The Internet - A Civilising Influence?

I read in today's on-line edition of the New York Times that some rural communities in the USA are suffering an outbreak of malicious gossip using on-line forums and social networking sites. People are revealing themselves as being unpleasant, disgusting and downright evil; they are able to do this because they can hide behind the cloak of anonymity.

Although the World Wide Web has much to commend it - free exchange of information, educational sites, the arts, the making of Internet friends and so on - like much of life it also reflects a darker side of humanity. And it has become so easy to reveal that darker side.

In Britain the other day, a number of coal miners in Wales died in a mining accident. It wasn't long before some idiots (that word is too kind for them) started posting callous and racist comments on Facebook. Some were saying it was a good thing because they were Welsh. Others said it was a pity more didn't die. This kind of thing is almost unbelievable, and yet we must believe that this depraved behaviour does exist, and it is too our collective shame that it does. In this particular case, many complaints were made to the Police and they have launched an investigation with a view to closing down those offensive pages.

I find all this hugely depressing.

University Education - What are the Scots up to?

I didn't go to University. When I was at school I never felt the need, nor did I perform well enough to make the grade anyway. I put things right after I'd left school and finished up with a professional qualification which, I was happy to hear, was described as a "Degree Equivalent".

Notwithstanding my teenage antipathy towards University Education I soon learned to appreciate that if our Country is to keep its head above water it needs well educated young people, especially in mathematics, engineering and science.

I am therefore greatly annoyed by the decision of both this government and its predecessors in deciding to make university students in England pay up to £9,000 per year for their university tuition. Education is so important that any half-civilized country should pay for it out of taxes. No-one should begrudge paying the tax because we all benefit from a well-educated society and a vibrant economy.

The fact that young people now have to start their lives with debts of up to £27,000 (or £36,000 in the case of four-year courses) round their necks is a disgrace. I have been, therefore, heartened by the fact that the devolved government of Scotland (currently led by the Scottish National Party) has maintained the principle of education free at the point of use.

But recently my admiration has turned to anger as they have now decided that English students attending Scottish Universities will have to pay for their tuition, whereas (in an act of breathtaking stupidity) they permit European students to attend free of charge. They mutter something about this being because they are members of the European Union.

Last time I looked, England (as part of the United Kingdom) was also a member of the European Union. I understand a group of students are going to Law to challenge the Scottish administration over this. I wish them all the luck in the world.

Complimenting Gas & Oil Companies

For the past 33 years we've had oil-fired central heating in our house. The other week our 2700-litre oil tank sprung a leak. We had no trouble in getting our Shell oil distributor (EMO Oil) to come out and recover the contents of the tank. They recovered 2400 litres of oil, deducted the cost of the operation from the value of the oil and paid the difference straight into my bank account.

We made a snap decision to switch from oil to gas, spurred on by the knowledge that our boiler was 33 years old and might soon need replacing, a new oil storage tank would have to be purchased, and during the past couple of years or so we have paying about £1,000 a year for oil.

I went on-line to the British Gas Website and booked an appointment for a Heating Advisor to visit us within two days. He turned up with a colleague and surveyed the house and its existing heating and plumbing system. Without going into the details, suffice to say that our house was equipped with an unorthodox and somewhat mad system. After a couple of hours of investigation and discussion they came up with a scheme for ripping out the old oil burner, installing a new gas-fired condensing boiler in a new location, re-organisation of the pipework, draining down and flushing the system, dosing with anti-corrosive chemical, fitting thermostatic radiator valves, and fitting a magnetic particle filter. They give us a fixed-price quote, guaranteed not to be exceeded irrespective of any extra work that might eventually be deemed necessary.

So far so good, but then we had the first and the last glitch in the process. We were given an installation date (in a week) but then we had a phone call asking if we would mind extending this by a few days. We said that was OK. But then the installer turned up anyway on the original date and we had to send him away as we had arranged to be elsewhere on that day. Then the process went into a black hole for a couple of weeks, and we had no idea when work would start.

I than found myself testing the British Gas Complaints Department (bear in mind the company had recently been fined millions of pounds for failing to comply with minimum standards of customer service). I spoke to a lady who couldn't have been more helpful, giving me her name and her contact number, and she promised she would get a senior engineer to phone me by tea time.

