James Haslett

20 years in London local government 2 years with KPMG Consulting then 20 years at Director level in the private sector. Left of centre (just, these days).

[A.A.Milne @A_AMilne]

They were all playing Poohsticks together. They had dropped their sticks in when Rabbit said “Go!” and then they had hurried across to the other side of the bridge, and now they were all leaning over the edge, waiting to see whose stick would come out first. ~A.A.Milne

[Belle @bellespofforth]

The headlines have faded, but I have not forgotten.

So I painted her.

In honour of Ann Widdecombe.

“The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance”

Psalm 112:6

[Sharron Davies HoL MBE @sharrond62]

Some good news

[A.A.Milne @A_AMilne]

Christopher Robin had made a long table and they all sat round it. All Rabbit’s friends-and-relations spread themselves about on the grass, and waited hopefully in case anybody spoke to them, or dropped anything, or asked them the time. ~A.A.Milne

[A.A.Milne @A_AMilne]

“Dear, dear,” said Pooh, “I didn’t know it was as late as that. Lucky I brought this with me. Many a bear going out on a warm day like this would never have thought of bringing a little something.” And he began to eat. Then he remembered. He had eaten Eeyore’s present! ~A.A.Milne

[Ricky Gervais @rickygervais]

This wasn't allowed in public incase it offended anyone. So please don't retweet it. Thanks 🙏https://t.co/1stbtsNZG1

[James Haslett @JamesHaslett2]

A little moment of joy!

[A.A.Milne @A_AMilne]

Piglet explained to Tigger that he mustn’t mind what Eeyore said because he was ALWAYS gloomy; and Eeyore explained to Piglet that, on the contrary, he was feeling particularly cheerful this morning; and Tigger explained to anybody that he hadn’t had any breakfast yet. ~A.A.Milne

[Miriam Cates @miriam_cates]

Just returned to England after two wonderful weeks in France. Despite visiting dozens of cafés, restaurants, bars, boulangeries and crêperies, we were never once asked if we had any food allergies or intolerances. Incredibly, we all survived.

[James Haslett @JamesHaslett2]

@FlashForFreedom I only ever caught him on the drive home from the office and it was clear every day he was head and shoulders above the other presenters. He's going to be missed.

[James Haslett @JamesHaslett2]

@truemagic68 A fine player in a great Bill Shankly Liverpool team. Until he left for Newcastle, Liverpool was my only team but such was my affection for him Newcastle became, and still is, my number two team. A footballing legend.

[Benonwine @benonwine]

We haven’t forgotten you, Ann.

You are dearly missed, and your memory will live on in the hearts of so many.

You will never be forgotten. 🙏❤️🇬🇧

[James Haslett @JamesHaslett2]

An ordinary person doing something quite extraordinary.

[Mike Netter @nettermike]

He told his students to go to the windows.
Get out. Jump if you have to.
Then Liviu Librescu walked to the classroom door and pressed his body against it.
He was 76 years old. He weighed 140 lbs
The gunman was in the hallway.
It was April 16, 2007. A Monday morning. Solid mechanics class at Virginia Tech, Room 204. Twenty-two students, most of them 19 or 20 years old.
At 9:45 AM, gunshots echoed through Norris Hall. Room by room, the shooter was working his way down the corridor.
Liviu heard it. He understood immediately.
He had survived the Holocaust. He had survived a labor camp. He had spent decades living under Communist oppression. He knew exactly what evil sounded like.
He told his students to escape through the windows. Second floor — it was a drop, but they'd survive. Then he walked to the door and held it shut with his body.
The shooter tried to force it open. It wouldn't move.
He fired through the door. Wood splintered. Bullets came through.
Liviu stayed.
Behind him, students were climbing out the windows. Dropping to the ground. Running. One by one, all twenty-two of them got out.
The shooter kept firing through the door.
Liviu held it shut until every student was safe.
Then the bullets killed him.
When police arrived, they found his body at the door.
All 22 of his students survived. Not one was injured.
Liviu Librescu was born on August 18, 1930, in Ploiești, Romania.
He was Jewish. In 1941, when he was eleven years old, Romanian authorities sent him and his family to a labor camp. His father died there. Liviu survived. When the war ended, he was fifteen.
He went back to school. Studied engineering. Earned a doctorate from the University of Bucharest.
But Communist Romania had no interest in allowing a Jewish intellectual to succeed. He was blocked from academic positions. Passed over for jobs he deserved. He applied to emigrate. The government kept refusing.
Finally, in 1978 when Liviu was 48 years old — Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin personally intervened. Romania let him go.
He had spent most of his adult life trapped in a country that didn't want him.
In Israel, he taught at Tel Aviv University. Published over 300 papers. Became an international expert in aeroelasticity — the science of how air flows over aircraft wings.
In 1985, Virginia Tech offered him a position. He moved to Blacksburg, Virginia. He taught there for 22 years. His students loved him — demanding but kind, high standards, genuine care.
He was still teaching full-time at 76. Still publishing research. Still showing up every Monday morning for solid mechanics.
April 16 was the first day of Passover — the Jewish holiday celebrating liberation from slavery and oppression.
Liviu Librescu died on the day his tradition sets aside to celebrate freedom.
He spent his entire life escaping death and oppression by luck, by persistence, by the intervention of others. And on his last morning, he chose to stand at a door so that twenty-two young people could have the future he had fought so hard to reach.
He could have run. He could have hidden. He could have climbed out a window with his students.
He chose to stay.
The Virginia Tech shooting killed 32 people that day — the deadliest school shooting in American history at the time.
Room 204 had zero casualties.
Because a 76-year-old Holocaust survivor held a door with his body until every student behind him was gone.
His funeral was held in Israel. Students from Virginia Tech flew across the ocean to honor him. The Israeli government awarded him the Star of David Medal posthumously. Virginia Tech named a scholarship in his memory.
His son said his father died the way he lived — protecting others.
A man who survived everything evil threw at him for 76 years.
On his last day, he made sure 22 kids survived too.
Professor Liviu Librescu. August 18, 1930 — April 16, 2007.
Holocaust survivor. Labor camp survivor.
302 published papers. 22 years at Virginia Tech.
22 students out the window.
He held the door.

