Mark's World

The Pebble Has Been Cast

2008-09-28T15:10:00.006Z

Yesterday, I received a letter from Christine's solicitor confirming that she was going to pursue a divorce. That much didn't surprise me, and I was prepared.

What did surprise me was that instead of a calm quiet No Fault, No Blame separation and settlement, Christine has decided to play the blame game. The proceedings have been cited as my '...unreasonable behaviour' - whatever that means.

The one thing it does mean, is that we are into a fight and the only people who are going to win from this are the solicitors. Christine's solicitor must have seen her coming!

Every Pound we spend on lawyers, is one less Pound we have for the girls! It would seem that punishment, hurt, humiliation and possibly my ultimate destruction is Christine's primary drive and everyone else in the firing line is just so much cannon fodder.

Well Christine has cast the pebble in to the pond - God knows where the ripples are going to end up!

Separation

2008-09-26T17:13:00.006Z

This year has been a particularly bad year for me. For quite sometime, I had been feeling depressed and I couldn't understand why.

Now I do!

After sixteen years of marriage, Christine and I are separating and will probably divorce.

For sometime, there had been a 'coolness' between us, but I just thought that this was a phase of marriage that every couple goes through as we all face that inevitable mid-life crisis, but for Christine, this was clearly something else.

I feel the trigger for this was her father's sudden death almost a year ago, and the depression I was experiencing was the transference of her negative feelings about this to me. This transference, I believe, became fixed as a dislike of me and a 'falling out of love'.

However, whatever the reason or trigger, the situation is real! Most of the time I am in shock, and I have no idea what to do. At present, Christine is exhibiting an amazing level of selfishness and self-centredness that I did not believe was a part of her personality.

She is also showing a high level of deviousness and deception. She took it upon herself to tell the children we were separating without bothering to tell me! Money is tight at the moment, yet she felt it was OK to spend scarce resources on two new single beds - because she wanted to!

The danger for me and the children is that the desire to separate is going to cloud her judgement and allow her to make decisions that could bring calamity upon us all. Already she is pushing to put the house up for sale, though she hasn't formulated any plan as to what happens the day after the sale goes through! Money has been tight, but it is going to be even tighter if we need to pay for two houses/flats.

The whole situation is a nightmare. So far, I've opened a bank account, though I've yet to have my wages directed to it, and I've got an initial meeting with a solicitor to look at my options.

For the children's sake, I want this to go through as calmly and as grown up as possible, but I'm not sure whether Christine feels the same.

Enough Of This Nonsense!

2008-06-27T16:57:00.005Z

It has been some time since I last visited my blog, and what a sorry state the subject of that last post was - not that it wasn't true, but I have moved on a bit since then.

Self-perception is a strange beast, and depression is not something I thought I would ever suffer from. I've always been able to rise from the ashes, so to speak, whenever I've stumbled or had a knock back. But this has been a real humdinger, and it hasn't helped that I developed a chest infection that has left me with what the doctors say is post-viral asthma.

I can't say I'm feeling great or even close to my old self, but I am starting to see that light at the end of the tunnel in the distance. I'm seeing someone at the clinic who may yet be able to help, but I'm too sure at the moment as her approach seems very "clinical", but the fact that I've managed to "carry on" and keep going seems to be having the most benefit.

What I'm looking forward to is less self-examination and more of the old fire that allowed me to have a go at anyone who gets my goat. The problem has been that no-one - not even Bush or Brown, - has managed to do this for me - and I need to be ready as there is another US Election on the way to get my teeth into.

This weekend, I intend to get my boots on and start walking again - something I haven't done properly for some time, except for the 15-mile Wirral Coastal Walk back in May. Maybe some exercise with help to lift the spirits. Moreover, there are some good pubs that are missing me!

P.S. Couldn't find a picture to go with this post, hence no colour

Not Feeling Good!

2008-04-26T12:06:00.005Z

Over the last six months, or so, such a lot has happened that at times I just haven't seemed to have the time to catch my breath.

However, over the last three months, I've been noticing some rather alarming symptoms and thoughts developing. I seem to feel tired all the time, my heart seems to race, I can feel my head throbbing in time with my heartbeat, my tinnitus is louder than ever before and I get really anxious prior to going to work. I feel generally run down and listless. I've not been for many of my usual walks or bike rides, I've not done much in the garden, and I'm putting on weight.

