YELBENI: "It might take a while to catch 'em, but with training and dedication, holes in one are sure to follow, even in a gale," reckons PL Inkletter

Be all that as it may, meanwhile:

'In other news…'

07^th June 2010

Monday: As I write well well, long long, way way, after the end of this day, I'm stuffing my jowls with Missus Inkletter's homemade rocky road, or 'locky load' as I usually call it in when in my oriental mode. I would like to think that my modes are excitingly uncertain, but I would wager that if you enquired of Missus Inkletter, she would assert that they're as predictable as a red blooded man's focus upon the chest of a jogging woman passer-by. Be that as it may, I mightily enjoyed my pig-out, and now am debating with myself the worth of a session of guilt…

If confronted by the slumbering sweetmeat, and asked to account for the smeared chocolate all over my chops, should I invent some kind of incident, such as having been kidnapped briefly during my late night constitutional by a rabid divorcee, and subjected to having to lick her clean of chocolate from her belly, at risk of harm to Missus Inkletter if I refused? Maybe not.

Well, what a 'day'! To bed from the previous 'day' at half eight (in the morning that is, after a marathon all nighter including a walk after three a.m. and a three dishwasher fills kitchen clean up, many luv luvs with Cadbury, and computing), fitful and shallow sleeping until eleven, barely two hours later, and then up to prepare for the fambly to have lunch with us.

The Dear Leader came with Umple Dais, followed by The Babies Ink&Peggletter, and we all enjoyed a banquet courtesy of the blood sweat tears and skill of Missus Inkletter, an angel formerly known as 'Cherub', displaced for a time here on earth in human form. Who by the way, did not eat all afternoon, as is her habit, being but a breakfast and dinner lass since embarking upon the Byetta regime.

Cadbury joined us indoors for much of the afternoon, gamboling about in the lounge chasing the cat toy we all had turns with boinging around for the little celestial kitty's delight. She was in her element, and rapt with all the different faces to perform for. She appears to be all but completely healed from her degonadification under the knives of the big bad vet docs at the Cat Haven 15 days back.

Mid afternoon the sibling and farter of my good wife left, and The Babies Ink&Peggletter stayed on for another couple of hours and more to play a great little card game called 'No Thanks'. We had a wonderful time, and it was a treat and a blessing to have these two inspiring young people spend their time with us.

I was ravished briefly by my wife before she put me to sleep about six (the poor thing has her needs), and woke me about half ten – otherwise I might have fallen off the perch – in time for a late din dins and Lateline: The (Leigh) Sales Graph: Ms Sales looked so good tonight, and she must have charmed her distinguished on-screen guest from London somewhat, Tony Blair, in her dark quietly pinstriped jacket with fern green underbodice, her effectively understated make-up, catching and matching green enamelled earrings, and superbly flattering loose-falling convex flared coiffure, who, the poor old bugger (Tony that is), was really looking his age: either that, or he'd been up all night having another of his long dark nights of the soul, and paying for it with a haggard face this mid-morning in London.

As an aside before I speak of this interview, it was good to see Peter Lloyd reporting again, on an earlier story, after the turmoil and pain he's gone through recently.

Mr Blair was smartly if insipidly turned out in a slate grey suit and white shirt, with an emaciated cardinal red tie desperately trying to spice up his sartorial lack of splendour.

Ms Sales started off in safe territory, inviting Mr Blair to discuss his Faith Partnership's new alliance with the University of Western Australia, and finished the interview with it, much to his satisfaction and relief. I hope that he makes intelligent progress with his foundation, because the world needs as much maturation as possible among the various religions and their pitiful and dangerous divides.

Well done Ms Sales for extracting 14 minutes from the former British PM, and it was soon evident that she put him at relative ease; nevertheless, her charms and charming ways failed to draw him out, 6 disarming minutes in, on that elephant in the room, Britain's support of and involvement in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the ongoing war to the present day, with his blessing as serving Prime Minister. He fudged around giving feeble excuses, and made no helpful comments. I suppose that it would take a near divine degree of maturity and humility to admit that a massive and deadly mistake had been personally made. And how would George W. Bush fudge around similar questions? John W. Howard?

Yes, not even the leverage of cleavage from Ms Sales' outfit could win the requisite analysis out of the former British top poodle on the ongoing debacle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I think their discussion about the Israel-Palestine problem was sensible: a two state solution is a pragmatic aspiration, for the alternatives are horrible. So more power to Mr Blair to help achieve the decent and mature sharing of that region by its inhabitants. However, there is that little intractable issue of one state wanting the destruction of the other, that must be changed first…

Ms Sales did draw him out slightly on one of the icky issues he wanted to avoid with this question: "How will Britain know when it is time to pull out of Afghanistan?"

Tony Blair: "I think - I mean, look, this is not my area of policy anymore and let me be careful in what I say here, but my view about Afghanistan has been the same all the way through which is that we are there for a reason and a purpose. We have to see the purpose fulfilled.

And it is that that determines when we withdraw or not. What is really important is to send an absolutely certain, clear signal to the people we're fighting there that we intend to see the issue through."

Next came a perfectly reasonable and crucial question: Leigh Sales: "What will be the signs that your purpose has been fulfilled?"

And then the dismally useless and disconnected answer, which amounts to wishful thinking and little more: Tony Blair: "I think when you see the signs of political and security stability taking root and developing in the country."

The whole shemozzle of both Iraq and Afghanistan is unsolvable by the current methods by the Western occupying nations, with the biggest root problem being a massive gulf in basic values between the populations of the nations, and Tony Blair is either deluded if he doesn't know this, or circuitous if he does, and I'd plumb that he does.

A valuable interview, and for not the least reason that Ms Sales permitted Mr Blair to share a project dear to him (expiation?), as well as demonstrate his hypersensitivities. He was one of the most powerful forces in his time for changing the globe, and it remains to be seen just how positive or not that change was. Rarely does great good come from a CLASH of Christian (or Judaic) and Islamic mindsets.

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