A Big Surprise in Northern Ireland

Political events are normally so depressing these days, and so yesterday was a pleasant surprise not just for me, but all those people who have spent most of their lives despairing about the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland: the hate-filled rhetoric, the shootings, the bombings, the knee-cappings, the terrorist acts perpetrated on British cities, the control of whole communities by self-styled armed militia belonging both to the Republican/Nationalist communities in pursuit of a united Ireland and the Unionist communities in pursuit of remaining firmly entrenched as a part of Britain.

In the middle of all this there were so-called "moderates" represented by the Social & Democratic Labour Party, the Alliance Party and the Ulster Unionists, but their efforts in conjunction with the UK Government over 40 years or more came to nothing. It is ironic that in the end it took the figureheads from the two most extreme wings of the political spectrum to walk the thorny path from armed struggle to the ballot box: on the IRA side, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness (acknowledged past terrorists) of Sinn Fein; on the unionist side, Dr Ian Paisley (hell fire & brimstone protestant preacher) of the Democratic Ulster Unionists.

Credit where credit is due - the last Conservative Prime Minister, John Major took the courageous step of starting behind-the-scenes talks with the IRA. We didn't know it at the time, but the IRA were already coming to the conclusion that the armed struggle was not actually yielding results. When Tony Blair swept to power in 1997 he took up where Major had left off and he and his colleagues relentlessly pursued the goal of a peaceful settlement.

Now at last, and almost unbelievably, we have seen Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley (representing the two largest Parties in Northern Ireland after the last Norther Ireland Assembly elections) sitting at the same table and acknowledging they had signed an agreement to work jointly in a new devolved Northern Ireland Government with effect from 8th May this year.

Sorry to be slighly cynical, but I have to point out that a few weeks back, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, laid down an ultimatum for the politicians across the water: if agreeement could not be reached, the Assembly would be closed down, the Province would be ruled directly from London for the forseeable future, and - here's the rub - all payment of salaries to elected members would be stopped.

Wonderful what can be achieved by threatening the pocket! I also suspect that Dr Paisley - for so long considered to be such a religious and unionist extremist - also relishes the imminent prospect of becoming Northern Ireland's First Minister to such an extent that he might have been prepared to sit at the same table with anyone!

I believe that Sinn Fein will ultimately achieve their stated aims, since their popular support at the ballot box has been steadily increasing with every election held, and I suspect that their core support, being staunchly Roman Catholic will tend to increase over time merely by virtue of their particular take on birth control. The time may well come when they form a majority and so can re-unite the "Six Counties" with the Republic of Ireland.

I have no feeling about that one way or other so long as the end result is reached by democratic means and represents a majority view.

Tony Blair will be not a little pleased and relieved to have a large-scale positive achievement attached to his legacy to counter the Iraq millstone around his neck.

Let us hope this is a new dawn for Northern Ireland.

Spring turns to Winter

On 10th March this was my front garden (left). The grass had already been cut (twice) in warm sunshine. Today, eleven days later, winter has returned with icy north winds, snow and temperatures below freezing (right). (Spot the photographer).

At least the sun is shining! I just thought I'd brighten up this Blog, as a change from ranting and raving about international politics.

With Allies like these ... (Part 2)

The Oxford Coroner finally got to show in court the US Air Force video footage from the incident in which Lance Corporal Matty Hull was killed when his convoy was shot up by an American aircraft.

Now there's a new twist: the other day the Coroner asked for the details of the American Rules of Engagement and his request was denied by the US Military. From this it transpired that the UK's own Ministry of Defence does not have this information either!

So it appears we have a bizarre situation in which British forces are fighting alongside American allies whilst having no knowledge of their Rules of Engagement.

Just how much madder is this Iraq debacle going to get?!

One man went to mow...

This must be some kind of record: the first few days into March and I've had to mow all our lawns! Had I left it any longer it would have been totally unmanageable by the Spring. In truth the grass was so long that it was more like tackling a lush meadow. Yet another phenonomen related to our changing climate. Britain has enjoyed yet another very benign winter, with very few prolonged periods of below-freezing temperatures, and just two or three days of significant snow. The biggest problem has been periods of intense rainfall causing local flooding.

Still on garden-related matters, we now appear to have a pheasant permanently in residence. He's a fine fat specimen and no doubt would make a pretty good meal, but I have resisted the temptation to catch it and strangle it. (Actually, not being a huntin' shootin' fishin' kind of guy I doubt if I could bring myself to do it, and I get some pleasure from watching him strut about, picking up tit-bits that have fallen from the assorted bird feeders hanging in the plum tree.)

He's a very wise bird confining his life to the local gardens. Out in the woods with his friends he would be fair game for some shooting party or other.

Iran

I'm baffled by the rumours coming out of the USA regarding the possibility of military action against Iran. OK, so Iran is developing nuclear capabilities. So what?! For forty years of "Cold War" the USSR was the biggest nuclear threat the "West" had ever faced, but that didn't lead us to pre-emptive military action against Moscow. Have we forgotten the meaning of the term "nuclear deterrent"? Don't we still have that capability?

I understand that a raft of senior military men in the USA have stated they would resign if such a mad policy was pursued. No doubt George W Bush could rustle up enough gung-ho cronies to put in their place. The next Presidential election can't come soon enough for me. There is no doubt in my own mind who the most dangerous man in the world is.

Choking on Gas

A year ago I signed up to a deal with British Gas that would protect me from price increases for three years. As the price of gas, electricity and oil all seemed to be on a never-ending upward spiral this seemed to be a good deal. I agreed to a small price increase for gas and this would be fixed until 2009.

Guess what - this month British Gas introduced significant price cuts, but they don't apply to me.

It turns out that not only am I protected against price increases, but I am equally well protected against price cuts!

Achieving Sainthood by the Back Door

The other day, in my capacity as a part-time taxi driver, I brought an elderly couple home from church. When we arrived at their house, the lady asked if I would mind going inside to help free their back door. She explained that it had been jammed shut for days and she and her husband were not strong enough to shift it. Naturally I volunteered to throw my shoulder against it.

She forged on ahead up the front drive, with me in close pursuit, leaving her husband behind to struggle as best he could on his two sticks. I expressed concern about his well-being, but she said, "Oh, he'll be OK.." and then as a kind of afterthought, "...unless he falls over."

Fortunately we all made it safely to the front door and went inside. I was taken through to the kitchen, and shown the offending back door. I tested it, and sure enough, it was stuck fast. I spied a key sitting on the adjacent window sill, picked it up and unlocked the door.

That did the trick!

Quality not Quantity

I return to the Blogosphere after an absence caused in part by idleness and in part by illness. My recovery has been aided by the comments of two of my readers who have indeed been kind enough to leave comments confirming quality is more important than quantity. Actually I received a further boost from a THIRD reader (and regular internet friend) who sent me an e-mail to let me know she dips in from time to time. Modesty prevents me from revealing one of the reasons she does so, and in any case I didn't think my photograph was that good!

My wife and I have been on a spending spree, emptying the contents of our bank accounts in pursuit of a new 3-piece lounge suite, a dining room table and chairs, and a 37-inch plasma flat-screen digital TV. I think the greatest pleasure to be had from buying the furniture was the somewhat unusual degree of high-quality customer service we received in the show room, to the extent that I am happy to give a worldwide "plug" to Sinclairs of Scarborough.

http://www.firstforfurniture.com/

As soon as we entered we were greeted with a big smile by a smartly suited jolly gentleman (no other way to describe him) who asked about our requirements and proceeded to show us personally every item of furniture on the two floors of the showrooms, with a full description and demonstration of all the features. (I was sorely tempted by a motorised reclining chair but I managed to restrain myself.) He was pleased to discuss our colour schemes and show us the items most likely to fit in. Strangely, although we looked at and sat in pretty well everything on display, we finished up buying the very first items he had shown us. How cool is that? Size up your customers' requirements, take them straight to what they need, then show them everything else to confirm that none of the other stuff is for them. We spent an hour in that shop, and I'd only paid for an hour's parking on a meter just up the road. Our salesman told us not to worry - he didn't think we'd have received a penalty ticket, but if we had, then they would "pick up the tab".

