BRITISH UNION RENEWS BOYCOTT CALL

Campaign against Israel gathers steam, expresses hot air.

The University and College Union, representing more than one hundred and twenty thousand British academics, voted to "consider the moral and political implications of education links with Israeli institutions" on Wednesday.

The reason being that they have an insect in their colon about Gaza and the settlements.

[They've had that insect there for the past half-decade, and it's looking mighty pathological. An organizational psychosis of sorts.]


I like the British, and I like several British things. Much about the British lifestyle is quite enjoyable. Civilized.
But I too am willing to boycott. The problem is that it will be difficult to do so.
The British pipe-tobacco I smoke is made in Germany, the trademark is owned by a combine headquartered in Switzerland and the US. The Scotch I drink is owned by a Japanese brewery and imported by an enterprise located in the deep South (I mostly drink Irish whiskey anyhow), the beer I drink is made here (at Columbus Avenue and Pacific by the San Francisco Brewing Company).
My condiments and my cheese are either Californian or French.

[Including the cheddar - did you notice that I didn't capitalize cheddar? That's because the British Empire still owns the capital-letter on that word.]


My trench-coat (the infamous flasher mack, now looking like utter perversion and smelling of condiments, cheesy substances, and degeneracy, plus fine tobacco) is originally from Vroom & Dreesman in Mokum. But it was made in China. Much of my wardrobe is of Chinese manufacture.
My fedora is Croatian...... via Amsterdam (from a merchant who relocated during the nineties).
The belt holding my pants up and my gut in comes from India. I think it's holy cow originally.


It's hard finding British goods to boycott. There is so little that is actually British. I am of course open to suggestions......
Perhaps I should stop reading Kipling?

[Knowing that many British people are willing to give up much modern technology in return (including computers, telephone gadgets, high tech doohickeys of many types, and medical equipment) abundantly compensates for the struggle. I wish all British academia hatzlacha in that endeavor. Kol tov, y'all, kol tov.]


In the meantime, I'll start purchasing Wissotzky products for my black-tea requirement; they're a fine company, and they seem to understand precisely what I need.

[Web address: http://www.wtea.com/ Brick-and-mortar address: Wissotzky house,103 Hashmonaim Street, P.O.Box 147, 61001 Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel: 972-3- 5651515. Fax: 972-50-89-67-363. Available to the US market from several Israeli mail-order houses, plus QVC.]


The green tea (綠茶), semi-fermented (Oolong (烏龍), Wu-Yi (武夷), Guan Yin (觀音), Ti Luo Han (鐵羅漢), and Shui Hsien (水仙)), and fragrant black teas (Chi Men (祁門), Yunnan (雲南), Lok On (六安)) are all from China. Without any British intervention. I buy them at Gong Nam (江南公司 or 江南行) on Grant Avenue (formerly named 'Calle De La Fundacion'). They have a marvelous selection of loose teas, and the white people have not discovered them yet.


Gracious, it's hard to boycott the British.

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NOTE: I apologize to my three British readers (Rabbi Jeremy Rosen, Graham in Germany, and Daniel Saunders). Sincerely. I do not wish to offend you, and I hope you can appreciate the spirit of the post: cheeky good cheer mixed with venomously raging gout.
Dinner last night was late, and though modest, incredibly rich. I also had some cheese afterwards. And some sherry. Woke up at four this morning with a painfully swollen and twitchy foot. Its companion (feet often come as a matched set) was not feeling happy either.
Gout is so very very British, but it certainly is something I would gladly boycott.