Inspirational Women, SNP Powderkeg lit, Slasher Trump Budget

Author Ruth Moulder at Histon Library Library evening talk on Inspirational Women

A day of visits, talk of inspirational women, Brexit news squeezed by other political turmoil, no evidence for Trump wiretapping followed by slasher budget.

A morning visit to a prospective client in Cambridge again impressed me with the fact that there are still many people who are just daunted by technology and need assistance and reassurance. A fascinating afternoon with the prospective speaker/interviewee for April's Milton Local History Group meeting.

Today's highlight was the evening talk by author Ruth Moulder at Histon Library. We arrived early at a library in the dark as the volunteers and staff arrived. There was a good-natured melee revealing the complexities of entering after hours - without initiating the alarm and inadvertently expanding the audience with the men and women in blue. We all mucked in to move heavy book shelves on wheels out of the way and create a cozy seating corner amongst the books. Ruth's book "These Wonderful Lives" arose from a need to provide stories of inspirational women for children. I really liked the way she used the theme as the topic for the evening's talk with the book playing a secondary part. It generated a lot of lively discussion afterwards.

Best quote of the day today by Michael Portillo on tonight's "'Allo 'Allo" themed intro to 'Question Time' with his toast "May you have 'A Piness for all of your life". It could be his most memorable epitaph.

The Queen's assent to the Article 50 Bill today disappeared in a smorgasbord of other political tit-bits. These included the stab in the back (or not) of the Chancellor by the Prime Minister, the latter also lighting the blue touchpaper under the SNP powderkeg by rejecting Nicola Sturgeon's call for a second independence vote. Then there was the fining of the Conservatives to the tune of £70,000 for breaking election expenses rules.

Across the pond and after last night's blow to POTUS's travel ban in Hawaii, a second federal judge in Maryland ruled against it, forbidding the core provision of the travel ban from going into effect.  The combined House and Senate Intelligence Committee stated that they had not seen any evidence that Trump or Trump Towers had been tapped. President Trump's budget is released and it plans cuts to funding for all departments (including infrastructure, which was promised an increase) by between 11.7% for the Department of the Interior to 31.4% for the Environmental Protection Agency. Defence was the only exception. It looks like the less well off and the environment are due to suffer.

Across the Channel, some reassuring news as the far right does not win in the Dutch elections. However, the tension increases between Turkey and the EU with wild accusations still emanating from the former.