News Flash - A Barbary Tail gets a mention on local radio..

I nearly choked on my banana to hear this blog being plugged on Michelle Rugeroni's brilliant morning show on Sunday mornings.  Its usually very quiet up here Sunday mornings so we all tune in and bop about to the tunes.  The tourists haven't got a clue.  Tune in every Sunday morning at 11.00 for 'the Ruge's' show.  
She's talking about me, she has to be brilliant!

See the posts below to see why she's talking about me and feel free to leave a comment or two...

A modern-day David & Goliath: Discuss

Last week, during a religious education class (we all learn, naturally, together in the same room/cage) we came across the story of David & Goliath. The class went ape with victorious enthusiasm as the teacher taught us of David's victory over Goliath and how he returned home with Goliath's head in his hands.  Break time was upon us and we all strutted out to our respective walls for the day, ready to take on all comers, empowered by that fantastic story.
Not ten minutes later, bored and looking for some food to steal or a handy taxi driver to feed me, a tourist pointed out a couple of boats in the bay...  It would seem that the Spanish Guardia Civil had, once more, ventured over into Gibraltar waters to say 'good morning' to their Royal Gibraltar Police counterparts and went on their merry way. Only it doesn't actually seem that it was that simple, not from how my two friends the taxi drivers were ranting.  One more had joined the group and we had a three-way argument about what was going on, down on the water. 
The story goes that the Civil Guard keeps getting lost, which is weird considering the technology I'm told is available these days (I have to take your word, I'm just an ape), and the RGP pops out to remind them that they're in British waters and would they be so kind as to get out.
It seems to me that that's probably all the RGP can do in the circumstances.  I look north and there it is, Spain, as far as the eye can see.  Its a pretty big place isn't it?  I know we're not THAT big. Besides, as one of the taxi drivers said (let's call him Mr Sensible), its apparently Britain's responsibility to defend our sovereignty, not our own.  When, Mr Sensible explains, the other taxi driver (let's call this one Mr I Complain for the sake of Complaining, or 'Joe' for short)'s favoured political party was in Government, it never did anything about what they call incursions.  If the government takes Britain to court and takes the hard line, Joe complains that the government's being too harsh.  If the government lightens up, Joe complains he's not doing enough!  What's more, Joe keeps insisting that the RGP should be given the resources to deal with the threat of further incursions: what, like a couple of nuclear submarines?  I hear Tireless is being decommissioned soon... (brace yourself for the backlash from Howitt & the Hickory Huggers!)
Talk about going ape, and we know it when we see it, it seems that Joe's lost the plot (not recently either - think the Constitution).  It seems that Joe advocates that we go head to head with Spain, that we put our police officers in situations where today, tomorrow and forever there will be a simply overwhelming inequality of arms!  All this would be fine if Joe & Sons had actually advocated or done this themselves when they were able to, but of course, they didn't...  


It seems this is one taxi driver who is taking the David and Goliath story a little too far, somewhat dangerously so, actually. A sling and some rocks, a sword maybe, and a little cunning might have seen David take the win but these days, Goliath has one of these...

Punch & Judy politics?

Just taking a break from parading my leathery bottom to a few tourists to catch up on the news today and, my oh my, the PDP's Keith Azopardi may be having a Clegg moment. He says, "We want to know what people think and show everyone that we are a strong real alternative to the old acrimonious, destructive, Punch and Judy politics of the GSD and GSLP."  
The coverage of the UK election was pretty special and it got quite boring quite quickly to hear Nick Clegg, who had nothing to lose and everything to gain after his performances on the leaders' debates, how he was the alternative to the old and tired politics, over and over and over again.  It was the catchphrase for his election.  Result?  Hung parliament.
Now, 'hanging around' is something us apes are quite partial to but its not quite so much good fun when what's hanging around is a country's governing institutions. No direction, no leadership.  But we all know what happened next...

I wonder what other unexpected and impossible allegiances a similar approach locally may bring about?  Who knows....

But what do I know, I'm just an ape with a stub for a tail...