Intollerance

Is it right to be intollerant of intollerance? ;))

To Buy or Not To Buy: That is The Question

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous accusation,
Or to take arms against a sea of discrimination,
And by opposing end them?


This a little story of something that upset me greatly yesterday. I had to do a little shopping, only a couple of items, so I drove over to Sainsbury's as they do a good spicy chicken drumstick. I was second in queue at the hot counter and while waiting I saw the person in front of me buying every item there and every time he finished he'd have second thoughts and buy more. I gave that up as a bad job and headed for the drink isle where I wanted to buy a couple of bottles of Guinness. Couldn't find it, spent five minutes searching and came to the conclusion they had sold out. A wasted journey, only one thing to do, head for Tesco's.

I walked out defeated and headed for my vehicle. Three quarters of the way across the car park I heard someone shout out "Excuse me." I turned around and it was a Sainsbury security guard.

"Would you mind coming back with me to the shop?"

I looked at him puzzled and asked why.

"The alarm went off when you were leaving."

"No alarm went off" I said. "I know the procedure when the alarm sounds, it's normally because someone has left a security tag on something, but, no alarm went off."

"We'd still like you to come back to the shop with us."

I was amazed. "Are you accusing me of shoplifting?" I asked. There were now three of them there.

"Oh no, we are not accusing you of anything."

"Oh!" I said, "in that case I'm going." and began to walk away. After all, if I'm not suspected or being accused of anything I could see absolutely no reason why they should be demanding I return with them and waste further time there.

"Well in that case you are banned." he said.

I was flabbergasted and now getting quite upset and angry which is unusual for me.

"Look," I said, "I have just driven all the way over here to get a couple of items, at the meat counter the person in front of me bought up everything. I then go to the drinks isle and find you have sold out of what I wanted. I left after having a completely wasted journey and now I find I'm being accused of theft."

"Oh no, we are not suggesting that."

"You most definitely are. If not why do you want me to waste further time by going back with you? What are you intending to do? Give me tea and cake and a load of bonus points? And further," I said "you threaten to ban me!!! We come here every week and spend around £100 on groceries so I can tell you now that if you ban me for absolutely nothing then we will go elsewhere and not only will you lose the £100 we spend a week, but, you'll also lose custom from other members of my family and friends which would amount to around £1000 per week."

With that I walked off.

No alarm had gone off so what was this nasty little official up to? There was only two reasons I could see. One was that I walked out without buying anything so he presumed I must have stolen something. The other was that he was showing off in front of these two younger guards that it looked like he was training. As far as I am concerned if he strongly believed I was stealing then he should arrest me which in a way I was hoping he would do as once my innocence was proven I would have started procedures for wrongful arrest etc. However, this obnoxious little guard wouldn't dare because he knew I was in the right and he in the wrong and abusing his power.

So folks beware, if you pop into Sainsbury's to get a couple of items, find they haven't got them, make sure you at least buy something otherwise you may find the powers to be giving you extreme harassment.

The Music of Harry Partch

I came across the Music of Harry Partch back in the 80s. He was one of the most remarkable composers that has lived taking music to new limits while at the same time taking it back to our primitive roots. He breaks with all tradition to the point of creating completely new musical instruments and even scales and pitches. His music sounds truely alien as if we are sitting at a concert on another planet yet seems to shout out to ones soul with familiarity.

This is a BBC documentary about him and his music. It is in six parts and hopefully presented sa a playlist.

The Missing Tskhinval Photos - Der Spiegel's Censorship

Pavel Kassin, a photographer who has worked for Der Spiegel for 18 year was commisioned to take pictures of Tskhinval after the Georgian bombardment of the city. He was however shocked to find none of the 29 photos he submitted were published, an unpresidented event in his carreer. Most Western newspapers (and governments for that matter) are ignoring facts and are taking pro American stances. However, it seems the people of Europe are not being fooled. Die Welt conducted an opinion poll on who Europe should support in the South Ossetia conflict, 23% say Georgia, 31% say neutral. 46% say Russia.

RT Story