Did he phone? No.

He turned up in person on the doorstep. He gave us an installation date - 28th July - and the job would take two days.

On 28th July two British Gas vans turned up outside the house at 8 am, and a team of two men and a woman laid out dust sheets all over the place, and then worked like demented beavers until 6 pm without a taking a lunch break. Having turned the house upside down and inside out by the time they left that night the place had been cleaned up, dust sheets removed and carpets replaced.

On Day Two the woman turned up on her own at 8.15 am to complete everything that needed doing to bring the job to a conclusion. There was also a visit by a British Gas electrician to do the necessary wiring. She worked tirelessly, again without a lunch break; by the time she had commissioned the system and explained to us how everything worked, it was 8 pm.

Again, everything was cleaned up again, by the time she had gone there was no sign that anyone had been here (except of course the sight of some new pipes and a new boiler!)

Throughout the two days, these people were a joy to be with, watching them work efficiently and in good humour for longer hours than I would have thought reasonable.

We all have reason to complain about utility companies from time to time, but I think it is important to acknowledge freely when they get things right and to compliment them accordingly.

So thank you, British Gas, and thank you Emo Oil.

The Murky World of Murdoch

I shall not be buying a News of the World tomorrow, even though it would have some historical interest as the final one of a 168-year history. I have never in my life purchased a copy of this newspaper, and currently I am studiously avoiding the purchase of any newspaper belonging to Rupert Murdoch’s stinking stable.

This paper has sunk to new and unbelievable depths in its bid for sales. The hacking of mobile phones belonging to celebrities and politicians was the first we heard of the Murdoch empire’s depravity, and to be honest, perhaps we were not too bothered by the fact that we were getting salacious gossip about film stars, entertainment personalities, and politicians.

But now that it has transpired that for years they have been hacking into the phones of families who have been the victims of abductions and murders it is impossible for us to avoid the nausea. Not only have they been feeding their stories from this illegal and immoral activity by accessing the phones and voice-mail messages of parents who have had their children kidnapped and/or murdered, in the case of Milly Dowler a murdered schoolgirl, they tapped into Milly’s own phone when the police were investigating her disappearance, and even deleted messages from her full-to-capacity voice mailbox so that her distraught parents could continue to leave their desperate messages on their daughter’s phone.

Rupert Murdoch’s reaction to all this was to give a few days’ notice that the News of the World would be closed down, thus throwing 500 people out of work (most of whom had not been tied up with these criminal practices). To add insult to injury, he has retained Rebekah Brooks in her job as News International’s Chief Executive, even though she was Editor of the News of the World when much of this sordid activity was taking place.

Prime Minister David Cameron comes out of this with egg all over his smug face as well, since he employed Andy Coulson (another previous editor who had resigned over earlier cases of phone hacking) as his Media Consultant, in spite of having been warned by the Editor of the Guardian newspaper that he had problems.

I hope that if nothing else comes out of this, we shall at last see the end of the decades-long love affair between our political leaders and the Murdoch empire. Please, no more parties, with Murdoch, his son, or his red-topped chief executive of ‘red-top’ papers. No more special access to 10 Downing Street. If our politicians can’t get themselves elected to positions of high office without cuddling up to Murdoch, then they don’t deserve our support.

David Cameron claims to have come to this understanding. Time will tell. Watch this space.

I also hope that Murdoch’s bid to buy up the remaining shares of BskyB TV and thus be in complete ownership of that enterprise will be successfully thwarted by the competent authorities on the basis that he is not a fit and proper person to be in such a monopolistic position with a major media empire.

Dreams

I never cease to be astonished by the machinations of the human brain whilst one is asleep.

Just in the past two days (or should I say nights?) I have invented both a new organisation and a new word.

Has anyone heard of the Mahogany Royal Specialist Group?

No? My brain just made it up then.

I also got on a train, sat next to the driver (wow - that's cool!) and as he pulled out of the station I advised him in some panic that this was where I was meant to get off. (Bear in mind, I'd only just got on!) To which he replied, "Don't worry - I've switched off the PROCTO so you'll be at the next station sooner than expected!"