The other week, I was talking to one of my ex-colleagues from my previous place of work which has now closed down, and she was describing similar symptoms and feelings and I've come to the conclusion that I am depressed as a result of losing my job. I miss the people I worked alongside, many of whom became friends, and a place where, for five years, I was very happy - poorly paid, but happy. It had affected this colleague to the point where she felt the need to consult a counsellor. There is a great sense of mourning, which, on the face of it seems ridiculous, but is non-the-less real. There have been times when I felt I had lost my extended family.

Leaving there was a big wrench, and although I was lucky enough to be able to go straight into a new job, the stress of the administration and redundancy seems to have caught up with me. Most days, I feel anxious about going into work - though once I'm there, everything seems to go OK, - and I feel snappy and have to work very hard at being as human as possible.

I'm not sure where I go from here, but I have made an appointment with the doctor, and perhaps we can work out a strategy - I don't really want to take tablets if at all possible. I need to feel re-energised and positive again. Find the motivation to get off my backside and start being active. But most of all, I want to feel good about going into work and living my life!

Update

2008-03-30T10:28:00.002Z

Can't think of a snappier title than that at the moment, though it may change later.

Well, we've just got through Easter - very early this year and I think that the formula worked out by the Alexandrian or Coptic church in the 5th Century - the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox doesn't suit the modern age!

This year, it has been a particularly busy time with Christine's Mum finally moving out of the family home - a three story house is a bit large for one person! At present, she is staying with Christine's brother as she has yet to buy somewhere new, however she has been out and about to look, at this stage, localities and the type and cost of properties and it seems an area to the west of Wigan, - Orrell, is favourite at the moment.

However, our house is now full of 'stuff' and I've no idea where it is all going to go. I'm leaving it very much to Christine to sort out as much of it includes memories of her Dad which are important.

Jayne has had a pretty nasty bug which has kept her off school for the two weeks prior to Easter, and she still has a touch of catarrh. She spent that time with Grandparents - which, of course, she loved. However, she did pull her weight in helping her Nan to move out, and to all accounts, never stopped talking! However, it did give us time to re-decorate her room which turned out to be a bigger job than first thought as we had to replace all the plaster work. Anyway, it is now done and looks very nice - if a bit pink!

Next term is an important time for Jayne as she takes her Stage 2 SAT's and finally leaves Primary school to join her sister at Secondary school. A time of great pressure and change for our youngest.

Bethen is growing up all the time - very much the young lady at the moment, and being a teenage girl, driving me and Christine up the wall! However, she really is a lovely person - so everyone else tells us! She spent a week up in the Lakes with her long-time friend and her family. Seems she had a good time - I base that on the fact that when asked, her grunts and single word answers had a definite positive intonation. However, she did say that the tops of the fells were covered in snow which made them look really pretty - I wish I had been up there.

The ramifications of being made redundant from my last job are still making themselves felt. So far, I've not received a penny in redundancy as no-one is taking responsibility for it and so we are going to an Employment Tribunal to sort it out. Could be another two to three months before it's sorted, so my new bike is having to wait a little longer. It really is a pain in the neck!

However, last night I met up with a number of people from the old job. My colleague and friend got married and we all met up at the party afterwards. Most people have managed to get new employment and are settling down to a new chapter in their lives, others are about to start and were looking particularly nervous about it. However, the overriding feeling seemed to be one of relief that the old company was finally dead and buried. We all had a great time, and we've set ourselves up as a group on one of the social networking sites so hopefully we'll be able to keep in touch.

Spring is now with us and I am looking forward to some decent weather as so far most weekends have been a bit of a washout (literally) and I've not been able to get out and about much. Our local canal has yet to feel the passing of my cycle tyres and must be feeling a little neglected. Our local hill, Rivington Pike and Winter Hill, has not faired much better with only a couple of half-decent walks in the past couple of months. I'm really getting serious itchy feet.

The weather has been awful - strong winds and lots of rain, very depressing and the garden is also looking a bit bedraggled. Something I'm going to have to turn my attention to shortly.

Next weekend, we are going to a Flickr Wirral meet - the third one so far. True to form, the meeting will take place in a pub, this time the Wheatsheaf Inn in Raby followed by a wander down to Ness Gardens if the weather is OK, otherwise, we'll have to stay in the pub and drink more beer. The Flickr Wirral group has to be one of the most active, anarchic and fun groups on the site. Whenever a discussion group starts, there is no way it will ever stay on topic for very long. I feel it reflects the innate Wirralian personality. When you live on a peninsula it is very easy to ignore the rest of the world and develop your own style and life.

