary, Manager of the Dossier Department at CCAI who has been a great source of help, advice and motivation.
And finally thanks to my colleagues at MSAA, especially those in my department who have heard the ups and downs of the last months and have been understanding in working with me around personal days used in the process, Terry, Tina and Brenda, not forgetting Gary, Peter and Mary.
There is very little I can write that portrays quiet as clearly the rollercoaster of adopting parents.
Every child deserves loving parents.
This is what we so badly want to give our daughter and that day has drawn so much closer today.
Saturday, August 07, 2004
Thunderbirds are go.
This afternoon I had the pleasure of joining two of my nephews aged 7 and 5, and their Dad to watch Thunderbirds, the new movie directed by Jonathan Frakes, aka Riker of Star Trek The Next Generation fame.
Let me start out by noting I am from geeksville when it comes to Thunderbirds the 1960's television program, produced and directed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson using Supermarionation marionette technology and special effects by Derek Meddings who went on to build many of the special effects for the James Bond series of films.
There is little I do not know about this series and have faithfully watch rerun after rerun and on coming to the States seen the half hour episodes not broadcast in the UK for decades.
The premise of a secret base, a family of a billionaire astronaut, saving the world from disasters has over time proved that fiction can become fact, insofar there is a voluntary international rescue team of doctors and emergency specialists who will fly at the drop of a hat to help those in distress. The concept of the program, the missions and the strings attached have stood the test of time with only now, almost 40 years after the first program was aired has a live action film been made replacing the marionettes with a human cast and using the best technology to update the futuristic Thunderbird machines.
For many years a live action Thunderbirds film has been discussed much to the excitement of many cult fans like myself. Only for the plans to fail, until now.
I had deliberatly avoided trailers for the new film until recently. The opportunity to watch the film with my nephews, themselves fans of the original film was a delight.
I applaud everyone involved with this film, it was truly outstanding. It would have been very wrong of me to expect Jonathan Frakes to keep wholly to the original series, for the most part he did, the film is set before the TV series in time, Alan Tracy is still at school in the film.
These are the points I want to make note of for Thunderbird fans. There are still 5 Thunderbirds, they even retain the original color schemes, they look much the same although have been sleeked up in design. Old favorites like the Mole and the Firefly exist.
Thunderbird one still flys out from under the swimming pool, Thunderbird 3 appears from beneath a circular building, Thunderbird 2 still needs a ramp and has palm trees to fall back along the short airstrip. Thunderbird 4 is launched from Thunderbird 2 and in this film Thunderbird 5 sees more action than in the entirity of the original series.
Lady Penelope and Parker, continue to steal scenes, the Rolls Royce sadly has beebn replaced with a new car, similar in specification that also flys. We know that FAB1 is a Ford, and ford cars seem to feature very prominantly throughout the film, including a ford Thunderbird in one of the hangers.
The rescue sequences especially those in London are very well handled, I loved the monorail rescue, a hark back to classic episodes and the first rescue we see on burning oil rig.
This is a great kids movie, those of us with long memories can recognize the diversions from the original but they are all forgiveable.
Regardless I was going to love this film. I hope that enough people go see it so that a sequel may be produced. The scope of developing a franchise with Thunderbirds, much as Spykids, is very possible.
The stars remain the Thunderbird machines. Awesome, truly awesome.
Finally my thanks to Mac and the Tommy and Glenn who sat either side of me jumping up and down in excitement at this film, made the afternoon all the more worthwhile.
Let me start out by noting I am from geeksville when it comes to Thunderbirds the 1960's television program, produced and directed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson using Supermarionation marionette technology and special effects by Derek Meddings who went on to build many of the special effects for the James Bond series of films.
There is little I do not know about this series and have faithfully watch rerun after rerun and on coming to the States seen the half hour episodes not broadcast in the UK for decades.
The premise of a secret base, a family of a billionaire astronaut, saving the world from disasters has over time proved that fiction can become fact, insofar there is a voluntary international rescue team of doctors and emergency specialists who will fly at the drop of a hat to help those in distress. The concept of the program, the missions and the strings attached have stood the test of time with only now, almost 40 years after the first program was aired has a live action film been made replacing the marionettes with a human cast and using the best technology to update the futuristic Thunderbird machines.