Any of you heard of a PROCTO? No, I didn't think so.

Looking forward to my next burst of creativity.

Northern Ireland

I see the wild animals of east Belfast have returned to the Dark Ages again.

When will we be rid of these idiots with their religious prejudices and predeliction for violence?

I have visited the Irish Republic, but I have vowed never to set foot on the soil of Northern Ireland whilst it remains so embedded in the past. Stones, bricks, bottles, petrol bombs and bullets have no place in a civilized society.

Does Northern Ireland really have to be part of the UK?!

Sarah Palin and soul of the Republican Party

Dissension in the Republican ranks!

Now that Mitt Romney of Boston, Massachusetts has declared his intention of running for the Republican nomination as Presidential Candidate for the next US Presidential Election, the disturbingly attractive but totally goofy "Tea Party" Republican Sarah Palin has stated that Mitt Romney is a traitor to the Party because when he was Governer of Massachesetts he gave health care to the poor.

Shock, horror!

I think that tells us something we need to know about the mind set of Mitt Romney, and it tells us all we need to know about Sarah Palin.

The End of the World is Nigh ..

Nigh on impossible to predict, that is!

The idiotic Mr Camping predicting that the end of the world would take place last Saturday, 21st May 2011 was a sad business. Even sadder was the fact that so many people were prepared to believe him.

Apparently some people gave money away .. one might ask how that would benefit anyone with the world gone up in smoke .. and others decided to take a quick holiday, just in case.

I am advised by a friend who knows more about what the Bible says than I do, that there is a verse that states no one will know the time of the Day of Judgement.

For the whole of my life (well, not quite the whole of it, since I am still here) people have been predicting the end of the world. When I was young I tended to believe these predictions, and I was mightily frightened, I don't mind telling you. But then I grew up and started to use my brain a bit more - unlike some of these religious nuts.

Referendum on Electoral Reform 5th May 2011

It's a great shame that what should have been a sensible and apolitical debate on the pros and cons of "First past the post" versus "Alternative Vote" has degenerated into a slanging match between Party politicians.

Both sides have been economical with the truth, and some have been telling downright lies, repeatedly, using the Goebbels principle that if you tell a lie frequently enough it eventually becomes the accepted truth.

This is far more important for the future democracy of our country than which politician supports which system, and whether or not we like that politician. If you are voting YES because you don't like David Cameron, or if you are voting NO because you don't like Nick Clegg, you are totally missing the point.

It's about whether the existing voting system is democratic and allows you to have a greater say in who becomes our representative in Parliament. Is it right that 70% of the MPs currently in the House of Commons are there with the support of a MINORITY of their voters? Is it right that nearly every Government (if not all) since the 2nd World War have imposed their ideologies upon the country with less than half the country supporting them? What kind of democracy is that?

"AV" is far from perfect, but at least it does two important things: it retains the constituency link with a single MP, and it ensures that no MP is elected without the support of at least half the voters. What is bad about that?

The current system was just about defensible in the middle of the 20th century, when people were pretty much voting either for the Great Blue Tribe or the Great Red Tribe. Today's politics are more fluid, and we are no longer slavishly devoted to one of two Great Tribes.

So, I am saying YES to change on 5th May and would urge all who have not yet made up their mind to take this (probably) once in a generation opportunity to take a small step forward. Ignore all this talk of excessive cost, electronic counting machines, and so on. It's already been stated in a Parliamentary Answer that the cost of running either of the two systems are not that different, and there are no plans to use electronic counting machines.

Another myth put about is that you are obliged to place all candidates in order of preference. You have no such obligation. If you wish to cast a vote for only one candidate, and you think all the others are appalling then you just place a '1' against your candidate. Easy as 1,2,3 (or just 1 in your case!)

Vote YES to change.

Royal Wedding - Enough Already!

This has appeared on a souvenir tea towel.

Best place for it, if you ask me, especially when this dysfunctional family is all washed up.

Apparently the Palace authorities have declined to authorise its use

.

I'm sick of hearing about this Royal Wedding. I'm bored, bored, bored.

That we, as a 21st century democracy, should have a Head of State (and extended Royal Family) chosen by accident of birth is, frankly, preposterous!