The TV is a major improvement on our previous model, and I'm still trying to get my head round how "thin" it is from front to back. I watched Prime Minister Tony Blair being interviewed this morning on Andrew Marr's Sunday AM and he was so much in the room with me that I was convinced he could hear me shouting abuse at him as he once again tried to justify the Iraq debacle. Marr's earlier interview with Art Garfunkel was far more pleasing.

Well, I may surface again in a week; remember, quality not quantity. (I think there's more of the latter than the former in the above!)

Good Morning Ladies!

I've just been watching a discussion on TV about blogging. It is the new craze. It is the democratization of news presentation and analysis. It gives the ordinary person the opportunity to react with others on the issues of the day, whether they be big international events or something small in the blogger's personal life. It is so big that the "establishment" is now well into it, with TV presenters, newpaper journalists, and politicians producing their own professional blogs. It is said that the ordinary British blogger can attract an audience of up to 35,000 which is bigger than the circulation of some weekly political magazines. E-mails, site comments, and discussion threads are feeding the frenzy of debate amongst Joe Public. I reckon 90% of it is probably inconsequential rubbish (like this Blog) and a platform for the exchange of insults which you would probably not make to someone's face.

Still - the thought of attracting an audience of up to 35,000 is heady stuff, and with that in mine I'd like to say Good Morning to my own readers ... which, by reference to the regular comments this Blog receives, totals TWO. Good Morning Ladies! I hope you'll be the first to tell me that size doesn't matter - it's quality not quantity that counts.

Onwards and upwards.

With Allies like these ...

L/Cpl Matty Hull of the Household Cavalry Regiment was killed in Iraq on 28th March 2003 by "friendly" fire from a US anti-tank aircraft. Last week the Oxford Coroner conducting the inquest into his death had seen a cockpit video recording from the offending aircraft. He was prevented from showing it in open court because the US military authorities would not allow it. He therefore, in some obvious anger, adjourned the hearing until or unless permission could be obtained through the Ministry of Defence. Such permission, however, could not be obtained because of US objections.

This is rare for me, but today I salute the investigative journalists of The Sun newspaper for getting hold of a copy of the video recording and publishing the full transcript in today's paper. I am pleased this has happened, not because I want to take a dig at the US pilots involved (it is clear from the transcript that they were horrified by what they had done ... "I feel sick" ... "We're in jail, dude" ...) but because the Pentagon has tried to cover up the evidence. The British convoy were displaying the internationally agreed orange panels on their tanks, indicating they were Coalition forces, and in addition to this, when firing started they released emergency flares indicating the same information.

One might understand the mistakes that can be made in the heat of battle, but surely somewhere in the command structure there must have been information concerning the whereabouts of friendly troops, and so the directive that the pilots were within a designated "kill box" is deeply troubling; so also is the apparent lack of recognition skills of the US military. There have been quite a few occurrences of Americans killing British forces, though not, I am pleased to note, any incidents of British forces killing Americans.

My criticism is principally against the US Military Authorities who have tried to keep the relevant information from coming into the public domain, much to the obvious distress of L/Cpl Hull's widow. One is tempted to say With Allies like these, who needs enemies?"

The Price of Divided Loyalties

In the British Army there about 350 soldiers who happen to be Muslims. The shock news this week is the arrest, in Birmingham, of several young Muslims who, it is alleged, were planning the kidnap and execution of a Muslim soldier who has served time in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is said that a video of the execution would have been posted on the worldwide web. If all this turns out to be substantiated, leading to charges being made under anti-terrorism legislation it will mark a disturbing variation in the tactics of these religious and political perverts. The soldier under threat has been taken to a safe house under police protection.

It's a sad state of affairs when a group of your own countrymen threaten your life because you chose to serve in the Army of the country in which you were born and raised.

Where's the Money?

I have noticed that whenever a government minister is taken to task over the neglect of some important public service, the response usually includes this kind of thing ... "There's only a finite amount of money; the important thing is to spend it wisely and efficiently".

And I've noticed that this argument never seems to apply to military adventures in other people's countries. When the idiots who proposed the illegal and unnecessary pre-emptive invasion of Iraq nobody said "There's only a finite amount of money." In fact there appears to be an endless supply of money to be spent year after year after year in pursuit of absolutely nothing but death, destruction and chaos. The money will always be there for as long as it is deemed necessary, but as soon as you mention health, transport, welfare or education it will suddently become a finite amount.

Stopping a Run on Benefits

Nobody likes a benefits cheat, so my day made a bright start when I saw the news that one Paul Appleby - a 47 year old ex-miner - was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court to ten months in prison for illegally claiming and receiving over £22,000 in disability benefits in the past four years. Apparently he had asserted that he was unable to walk without the aid of two walking sticks or a frame. During this period, however, he managed to run in several marathons, including the London Marathon. The least he could have done was to carry his walking frame with him, but sadly (for him) he was filmed by the Department of Work and Pensions, cheerfully running exclusively on his own two legs with a broad smile on his face, completing the course in just over three and a half hours.

Surfer's Soliloquy

To BLOG or not to BLOG, that is the question —
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous comments,
Or to take arms against a sea of e-mails,
And by opposing, end them. To cry, DELETE —
No more; and by deletion say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. CTRL, then ALT —
DELETE, perchance to live! Ay, there's the ESC,
For in that real life what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this “virtual” coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of “virtual” life,
For who can bear the dark blue screens of death,
The spammer’s songs, the offers of viagra,
The pangs of “virtual” love, the law's delay,
The insolence of chat rooms, and the loans
That have no merit and the gullible takes,
When he himself can’t clear his overdraft
With a bare cheque book? who would be a bear
Of little brain in this computer’d life,
But that the dread of something after DEL,
The real-life country from whose bourn
No surfer returns, puzzles us still,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the hue of pixel resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And variations of dot pitch and R G B
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And so I stay confused .. F1 for help.

William Spokeshave

Global Warming Warning

It's January, and the sun is shining in a clear blue sky. The outside temperature is 7 degrees C.

When I first moved to North Yorkshire in 1966 it was a fairly safe assumption that within a day or two of Christmas it would be difficult to get out of the front door because of snow drifts. Snow and ice would be on the ground for weeks on end, and journeys across the North York Moors would only be possible after the snow ploughs had cut their way through, leaving 10 ft high walls of snow on either side of the road.

There's a sledge hanging up in my garage for my grandson to use when he visits during the winter. It has been used about three times in as many years.

Ten years ago my normal winter working clothes invariably included thick shirts, thick polo-necked military-style jumpers, and thick top coat. I am now going out in the winter wearing short-sleeved T-shirts and a light casual jacket.

It's all very pleasant, of course, but the downside is the increasing frequency of freak weather incidents causing damage, injury and death. We can argue until the cows stop farting about whether or not mankind's activities are causing the climate change. It could be part of the normal long-term cyclical changes that have always occurred. I suspect, however, that we have a great deal to do with what is going on. Even if we take the official American government line that our energy use has nothing to do with it we still have to recognise that the change is happening, and we had better damned well be prepared for the consequences.

