I got up early yesterday morning, having set the alarm to 6.00am as I need to leave the house at 8.00am to go to church. Once I was up and a cup of tea in my hand, I reminded myself how to make some remnants of wine and cider vinegar into a wine vinegar by a simple expedient of combining them both.  The point of this is that I need to prepare a traditional orange sauce to accompany the duck that my American friend are going to cook together later in the day and the wine vinegar is an essential ingredient here. I need to purchase some orange  juice which I will do just after church and a little cornflower might not go amiss either. The whole point is that is is quite fun to prepare a meal for two in this way but I doubt many people would go to the effort if they were cooking for themselves alone. The week ahead does not promise to be a very taxing one as apart from Pilates and Tai Chi, I have a Spanish club to which to look forward but there is always some housework and cleaning, somewhat put into abeyance when the weather was unbearably hot. There is a lot of speculation whether Infantino can survive the recent revolt against the proposal to spin off World Cup profits to a private company.  The point is being made forcibly is that member associations may doubt whether the soul and spirit of football are in a better place after his stewardship and there are a whole series of incidents (such as  the awarding of a peace prize to President Trump, the overturning of the American red card, introduction of ‘hydration’ breaks) to be put alongside his latest venture. Many think that his days are numbered but there is no evident successor on the horizon. Here domestically we have the Commonwealth games held in Glasgow but they have scarcely broken the surface of public opinion compared with those held in Birmingham four years ago which featured 72 teams, 4,822 athletes, and 19 sports. The games in Glasgow were very much a scaled down affair after Victoria in Australia pulled out due to unaffordable rising costs and the games themselves have only been broadcast for in the evening, starting at 10.00pm when most people are thinking of going  to bed. So I was amazed to discover that the Games were due to close shortly whereas, in my mind, they had only just  opened. It may be that the days are over when one city alone has the infrastructure and the finances to afford such Games and the whole model of allocating the Commonwealth Games to a city has to be rethought. Even in Birmingham, I seem to remember that the Games spilled out into the wider West Midlands region. Now that the month of August is upon us, we have the prospect of somewhat better weather to which to look forward as well as my mini-holiday in Yorkshire at the end of the month. I was so pleased to have secured train tickets for this journey at a very reasonable price but later on in the week, when there are about three weeks left to go I will probably send an email around all the members of my family to see how many of them I manage to see on my stay giving that the last time was a really fleeting visit last Christmas. My American friend will be accompanying me on this occasion and although she has visited Yorkshire before it was a long time ago and I think Harrogate will be a while new experience for her.

In the late morning, I started preparing the lunch – the duck had been cooking for most of the morning but when it was finished I was going to out a Mediterranean vegetable mix into the oven to roast. I had previously downloaded  a Mary Berry recipe from the internet and my friend and I followed it to the letter. It involved  some orange juice, orange zest, wine vinegar, honey and finally some cornflower to thicken the mixture. When we eventually dished up. the duck, the orange sauce was absolutely stunning so thanks to Mary Berry we had a really enjoyable meal. My friend and I relaxed a little after lunch and over coffee in the garden, I managed to show her various photos from my iPhone collection, including some of my relatives and even the classic photo, discovered by a distant cousin  in Australia, of what was my great grandfather’s business which was a mid-19th century bicycle manufacturer in Wolverhampton. We discovered various other photos including one that was taken off me when I was aged approximately six years old and photographed with my sister in the primary school we both attended in Harrogate in Yorkshire. Having enjoyed the Spanish collection in the Proms the evening before last, my friend and I are going  to indulge in some of the great violin performances  at the Proms over the years as well as a showing of the vary entertaining film of ‘Shakespeare in Love’ Fortunately, neither of us has an early morning the next day so we are going to indulge ourselves in a little late night TV viewing. In terms of global politics, Donald Trump is announcing that a peace deal between Hamas and the Israelis is imminent but other analysts such as Michael Clarke here in the UK are very unsure that anything is actually going to unfold. US President Donald Trump has announced his Board of Peace reached an ‘historic agreement’ that would see Hamas militants put down their weapons and Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza. For a start, the Israelis have yet to make any formal announcement that they have accepted the peace deal and, in any case, have pushed up the proportion of land that they occupy in Gaza from 50% to 60%. Even with a supposed peace deal in place, the Israelis have practically ignored cease fire protocols to date and will probably only respond to the very heaviest of American pressure which the USA seems loathe to exert. Meanwhile, some terrible stories are emerging from the Israeli occupied Wet Bank where pregnant women suffering potential miscarriages are forced to wait in Israeli roadblocks whilst the Israeli soldiers train their weapons upon them.  A solution to the West Bank seems as far off as ever and only the cessation of American political support and stopping the flow of private money to Israel (neither at all likely) would exert enough pressure on the Israeli government to force a change in policy.