Not much else to say at the moment. Still very busy at work with a lot to learn, but I feel I'm getting a handle on it now. When I get home, I'm very tired and ready to just flop and chill out. Hopefully, with the longer days, I'll be a little more active.

Failed Already

2008-02-16T11:34:00.003Z

So much for New Year resolutions and good intentions. That didn't last long, did it? To all, and in particular Jen, my apologies for my laziness and lack of effort. No promises, but I hope to be a little better in the future.

In many respects, life has been running at about 100 mph, particularly with the new job. In terms of learning curve, climbing Everest would be easy in comparison.

It looks like the new job is going to be really good and challenging. There is an awful lot to learn, but I'm fast becoming an expert on left hand shower baths with unitary mixer units and soft close toilet seats - yes, I'm in the bathroom suite business, and it is a lot more comples that I thought.

But more, we are also the primary UK bathroom delivery company, so I am also expected to know how freight transportation and route planning is worked out. All in all, I think this is a job that I can really get my teeth into, leaving very little time for getting bored.

Outside of work, I've turned 55 (whoopee!) half a stone heavier (that's 7 lbs in US weight) than I was before Christmas, and I need to get started to lose it and get back some fitness. Last week I did our local hill, Rivington Pike, and was quite pleased at the reletive ease I had getting up it, but my main goal for this year is walking a few more of the fells in the Lake District. I really want to do the Langdale Pikes (mainly because there is a great pub at the end of it) and one of the big three; Skiddaw, Scarfell Pike or Helvelyn. Cumbria has to be, to my mind, one of the prettiest places in the UK with opportunities for all people to enjoy the countryside, whatever their age or ability.

Finally, still waiting for my redundancy payment so I can start looking for a new bike. Lots of ideas for what I want, but in the end, it will depend on price.

Happy New Year

2008-01-05T10:09:00.000Z

New Year and a new job - what a combination!

Before going any further, I would sincerely wish all my visitors and their families the best of all years and that all good things you deserve are delivered.

As for me, I see that I have been a little tardy in my posts over recent weeks, much of that due to the rapidly changing and uncertainties that preceded Christmas and that the fact that I didn't have much energy for anything else. I did, however, try to keep up with the blogs I normally visit, and keep myself up to date with what is going on.

My resolution is to attempt to up my posts - hopefully with something interesting, novel, quirky and humourous.

With the good news that I had a new job to go to in the New Year, meant that Christmas was a more relaxed affair that it was previously shaping up to be. For obvious reasons, Father Christmas had to be a little mean this year, though the girls did get an ipod nano in the sack - so all was not lost!

Christine was working Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which meant our Christmas dinner was on the Thursday. An excellent quality leg of pork, roasted with cox's orange pippin apples and rosemary and black pepper marinade. I've finally cracked the secret to good crackling, and this didn't disappoint. The roast potatoes were cooked with fresh rosemary and garlic and the gravy was made from the juices from the meat supplemented with a strong Somerset cider. The veg, of course, consisted of carrots and sprouts. Didn't do much with them - maybe next year! We finished off the meal with a traditional Christmas pudding. Unlike last year, this was shop bought - but a good one none the less, and Christine and Bethen had a good go at burning the house down with the brandy!

New Year was celebrated with friends, though we did have to leave a little early as Christine was on duty on New Year's day at 7:30 in the morning! She stayed relatively sober - I didn't!

Finally, on January 3rd, I started my new job. Always an odd feeling starting at a new place. Lots of nerves and anxiety. Hoping that I can live up to the promises made in the interview. Also hoping that the first impression is a good one, and that I do nothing that leaves a lasting negative impression. Well I think I managed to do that OK. Lots to learn and take on board. New systems and procedures and, of course, lots of new faces to get to know. Once I get my feet under the table, I think I'm going to enjoy this job.

The only thing to make it perfect for me will be a Suzuki Bandit 1200 - but if not, a 650 will do instead, and I'm hoping the redundancy cheque, when it comes through, will sort out that wish.

New Year, New Job

2007-12-14T17:18:00.000Z

The last month has been one of the most difficult times I've had for a long time. The company I work for went into Administration which immediately sent alarm bells ringing about my long-term future. Administration then became Receivership which confirmed the company was in a winding-down process and that eventually, I would lose my job.