For many years a live action Thunderbirds film has been discussed much to the excitement of many cult fans like myself. Only for the plans to fail, until now.
I had deliberatly avoided trailers for the new film until recently. The opportunity to watch the film with my nephews, themselves fans of the original film was a delight.
I applaud everyone involved with this film, it was truly outstanding. It would have been very wrong of me to expect Jonathan Frakes to keep wholly to the original series, for the most part he did, the film is set before the TV series in time, Alan Tracy is still at school in the film.
These are the points I want to make note of for Thunderbird fans. There are still 5 Thunderbirds, they even retain the original color schemes, they look much the same although have been sleeked up in design. Old favorites like the Mole and the Firefly exist.
Thunderbird one still flys out from under the swimming pool, Thunderbird 3 appears from beneath a circular building, Thunderbird 2 still needs a ramp and has palm trees to fall back along the short airstrip. Thunderbird 4 is launched from Thunderbird 2 and in this film Thunderbird 5 sees more action than in the entirity of the original series.
Lady Penelope and Parker, continue to steal scenes, the Rolls Royce sadly has beebn replaced with a new car, similar in specification that also flys. We know that FAB1 is a Ford, and ford cars seem to feature very prominantly throughout the film, including a ford Thunderbird in one of the hangers.
The rescue sequences especially those in London are very well handled, I loved the monorail rescue, a hark back to classic episodes and the first rescue we see on burning oil rig.
This is a great kids movie, those of us with long memories can recognize the diversions from the original but they are all forgiveable.
Regardless I was going to love this film. I hope that enough people go see it so that a sequel may be produced. The scope of developing a franchise with Thunderbirds, much as Spykids, is very possible.
The stars remain the Thunderbird machines. Awesome, truly awesome.
Finally my thanks to Mac and the Tommy and Glenn who sat either side of me jumping up and down in excitement at this film, made the afternoon all the more worthwhile.
Friday, August 06, 2004
Baby Names - Statistics from the Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security keeps full and publically available records of the top 1000 baby names by year. Link for further info.
While we have already picked out "Little Blossoms" name, and until referral it is under wraps, I was interested to see how popular "Malcolm" is.
Just under the top 500 boys names in 2003, Malcolm is beaten by Bruce and beats out Rodolfo!
For the purposes of research only, I have entered in a number of family first names ranked in order of popularity, based upon the 2003 figures.
Most popular is my brother-in-law Christopher, in 9th place, beaten by Daniel, and beating out Anthony into 10th place.
Next most popular and somewhat surprising at 16th most popular boys name is Alexander, my father's name, beaten by Tyler and beating out John.
My brother Kevin is 31st, beaten by Gabriel and beating out Noah.
Now it gets interesting as we drop a couple of hundred in the listings.
My younger theologian brother-in-law is 208, beaten by Peyton and beating Dustin.
My youngest sister-in-law is 211, beaten by Makenzie and beating our Hanna.
My sister in law, wife of Christopher in 9th place is 404th in the girl baby names listing for 2003, beaten by Brittney and beating out Sage.
Another huge jump down the listings to 599 is my mother, beaten by Gwendolyn, and beating out Tanya.
My wife's eldest brother and my second eldest brother-in-law is ranked 664 on the boys listing of names, beaten by Aaron and beating out Judah.
My mother-in-law ranks at 974, beaten by Trisha and beating out Katerina, while my last look-up my youngest brother-in-law does not make the top 1000 names as the family often note his first name (and second) is pretty cool.
I am sure that there are some really great guys out there called Rodolfo!
While we have already picked out "Little Blossoms" name, and until referral it is under wraps, I was interested to see how popular "Malcolm" is.
Just under the top 500 boys names in 2003, Malcolm is beaten by Bruce and beats out Rodolfo!
For the purposes of research only, I have entered in a number of family first names ranked in order of popularity, based upon the 2003 figures.
Most popular is my brother-in-law Christopher, in 9th place, beaten by Daniel, and beating out Anthony into 10th place.
Next most popular and somewhat surprising at 16th most popular boys name is Alexander, my father's name, beaten by Tyler and beating out John.
My brother Kevin is 31st, beaten by Gabriel and beating out Noah.
Now it gets interesting as we drop a couple of hundred in the listings.