My grandson is upset about not being able to use his sledge. My biggest worry is how upset he and all of our grandchildren (and their children) will be when flooding, shortage of drinking water, crop changes, intolerable temperatures, economic downturns, mass migration and consequent conflict and war become an everyday part of their lives.

...

Talking of hot spots, I see that the Venuzuelan President is threatening to nationalise a number of major industries, including some in American ownership. No prizes for guessing who the next South American President to meet with a mysterious accident might be!

New Year Resolutions I'm confident of keeping in 2007

I will not take up smoking. (I gave it up 40 years ago)

I will not have an extra-marital affair. (Haven’t had one in 44 years of marriage)

I will continue to drive on the left. (Always a good idea in Britain)

I will continue to be about 20 pounds over-weight. (It’s best to acknowledge when one is beaten)

I will continue to despise racists and religious fanatics. (There’ll be plenty of opportunities)

I will not vote again for a Tony Blair government. (He’s going to resign before the next Election)

I will continue to be sceptical of David Cameron’s Conservative Party. (He’s all froth & bubble)

I will never again be a member of a Political Party. (Unless it’s my own)

I will attend Church regularly (just as soon as there is only one Christian Church)

I will take the religion of Islam seriously (just as soon as there is only one version of it)

I will not take my car to the local shops when I can walk or ride a bike.

I will continue to dislike George Bush (but promise to hug at least two Americans)

I will maintain my Blog irregularly and unreliably.

I will maintain contact with my friends on the same basis.

I will feel bad about my irregularities and unreliability.

I think that’s enough to be going on with.

Happy New Year!

Farewell to the Tyrant

It was difficult to know how to react to the news this morning that Saddam Hussein had been executed, and it was even more difficult to absorb the video footage of him being led to the gallows, watching him refuse a blindfold, then having black cloth tied around his neck. There was a brief view of the trapdoor through which he would fall, but the BBC decided to spare us the final footage of the execution itself.

My own view is that the man should have been kept in solitary confinement for the rest of his life because I am - and have always been - an avowed opponent of Capital Punishment. Even the official view of the UK government, and all governments of the European Union, is similarly equivocal, since all of us have long since abandoned the concept of State Executions, and yet in these particular circumstances we find ourselves as official Allies of the USA, a country that still carries out judicial executions at a rate that outstrips (almost) every other country in the world.

It was of course politically wise of the USA and the UK to distance themselves from this particular judicial process so it could be said that Saddam was tried and executed by his own countrymen. I have little doubt about the man's guilt but have been less than impressed by the farce that passed for a trial. I wonder how many murder trials in the US or the UK would have continued uninterrupted under a succession of three different judges, and how many Appeals against conviction would have been dealt with in such short shrift?

My Goose was Well and Truly Cooked

It’s the day after Christmas, and I’ve been reflecting on the day before Christmas and Christmas Day itself. Responding to a widespread rumour that Christmas was a religious festival I went to Church on Christmas Eve for the Midnight Eucharist – my first time in Church for ten years (apart from the increasingly frequent funerals of friends). As always, I was able to feel some connection with God, though not on account of the fancy dress or the liturgy or the singing of carols. Indeed at one point I nearly lost all sense of connection – ironically in the process leading up to the taking of Holy Communion. As I read the words on the service sheet my brain was forced to ponder that part of the Christian message that appears to have more to do with cannibalism than remembering Jesus Christ. I balked at the words leaping out at me from the page as I was exhorted to “partake of the flesh” and “drink the blood”. Whoa! Hold up a minute!

My take on the Last Supper is that the bread and wine are wholly symbolic of the person of Christ, i.e., his body and blood, and the exhortation to partake of the bread and wine is to remember Him. We are most certainly not eating His flesh nor drinking His blood. Well, that’s my considered opinion after much thought and prayer with the brain God gave me, and if any person or persons try to convince me otherwise I regret to inform them that they are wasting their time.

I had other problems that night in Church. I noticed that the choir included a man, engaged as a Church Warden, whom I know personally to have acted in a wholly unpleasant (not to say un-Christian) way towards his neighbour over a long period of time.

All these thoughts occupied my mind as I walked back home in the light drizzle of the first hour Christmas Day and retired to bed.

The first half of Christmas Day saw me and wife at the home of our son, his wife, and our delightful 4-year old grandson for an exchange of gifts. The joy on the face of our grandson as he played with his new toys and opened yet more presents was the best Christmas gift that we could have hoped for, and the realisation that we were in the presence of the most special people in our lives was a more spiritually uplifting experience than my Church visit had been some hours earlier.

When we returned home a goose that had been cooking in the oven for some hours had spilled fat over the surface of the oven; the smoke alarms were audible outside the house, and when we entered the house we found every room filled with smoke. We opened windows, turned on extractor fans, and lit scented candles. Our goose was well and truly cooked.

A memorable and stimulating Christmas!

We are still lighting scented candles. The atmosphere in the house should be back to normal by next Christmas. Happy New Year! (And by that I mean a year free from any more mad adventures by the idiots Bush and Blair)

Ethical Foreign Policy?

A few days ago (5th December) I posted a note about the British Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery and corruption on an arms deal between British Aerospace and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis wanted the investigation stopped (which in my book meant they were as guilty as hell) or else they would cancel the contract and go to the French.

Surprise, surprise! Tony Blair has cancelled the investigation ("in the national interest").

I'm sick to the back teeth with this Government. It is a government in which I and thousands of others had invested so much faith and hope. In the early days I was grateful for the declarations of high standards, ethical foreign policies, removal of interest rate control from the politicians' hands, the national minimum wage, Scottish and Welsh devolution (unfortunately nothing done for the English), winter fuel payments and free local bus travel for pensioners, and so on, but then we had the illegal Iraq fiasco, Blair in bed with Bush, political donations and loans in exchange for honours and peerages, the removal of the married persons' tax allowance, the Pensions crisis, increasing taxation by the back door, and now political interference in international fraud investigations. We are not even going to have the pleasure of kicking out the badly tarnished Blair (Bliar) since he's announced his intention to resign next year and pass on the baton to someone else. For the first time in my life I have no idea how I'm going to vote at the next General Election, and the more I talk to friends and acquaintences about it the more I realise they all feel the same way. Indeed more and more people cannot be bothered to vote at all. It's no surprise.

The Conservative Party under cuddly Dave Cameron (which recently unveiled a new Party Logo consisting of an oak tree apparently drawn by a 3-year old with a green crayon) looks less and less like a government in waiting, and Ming Cambell's Liberal Democrats cannot jump from 60 seats to a large enough number for government under the current voting system.

One British Soldier's View of Iraq

A friend has a son serving with the British Army in Iraq. Here are some of his recent comments ...

... the country is crazy, dirty and smelly. The place is disgusting and most of the people are filthy dirty and lazy. The day labourers aren't to be trusted; they listen for gossip to report back to the insurgents. In central Baghdad where scores of Iraqis were waiting for job's as day labourers today at least 57 people were wounded or killed.

Nothing is reported about all the soldiers that get injured every day. They are taken to hospitals in Cyprus then returned to England to hospitals for treatment. They are receiving treatment in N.H.S hospitals (not a Military Hospital as we expect). The Military hospitals have specialised staff trained to deal especially with war victims The N.H.S aren't equipped for this - another cut back thanks to Tony Blair. They need trained military staff who understand the nightmares.

Only yesterday one of the soldiers was shot in the eye another was injured by a blast.

Simultaneous explosions occurr daily and we hear of car bombing and trouble caused by the insurgents.