Their ancestors reached their positions of power by plunder, pillage and patronage. Now half the population goes all gooey-eyed over their present-day descendents.

I'm not saying some of the lesser members of this weird family has not done some good over the years in terms of support for worthy Charities, but they could have done that anyway without enjoying their exalted position achieved by accident.

Already I can hear people bleeting about their value as a tourist attraction; the pomp, the ceremony, the Changing of the Guard, Trooping the Colour, and so on. And "The Queen, God bless her - such a lovely lady, and doesn't she work hard?!" I don't doubt it - but - suppose she wasn't, and didn't?

The sooner we abandon this lunacy the better. I'm sure that if we had an elected Head of State, like other civilized democracies, the Grenadier Guards and all those other guys in red coats and furry hats would still be able to put on just as good a show for the tourists.

The only good thing about this wedding is we get an extra day off. Hooray!

Devastation, Confusion, Overheating, Meltdown ..

Devastation, Confusion, Overheating, Meltdown .. AND THAT'S JUST MY BRAIN.

Where is God?

What is God?

Did God make Man or did Man make God?

And are these questions about anyone (or anything) that actually exists?

A very good friend has tried to reassure me: "God exists, He really does."

If I say "God doesn't exist, He really doesn't", which of us can be proved right?

Hurrican Katrina, Indonesian tsunami, Chilean earthquake, Chinese earthquake, New Zealand earthqake, and now the Japanese tsunami .. if God made our World, one can be led to a number of possible conclusions:

1. He (She or It) doesn't exist therefore He (She or It) didn't.

2. If He (She or It) does exist, then it wasn't a 6-day job - it's work still in progress.

3. He (She or It) designed the world deliberately as a very dangerous place on which to exist.

Conclusions 2 and 3 are backed up by the existence of harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites that have led to thousands of years of disease and suffering.

To those who say all this death and destruction is part of a mysterious Plan, and brings forth occasional miracles like an unexpected survival (often hailed as an answer to prayers), I ask, what about all those who didn't survive who were also the subject of prayer?

It's a bit like me driving up to your house in the middle of the night with a bulldozer and flattening your property, then jumping out of the driving seat to pull one of you from the wreckage and calling the emergency services. This would be followed by my being hailed as a saviour, conveniently ignoring the fact that I had destroyed your house in the first place.

Does anyone have the means of cooling down my rapidly overheating brain?

Cigarettes are going under the counter. Good thing!

Renouncing Nicotine

The UK Government has announced plans to prevent the visible display of cigarettes in shops. It got me thinking about my own battle several years ago to renounce nicotine.

I was, like many other people relieving stress by smoking large quantities of cigarettes. I had not at that time realised that smoking does not really induce relaxation. The reality is that the perceived pleasure (or relaxation) gained by lighting up is merely the addicted body’s craving for nicotine being satisfied.

How often do you hear the cry, “I get pleasure from smoking”. Of course you do: relieving an addiction can’t be anything else but a "pleasure"!

Like any other smoker I was immune to such argument: the craving goes beyond the bounds of logical argument. I can't stop my son smoking because he is, like all addicts, in denial. As far as he is concerned there are no health problems associated with smoking.

Like any other smoker I was prepared to divert large proportions of my monthly income into the purchase of cigarettes, and each time the Chancellor of the Exchequer increased the tax we moaned a bit but carried on buying the things anyway.

In the mid-1970s we were all aware that smoking was bad for our health, but again, addiction goes beyond accepting the logical conclusion that we should ditch the habit. I was no exception, and the arguments regarding my health went right over my head; I was not going to be one of those who got hardened arteries, heart disease or lung cancer.

Nevertheless, I did give up smoking, and the reasons were purely financial.

After several months of trying to make ends meet and collecting a nice little pile of unpaid bills, withdrawal of my monthly petrol credit account by the local garage, and a number of red notices for unpaid utility bills, I began to realise that I needed more cash. Since more cash from my employers would not be forthcoming (until or unless I got more promotion) my only option was to give up the habit.

I remembered that my father had once been a chain smoker, living in a perpetual haze of smoke. One day he decided to give it up.

Did he receive counselling? No.