My younger theologian brother-in-law is 208, beaten by Peyton and beating Dustin.
My youngest sister-in-law is 211, beaten by Makenzie and beating our Hanna.
My sister in law, wife of Christopher in 9th place is 404th in the girl baby names listing for 2003, beaten by Brittney and beating out Sage.
Another huge jump down the listings to 599 is my mother, beaten by Gwendolyn, and beating out Tanya.
My wife's eldest brother and my second eldest brother-in-law is ranked 664 on the boys listing of names, beaten by Aaron and beating out Judah.
My mother-in-law ranks at 974, beaten by Trisha and beating out Katerina, while my last look-up my youngest brother-in-law does not make the top 1000 names as the family often note his first name (and second) is pretty cool.
I am sure that there are some really great guys out there called Rodolfo!
Weekend Posting
With our week of vacation only a week behind us, it seems a great deal longer, especially as the paperchase for the adoption of our daughter is heading into the final furlong.
My wife is taking a red-eye train from Philadelphia to Washington DC to visit the British Consulate, the State Department Authentication Office and the Consulate for the Peoples Republic of China, in what I can best describe as akin to the "Amazing Race" or a bizzare treasure hunt that I attempted a month or two back, only to fall at the last fence. Lessons learned from my trip (that took two trips) Taney is prepared!
At least returning to the office, I was relaxed on Monday and worked my way to being so relaxed by Friday morning that pulling myself out of bed was a challenge. Or perhaps this could have had something to do with a cool night, no humidity and the chance to sleep deeply.
Politically speaking, I have taken the current election build up with more than a dash of lightheartedness. John Kerry has had a challenging week with anti-Kerry adverts produced by members of his "band of brothers" that he fought alongside in Vietnam. They are vocally not supportive of his candidacy to the point the Kerry campaign are asking the media not to show the advert with veiled threats.
Switch into sattire gear, go and visit www.jibjab.com and run the animated "This land is your land" skit with GW and John Kerry, a cast of other familiar faces and three purple hearts. In what has been a cut and thrust political week this is the ideal thing to put us all on an even keel.
Chess. When I was about eight, my granddad taught me how to play chess. He and my Nana that Christmas gave me a chess set that my Nana had carefully glued felt to the bottom of each of the red and white pieces so not to scratch the beautiful checked board my Granddad, a master joiner had made for me. Switch forward a few years, to eleven and twelve, I remember being a member of the St. Mary's School (Hendon) Chess Club, where I recall a fellow student Parvez Kahn (apologies for incorrect spelling) would wow a room of eleven year olds by playing multiple games with his peer group.
Sporadic chess playing followed, until I started heading to the Canaries for holidays with by good friend Trevor, who I recall beat me at every chess game we played.
This week, using technology, I have started to play again with my brother-in-law Mac author of his blogs that as I have mentioned previously we aspire towards only to fall. Playing over the net has its drawbacks, it is not as social and takes forever to play a game. Next Wednesday he & I will be getting together to play in the traditional way face to face across the board for a friendly game. I admit, I am looking forward to the pleasure of playing again. Mac has chess tournaments under his belt, so I am certain that I will learn much from playing this great gentleman.
My wife is taking a red-eye train from Philadelphia to Washington DC to visit the British Consulate, the State Department Authentication Office and the Consulate for the Peoples Republic of China, in what I can best describe as akin to the "Amazing Race" or a bizzare treasure hunt that I attempted a month or two back, only to fall at the last fence. Lessons learned from my trip (that took two trips) Taney is prepared!
At least returning to the office, I was relaxed on Monday and worked my way to being so relaxed by Friday morning that pulling myself out of bed was a challenge. Or perhaps this could have had something to do with a cool night, no humidity and the chance to sleep deeply.
Politically speaking, I have taken the current election build up with more than a dash of lightheartedness. John Kerry has had a challenging week with anti-Kerry adverts produced by members of his "band of brothers" that he fought alongside in Vietnam. They are vocally not supportive of his candidacy to the point the Kerry campaign are asking the media not to show the advert with veiled threats.
Switch into sattire gear, go and visit www.jibjab.com and run the animated "This land is your land" skit with GW and John Kerry, a cast of other familiar faces and three purple hearts. In what has been a cut and thrust political week this is the ideal thing to put us all on an even keel.