We are not wanted in the country: even the Iraqi soldiers resent our presence. We cant trust anybody. They pretend to be friendly but in the next breath they say "Go home to your own country". The interpreter is always telling us this. It's crazy us being here!

We give small children sweets and treats; they are all bedraggled and brain-washed. The minute we turn away they are throwing stones at us and calling names. It's a no-win situation.

The End of Pinochet - No Great Loss

Well, another tyrant has bitten the dust, and I'm not shedding any tears. Margaret Thatcher's frequent and public declarations of support and fondness for the old bugger was just one of very many reasons why I have always considered her to be a loathsome woman.

Iraq Study Group Report

At last! A group of Republican worthies has told President Bush some things that ordinary people with half a brain like you and me already knew: the Iraq policy is wrong and needs a radical new direction.

Tony Bliar is beating about the Bush in Washington today. If he hopes to leave office next summer with anything other than a reputation in tatters he will pull no punches and persuade the Toxic Texan to switch his brain from automatic to manual, pull the humble pie lever, then press the switch that engages constructive thinking.

Ethical Politics - an Oxymoron?

Saudia Arabia (that beacon of democracy and financial probity in the Middle East) has been putting pressure on the UK Government to put a stop to a Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery and corruption surrounding a proposed huge weapons deal between the Saudis and British Aerospace.

The Saudis are threatening to scupper the deal and go to the French if the investigation continues. Of course, thousands of British jobs depend upon a successful outcome to this filthy trade, so will the government to the decent thing and tell the Saudis where to get off?

Don't hold your breath.

Wireless Route to Madness

The two computers in my house connect to the internet via a Belkin wireless router. In the current debate on energy efficiency and reduction of consumption I read that by not leaving the TV on standby each night this saves about £45 per year. This got me thinking about other things that are left on continuously. One of them is my wireless router. The supplier recommended leaving it on all the time, so I went to one of those technical support forums to ask whether it would really matter if I unplugged it each night and rebooted it in the morning.

I got about a dozen replies within hours; half of them said "Keep it switched on" the other half said "Switch if off". One said go into the router settings and disconnect it via the software before unplugging it otherwise it would get confused. Most of the advice came from people who wrote in computer geek speak liberally sprinkled with acronyms and initials such as MAC, SSID, DHCP, IMO AND WPA2.

I am a bear of very little brain, and what there is of it is now thoroughly confused, so I have made an executive decision to keep it switched on and stop worrying about how hot it gets.

More Nuts

I recently wrote about religious nuts. The other nuts that drive me bonkers are the patriotic nuts. The “my country right or wrong” brigade. There’s nothing wrong with patriotism but the best kind is that which acknowledges faults and endeavours to put them right for the good of the country in which one purports to believe. Personally I believe patriotism runs a persistent danger of over-spilling into pernicious nationalism – an altogether different species of patriotism to the noble kind.

Here is an example – one of those pernicious, smug little messages that circulate around the internet vie e-mail groups. It was sent to me the other day … I was going to copy and paste it here but have just discovered I’ve deleted it. Anyway the gist of it was “I encountered a guy with a ‘I hate America’ kind of placard, and I told him that my grandfather died in the 2nd World War, my father died in Korea, and my brother died in Vietnam. They all died so that you could stand here and protest. If I had an umbrella I’d stick it up your ass and open it. God bless America.”

What struck me about this, and so many other anecdotes like it, is how factually incorrect it is: the bit about the 2nd World War is right – this was the last major conflict in which the USA fought from the moral high ground and helped defeat the odious Nazis. But as for Korea and Vietnam – they are totally irrelevant to this argument. What did all those American deaths achieve? Communist North Korea still exists, and Communist Vietnam still exists. Indeed the Vietnam war ended with an ignominious American retreat. Finally, you have to laugh (or get very angry) at someone who in one phrase wishes to stick un umbrella up someone’s ass, then in the next phrase invokes the name of God. It’s priceless loony stuff!

"God's Foreign Policy" ?!

The New York Times reported yesterday that as Israeli bombs fell in Lebanon for a second week in July of this year, the Rev John Hague of San Antonio arrived in Washington with 3,500 evangelicals for the first annual conference of his newly founded organization called Christians United for Israel.

In a message to the assembled crowd he called the conflict a "a battle between good and evil" and said that "support for Israel was God's foreign policy".

What preposterous arrogance! God save us from religious nuts.

The sooner we all wake up to the fact that nearly all the major conflicts around the world are perpuated by religious nuts the better.

After Dubya's Drubbing

It is so refreshing to bask in the sunshine of an America that has suddenly come awake and realised that the Republican Dream was in fact a nightmare. The Democrats new-found strength hands them the opportunity to be part of the solution to current domestic and international problems, but it also gives them the chance of being part of the problem if they do not use their new influence wisely.

It is encouraging to see that a genuine debate on the Iraq debacle seems to be opening up in the USA - unlike in Britain where that huge disappointment known as Tony Blair seems to have effectively closed down the debate, as he heads a government seemingly in denial.

As I have already said to a good American friend, I am sure that the American Democratic Party (like the UK Labour Party) have their fair share of incompetence and corruption (after all, they are members of the human race!) but I take some comfort from the fact that the founding principles which form the basis for their existence are on a higher moral plane than those which form the foundation for the Republican Party (and the UK Conservative Party).

As I grow more cynical in my advancing years the best I can say is that I regard political parties like the American Democrats and the British Labour Party as the lesser of a number of evils.

Farewell to Arms

And so
Farewell to Don.
He's gone from
Pentagon.
This was
One of
Those things
Of which
He didn't know
He didn't know.

Waking up to Good News

I woke up this morning to news on the radio that put a smile on my face. As a long-term friend of the American people (as opposed to the "America" represented by the intellectually challenged Bush and his "neo-con corporatacrocy" partners in crime) I was happy and relieved to hear that the American voters had awakened from their Republican dream, realised it had been a nightmare, and put the Democrats back in control of the House of Representatives. Furthermore it was just possible that they might pull off the same thing in the Senate, but it was too close to call, and there might be some recounts.

To this interested Brit, however, the whole system is very confusing and I can't get my head round a system which can result in a House majority that is opposed to the executive president. It's a bit like us having the Labour Party's Tony Blair as Prime Minister but with a majority of Conservative MPs in the House of Commons. Such an arrangement would be untenable. If anyone can explain to me the logic behind the American system I'm always happy to learn!

I look forward eagerly to the next Presidential Election.

Who needs Town Planners?

Last week we had reason to visit Telford in Shropshire. After a 200 mile drive the last thing I needed was the hassle of trying to find our destination in the giant maze that comprises residential Telford (see above for a tiny fraction). It's a nightmare of bendy roads, side turnings, cul-de-sacs, and cul-de-sacs off cul-de-sacs, compounded by a plethora of vicious "traffic calming" speed humps and chicanes. There appears to be no rhyme or reason behind the layout of main roads, minor roads and housing estate roads that, on paper, resemble nothing so much as industrial-scale spaghetti bolognese delivered by cluster bombs.

The place was obviously designed by a committee of lunatics. Who needs town planners? Never mind "modern" towns like Telford. What about those towns and villages that have real architectural merit and display a wide diversity of attractive styles developed over the centuries. Town and country planners seek to maintain these features by the strict imposition of regulations governing how Joe Public may be allowed to make changes to their private houses, down to the shape of gable ends, or the style of windows or the colour and material used for rainwater gutters and downspouts. And yet it has obviously escaped their bureacratic minds that the charming character of the very places they are supposed to be protecting actually grew up in the complete absence of planning controls!! How did our forefathers manage to get things so right without the help of a Council Planning Department?