Did he use nicotine patches? No.

Did he use nicotine chewing gum? No.

Did he use dummy cigarettes dispensing nicotine? No.

None of these things was available then. One day he was a chain smoker, the next day he was a non-smoker. From that day he never touched another cigarette for the rest of his life. He could not even be persuaded to have a cigar after dinner on Christmas Day.

(My mother, who had already given up smoking, used to keep a cigarette in her dressing table drawer for Christmas Day. The family used to look forward to Mother's Christmas spectacle of her 12-month old cigarette going up in flames as soon as she lit it.)

I thought if my father could kick the habit, so could I. Well, I did, but not quite as impressively as he did. It took many months. I started to cut down on the amount I smoked each day. Then came the day when I bought no further cigarettes, but I was smoking other peoples: each time I attended a work meeting or a social gathering, and someone offered me a cigarette, I took it, knowing full well that I would at no stage be in a position to reciprocate.

I persuaded myself pipe smoking was less harmful and so bought a pipe. Naturally this meant I had to fill my jacket pockets with all the accoutrements - a box of matches or a lighter with the delivery of a blow-torch, tobacco pouch, pipe cleaners, a tool for scraping out carbon deposits, and of course the pipe itself. My appearance became somewhat lumpy.

Then there is the procedure - stuff the tobacco into the bowl of the pipe, compress it to just the right consistency with your finger or thumb, get the blow-torch going and draw deeply on the pipe as you apply the flame and wait for the big cloud of smoke and the people nearby coughing and waving their arms about, indicating successful combustion. Then, after some contented puffs and rejoicing in how important and distinguished you look, either the pipe goes out or you find yourself sucking in some foul tasting liquid accompanied by bubbling noises, indicating the need to embark on one of the many pipe servicing schedules.

Servicing could be carried on in the middle of management meetings, turning the pipe bowl upside down and banging it loudly on a big ashtray, interrupting someone’s important contribution to the meeting. The mouthpiece could be pulled off to facilitate the drainage of stinking black liquor into the ashtray, then a pipe cleaner could be pushed back and forth through both sections of the pipe, and the de-coking tool scraped around the inside the pipe bowl.

It occurred to me after a few months of this that it was all faintly ridiculous. Moreover, carrying all this stuff around in addition to a wallet and a pocketful of money was ruining my suits and jackets. So I threw the whole lot away and started buying tins of small cigars, again convincing myself that cigars were less harmful and less addictive than cigarettes.

The financial problems were easing, but here I was, still spending money on rolls of leaves to be stuffed into my mouth and set alight, so I made the decision that I would smoke just one cigar a week, after Sunday lunch. This was the pattern that continued right up until just after the millennium, when a series of bronchitis attacks stopped me smoking completely.

The interesting thing about giving up the cigarettes was that, even when I was on a pipe, and then cigars, I began to find the smell of cigarette smoke extremely offensive, and this certainly helped me in my resolve never to go back to them. I also began to notice how the appearance of cigarette smokers differed from non-smokers - something about the skin quality, particularly around the area of the eyes. Then there were also the tell-tale signs of yellow fingers and, with grey-haired people, the yellow tinge imparted to that part of the hair nearest the face. The voice quality was also different, and the noise of the breathing, (not to mention the smell of the breathing) and of course the occasional wheezy cough. I noticed I was able to recognise smokers and non-smokers whether or not cigarettes were on display.

By the time I had reached the one cigar per week stage I was confidently calling myself a “non-smoker”, though I had frequent arguments with my wife about this as she insisted that obviously I was still a “smoker”. I gained strength for my argument from the fact that my doctor had now amended my medical records to state that I was indeed a “non-smoker”. Firstly he stated that on one cigar per week, the effects on my health were likely to be so negligible as to be equivalent to not smoking at all and secondly, because his computer system recorded smoking on the basis of x number of cigarettes/cigars per day, in my case he would have to enter 0.14 per day, and on his computer this was returned as a big fat zero! (I suspect this was his real reason for calling me a "non-smoker"). Things have changed again, now. Those of us who have renounced the habit are recorded as ex-smokers.

