When we first took on
"Furry Face TM" it was on the
understanding that he slept downstairs in his own bed. More often
than not I wake to find he has sneaked up the stairs in the night and
is asleep at the bottom of my pit. Last night I was woken twice by
the thump of him falling off of the bed.
That little dog was a
little bit late in stirring himself out of his (my) pit this
morning; had he been about two minutes earlier he could have shared
my toast. He was too late.
In the words of the old
adage "you snooze, you lose".
This morning I went to
work through some of the heaviest rain I think I have ever seen
outside of one of our camping trips. As I drove I listened to the
radio (as I do). There is consternation
in Germany as apparently a hoard of stolen art treasures has come
to light. During the Nazi regime apparently a lot of valuable works
of art were stolen from the Jewish community and many were "lost".
From what I could
determine from the news article a load of paintings have been found
in a flat somewhere in Germany where the supposed owner of said flat
only appears once a year or so. This chap is eighty-odd years old,
has no apparent means of financial support, and is the son of one of
many Nazis suspected of having stolen valuable art work during the
Nazi era. The implication was that this fellow was making his living
by periodically selling off paintings which he had acquired from his
(now dead) father who presumably had stolen them either from the
original owners or through his involvement with the Nazis.
Those gripped with
righteous indignation felt that this art hoard should be returned to
its rightful owners. I suppose that might at first sight seem to be
the right thing to do.
However German law has a
Statute of Limitations concerning incidents from the Nazi times. From
what I could determine, basically once such a crime is thirty years
old there is no longer any legal recompense. Personally I think that
is a good thing in general.Whilst what happened in history was
terrible, there comes a time when we need to move on.
However in this specific
instance is it right that someone is making a living on stolen goods?
I can't help but wonder
how at this remove in time would anyone ever find the rightful owners
of this art? I can remember my Aunt Joan had a painting which was
supposed to be worth a bob or two. It had a lady showing off a nork.
But I can't remember much more about it than that; and that was from
the mid 1970s. I certainly couldn't tell it from any other painting
of a wanton woman. How could anyone alive today realistically
remember what they or their family once owned in the 1930s and 1940s?
I doubt much in the way of certifying documentation was stolen
together with these art works.
My piss also boiled at
the news that India is sending off a
mission to Mars. Most of my loyal readers might think that as an
astronomical sort of fellow I would be pleased about this. Well, I
suppose I am. But I've been reading an old favourite book of mine.
Jem - the Making
of a Utopia. In this book inter-stellar exploration and
colonisation isn't done by humanity at large, but by nation states.
And all that humanity does is take internecine squabbling and atomic
warfare to a higher level.
If we don't make space
exploration a common shared venture for all nations of the world it
will just become something else for us to argue about.
And so to work. I pootled
about until it was time to come home. It was nice to be able to see
the fireworks at the Kent county cricket ground later in the evening.
As I drove home I scoffed a curlywurly I had bought at the Cheapo
bargains shop last week. I really should stop stocking the car with
curlywurlies from the Cheapo Bargains shop.
And so to Queen Street
where the clans gathered and having listened to the radio we watched
"Merlin". My personal opinion is that Merlin could
easily have Harry Potter in a fight...
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