Just before I went to bed the day before last, I heard the excellent news that the FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been forced to scrap plans to sell off a stake in the World Cup after a global backlash. I am not a avid football fan but the thought of a game enjoyed by millions being hijacked by an autocrat and rights sold to a commercial enterprise run by one of Trump’s relatives was just repulsive. So it looked as though the strong stance played by the European UEFA paid off and we can breathe again – I wonder if a strong candidate will emerge to replace Infantino? It now looks as though moves instigated by UEFA to displace Infantino are accelerating and if this is the case, then it is a case of not if Infantino goes but just a question of when? As well as this good news, I received yesterday an email from my close friend in Madrid (who came to see Meg just before she died and attended her funeral) and conveyed to all of my recent news, including the fact that my American friend and I are booked up to come to Spain in February of next year. Even before that big holiday, my American friend and I are looking forward to four whole days in Yorkshire at the end of the month to celebrate my sister’s birthday but we shall also have some days out to make a mini-holiday for ourselves. As yesterday was the first day of August, I did not forget to say ‘White Rabbits’ (actually repeated three times) as soon as I awoke. People say ‘white rabbits’ on the first day of each month as a traditional superstition to bring good luck, ensure protection, and ward off negativity but it is very much associated with one’s childhood years. The weekend  promises to be a quiet one for me but my American friend and I will enjoy a weekend meal together which is becoming a little ritual shared between us. We met the day before yesterday and eagerly communicated the news of the day. My friend had just enjoyed a really enervating swim for the first time in years and felt that it eased her musculature whilst I was still excited about the very enjoyable first meeting of the Philosophy group I have just joined, Although rain seems a long way away, the weather has certainly drifted several degrees cooler but as a nation, we are watching with a fascinated horror the progress of the wild fires in Spain and in France and although we still have a large heathland fire in Suffolk it does match the ferocity of the fires seen in Spain. I ask myself the question of what damage is being wrought to European economies and of course the ecological damage might last for a decade even before we start to consider a pattern of extremely hot summers in the years to come. August is always a quiet month in domestic political terms as the politicians as well as the general population think about holidays and the like but the new government appears to have ‘hit the ground running’ with a series of popular measures. But of course everything has to be paid for and I am reminded of the 18th century French sage who observed  that the art of taxation ‘was like extracting feathers from a goose with the least amount of hissing’ Yesterday in our Philosophy group discussion, we were wondering  aloud whether we ought to consider other measures of a nation’s well-being other  than the very crude ‘Gross Domestic Product’ and also wondered aloud whether the pursuit of economic growth was still appropriate for mature industrial economies such as ours. The stark fact remains that as the data from the Office for National Statistics and independent groups like the Institute for Fiscal Studies confirm that UK living standards have experienced historic stagnation. Typical household disposable income has barely grown since the 2008 financial crisis, making it the weakest multi-year period for income growth in generations.

As soon as I had got myself up and dressed this morning, and before I had breakfasted, I made my way into town in order to pick up my supplement-heavy copy of ‘The Times‘ before they all disappeared. After a chat with one of the supermarket staff I know well, I made my way back hone but spotted my Irish friends so I approached them in the car so that we could have a good chat. As soon as other friends return from holiday, we may have a get together for a little summer party. At home, I processed a machine full of washing including the two new shirts I had purchased the other day. I also spent some time carefully washing my University of Manchester scarf which is now 60 years old and I doubt has ever seen the inside of a washing machine. Today I gave it a soak in some tepid water in a bucket and used some washing liquid designed for delicates. Then after a couple of rinses, I dried it in a towel (as internet instructions recommended) and then put it out on the line with all of the other washing. I have learnt, a little too late, that there is a way to prevent clothes from going  ‘crisp’ when air dried. To prevent air-dried clothes from getting stiff, one needs to use less detergent, add white vinegar to the rinse cycle, and shake out each garment vigorously before and after hanging. After two or three hours in the sun, though, I have rescued the woollen scarf from the line and hope to finish off the drying process carefully and slowly within the house. In the late morning, my American friend called around with some of the supplies for the meal which we are going to jointly cook tomorrow. We are treating ourselves to some duck and I have consulted the internet to find the ingredients for a good orange sauce so that we can have ‘duck a l’orange’ and I can get these tomorrow morning after I have attended the church service and washed the car. Later on in the early evening, we are going to have our general constitutional walk in the park when the day has cooled down a little and there is a generally relaxed feeling to the day. This is becoming a routine for us to which we both look forward and slightly resembles the ‘paseo’ in Spain. The paseo is a cherished cultural tradition in Spain where neighbours, couples, and families take a slow, relaxed evening stroll through town streets, plazas, or promenades before a late dinner. It is a time to connect with the community, catch up on news, and enjoy the cooler air after the heat of the day.