What is significant, however, is the fact that my health improved and so did my bank balance. I've never regretted giving it up. I've never missed it. And when I meet asthmatics who are still smoking I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Can there by anything more ludicrous than a person with a breathing affliction deliberately sucking smoke into their lungs?!

Electoral Reform - Another Gem from the "No" Campaign

The other day Prime Minister David Cameron (who, unlike his Liberal Democrat Coalition partner and Deputy Nick Clegg, is against scrapping the "first-past-the-post" system) came out with the astonishing claim that, had last year's General Election been held under the Alternative Vote system it would have produced another five years of a Gordon Brown Labour Government!

Does Cameron have psychic powers? In order to make such a claim he would need to know what every voter's second and third (and fourth?) preferences would have been if the election had been held under the Alternative Vote system.

This is just another example of the pathetic attempts by the NO campaigners we can expect to see over the coming weeks to persuade us to hold on to a system that returns two thirds of our MPs to Parliament on less than 50% support of their constituents.

An Erudite View on Religious Extremism

Click here for a thought-provoking (and sometimes amusing) view on the darker side of religious fanaticism.

Voting Reform - The NO Campaigners Show Themselves

I wondered where they were hiding, but the "NO" campaigners have come out from under their stone at last, indicating their likely tactics in persuading us to stick with the existing "First past the Post" system.

Here are their key ideas: the Alternative Vote is more complicated; the Alternative Vote is more expensive; the Alternative Vote is likely to deliver more Coalition Governments.

Notice that the words democracy and democratic don't feature in any of this. That's no surprise because there is no argument in this world that can convince any right-minded person that a system delivering Members of Parliament representing a minority of their constituents (sometimes for life) is democratic.

On the issue of other systems being more complicated, are we not sufficiently intelligent to be able to cope? How on earth do the rest of Europe manage to handle it? Leaving aside the possible fact that they have clearer heads because they don't binge-drink like the British, I still think we can summon up sufficient intellectual capacity to deal with a slightly less simple method of voting and counting.

As for the cost, well we could make the thing a whole lot cheaper by abolishing elections. (Last time I looked, that was called a Dictatorship). Come to think of it, perhaps that's why 40% of our population don't bother to vote anyway, because they do not see it delivering anything relevant to their own ideas.

The "NO" campaigners are going to have to rely entirely upon fear and negativity in order to persuade us that it is better to accept the devil we know rather than the one we don't.

They should return to the primeval swamp from whence they came, in which inertia is the best method of survival, leaving the rest of us with brains to pursue our legitimate demand for more democracy. OK, some will argue that the "Alternative Vote" is not fully democratic, but from little acorns grow mighty oak trees.

More power to the "YES" Campaign!

Balls Up?

When Ed Milliband became Leader of the British Labour Party (in Opposition) not so long ago, he avoided giving the post of Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer to the man thought most likely to be in the running for it, namely Ed Balls. It was rumoured that there was no love lost between them.

Instead he appointed Alan Johnson, a man with no particular financial credentials, and yet was someone who represented what is increasingly a rarity in British politics, i.e., a politician with the common touch who had once had a real job (he started out as a postal worker) before he entered politics. He was likeable and had a good sense of humour. Interviewed soon after his appointment as Shadow Chancellor, he told reporters that he would be busy reading his Economics Primer.

Now, sadly Alan Johnson is the victim of a failed marriage brought to a head by an affair between his wife and his police bodyguard, of all people! He felt the need to tender his resignation as Shadow Chancellor because of his domestic difficulties.

Now Ed Milliband has fallen back on Ed Balls to take this post. He is not a particularly likeable character, hugely ambitious, has a reputation for bullying (I wouldn't be surprised if he was a victim of bullying at school with a name like that), and more significantly was closely associated with Gordon Brown's failed economic management in the final two years of the last Labour Government.

It remains to be seen whether two Eds are better than one.

Tea Party - Does America deserve these people?

It was reported in the New York Times today that, in their final days controlling the House, Democrats succeeded in passing legislation that Tea Party leaders opposed, including a bill to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers at the site of the World Trade Center attacks, an arms-control treaty with Russia, a food safety bill and a repeal of the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military.

Tea Party rank and file are reportedly very angry that Republicans have done nothing to stop this outrageous activity.

