I'm back, and I'm bigger than a bread box

Well I'm back and I will be posting some pictures of our adventures in the Mother Country as soon as I have a moment. Maybe tonight, who knows.

Britain was pertty much the same as I remember it. Mother's vision is still deteriorating, but she will be seeing a doctor soon about some operations. She's really not fit enough to drive any more. Father, 70 this year, still drives like I did when I was 17.

We spent a day in London trying to convince the Taiwan representative office that we are in fact married. We had to have our British marriage certificate authenticated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Ofice, and then take it to the Taian Representative Office. They told us at first that they could simply stamp it and then we could take it back to Taiwan to have our marriage legalised here. That would cost 10 pounds. Then they decided that they also needed to see the Dragon's family record from Taipei and it would cost 15 pounds. We didn't bring her family record because, foolishly, we thought it unlikely that the Taiwan office would need to authenticate something issued by the Taiwanese authorities. We started a fight about thte issue between the woman on the desk and her manager. Andy didn't have to provide this document you see. We agreed to provide the document by fax.

To actually get a visa based on my marriage I now have to provide a clean criminal record and have a health check. This seems odd to me since I can get a visa for the same length of time, based on my work permit without either of these. I also have to get the clean criminal record authenticated by both the FCO and TRO in London again. I think we can do this by mail however. The incompetance is breath-taking.

On a side note. We both found London very unpleasant this time. I was brought up fairly close to London and my family is from the London area. For me it's never been the romantic, exciting, historic city that it is for some people, but I have always rather liked visiting. This time however there was no time for doing anything nice. The underground was dirty and crowded. People were rude, prices were high, and the monuments were just monuments. I wouldn't want to live there.

Dickie's wedding was great. In true Dickie style it was badly organised and that just added to the enjoyment. Too much was drunk, obscene pictures were taken using the disposable camera left on our table (not by me), and I think just about everyone got lost looking for the hotel. There was also hysterical Scottish dancing. The hotel was in fact very nice indeed. I have some pictures and a little video footage which may appear on the website this week if I get a chance. I think this week will be busy as we prepare for our move to Hsin Tien.

I want to make a quick reference to something Abby said before I left. I asked, if China attacked Taiwan, how could the US justify defending Taiwan after they invaded Iraq? I wasn't suggesting that an invasion of Taiwan was the same as an invasion of Iraq. I didn't make my point very clearly. So here it is again:

The US and China are both key members of the UN and as such have to abide by UN legislation which clearly states that no-one can attack anyone else except in self defence or when specificaly sanctioned by the Security Council. The US invaded Iraq without Security Council sanction. Although the US claimed that a previous resolution gave them the right to attack, that resolution later turned out to be based on the false premise that weapons of mass destruction were being kept there illegally. If China was to attack Taiwan, the US would be forced to defend the island. US legislation already exists for this purpose. China would then question why the US was being agressive and the US would have to claim that they were defending Taiwan from an invasion that contravened the UN members charter. China would then turn round and claim that the US did exactly the same when they invaded Iraq, and they would be 100% correct.

Michael Jackson is in trouble again. I think it's strange how this trial is swinging one way and then the other so violently. Last week I was thinking that Jackson was probably innocent because the accusing witness was clearly unreliable. This week I am thinking maybe I was wrong as previous accusations leak out. Today it seems that previous accusations against MJ are to be used in court and include some very specific descriptions of abuse. This can't be good news for the defence team.

Jonathan King, who has spent over three years in jail after sex abuse accusations is to be released this week. I don't think he should ever have been jailed since he was defending himself from accusations of abuse that may or may not have taken place 30 years earlier. He appears defiant however, which I think is a good thing.