By contrast every town in the UK has examples of post-war developments undertaken with the approval of Town and Country Planning Departments that are no more than rectangular blocks of concrete, hideous in the extreme, and falling to bits.

Messing about with Clocks

Well, once again we have performed the twice-yearly ritual of changing the clocks. What a waste of time and a misuse of time! Supposedly there was once some logical reasoning behind this regular disruption to our sleep patterns and the imposition of a seemingly never-ending round of clock adjustments on each occasion. In our own case, what with watches, clocks, ovens, boilers, cars, automatic timers etc., we have to carry out sixteen separated clock adjustments.

It's not as if we actually get any more daylight out of the exercise - it's just shunted from one end of the day to the other. The winter months are made more dangerous on the roads because although we now have lighter mornings, we have darker evenings, and by the time we are well into winter children are coming out of school in the dark, and people are driving home from work, tired and in the dark.

I believe there used to be some benefit to farmers, but today with modern agricultural machinery and buildings it's not uncommon to find farmers ploughing fields in the middle of the night under the glare of powerful headlights.

To get more hours of daylight we would have to slow down the earth's rotation, but I don't think anyone knows where the brake pedal is.

Wearing of the Full Veil

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has added to the current debate over Muslim women wearing the full veil by supporting Burnley MP Jack Straw's assertion that they cause difficulties with communication and are a visible statement of being separate from mainstream British society.

My own view is that European society has bent over backwards in recent years to avoid "offending" Muslim society, in some cases to ridiculous excesses of "political correctness", e.g., some local authorities avoiding the use of the word "Christmas", and British Airways suspending an employeer for wearing a visible cross (even though items such as head scarves and turbans are permitted). It is about time, perhaps, that the Muslim community returned the compliment and started thinking about whether or not the rest of us are sometimes offended or made to feel uncomfortable, and I do place the wearing of the full veil in that category.

There are also security implications. We are not allowed to walk into a bank wearing a motor cycle crash helmet because we would be unidentifiable. The full veil is an equally good disguise for anyone bent on committing serious crime.

Large Airline - Tiny Brains

I think I am in the company of a very large number of people who are incandescent with rage at British Airways for suspending a member of their check-in staff because she insisted on wearing a small cross. The official line is that it's OK to wear the cross so long as it's hidden beneath the uniform. How petty is that? Apparently other religious apparel such as turbans, veils and head scarves are OK because there is no practical way of concealing them.

I have e-mailed British Airways to tell them I am amazed that such a large airline can be run by such tiny brains, and also that I shall make a special point of never flying with them until or unless they inject themselves with a dose of common sense.

My Brain Hurts!

I recently enrolled in a course of adult education classes to learn how a computer works, how to dismantle one, assemble one, load and configure any of the Windows operating systems, and troubleshoot faults. At this stage in my life it's important to keep the brain alive.

I now know how to convert decimal numbers into binary numbers, binary numbers into hexadecimal numbers, and vice versa. I can answer the question: will an electrical input into a series of Logic Gates expressed as 1 AND NOT {[0 OR (1 OR 0)] NOR [1 AND NOT (0)]} result in an output of 1 or 0.

I am sure this is stuff that most of us have always wanted to know!

The other evening we were presented with an empty computer case and a pile of small boxes containing brand new mother boards, disk drives, processors, fans, and ribbon cabling so that we could spend a riotous two hours putting the whole lot together and bolting it to the case so that it looked something like the computer we all know and love. One of my fellow classmates actually got his up and running, but I took comfort from the fact that he already had a knowledge of electronics. My own effort looks credible, but has yet to be properly wired up, so its current situation is being in a situation without current.

In Tune with the Chief of the British Army

I do not know General Sir Richard Dunnatt, the new Chief of the British Army, and he does not know me, but I am encouraged to learn that we share the same views on Iraq! Yesterday he said the following ...

"As a foreigner, you can be welcomed by being invited in a country, but we weren't invited certainly by those in Iraq at the time. The military campaign we fought in 2003 effectively kicked the door in. Whatever consent we may have had in the first place, may have turned to tolerance and has largely turned to intolerance."

He thinks that we are part of the problem and that we should be looking for an exit, and soon.

Representative Mark Foley

I imagine it is now time for the erstwhile Congressional Representative Mark Foley to turn over a new page in his life.

Testing the Amish

A terrible evil has been visited upon the Amish people of Nickel Mines, PA. No words adequately describe my feelings towards a man who can walk into a school, take children hostage, then systematically shoot ten little girls. Five have died.

If there is any test of the power of the Amish to practice the philosophy of forgiveness then this is surely the test to end all tests. I cannot imagine how they will cope with this.

Apparently Charles C Roberts had no previous history of mental illness of criminal activity and has been described by his wife as a loving and caring person. It is said that the loss of his newborn baby nearly ten years ago made him feel bitter and angry towards God and life in general. Well, he's not the first person to have lost a child, and you have to be pretty damned twisted to think that because you've lost one it would be a good idea if several others sets of parents should experience the same thing. There has also been mention of some abuse he committed against a family member when he was twelve, though the police have been unable to corroborate this.

In any event it must be the case that here was a man who was unbelievably bitter, mentally disturbed, or evil, or all three and yet managed to conceal these characteristics to those all around him.

I hope and pray that this Amish community can find it within themselves to come through this ordeal with their core beliefs intact.

Bush still in Denial

The other day we were told (through a report by a group of American security people) what Mr & Mrs Joe Public already knew ... that the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq had made the threat of terrorism infinitely worse than it already was. The Iraq situation is an effective recruiting sergeant for terrorists. Still it was good to be told by the people that should know these things. President Bush, of course, completely disagrees with the analysis. One can't help wondering why he employs security sspecialists if he disagrees with what they say.
* * * * *
It was good to see a more intelligent President the other day, when Bill Clinton addressed the UK Labour Party Conference.
* * * * *
Another breath of fresh air at the Conference when Home Secretary John Reid made a humorous and barnstorming speech that raised his profile as a potential successor to Tony Blair (i.e., a strong challenger to Gordon Brown). I liked his opening remarks about the ex-Deputy Leader Roy Hattersly's contribution to harmony in the Party by stating that he would shoot himself if John Reid ever became Leader. Reid said, "Up until now I had not really thought of a good reason for standing!"

When your Hard Drive crashes.

It’s really quite scary how dependant one becomes on the computer, and it is not until it turns up its toes and goes to cyber-heaven (or should that be hell?) that the dependency really hits home.

About a year ago I read an article by David Pogue of the New York Times and he made it clear that it was not so much a case of IF your hard drive crashes, but WHEN. A chain is as strong as its weakest link. The sobering fact is that although the computer is basically a solid-state box of electronic circuitry, it’s weakest link is a device which relies on moving mechanical parts, i.e., the hard disk drive.

If your computer dies or is seriously past its use-by date, take it to bits, then apply a small screwdriver to the hard disk drive cover and you’ll find inside a little pile of shiny discs with a small gap between each, all spinning on a common spindle. So there’s one set of moving parts for you. Then there’s a set of arms pivoting near the perimeter of the discs, resembling nothing so much as a group of gramophone record pick-up arms (for those of you who can remember such things!) that swing backwards and forward across the surface of the discs a hair’s breadth from the surface. The potential for wear and tear and physical damage to the surface of the discs is clear to see.

As a result of reading that article I made the decision to purchase an external hard drive and I kept all my important files backed up to it. The final demise of my 6-year old computer the other week caused high levels of stress, but the existence of my external hard drive at least reduced the likelihood of a complete nervous breakdown!