Chess. When I was about eight, my granddad taught me how to play chess. He and my Nana that Christmas gave me a chess set that my Nana had carefully glued felt to the bottom of each of the red and white pieces so not to scratch the beautiful checked board my Granddad, a master joiner had made for me. Switch forward a few years, to eleven and twelve, I remember being a member of the St. Mary's School (Hendon) Chess Club, where I recall a fellow student Parvez Kahn (apologies for incorrect spelling) would wow a room of eleven year olds by playing multiple games with his peer group.
Sporadic chess playing followed, until I started heading to the Canaries for holidays with by good friend Trevor, who I recall beat me at every chess game we played.
This week, using technology, I have started to play again with my brother-in-law Mac author of his blogs that as I have mentioned previously we aspire towards only to fall. Playing over the net has its drawbacks, it is not as social and takes forever to play a game. Next Wednesday he & I will be getting together to play in the traditional way face to face across the board for a friendly game. I admit, I am looking forward to the pleasure of playing again. Mac has chess tournaments under his belt, so I am certain that I will learn much from playing this great gentleman.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Hymns for all people.
The church has been on my mind today, possibly has something to do with an urban legend I heard on the radio this morning on WPHT (they should know better) about Bryn Athyn.
Regardless of this personal waffle, I found this listing on a Church of England site from the UK.
Hymns for all People
The Dentist's Hymn: .....Crown Him with Many Crowns
The Weatherman's Hymn: ..There Shall Be Showers of Blessings
The Contractor's Hymn: ..The Church's One Foundation
The Tailor's Hymn: ......Holy, Holy, Holy
The Golfer's Hymn: ......There's a Green Hill Far Away
The Politician's Hymn: ..Standing on the Promises
The Optician's Hymn: ....Open My Eyes That I Might See
The Gossip's Hymn: ......Pass It On
The Electrician's Hymn:..Send The Light
The Shopper's Hymn: ... .Sweet By and By
The Estate Agent's Hymn: I've Got a Mansion, Just Over the Hilltop
The Massage Therapists Hymn: ...He Touched Me
The Doctor's Hymn: ......The Great Physician
AND for those who speed on the highway -- a few hymns:
45mph..God Will Take Care of You
55mph..Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
65mph..Nearer My God To Thee
75mph..Nearer Still Nearer
85mph..This World Is Not My Home
95mph..Lord, I'm Coming Home
Over 100mph..Precious Memories
Regardless of this personal waffle, I found this listing on a Church of England site from the UK.
Hymns for all People
The Dentist's Hymn: .....Crown Him with Many Crowns
The Weatherman's Hymn: ..There Shall Be Showers of Blessings
The Contractor's Hymn: ..The Church's One Foundation
The Tailor's Hymn: ......Holy, Holy, Holy
The Golfer's Hymn: ......There's a Green Hill Far Away
The Politician's Hymn: ..Standing on the Promises
The Optician's Hymn: ....Open My Eyes That I Might See
The Gossip's Hymn: ......Pass It On
The Electrician's Hymn:..Send The Light
The Shopper's Hymn: ... .Sweet By and By
The Estate Agent's Hymn: I've Got a Mansion, Just Over the Hilltop
The Massage Therapists Hymn: ...He Touched Me
The Doctor's Hymn: ......The Great Physician
AND for those who speed on the highway -- a few hymns:
45mph..God Will Take Care of You
55mph..Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
65mph..Nearer My God To Thee
75mph..Nearer Still Nearer
85mph..This World Is Not My Home
95mph..Lord, I'm Coming Home
Over 100mph..Precious Memories
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Englishman in America on latest terror alerts.
"I find these truths to be self evident".
Those of us living and working in either America or Britain should not be surprized that there are security issues developing daily that we do not know and perhaps should not know anything about.
This weekends increase in the security level around the financial institutions in New York, northern New Jersey and Washington DC are case in point. Here are the clear facts.
An alleged terrorist was arrested two weeks ago.
His computer was confiscated and has been found to discover detailed information on specific sites as potential terror targets.
The computer identifies some of the data some four years old, other data as recent as January 2005.