On top of that, I lost my Father-in-Law who died suddenly and with no prior warning, from a heart attack which has been devastating for my wife, and extremely sad for me to lose someone I greatly respected.

All in all, it was not a great prospect for a good Christmas.

However, I have now been offered a job in a new firm, and, from what I was able to gather from the interview, would be perfect for me. A company not too large so as not to know everybody, but not too small that would be in immediate difficulty if the economic winds of change should blow.

I start on the 3rd January 2008. A far better Christmas present than I was expecting.

A Soldier's Lot

2007-11-12T16:31:00.000Z

Yesterday was Remembrance Sunday which, for once, actually fell on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and while I was standing at Aspull War Memorial my mind began to wander and I started to think about the role of the soldier in a modern western democracy.

What is the purpose of the military?

First and foremost, defense of the Realm; to repel invasion and ensure that the UK's citizen's are free to follow their dreams.

The second, to buy the time for politicians to get their acts together, find reason and settle their differences diplomatically and responsibly. The military pay for that luxury of time with their lives, and at present it feels it is being squandered and treated with disdain.

The reality is that any conflict is ended once people of good intent sit down and start talking to each other. They may hate everything their opposite may stand for, but by talking, at least there is the possibility of understanding, and from understanding comes peace.

All it requires are the people of good faith to start this process, and until they are found, young men and women will continue to die and be maimed and hold the line, buying in the only way they know, the time for the rest of us to get it together.

Rememberance Sunday

2007-11-11T14:03:00.000Z

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Binyon (1914)

Administration - The Latest

2007-11-10T12:59:00.000Z

A meeting on Friday provided some basis for optimism when the Administrators gave an update on the situation.

There is one company they are in negotiation with who wants to purchase the company as a going concern. Obviously, they couldn't give details, but I suspect it will be the same wazzocks that got us into this mess in the first place.

Obviously, everyone at work is very tense and concerned, and a lot of 'gallows' humor is doing the rounds. As a manager, I'm finding it totally exhausting, trying to remain positive and to keep my team's spirits up.

Working in customer services, also means I have our customers to deal with and explain to them that refunds can't be processed at the moment. The last week has been exceptionally hard work, particularly emotionally, and I never want to be in a similar position again.

According to the Administrators, we should know the final position within a couple of weeks. I hope so, because I'm not sure how much of this I can take!

Administration

2007-11-06T17:07:00.000Z

Came back from holiday last week to be informed that the company I work for had gone into Voluntary Administration. This means that the day to day activity of the company is in the hands of administrators, and that the company is being prepared for sale.

The future is looking very uncertain at the moment, and not a little depressing. Obviously, I've now started looking for a new job, just in case, but the administrators are hoping to sell it as a going concern.

Not much to cheer about, however, I should know more about where the company stands by Friday.

Red Sox, Game 2 - Win

2007-10-26T16:38:00.000Z

The Sox won their second match in the World Series to go 2 games to 0 up with three to go. Now the location moves to Denver and Colorado's home ground.

Fingers crossed that the Sox hold their nerve and win the one remaining match to secure overall victory.

Red Sox, Game 1 - Win

2007-10-25T14:09:00.000Z

First game of the season and Sox thrash what appears to be a woefully unprepared. Josh Beckett ripped the heart out of the Colorado offense while Dustin Pedroia kicked it off for the Sox with a homer in the first innings.

See, I sound like a life-long fan now! Anyway, good luck to the Soxs for tonight.

The Sox Go Marching On

2007-10-22T12:07:00.000Z

My first season supporting the Boston Red Sox is turning out to be a bit of a success and is providing some lift to a bit of a deflated supporter of English sport.

After England rugby and Lewis Hamilton came second in their respective competitions, it was a moment of cheer when I read that the Sox have made it through to meet Colorado in the World Series.

Well done and good luck.

A Game Too Far - England Lose

2007-10-21T05:56:00.000Z

After yet another bruising encounter, England's men of Oak just couldn't do it one more time and beat South Africa to retain the Webb Ellis Trophy - the World Cup.

Mind you, they really gave it a go and Did not allow South Africa to get out of sight. The final score of 15 - 6 accurately, in my opinion, the difference between the two teams.When it really mattered, England were just lacking in some key areas, and South Africa made us pay for a couple of early mistakes.