Getting the new machine up and running was not all sweetness and light, however, since I was switching from Windows 98 to Windows XP, and I found that my accounts program – which happily runs on either of the operating systems – was unable to open any of my accounts files that it had created and saved whilst running in Windows 98 mode. It was quite happy to start creating new files for me in Windows XP but now I was faced with the loss of six years personal financial data, and I had to go through the painstaking process of setting up all my accounts again, and accessing the various current and savings accounts (fortunately available online) to get some balances to start the new files with.

The other little glitch was the loss of all my incoming and outgoing e-mails, and the e-mail address book from my e-mail client program. These are not easy to locate and backup and I had forgotten that programs like Outlook Express and Thunderbird (I use the latter) have an “Export” function that you can use to export all this data to a text file. I recovered some of my addresses by going to my BT web mail, but it had not been kept so up-to-date.

So – if you don’t want to lose your window on the world, your financial documents, your precious writing, your spreadsheets and databases, and your sanity, learn the lesson the easy way, not the hard way: make regular backups to CD-ROM disks or to an external hard drive. Don’t forget … it’s not IF but WHEN your hard drive crashes. Don’t come crying to me when it happens!

A final thought: there have been stories of data recovered from discarded computers turning up in Africa and providing access to online bank accounts. You might like to follow my lead here ... remove the hard drive and take a sledgehammer to it!

A Bumper Year for Stickers. A Bad Year for my Computer.

Grateful thanks to Marcia Rinner of Ohio for sending me this, recently seen on a bumper sticker: Bush: Premature Iraq Elation.

There's been a bit of a gap in my blogging verbiage recently following the tragic death of my computer. It was six years of age, which I suppose made it quite old, and it was running good old Windows 98 SE. It became very crotchety in recent weeks and then suddenly felt unable to do anything at all for more than 5 minutes without locking up. I took the poor thing to the local computer hospital where it was put to bed, connected to wires and monitors, and lay under a notice saying NIL BY A-DRIVE. There was no viral infection. The hard disk drive had turned up its toes and was beyond repair. This was a case of death by slipped disc. The computer doctors got me to agree to a "Do not resuscitate" instruction, and I placed an order for a new machine.

I had managed to back up most of my important files on an external hard drive, but for reasons that are beyond me I no longer have my e-mail address book, nor any of the e-mails I have sent or received over the past few years. So if there is anyone out there who's been wondering why I haven't been in touch lately it's because I don't know "where you live" any more.

I am now finding my way around a sparkling new machine running supercalifragilisticWindowsXPalidoshus.

NANNY STATE

My wife and I have just returned from celebrating our 44th wedding anniversary by cruising the Cambridgeshire Fens in a small cabin cruiser. On a visit to the city of Ely I visited the public toilets. I have to say they were a model of sanitary excellence but I couldn't help noticing a large notice on the wall. It was a guide on How to Wash your Hands in eight photographically illustrated steps.

Dropped Connection

My daughter-in-law has dropped her mobile phone into the dog's water bowl.

All is not lost - I should now be able to call her up on the dog and bone.

"To Engage is not to Endorse"

...So said a Jordanian intelligence officer on a comprehensive documentary shown on BBC television last Sunday entitled Al Qaeda - Time to Talk?

This in-depth study of Islamic extremism, terrorism, and the West's so-called War on Terror, gave us a little insight into the minds and thoughts of those who are prepared to kill themselves and others. There was considerable coverage on what is really going on inside Iraq - not just what the politicians want to show us.

It was suggested that it might be time to talk to some of these people, and the Jordanian security officer made a fair point in saying that to ENGAGE is not to ENDORSE. Clearly all other efforts being made so far have failed miserably.

I feel it is worth remembering that although, officially, we "do not talk to terrorists" there are plenty of precedents. The first Prime Minister of the newly born state of Israel was a Zionist terrorist. Nelson Mandela was an ANC terrorist. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness were IRA terrorists. Oh, and going further back in time, if I've got my history right, America (Land of the Free) was not exactly created by peaceful means!

To my mind, what was made abundantly clear by the BBC program is how efficiently the Bush/Blair axis of testosterone is acting as a recruiting sergeant for young disaffected and disillusioned Muslim men. Bush said a little while ago that he was conducting a Crusade. He later back-tracked from that terminology. More recently he announced that he was fighting "Islamic Fascism". This attempt at evoking 2nd World War flash-backs is puerile. There is no comparison.

I now read that he is trying to introduce into Law methods of interrogation that are bordering on (if not actually) torture.

If you are fighting a war of ideas and principles, and trying to uphold decent values against those who live entirely by hate or religious fundamentalism or both, then how do we uphold our values or even make them slightly attractive by resorting to barbarism ourselves?

The most worrying thing about all this, of course, is that we are not just confronting a foreign enemy: we are producing our own, right here in our midst. There are almost certainly "sleeper cells" in the UK., the USA., and most major European countries.

It's about time our so-called leaders gave some serious thought about what is causing all this, otherwise we are in for a very long haul.

Good News for Steam Loco Buffs

It was a joy to be on Pickering Station the other day and watch a train of restored LNER teak coaches being pulled in by the A4 Pacific locomotive Sir Nigel Gresley. Pickering is at the southern end of the 18 miles of heritage railway between Pickering and Grosmont (linking there with the national network for the old fishing town of Whitby). The line was salvaged back in the late 1960s after the Beeching Report had taken an axe to swathes of branch lines the length and breadth of Britain. Originally purchased, renovated and operated by an enthusiastic bunch of volunteers, the line is now run by a successful heritage railway company licensed to run scheduled passenger services using restored steam locos from as far as back as 1905 up to end of British Rail steam services in the mid-1960s; there are also restored diesels from the period of changeover from steam to diesel and electric.

The North York Moors Railway brings in thousands of enthusiastic tourists to the line, and the Sir Nigel Gresley has always been the pride and joy of the line. It's "identical twin" the Mallard (which broke the world steam loco speed record at 125 mph) can be seen at the National Railway Museum in York. The Gresley has also been no mean performer in the speed stakes, having clocked up an impressive 112 mph in the mid-1950s.

It has made a welcome return to the line after a total strip down and re-build necessary for a renewal of it's 10-year operating licence. The renovation took three years of dedicated hard labour by people with railway mechanical and engineering expertise.

I always get a bit of thrill when I see this loco in full steam, not only because most steam locos have the ability to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, but because as a young boy back in the early 1950s I played with a Hornby Dublo electric train set. I had two passenger trains: (1) an LMS train pulled by the Duchess of Hamilton and (2) an LNER train pulled by the Sir Nigel Gresley.

Long may little boys aged between 7 and 70 continue to be captivated by steam trains!

Falling Polls and Rising Poles

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has returned from his summer vacation to problems with the polls and the Poles.

The Labour Government's popularity (and especially that of Blair himself) has plummeted to a level not experienced since before they came to power in 1997. I predict that this decline will continue until or unless he comes up with a date for his handing over the reins to (presumably) Gordon Brown. He also needs to drop the messianic zeal which drives his policies and pronouncements on the Middle East.

As for the Poles, they are causing big problems, not because we don't like the Poles (on the whole we do) but because they are suddenly here in such astonishing numbers. Once again the Government has not been able to do its sums properly. When the first batch of Eastern European countries swelled the membership of the European Union a couple of years ago, most of the existing members introduced (legal) controls on the rights of the new Member States to cross borders to work. But not Britain - oh no! We are so stupid that we decided controls were unnecessary, and some ministerial nincompoop calculated that there would be an influx of roughly 15,000 workers from the new Member States. The reality is that half of Poland seems to have taken up residence here. The figure is somewhere nearer half a million workers already here and/or applying to work here.

