(no subject)

[raincitygirl]

So, there've been ructions at WisCon over serial sexual harasser Jim Frenkel, basically over whether it would be MEAN of the con committee to ban him for life just because he's a serial sexual harasser. Short version: he ain't banned for life, no way, no how. kate_nepveu has a terrific summary here and legionseagle eviscerates the "logic" of the con committee here, by applying actual logic. Also, the odds of me ever going to WisCon just went down considerably.

I know ambassadors have palatial official residences, but do Deputy Chief of Missions have rather more modest official residences as well? It seems to me that a Deputy Chief of Mission would have to do quite a lot of entertaining, if not as much as the ambassador.

Interesting article, From Prey to Predator, about a college student who was sexually assaulted and went through the court system twice (the first trial resulted in a hung jury).

When I was cleaning up yesterday, I found a pot of this and a cake of this in a bag at the back of the hall closet. I'd bought them months ago, and then forgotten where i'd put them. So I feel rather as though I've just bought some fabulous new Lush hair products, even though I haven't spent any money (well, I did spend money, but not recently). Which is good, because I'm being very careful about money right now, what with Young Miss Weaver's expensive dental woes.

Oh, and YMW let my mum rub her head yesterday. We are making incremental progress.

Anybody already read Terry Pratchett's new Discworld book, Raising Steam? Is it any good? And any idea when the price is liable to come down? Kindle and iBooks both have it for just under $18 CDN, which is a bit much when I'm trying to be careful about money.

Comments

[clanwilliam]

Deputy chiefs of mission do their entertaining at the embassy as well or do it in a hired location, for example if they're holding an event in a different city to the capital (consulates are obviously a different kettle of fish). Quite often, the ambassador lives in the embassy, which has both private accommodation for the ambassador's family and guest accommodation attached to it for visiting bigwigs.

Ambassadorial residences can vary from palatial separate residences to dingy flats, depending on location and budget.

[raincitygirl]

INTERESTING!!!!!!!!!

[clanwilliam]

It is, however, quite possible that the deputy head of mission for the US embassy in London has a nice palatial residence and entertains there - my experience is of smaller countries' embassies.

[raincitygirl]

Ever more fascinating.

When I was visiting my family in the suburbs of The Hague the last time, they took me on a drive past various palatial ambassadorial residences. And I got to hear the story of how in 1945, in gratitude for the sheltering of the Royal Family in Canada and the critical part played by Canadian troops in liberating the Netherlands, the Dutch government presented the Canadian government with a palatial official residence with extensive grounds, entirely free of charge. Bear in mind that Canada will still just a Dominion of the British Empire at that time, and the new official residence for its head diplomat was bigger and grander than many of the official residences of “real” countries.

But the building, however magnificent it might have been before the war, had suffered extensive bomb damage, and it took the Canadian government quite a lot of money to get it back to its former glories. It might have been cheaper for them to buy a less magnificent glamorous residence on the open market, rather than accepting a gift with so many strings attached.

[madripoor_rose]

Oh, I read Raising Steam a while ago. It was a little better than the last few books, but still had a vaguely disjointed feeling.

Maybe try the public library?

[raincitygirl]

I will try the library, thanks.