But what disappointment. The disallowed try, the drop-goals that didn't go over - so many if only's, but one thing is certain, those men can hold their heads up high with pride, both at what they have achieved during the World Cup, but more importantly, with the manner of the way they turned their campaign around. After the defeat to South Africa in the group matches, when South Africa scored 36 unanswered points against them, The England team dug deep and came out fighting. Whatever their obvious deficiencies (lack of ability to score trys) they more than made up for it in heart and determination.

Never pretty, it was so ugly it was beautiful!

Well done South Africa, you played well and deserved to win. England, I am proud of you.

Finally, the Boston Red Sox have pulled it around and thrashed Cleveland in the penultimate game of the play-offs. One game to go and it's even stevens. Why can't I support a team that is predictable?

Game 5 - Win

2007-10-19T15:08:00.000Z

Last night the Boston Red Sox came back strongly against the Cleveland Indians to win 7 to 1.

This brings the series score to 3 - 2 in Cleveland's favour with 2 matches left to play.

Nail-biting stuff all this sport!

D-Day Minus 2

2007-10-18T15:54:00.000Z

Two days to go before England's World Cup final against South Africa, and Brian Ashton has only made one change to the side that crushed France's dreams last Saturday.

Mark Cueto has been drafted in to take the place of Josh Lewsey who pulled a hamstring in last week's match.

Mark, who has been an England 'nearly' man, now has the chance to shine and show his true worth.

I have to admit that the tension is now getting to me. England have gone from zero's to hero's in less than 5 weeks, and have a chance to make history by being the first team to successfully defend the World Cup - wouldn't that just make the Aussies sick!

This weekend is going to be a sporting weekend supreme, and by the end of it, England rugby could be World Champions, and Englishman Lewis Hamilton could well be the Formulae 1 World Champion. Not to forget that the England Cricket team are actually performing quite well out in Sri Lanka, the only team to be letting the side down is the football team - nothing new there!

Game 4 - Lost

2007-10-17T15:23:00.000Z

This is not looking good.

The Sox went down again, to Cleveland which means they now have to win their remaining games.

Haven't lost hope yet, but from my limited knowledge, it does look tough.

Game 3 - Lost

2007-10-16T16:04:00.000Z

Oh dear,

Looks like they are going to put us through the wringer! Boston lost again, last night leaving them down 2 games to 1. Now's the time to get their heads together and get out there and make it happen.

I do not want my first year of supporting the Red Sox to end in failure and defeat! I wonder what colour socks the Yankees wear?

Game 2 - Lost

2007-10-15T15:17:00.000Z

The Red Sox had a stumble on their way to glory when they went down to Cleveland on Saturday, 13 - 6.

However, the record speaks for itself, the Sox have won 9 out of the last 12 matches against Cleveland so the omens are positive.

With England doing the unexpected in Paris, who knows what the mighty Sox will do. We have to remain positive to the bitter end.

Thanks Jen for the explanations, and I didn't realise there were rule differences between to 2 divisions. Mind you, the deeper I get into this the more confusing it gets (a bit like the offside rule in Rugby!).

Anyway, good luck for tonight and hopefully the result will go the right way.

We're In The Final!

2007-10-14T06:38:00.000Z

Not bad for a bunch of losers!

England rugby team, 80/1 outsiders just 6 weeks ago, have an opportunity to defend the trophy in the final of the Rugby World Cup. After a tense, and at time, pretty ugly match, they prevailed against the hosts and, after last week's win against New Zealand, favourites - France.

From the moment England were the grateful recipients of a big slice of luck, and hesitancy in the French defense to score a try in 80 seconds, to the Johnny Wilkinson (who else) drop goal in the dying moments that finally broke French hearts, England battled and defended to the point of insanity.

England's defensive line is totally unrecognisable to the team that went down by over 30 points to South Africa just 4 short weeks ago. What England lacked in endeavour and opportunity, it made up with heart, soul, guts and sheer bloody mindness.

The players left the Parc de France as heroes and now have the opportunity to be the first team to successfully defend the World Cup trophy in the history of the competition.

Roll on next Saturday - can't wait.

Game 1 - Won

2007-10-13T09:08:00.000Z

It is in this blog I finally demonstrate my appalling lack of knowlede of the American version of Rounders - Major League Baseball, but in consideration of my blog friend Jen, I have been following, and in more recent days starting to properly support, the Boston Red Sox in their bid for World Series glory.

Last night they played their first game in the ALCS (whatever that is) Championship against the Cleveland Indians and won 10 - 3, which seems pretty comprehensive to me.