The result is huge pressure on public services and housing, and a growing resentment regarding availability of jobs for the Brits. Places like Slough, to the south west of London, now have increasing numbers of Polish shops and there are posters and notices all over the place in Polish.

All this could have been avoided if we had displayed the same common sense approach of other EU Member States who opened their borders only under strict controls. I don't think there is anything wrong with immigration, because much of it benefits our society, but like anything else you can have "too much of a good thing". Anything good taken in excess becomes bad.

So, for Labour, the polls are a problem and the Poles are a problem, and yet strangely the Opposition Parties are not cashing in on the Government's woes. One would have expected the re-branded Conservatives under the leadership of David Cameron to be riding high and looking like the next Government, but they are not. (Perhaps David Cameron looks, talks and acts a little too much like Tony Blair?!) The Liberal Democrats are doing no better either. What appears to be happening is that people are just deserting all the Parties in droves.

A bad omen for democracy.

Encouraging American Poll Results

In a recent New York Times/CBS Poll 53% of the Americans polled were against the Iraq operation, 62% thought it was going badly, and 51% considered Iraq to be an issue which is separate from the "War on Terror".

You see? There's nothing wrong with Americans. It's just their government that's a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic.

Hypocrisy

We went into Iraq on the grounds that we were being threatened with weapons of mass destruction. It turned out that no such threat existed. The occupation then became part of the "War on Terror" even though "9/11" had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein or anyone operating inside Iraq. Then it became an exercise in imposing Democracy and was therefore "A Good Thing".

Our friendly accomplice in the "War on Terror" is Pakistan. Pakistan is a military dictatorship. Excuse me, but wasn't Iraq a military dictatorship? Why are we not going into Pakistan with all guns blazing?

Zimbabwe is being ruled by a tyrant who has destroyed his country's economy, rigged elections, bulldozed thousands of homes, and has banned any access by the BBC. Why are we not going to Zimbabwe with all guns blazing?

Do our politicians take us for complete fools when they feed us with all the garbage in defence of their stupid actions? Evidently they do.

Telling it like it is

Three cheers for John Prescott!

We sometimes like to make fun of Britain's Deputy Prime Minister for his bluff manner, his indiscretions with his secretary, and his tendency to mangle the English Language, but the fact remains that he has a better brain than we give him credit for. One of his great assets is his willingness to tell it like it is; he is refreshingly free from the effects of the government's spin machine. Blair's government has made such an art of "spin" that hardly a single person can believe anything he or any of his ministers says these days, so that is why Prescott is a breath of fresh air.

His latest assertion made in a private meeting with Labour MPs (but in the knowledge that the Press were waiting outside) is ... "The Bush administration is 'crap' on the Middle East process."

Some British newspapers have come out in favour of Prescott's refreshing (if uncouth) description of the Bush regime, and here are some quotable quotes from some of his fellow MPs ...

Ian Davidson - Glasgow South West MP
"I think that John Prescott is to be commended for the quality of his political analsysis. His comment on American policy is brief and accurate. Brtain has got to ensure that it is no longer seen as simply being the glove puppet of the United States."

Peter Kilfoyle - Liverpool Walton MP
"What he is reported to have said reflects the views of many people in the Labour Party. It may not go down well in international diplomacy - but in the Labour Party it will be welcomed as a rare flash of honesty from a senior member of the government."

Ken Livingstone - Mayor London
"I have no idea what John Prescott did or did not say since it was a private conversation, but the current US administration has been a disaster for the American people and has done untold damage not only to international relations but to the environment."

Jon Trickett - Hemsworth MP
"The actions and language of the British Government are actively hindering the prospects for peace in the Middle East; simultaneously enhancing the threat from terrorism, our historic influence with Arab countries has been squandered."

Glenda Jackson - Hampstead & Highgate MP
"I entirely endorse his view. This is why Parliament should be recalled. This government is failing miserable as far as our approach towards the Middle East is concerned. We are simply bag carriers for Bush and all his policies have been a disaster."

Martin Salter - Reading West MP
"It is abundantly clear that the Bush administration has been less than enthusiastic in pursuing the Middle East road map, and indeed many of its policies have actually inflamed the situation rather than sought to resolve this long-standing conflict."

From my own point view, there is nothing outlined above with which I disagree, and there is plenty to suggest, from recent polls, that most of the British people hold a similar view to John Prescott.

The White House has responded by saying that Bush has been called worse things. (Ain't that the truth!)

Overcharged and Remote Controlled!

My house is full of battery chargers. There's one for my mobile phone, one for my wife's mobile phone, one for my wife's second mobile phone used on another network, one for my Bluetooth earpiece, one for my digital camera, one for my wife's camcorder. Then there's all the old chargers that went with older equipment that cannot be used with new equipment. Why can't I be bothered to dispose of them? None of these devices can be used other than on the specified piece of equipment, because they are either different voltages, or have different connectors, or both. It's a nightmare. First you have to find a suitable storage place, then remember which charger fits which device. I can already hear you shouting "Why don't you label them?" Oh, OK - I suppose I'll have to.

Isn't modern technology wonderful? It enriches your life with more clutter.

Now I'm done complaining about all these non-compatible battery chargers, I can move on to Remote Controls. Sometimes they are so remote you can't find them.

There's a remote control for analogue television, one for digital television, one for the hi-fi unit, and another for the VHS/DVD player/recorder. Then there's the small hi-fi unit in the kitchen and another in the dining room, and there's the kitchen TV, so that's another three remote controls.

Is anyone else remotely interested or emotionally charged up about this? It matters not - I've got it out of my system!

A Note to British Muslims

You and I have different Faiths but we share the same Country.

One of the so-called "Muslim Community Leaders" (by the way, who are they and how do they become "leaders"?) was on television the other day expounding the peaceful nature of the Islamic message. He deplored the radicalisation of a minority of Islamic youth and the fact that anyone born and brought up in this Country could contemplate blowing up aircraft in mid-flight and killing hundreds of innocent men, women and children (some of whom, incidentally, would be Muslims).

He somewhat diminished the quality of his statement, however, by drawing attention to the fact that American and British foreign policy was likely to be providing ammunition to those who wanted to think in this perverted way.

Excuse me, but we live in a democracy, and if we disagree with our country's foreign policy (and I, for one, do) we kick the government out at the earliest opportunity. We do not display our displeasure by going out and blowing up our fellow citizens on the London Underground, nor do we decide to send airliners hurtling into the Atlantic Ocean.

In short, disagreeing with government policy is not a reason for mass murder.

I listened on BBC radio last week to a man born in this country of Pakistani parents. He gave an eloquent and intelligent summary of his own views which ran roughly along the lines of my own argument outlined above. He also asked the question, "Who are these so-called Community Leaders? Nobody has ever asked me to vote for one? How do they become leaders?"

If anyone has the answer to that question, or wishes to comment on anything I have written here, please click the "Comment" link below.

Blogmania

When I became "Blogger Beck" I decided that I wanted to avoid a single theme or mood. Instead, I would try to present a multi-faceted, eclectic mix of subjects and moods. The news at the moment is almost universally gloomy, be it the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, the discovery of a terrorist plot to blow up airliners in mid-Atlantic, or the fact that David Beckham has been dropped from the England Football Team by the new Coach Steve McLaren. Even worse - one of my socks has gone missing again.

