A fake in the form of a letter from the Liberal Democrats on the occasion of tomorrow's council elections.
A letter which was delivered in a small, hand addressed envelope. A testament to the strength of their local membership: if everybody in Epsom and Ewell got one, that amounts to a lot of envelope stuffing and a lot of writing.
The letter itself, two sided, was mainly printed by computer in fake handwriting, which I find rather irritating. At least I think it is; the letters are very well aligned if it is not. Presumably it is only a matter of time before the nerds introduce a bit of random jitter both into the form and the positions of the letters, making it even harder to distinguish the computer's efforts from that of a person. Maybe even a few blots by way of a finishing touch?
The salutation 'Dear Friend', is also a bit fake, although a form used by people like evangelical preachers - and some regular parsons. But it is not nearly as bad as the 'Dear Linda' or 'Dear James' employed by some of the utilities - particularly from the ones which are nominally sent by the chief executive.
I suppose the fake personal touch, the fake friendliness is all part of the fake message - sadly common to all the candidates - which claims that this candidate is going to get so much more out of the same pint pot than all the other candidates. I believe that a few years ago the electors of New York finally worked out that if they wanted all the many potholes in their roads to be fixed, they had to pay higher local taxes, but neither our politicians nor our voters have got to that point here. Maybe one day.
PS: I was amused when I clicked on an advertisement in yesterday's Financial Times to find that the Judge Business School at Cambridge is offering courses for ladies which are '... crafted for senior women leaders ready to lead authentically, strategically and with real-world influence...'. See reference 2.
After puzzling a little about what authentic leadership might mean - honesty about caring a great deal about the bottom line? - I associated to the Business School's former life as Addenbrooke's Hospital (old site), where a chunk of the ground floor was given over to out-patients, arranged as a large rectangular waiting room with rows of chairs, a bit like a school hall or cafeteria, with individual consulting rooms arranged along both sides. A bit like the chapels on either side of the nave in Westminster Cathedral. I got to know the former as a child and the latter as an adult.
Bing turns up the snap included above, with, as I recall, out-patients being off-snap to the right. Note also the interesting street light left. I believe I have noticed them before, but have yet to trace the post.
There is also a very vague memory of my father, on occasion, taking a dental clinic behind one of the second floor windows.
I have not attempted to probe that one, but memory also says that what was out-patients is now a branch of Brown's, a memory which is confirmed by Street View, at least back in 2024.
PS: after breakfast: search of the archives, using various lines of attack, failed to turn up the street lights and Gemini did not recall my asking him, although he did know all about them, as did Bing, from whom I learn that they are known as 'Richardson candles' and to be found, for example, at reference 3. I don't think that I ever knew them by this name, so I am now not so sure that I have noticed them before at all. But the usual small prize is offered to any reader who turns it up.
References
Reference 1: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/04/fake-198.html.
Reference 3: https://capturingcambridge.org/centre/trinity-street/richardson-candles/.
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