That would be a terrible thing, wouldn't it? - Helping with medical care for those brave rescue workers at the "Twin Towers" tragedy?

And we don't want an arms control treaty with Russia do we? Let's keep on ramping up the tension.

As for food, we only depend upon it to stay alive, don't we, so what does it matter if it contains poisons?

And the Military (anywhere) has included homosexuals since time immemorial, so what's the point of pretending they don't exist? Why are they a problem to the Tea Party nuts?

Surveys suggest that about 1.5% of the American population is homosexual, and in World War II sixteen million American service men and women were involved. Some of those must have been homosexual - perhaps 240,000 of them? As I recall, they were on the winning side.

Christmas

Whilst taking the opportunity to wish my half dozen readers a very happy Christmas, I'm also minded to pose the question, what's it all about?

Silly question? Well it seems to be different things to different people. To some it's clearly a celebration of the "virgin birth" of Jesus Christ and it sits at the heart of the meaning of Christianity. To others it's an excuse for eating and drinking more than it's good for them.

For both groups there are, of course, the exchange of gifts.

Yesterday I was reading about Tony Jordan, the award-winning script writer, who was commissioned to write the story of the Nativity, to be shown on BBC television in four half-hour episodes leading up to Christmas. It was of particular interest because Tony Jordan is known for having written 200 scripts for the popular Soap, Eastenders, and other well-known TV series.

It was even more interesting to learn that when he started the task of dramatising the Nativity he was a non-believer in the whole story, but by the time he finished his extensive research, using the Bible, miscellaneous history books, talking to theologians, and even talking to NASA about the "star over Bethlehem", he became a believer.

On a personal note, I was struck by his thoughts about religion, which coincide exactly with mine. In his interview with a Daily Telegraph journalist he said this (and I'm taking this as my quotation of the year!) ..

"I have a distaste for organised religions, because they tamper with stories, add a bit here, take a bit off there, and then start killing each other because the other one doesn't agree. The only thing I know for sure is that the words I read as coming from Jesus Christ are the most truthful things I have ever heard. As a blueprint for mankind, it is so smart that it couldn't even have come from a clever philosopher. Who would have been smart enough to say 'He who is without sin cast the first stone'? That's pretty cool. I have a distaste for people who say to me if you come through these church doors, walk down this aisle, sit on that wooden bench, and sing these hymns in this order, I have got God in a little bottle under my pulpit and I'll let you have a look. I don't think that was God's intention".

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Given up on Maxpages. Switched to BT

The sudden disappearance of Maxpages continues to be a complete mystery, and nobody has been able to come up with any information. I thank those who have tried to find out what has been happening. I have concluded that the outfit went bust, and that's that.

Meanwhile I created a new website for the local firm I'm working for, using BT as the website hosting company. So, if you want minibus or private taxi hire in the Ryedale area of North Yorkshire you can now confidently call up http://www.botterills.org.uk for the information you need.

Maxpages now seem to be "Minpages"

I cannot pretend that the three or four people who read this Blog will know what the hell I'm talking about when I mention "Maxpages".

http://maxpages.com is (was?) a web hosting company. They made creating and maintaining a website easy: you just did it online using their own templates and design tools (pretty much like this blog setup I guess).

For my sins I am the "Webmaster" for a local family business running taxi and minibus services, with whom I have a part-time job. Now this business is well run by good people who don't deserve to be lumbered with a Website that suddenly goes off the radar for no apparent reason or explanation. This happened two or three weeks ago, and they now have vehicles running about the place proudly displaying their Web address in large letters, and if a potential client tries to call up that address, then all that comes up is the dreaded "Page not found" message.

An outfit called www.aboutus.org that indexes and audits websites around the world reports that Maxpages is no longer a working website; it has been flagged as "broken" by the AboutUs community.

Because this was an online web design facility we do not have the HTML files that make up our website, and so I'm faced with the prospect of starting all over again, (fortunately I now possess a Web Designer program) building up a new website from scratch. Then there is the small matter of finding a new hosting company, and the means of getting our Domain Name pointing in the new direction. It's all highly frustrating and not a little complicated for this particular amateur.

Does anyone out their actually know what has happened to Maxpages?