6 days Ago
There has been quite a fallout from Mr Trump's Tariffs, from which even penguins and seals were not spared. So much for Happy Feet. As one American commentator observed with tongue firmly in cheek "the penguins have been ripping us off for years.
" How countries around the world are attempting to deal with this situation reminds me of the short-lived "I'm Backing Britain" campaign in 1968 when the UK economy was in a desperate state resulting in the pound being devalued. Just like what's happening now, there was a lot of patriotic talk in the UK about how to revive the economy. The Backing Britain campaign was spawned by five typists at a business in Surbiton, Surrey announcing they would work an extra half-hour a day without pay to boost productivity.
This grass roots initiative caught the imagination of the media and won support from Prime Minister Harold Wilson. There was even a jolly song released entitled I'm Backing Britain performed by comedian Bruce Forsythe featuring the inspiring lyrics "the feeling is growing, so let's keep it going, the good times are blowing our way." Alas, that was wishful thinking.
You can hear the song on YouTube, although I don't recommend it. Thousands of Union Jack badges appeared and it quickly developed into a ''Buy British" campaign. Unfortunately, enthusiasm began to waver when it was revealed the official "I'm Backing Britain" T-shirts were actually made in Portugal.
Support further sagged when the typists who had started the whole thing complained they were being pestered so much to give interviews by the media they couldn't get any work done. The final straw was the trade unions announcing they were most unhappy with the idea of working longer hours for no extra money. UK to USSR It might come as a surprise that the Beatles hit, Back in the USSR was originally inspired by the 1968 Backing Britain movement and began life as "I'm Backing the UK.
" Paul McCartney initially supported the campaign but soon realised it was doomed and he wisely altered the title and the lyrics. The title first changed to "I'm Backing the USSR" but that sounded too supportive of the communist regime. So McCartney decided on a parody of Chuck Berry's hit Back in the USA and the Beach Boys' California Girls, resulting in Back in the USSR.
Beatles music was banned in the Soviet Union at that time. But In 2003 McCartney was to perform that song at a concert in Red Square attended by Vladimir Putin who told Paul he loved Beatles music. Funny old world isn't it? Buy Thai It will be interesting to see how the Thai authorities handle the tricky tariff situation.
They could always launch a "Buy Thai" campaign although a similar one back in the 1990s was not a huge success. It might have stood a better chance had its most vocal cabinet member been a little more prudent. In the middle of the campaign he boasted on television about his clothes coming from the best fashion houses in Europe.
No "Johnny Tailor" from Pratunam for him -- it was Italian suits, Versace shirts, Louis Vuitton and so on. Rumours his socks came from Klong Toey market could not be verified. Protecting junk I'm ancient enough to remember when Britain first tried to join the Common Market in 1963, but was vetoed by French president Charles de Gaulle with a firm "Non!" At that time there was a BBC TV comedy series called Steptoe and Son.
It featured two working class junk dealers (rag-and-bone men), Harold, the middle-aged son played by Harry H Corbett, and his father Albert (Wilfred Brambell) and their ageing horse Hercules. In one episode, the son is trying to explain the Common Market to his ignorant father, who thinks he's talking about the local market down the road. The son is not too keen on joining Europe, fearing England would be overrun by hundreds of foreign rag-and-bone men.
He proudly adopts the stance: "English junk for the English." You can't get more patriotic than that. Not plain English Last week's column on irritating expressions prompted quite a response and many readers have submitted their own pet hates.
One I should have mentioned is the truly annoying "with all due respect", a pompous way of announcing that whatever is said next will not show any respect at all. An expression that particularly upsets one reader is "do you know what I mean?" which in the reader's words "presupposes an unwelcome mantle of stupidity on the listener.'' Similarly, "the point I'm trying to make" suggests the person being spoken to is incapable of understanding what is being said.
Other phrases or words that irritate Post readers include "absolutely", "awesome", "going forward", "anyway", "incredibly" and sentences beginning with "so". Sounds familiar Some expressions are only guilty of having been around too long, like "it's not rocket science" or "between a rock and a hard place." It is comments which sound a bit too clever that are the most annoying.
In this category we have "I hear what you are saying", which actually means "what you have just said is a load of old cobblers." Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague..
