tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-634496984020324532.post2970570965982109409..comments2023-10-31T14:36:59.054+00:00Comments on anticant's burrow: RETROSPECTIVEanticanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-634496984020324532.post-7767808544611324082006-12-31T18:01:00.000+00:002006-12-31T18:01:00.000+00:00Yes, some times are inspirational and to be treasu...Yes, some times are inspirational and to be treasured. Those of us who have experienced one of those brief eras are fortunate indeed.<br /><br />For the oldest Americans, for example, the Depression was such a time. Although it wasn't strictly true, it felt as though everyone was in the same boat. People with practicly nothing themselves paid a nickel to have their windows cleaned, even if the windows weren't all that dirty.<br /><br />I recall the optimism (and real danger) of the American civil rights movement. Progress was made (not enough of course, but most remains in place).<br /><br />(I'm not sure that the Americans really misnamed "9/11" given that it happened on American soil. I'm just grateful it didn't get given a more grandiose name.)<br /><br />Thanks for your memories, Anticant. Let's hope that 2007 finds the pendulum swinging back towards a gentler and kinder world.Suzonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07281909557440304810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-634496984020324532.post-1944331890033433572006-12-31T08:25:00.000+00:002006-12-31T08:25:00.000+00:00Indeed, Anticant. LOL. I however must say that sho...Indeed, Anticant. LOL. I however must say that should all those responsible for the war be strung up as you say, we would have to use the Himalayas.Josehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02081096450259201426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-634496984020324532.post-84578297207479972902006-12-30T21:41:00.000+00:002006-12-30T21:41:00.000+00:00I won't! I couldn't care less about the guy except...I won't! I couldn't care less about the guy except that I'm agin capital punishment. What I want to know is: Why wasn't it bin Laden? <br /><br />But if Bush and Blair had been strung up alongside Saddam as in the Calvary story, now that WOULD be something to remember....anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-634496984020324532.post-596792798853079232006-12-30T21:31:00.000+00:002006-12-30T21:31:00.000+00:00In years to come people will say to one another 'W...In years to come people will say to one another 'Where were you when you heard about President Hussein's execution?'<br />That will be on a par with 'Your Kennedy moment or 9/11 moment'.<br /><br />Lovely piece, Anti-que ,keep going with the retrospectives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-634496984020324532.post-46391141624812089132006-12-30T21:25:00.000+00:002006-12-30T21:25:00.000+00:00Thank you for sharing those memories, Jose. There ...Thank you for sharing those memories, Jose. There is always hope. The two most unexpected [to me] - and hopeful - events of the past quarter-century have been the emergence of Spain from a backward, poor, priest-ridden dictatorship into a thriving democracy, and the transformation in Western Europe of social attitudes towards gay people.<br /><br />My ending words, "Wait, and hope", are the concluding words of the greatest [IMHO] novel ever written - Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo". They are words we must cling on to in these difficult times.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-634496984020324532.post-39433863988481700302006-12-30T20:23:00.000+00:002006-12-30T20:23:00.000+00:00You awakened my memories, Anticant. Much of what y...You awakened my memories, Anticant. Much of what you say I remember. You must know that the Canary Islands have had of always very close links with Britain. In fact there are many British families living of old all over the islands. Streets with English names, such as Horatio Nelson's in Tenerife where Lord Nelson was beaten in his attempt at conquering the island and lost his arm.<br /><br />As you say those were other times, because the people of Tenerife after the battle tended to the wounded, fed the sailors, lodged them and bid them goodbye in peace.<br /><br />The trade between the Canary Islands and Britain grew considerably, there is even a dock in London named Canary Dock, where ships with tomatoes and bananas from the Islands unloaded and loaded. From Britain the Canaries imported industrial products from refrigerators to cars, lorries and tractors.<br /><br />I was in London in the early 1950s and there still were many scars from the war. As an anecdote I lost 8 kilos in one month just by walking about to see everything I could at off-work hours.<br /><br />Here Franco's dictatorship ruled the country's isolation from the rest of the then democratic world. But the Canaries were privileged: we had close relations with Britain. <br /><br />Which have been kept along the years.<br /><br />Thank you for those memories.Josehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02081096450259201426noreply@blogger.com