[Rosie Duffield MP @RosieDuffield1]

Farewell to what for most has been 2 years of broken promises, weakness, let downs, scandal, chaos, greed, chronyism.
But for many of us, 6 years of a spiteful, closed, technocratic, top down, entitled managerial regime which fostered resentment, resulted in workplace stress, ignored political knowledge, talent and achievement in favour of nepotism. Mandelson, glasses, inept, badly-fumbled u-turns, empty politics rejected by voters.
Not legacy, not greatness, not leadership.

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

Sad news. Newcastle, Liverpool and England legend Kevin Keegan has died at the age of 75. He was diagnosed with stage four cancer in January.

One of the all time iconic figures in English football.

RIP Kevin Keegan.

[Esther McVey @EstherMcVey1]

Absolutely staggered & furious that this Labour government has just agreed a £153million aid package for Pakistan, despite them refusing to take back Rochdale Rape Gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed.
No doubt Burnham has given his blessing to this as the incoming Prime Minister.
It seems Labour are institutionally incapable of putting the interests of our country first. But this is a new low even by their standards.
We should have told Pakistan they will get nothing until they take Ahmed back, but instead Labour has decided to reward them for not taking him back.

[James Haslett @JamesHaslett2]

@robertwlk You're making me channel my inner Oliver Kamm!

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

England have a 1-0 lead against Argentina in the World Cup semi-final and were largely in control of the tactical battle. With 30 minutes remaining, the head coach of England who is paid £5 million a year and entrusted with the task of delivering results against elite international opposition, chose to introduce a raft of defensive substitutes and parked the bus. England dropped deep, inviting sustained pressure, severing their own midfield supply lines and sacrificing the pace and threat of their counter-attacks. In the process, they handed Lionel Messi repeated licence to attack at England’s defence. A disastrous decision. It was arguably one of the most self-defeating tactical decisions in the history of the England national team.

[A.A.Milne @A_AMilne]

It was the first party to which Roo had ever been, and he was very excited. He began to talk and Kanga said, “Drink up your milk first, dear, and talk afterwards.”
So Roo tried to do both at once... and had to be patted on the back and dried. ~A.A.Milne

[Shelley Blond @BlondShelley]

A beautiful message from our loving Sisters… the nuns who stood alongside us week in week out for 119 weeks calling for justice and the release of our beloved hostages

“Our dear Jewish friends, 

It is with great shame and sorrow that we write to you following the outcome of the Church of England General Synod on Monday this week concerning the Kairos II document.

We and thousands of Christians in the UK are heartbroken that another blatantly Christian antisemitic attack has been launched against you just at the time when you need our support more than ever.

We want you to know that there is a declaration opposing this which we and many Christians have signed: https://t.co/uY4IQzFfHh

All the more we want to pray, proclaim the truth of G-d's word, and stand with you. We have attached the flyer for our Israel Afternoon this year and welcome you most warmly
for this significant time.

Warm greetings and Shalom!”

They are a bright light in these dark times.