Exemplary collaboration

Another cloudy day, slightly warmer. It doesn't feel as if we're two weeks away from Midsummer day. In the news, a sailing boat carrying a token amount of aid for Gaza with twelve protesters has been detained by the Israeli navy and the activists deported. The intention was to draw attention to the siege of the territory and the starvation of Palestinians as an act of war. Incidentally it highlighted the fact that for the past twenty years, Palestinians have been denied control of Gazan coastal waters by Israel, part of its refusal to acknowledge Palestinian state sovereignty. 

Religious extremist Israeli nationalists are bent not just on seeing Hamas eliminated, but driving Palestinians out of the native land they have shared for millennia, selectively citing scripture as their mandate, defying international law and a balanced comprehensive interpretation of the foundation of a faith that upholds justice and equity. Fundamentalist fanaticism is once more demonstrating how toxic it is in the affairs of people and nations. Two ministers of Netanyahu's government have been sanctioned by the UK and five other nations for inciting violence against Gazans and advocating ethnic cleansing. The Israeli reaction has been vehemently condemnatory, and the spokesman interviewed on BBC news was highly aggressive, offensive and abusive towards the interviewer.

Clare went off to her study group in Penarth after breakfast. I waited in for handyman Suheil to arrive and measure up a section of garden wall where Clare wants to mount a new trellis for growing one of the climbing plants we bought from Pugh's Garden centre a few weeks ago. He arrived just before eleven, took measurements and soon left in a hurry. He's a busy man. Then I went to the shops as we needed plant milks and a few other things. I made a pasta dish for lunch with black beans and mushrooms in the sugo. Only recently did I try cooking with black beans for the first time. They have a good flavour, less bland than canelli or fava beans.

After lunch, I finished reading 'Sangre Nueva' and then went out and walked for an hour around Llandaff Fields and returned for a cup of tea before going out again and walking in Thompson's Park to complete my daily distance target. Clare had left for a meditation group session, so I had supper on my own. Then I found on iPlayer another German police mini series to watch called 'The Black Forest murders' or 'Spuren' auf Deutsch, a dramatised documentary telling the story of the year long real life enquiry into the murder of a young woman which turns out to be linked to similar cold case in neighbouring Austria. I watched all four episodes in one go, just under three hours, as it was such a compelling watch.

There's a certain genre of crimmie known as a 'police procedural'  in which the investigation is a context for stories told about investigators, witnesses, victims, and others impacted say a lot about the personalities and relationships of those involved. In this one, the detailed process of the investigation, the forensic science and legal scrutiny of the case are centre stage. You see the members of the investigative task force workers develop, how much of a collaborative and creative effort it is, and what authoritative quiet leadership from the Superintendent lead investigator looks like. 

There's nothing dull about this. No dramatic emotional scenes or side tracks, but glimpses of people working well together driving themselves close to exhaustion, surviving on takeaway food and so much  cake and biscuits. Patient, thorough, persistent team commitment. It's an inspiring example of real life collaborative working.