We awoke yesterday morning to the news that the huge heath fire fire in Susses at Dunwich Heath was still burning and every resource was being used to contain it. The location of the fire quite near to the coast meant that the fire was constantly fanned by seaside breezes – on the other hand, I assume that the water-bearing helicopters could replenish their supplies quite readily. The impact of this fire on the native flora and fauna is tremendous and the fire itself could take some months to completely extinguish if it creeps underground. Fire chiefs think it may take as long as 36 hours for the fire to be brought under control. Wildlife managers said it was likely to take ‘more than a decade’ for the habitat, which is home to rare species including the nightjars and the Dartford warbler, to recover. Dunwich Heath was previously identified as a high-risk area for wildfires and has suffered blazes in the past. Only last month, the local authority and the National Trust (NT) launched a campaign urging people to exercise care while visiting. The other huge bit of news to hit the headlines yesterday was the news of the European response  to the plans of FIFA to spin off and sell commercial rights of the World Cup to a private company run by one of Trump’s relatives.  European nations have agreed to boycott the World Cup if Gianni Infantino goes ahead with selling off part of the tournament to private investors. UEFA nations were due to hold an emergency meeting virtually this week to discuss their opposition to FIFA’s attempt to launch a new commercial company with external investment, a source said. FIFA confirmed on Tuesday Infantino wants to launch a subsidiary worth $20bn (£15bn) and sell off more than 20% of the new FIFA Forward Enterprise by raising $4.2bn (£3.16bn). The plans and way they have emerged provoked renewed fury within UEFA at how Infantino is running FIFA. It is understood the Football Association was completely unaware of the plans before the rushed announcement by FIFA. Relationships between UEFA and FIFA have been bad for some time and whilst the number of European nations within UUFA exceeds 50, the number who make up FIFA is over 200. So it is quite possible that FIFA might press ahead with their controversial plans without the European footballing nations but the World Cup as a whole would become a nonsense. One is left with the feeling that holding the World Cup in America was one of the worst things that could happen to the game as the whole event is now subject to massive commercialisation. One ‘innovation’ which has gone down very badly is the introduction of ‘hydration’ breaks half way through each half, approximately 22 minutes into each half. Whilst these breaks are theoretically introduced to enhance player safety, it is being noted that the breaks made the game of association football more like American football with four quarters instead  of two halves. Advertisers were relishing the opportunities provided by these commercial breaks and the situation was compounded when managers and trainers came onto the pitch to discuss strategy and tactics face-to-face with their players during the break. Analysts noted that goals often ensured immediately after a break and the whole innovation was breaking the dynamic of the game of football as we have to know it around the world.

In the morning, I attended my first meeting of the U3A Philosophy  group and we held our meeting in the training room of one of our local supermarkets. There were about nine of us altogether, split almost equally between men and women but many of us had a background in education, training or the health service. The meeting proved to be high enjoyable and although we started off on the topic of ‘The philosopher Michael Sandel and the Morality of the Market’ we drifted off topic quite a lot into what proved to be very interesting discussions. The collective view around which we achieved a consensus quite early was that the basis of ‘the good life’ was not a slavish adherence to the norms and ethics of the market place but a smaller, more community based approach to living in which there was a much more equal exchange of goods and services. Almost inevitably, our own life experiences coloured the nature of own own individual contributions but what as so enjoyable was finding out that many of my fellow group members had left school and ‘worked their way’ up their various professions without the benefit of a university education. Unfortunately, I will miss the next meeting of the month which is held on the last Friday of each month as I shall be away in Yorkshire but I indicated to the convenor how much I had enjoyed the experience of this morning and I would look forward to future meetings of the group. Eventually, I will need to suggest and to introduce a topic of my own and this may be several meetings ahead but on the spur of the moment I would opt for a broad topic such as ‘What constitutes the nature of Evidence‘ and into this I could bring a discussion of the nature of scientific evidence and the regard (or rather lack of it) which abounds in so much of our political and social life. I took the opportunity to buy some things that are not available in my usual supermarket and then returned home to cook myself a light lunch of some boiled eggs followed by some fruit. This evening, my American friend and I are going to share a meal of some fresh hake, quickly pan fried and served on a bed of salad which is fast and easy to prepare but a nice treat for us at the end of the week. My friend was going off to a swimming session to which she was being re-introduced after a gap of some years so no doubt we can enjoy recounting our various experiences of the morning to each other. Not many people realise that Spain has laid claim to a couple of enclaves on the North African post, surrounded by modern day Morocco. Ceuta and Melilla represent the European Union’s only land border with Africa. Spanish authorities have increased security around the enclaves in recent years through increased surveillance, barrier reinforcement, and improved bilateral relations with Morocco, but people continue to attempt to cross. The number of migrants who entered Ceuta yesterday has risen to 60,000, as 34 confirmed dead. That is equivalent to 70% of the city’s regular population.  The apparent temporary collapse of the territory’s border has led to a wave of condemnation by European leaders.  So we think that we have problems with the ingress of boat crossings across the English Channel!