This month we have a few new members, and one or two potential members attending the lunch for inspection. We also want to discuss the subject of charitable giving, and ask your feedback on charities you consider as potential recipients of funds from CADS.
We may also have the opportunity to hold a CADS dinner on the Elfin on the 17th November, after she has landed Sinter Klaas and his 100 assistants on Zaandam Quay. Let me know if you would like to attend such a function.
Our speaker this month will be Col (ret’d) Mark Cook OBE, RD, founder of the charity Hope and Homes for Children, former colonel of the Gurkhas, and the Commander of the British contingent of UNPROFOR in Croatia. He has appeared several times on the BBC, is the author of the book Promise of Hope, and the star of the film ‘Against All Odds’. It should be interesting.
This week the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize. Andrew Roberts summed up my feelings in his piece published by Bloomberg:
“The fabulous ignorance necessary to pass over the organization that in reality brought peace to the European continent for the past six decades — the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — and to reward instead a soulless, corrupt, bullying, glorified customs union with pretensions to superpower, beggars belief… …They can use the 1m USD prize to pay for an independent audit – it has been well over a decade since the EU’s appointed auditors have been able to sign off on their accounts”.
There have been 23 further arrests in London this month in connection with the phone hacking scandal, including military personnel, civil servants, and serving police officers. Can’t trust them with our data then…
And finally, Asil Nadir is enjoying the delights of Belmarsh Prison at the expense of British taxpayers. The 10,000GBP per month cost of Belmarsh is somewhat less than the 23,000 GBP per month he paid in rent for the Mayfair house where he stayed during the trial. Last month he told the Old Bailey that he is broke, and cannot pay back any of the 150m+ GBP that he stole.