I have always hoped that I could reach a readership that understood the meaning of words like multi-faceted and eclectic (if for no other reason that they might drop me a line to explain them to me). Obviously I've been pulling the wool over some people's eyes as I seem to have picked up a couple of readers who run Knitting blogs. They are generally complimentary, for which I am grateful, since they could so easily have just knit-picked my posts. The last time I looked at a knitting pattern it struck me as being a great deal more complicated than a page of HTML code, and possibly even more baffling than Javascript. I am full of admiration for anyone who can make sense of them (and that includes my dear wife).

Wondering how to lighten the mood, albeit for a short time, I was rooting through some old files on my computer and was pleased to come across a collection of slogans for car bumper stickers. (I believe for readers on the far side of the herring pond that should read "car fender stickers". I could be wrong: my position on U.S. English is still somewhere half way up the learning curve.) I have no idea where they came from, but I freely give acknowledgment and credit to whomsoever collected them in the first place. So, here are some of them, to lighten your day ...

• I love cats...they taste just like chicken
• Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
• Born Free. . . . .Taxed to Death
• Cover me. I'm changing lanes.
• As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in public schools
• The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.
• Laugh alone and the world thinks you're an idiot.
• Conserve toilet paper, use both sides.
• Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let her sleep
• SAVE A TREE: Eat a beaver
• I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather ... not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.
• According to my calculations the problem doesn't exist.
• Some people are only alive because it is illegal to kill.
• Pride is what we have. Vanity is what others have.
• A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory.
• He who laughs last thinks slowest
• Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
• Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes.
• Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy.
• Consciousness: that annoying time between naps.
• i souport publik edekasion
• Be nice to your kids. They'll choose your nursing home.
• Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder...
• 3 kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't.
• "Auntie Em: Hate you, Hate Kansas, Taking the dog." - Dorothy.
• "Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"

"i souport publik edekasion" is a familiar kind of language, because in recent weeks I have been subscribing to a community question-and-answer site called Yahoo! Answers, and there is a disturbingly high proportion of contributors who actually write like this. There are some very good questions covering complex subjects in politics, chemistry, physics, philosophy, etc., but a high proportion of questions are mind-blowingly dumb, such as, "Can I get pregnant by masturbating?" and "How can I get a girl to like me?"

It's all very reassuring because I can answer those questions.

Onward and upward - keep smiling!

Iraq

Don't listen to the politicians talking about Iraq. Get the inside story from someone who is living there! Check out my link in the left-hand panel - "Girl inside Iraq" (or just click the heading above this post).

Critical Security Alert

The first item I hear on the news at 7 o'clock this morning is that the US and the UK are on the highest security alert following the arrest of 21 British citizens in connection with a plot to blow up a number of air liners in mid-flight. All our airports are now in chaos. Whilst all remain open, passengers are no longer being allowed to take any hand luggage on board. They are being restricted to travel documents, passport and prescription medicines. No newspapers, books, children's toys, laptops. The consequent delays are causing aircraft to back up on the ground, and further incoming flights have had to be diverted.

I am thankful for a couple of things: (1) I'm not proposing to fly anywhere right now, and (2) these bastards have been identified and arrested by the security forces.

I hope everyone has noticed how the Bush/Blair Axis of Testosterone joint foreign policies, military actions, the so-called War on Terror, and political reactions to events in the Middle East over the past two or three years has made the world so much safer!!(?)

Israel and Lebanon

We are getting nowhere fast, and if Israel can't accept that in order for a ceasefire to be workable they will need to withdraw from Lebanese territory as part of the deal, then there is no hope.

I am also a little tired of hearing about Iran's provision of weaponry for Hizbollah when we all know that the USA is the principle provider of weaponry for Israel.

Bedroom Bat

I received a phone call late Sunday evening from a distressed neighbour. She had a bat whizzing around in her bedroom. She couldn't persuade it to go anywhere near the open windows, and having a strong dislike of flying creatures (especially in the bedroom) asked for assistance. By the time I got round next door the bat had flown downstairs and was now doing arial acrobatics in the kitchen and dining room. The neighbour's cat, whilst perfectly used to chasing birds, took one look at the cavorting bat and beat a hasty retreat.

Meanwhile, my neighbour had produced a fishing net. I noticed the bat coming straight at me, and took a wild swing with the net with more desperation than accurancy, but was astounded to find that the net now contained the bat. I covered the top of the net with a large envelope and walked my catch down the road before releasing it (so nobody could acuse me of taking my bat home!)

Job done, I wished my neighbour a good night and retired to my own (bat-free) bed to dream of big game hunting.

Plum Target?

Have the Israelis totally lost the plot? Not content with bombing a UN observation post and killing UN pesonnel (in spite of being repeatedly told of their existence) they have now bombed a fruit farm.

How to win hearts and minds!

Hizbollah are now increasingly supported by the general population of Lebanon. Even the Christian community there is allying itself with Hizbollah.

Madness, total and utter madness.

Fundamental Beliefs

There are creationists and there are evolutionists. They are at opposite ends of a belief spectrum.

I have never understood their problem. If you believe in God as the creator of the universe and this world, then what is wrong with regarding the evolutionary process as part of that creation?

To those people who get hung up on the 6 days of creation and a 7th day of rest as written in the Bible, this too is no problem. A "day" as we know it could not have existed before the creation of the earth and its place in the solar system. References to periods of time in the Old Testament appear to be very shaky; people apparently reached ages measured in hundreds of years. How credible is that?

I interpret the story of the creation as an allegorical description of a 6-stage process; the exact timing is not important. A black and white interpretation of anything is usually faulty. The creationists and evolutionists should make their way towards the middle of the belief spectrum and see how much they have in common.

A Question of Perspective

Apparently George W Bush's close affinity with Israel (not, incidentally, shared by Bush Senior) goes back to his time as Texas Governor; on a visit to Israel he was taken on a helicopter trip by Arial Sharon. George is reported to be have been shocked by how small and vulnerable the country looked, and said they had driveways in Texas that were bigger.

Somebody needs to take Dubya on one side and explain to him that when you are very high up, things tend to look a bit smaller.

My Patience with Israel is Severely Stretched

Israel has the right to feel secure within its borders and has a right to defend itself against attack. The problem with the concept of an Israeli border is that it has been something of a moveable feast over the years. The long-term occupation of other peoples' territories, confounded by a deliberate policy of building permanent settlements within them, is a sure-fire recipe for the existence of "resistance forces" or "terrorist organisations" (pick a description that fits your viewpoint).

Lebanon's big problem has been the existence of "Hisbollah" virtually as a State within a State, and when they decide to fire rockets into Israel, or kidnap their soldiers, independently of the Lebanese Government, then they run the risk of bringing down the wrath of Israel on the whole of Lebanon, and this is what is happening now.

Unfortunately, Israel's response has been so hugely disproportionate that they are now wrecking (physically and economically) all the good that has been done in Lebanon over the past twenty years. They set out to destroy Hisbollah, but their tactics have not been very well thought out, since what they have achieved is the exact opposite. Hisbollah are now regarded as heroes by more and more of the Lebanese population, and they are even now drawing support from moderate Arab governments who had hitherto been critical of of them.

Much has been said about Iran and Syria conducting a war against Israel by Proxy, and maybe this is true, but I wonder if it could also said that the U.S.A. is conducting a war by Proxy through the provision of sophisticated weaponry to Israel and by displaying an extremely equivocal attitude to the matter of the much-needed cease-fire. I don't believe that Condo Peas 'n Rice has yet displayed a convincing role on the Peace front. Meanwhile, Israel talks about easing up on the aggression whilst at the same stepping up the air attacks.

The only way to remove Hisbollah as a military force is to remove all causes for its existence, and this is a political and diplomatic process, not a military one. The military process has been proved to be counterproductive.