The political angle. The announcement by Tom Ridge the weekend after the end of the Democratic National Convention in Boston may have been clevery timed to draw interest away from John Kerry. Yet realistically, with my personal knowledge of the workings of government, for a computer seized in the arrest to be analyzed and reported by Tom Ridge within two weeks is a remarkable turn-around of information into the public domain. Is the timing of the announcement a political play, possibly, but would the accusation have been made if Tom Ridge waited until Monday, or today to make the announcement.
Tom Ridge, Director of Homeland Security has a damn'd if he does damn'd if he doesn't job. He was right to take this information to the public regardless of the date of the announcement. Interesting to note that politically the Democrats are not arguing that he made this statement, just the timing of the statement. A subtle political move in the electorial game of chess.
Meanwhile, of course there are thousands of federal agents, intellegence officers, police in America, Britain and other countries working together to keep the terrorists from achieving their goal. On a regular basis good detective work I am certain is preventing the terrorists from their objectives, that is why almost four years on from 9/11 there have been no further attacks on American soil. But there is every reason that we should all be alert and that the agencies involved should not for one moment let down their guard.
Interesting to note that in Britain today a number of arrests have been made in connection with terror activities, some in my local stamping grounds of Bushey, Hertfordshire near Watford and Luton, Bedfordshire.
The same report notes that of over 500 arrests over time only 14 have actually been charged with terrorist activity. Certainly middle eastern groups are crying foul, but to me 500 + does not seem like a witchhunt by the British authorities. Terrorist are by their nature not clearly identified, they do not wear a uniform, they do not carry the flag of a nation. Careful, ongoing policework has led to the arrests today and others to follow. It is the small, calculated measures that prevent mass public panic, civil unrest and worse.
What we see is responsible government in both countries. Yet, in a era of instant gratification and instant results, results do not seem to come freely to those who demand them. I suggest that results are obvious to see from the lack of succesful terror activity on mainland Britain or America.
Those of us living and working in either America or Britain should not be surprized that there are security issues developing daily that we do not know and perhaps should not know anything about.
This weekends increase in the security level around the financial institutions in New York, northern New Jersey and Washington DC are case in point. Here are the clear facts.
An alleged terrorist was arrested two weeks ago.
His computer was confiscated and has been found to discover detailed information on specific sites as potential terror targets.
The computer identifies some of the data some four years old, other data as recent as January 2005.
The political angle. The announcement by Tom Ridge the weekend after the end of the Democratic National Convention in Boston may have been clevery timed to draw interest away from John Kerry. Yet realistically, with my personal knowledge of the workings of government, for a computer seized in the arrest to be analyzed and reported by Tom Ridge within two weeks is a remarkable turn-around of information into the public domain. Is the timing of the announcement a political play, possibly, but would the accusation have been made if Tom Ridge waited until Monday, or today to make the announcement.
Tom Ridge, Director of Homeland Security has a damn'd if he does damn'd if he doesn't job. He was right to take this information to the public regardless of the date of the announcement. Interesting to note that politically the Democrats are not arguing that he made this statement, just the timing of the statement. A subtle political move in the electorial game of chess.
Meanwhile, of course there are thousands of federal agents, intellegence officers, police in America, Britain and other countries working together to keep the terrorists from achieving their goal. On a regular basis good detective work I am certain is preventing the terrorists from their objectives, that is why almost four years on from 9/11 there have been no further attacks on American soil. But there is every reason that we should all be alert and that the agencies involved should not for one moment let down their guard.
Interesting to note that in Britain today a number of arrests have been made in connection with terror activities, some in my local stamping grounds of Bushey, Hertfordshire near Watford and Luton, Bedfordshire.
The same report notes that of over 500 arrests over time only 14 have actually been charged with terrorist activity. Certainly middle eastern groups are crying foul, but to me 500 + does not seem like a witchhunt by the British authorities. Terrorist are by their nature not clearly identified, they do not wear a uniform, they do not carry the flag of a nation. Careful, ongoing policework has led to the arrests today and others to follow. It is the small, calculated measures that prevent mass public panic, civil unrest and worse.
What we see is responsible government in both countries. Yet, in a era of instant gratification and instant results, results do not seem to come freely to those who demand them. I suggest that results are obvious to see from the lack of succesful terror activity on mainland Britain or America.
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