31 July 1997 Edition
Editor's desk
The crown forces' paronia about Fenian attacks reached new heights when a suspicious-looking cardboard box was left outside the Territorial Army's base in Bristol. Ever vigilant, the boys of the TA, whose motto is ``Be the best,'' alerted the police, who in turn, suspecting the `Ra, (of course) and called army bomb disposal experts.
With nerves of steel, and commendable efficiency, the army assessed the situation, then blew the box to bits. Searching through the debris, looking for evidence of a bomb, they found that the so-called suspect device was actually full of leaflets on how to deal with suspicious looking packages. Nice one lads. Be the best.
In July, the Royal Mail issued four stamps on the theme, ``All the Queens horses,'' to celebrate the Queen's golden wedding anniversary. One stamp in particular conveys the continuing royal sense of `ownership' of Ireland by displaying an Irish grey horse, who was acquired by the royals at the age of four and named St. Patrick by the Queen. St. Patrick is used for state occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament, when he pulls the Irish State Coach which takes Liz to Parliament. (The Queen has 34 carriage horses.)
Methinks that Liz, who recently said bye-bye to Hong Kong, is afraid of losing the Six Counties and wants to show who the boss is by re-affirming her sovereignty via a 20p stamp.
Belarussian officials have ordered a Minsk theatre to pospone a premiere of Berthold Brecht's ``The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui,'' This was a classic anti-fascist satire written by the great communist playwright and based on the rise of Hitler.
Dmitry Podberyozkov said a culture ministry official in Belarus, whose President has been criticized for authoritarianism, had ruled that the play was sub standard and postponed the premiere from Friday to Tuesday. ``People from all over the world could draw parallels with the current situation here, `` he said of the play. President Alexander Lukashenko, who came to power in Belarus in 1994, once told a German newspaper that Hitler provided not a bad example of strong leadership.
Neil Forde breaks new ground this week, mentioning polo for the first time in our sports column (page 14). I particularly enjoyed Monday's Irish Times picture of Woodchester Bank supremo Craig McKinney going arse over tip from his polo horse in Phoenix Park. (Craig is one of the few owners of an Aston Martin in Ireland.) He and other polo players would no doubt sympathise with the plight of their fellow sportsmen in the British army. A few years ago the British Ministry of Defence decided to merge the military colleges of all three services (army, navy, air force) on one site. The historic Royal Naval College at Greenwhich was the chosen site.
The British Army objected, however, because it would mean losing the polo grounds at Camberly/Sandhurst. The polo players had more pull than the admirals so Camberley became the chosen site and the Ministry decided to sell Greenwich.
Then Camberly was found unsuitable because of asbestos. Rebuilding would cost more than four times what keeping Greenwich would have. So now the British taxpayer is forking out £14 million for a temporary site at Bracknell - plus several more millions for yet another site at Shrivenham in Wiltshire. And the British Army still wants to hold on to Camberly at yet more expense to the British public.
With nerves of steel, and commendable efficiency, the army assessed the situation, then blew the box to bits. Searching through the debris, looking for evidence of a bomb, they found that the so-called suspect device was actually full of leaflets on how to deal with suspicious looking packages. Nice one lads. Be the best.
In July, the Royal Mail issued four stamps on the theme, ``All the Queens horses,'' to celebrate the Queen's golden wedding anniversary. One stamp in particular conveys the continuing royal sense of `ownership' of Ireland by displaying an Irish grey horse, who was acquired by the royals at the age of four and named St. Patrick by the Queen. St. Patrick is used for state occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament, when he pulls the Irish State Coach which takes Liz to Parliament. (The Queen has 34 carriage horses.)
Methinks that Liz, who recently said bye-bye to Hong Kong, is afraid of losing the Six Counties and wants to show who the boss is by re-affirming her sovereignty via a 20p stamp.
Belarussian officials have ordered a Minsk theatre to pospone a premiere of Berthold Brecht's ``The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui,'' This was a classic anti-fascist satire written by the great communist playwright and based on the rise of Hitler.
Dmitry Podberyozkov said a culture ministry official in Belarus, whose President has been criticized for authoritarianism, had ruled that the play was sub standard and postponed the premiere from Friday to Tuesday. ``People from all over the world could draw parallels with the current situation here, `` he said of the play. President Alexander Lukashenko, who came to power in Belarus in 1994, once told a German newspaper that Hitler provided not a bad example of strong leadership.
Neil Forde breaks new ground this week, mentioning polo for the first time in our sports column (page 14). I particularly enjoyed Monday's Irish Times picture of Woodchester Bank supremo Craig McKinney going arse over tip from his polo horse in Phoenix Park. (Craig is one of the few owners of an Aston Martin in Ireland.) He and other polo players would no doubt sympathise with the plight of their fellow sportsmen in the British army. A few years ago the British Ministry of Defence decided to merge the military colleges of all three services (army, navy, air force) on one site. The historic Royal Naval College at Greenwhich was the chosen site.
The British Army objected, however, because it would mean losing the polo grounds at Camberly/Sandhurst. The polo players had more pull than the admirals so Camberley became the chosen site and the Ministry decided to sell Greenwich.
Then Camberly was found unsuitable because of asbestos. Rebuilding would cost more than four times what keeping Greenwich would have. So now the British taxpayer is forking out £14 million for a temporary site at Bracknell - plus several more millions for yet another site at Shrivenham in Wiltshire. And the British Army still wants to hold on to Camberly at yet more expense to the British public.