My understanding is that if they win 3 out of 5 games, then they will be in the World Series against the winners of the NLCS (whatever that is). The World Series is a best of 9 matches to win the overall championship.

Apparently, the New York Yankees sank without trace this year, which, according to my friend Jen is a GOOD THING - and who am I to disagree?

Just one question - why is it called the "World Series" when only teams from the Major Baseball League can take part? Seems a bit dismissive of the rest of the world.

We Were Supposed To Lose

2007-10-06T22:50:00.000Z

Australia 10 - 12 England

What the hell happened? Where was the runaway Australia victory? Where was the revenge for what happened four years ago when a Johnny Wilkinson drop-goal destroyed the hopes, dreams and self-image of a nation?

England had been given no chance in this quarter-final match. If one believed the newspaper reports, all Australia had to do was to turn up and victory was assured. No-one gave England a chance, including this writer - except the 30 players from whom the team would be picked.

They were magnificent, bold, courageous and determined. Defense was resolute, and with the kicking of a resurgent Johnny Wilkinson, slowly, but surely, we kept pace with the Australian score, before taking the lead with about 30 minutes (or a life-time) to go!

Here is the Observer's report, the Sunday Times report, The Sunday Independent report - I could go on, but reading those, you get the drift. It was magnificent, and I still can't quite believe it.

But that wasn't the end to the surprises, France beat the mighty, and firm favourites, New Zealand by 20 points to 18 which will mean an England/France semi-final next weekend. It should be a great one and I can't wait.

God Bless American Business

2007-10-05T16:11:00.000Z

With all the troubles going on in the world, it is good to know that the Recording Industry Association of America was able to get its pound of flesh from a Minnesota woman who shared 24 songs she had down loaded. Personally, I felt that the $222,000 (yes TWO-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS) was a bit lenient, baring in mind the difficulties the recording industry is facing!

The recording industry on Thursday won the largest judgment so far against consumers who illegally download music over the Internet when a federal jury ordered a 30-year-old Minnesota woman to pay $222,000 for copyright infringement.

The victory could embolden (a nice George Bush expression) the industry in its four-year legal campaign against piracy at a time when illegal sharing of music online is exploding and dramatically reducing music sales.

The decision by the jury in a federal district court in Duluth, Minn., against Jammie Thomas, an Indian reservation employee, is the first case of its type to come to trial. The verdict could convince others accused of pirating music to settle their cases.

Goodness knows how this poor women is going to pay it, but I suppose she now knows what path the rest of her life is going to take.

Of course, it does raise a question on how did the RIAA know she had downloaded and shared the files. Surely they weren't spying illegally on her aka the White House?

The Troops Come Home (Well Some Of Them)

2007-10-02T16:21:00.000Z

One has to be cynical about the timing, but the decision is welcome enough. In an attempt to clearly take the spotlight away from the Conservative Party Conference, Prime Minister Gordon Brown flew to Iraq to 'meet the troops'.

He confirmed that the troop level will be reduced by 1,000 by the end of the year and the Basra province be handed over to full Iraqi control within 2 months. This will reduce our troops in the area to 4,500.

Of course, the Conservatives branded the announcement as 'cynical', which of course it is, but I would prefer to have seen a complete timetable for total withdraw, and not just a 'token' in an attempt to spoil the Tory conference.

Another Chance For Burma

2007-09-26T15:31:00.000Z

During 1943 to 1945, my father had the honour to serve alongside the Burmese Rifles as they strove to remove the Japanese from Burma. In difficult terrain and conditions, these brave men and women, along with the 13th Liverpool Regiment, fought long and hard to remove a murderous and oppressive regime.

Eventually, the Japanese were defeated in the South-East Asia theatre of World War Two, and in 1948, Burma won its independence from the UK and had the opportunity to forge its own destiny. The Burmese Republic, called the ‘Union of Burma’ was born and its progress into the 20th Century was rapid and significant. In 1961, its UN representative, U Thant was elected as the United Nations Secretary General

This fledgling democracy was strangled in 1962 when the oppressive military junta of General Ne Win took control through a bloody coup d’etat. Since then, under a procession of cruel and oppressive military leaders, Burma or as it now wants to be known, Myanmar, the population has been held in check.

Throughout that time, pockets of opposition have grown up, only to be brutally wiped out when it became too much for the leadership. In 1990, elections were held and, of the 489 seats available, the democratic opposition won 392. This election, of course, was ruled null and void by the ruling junta. At that point, the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under house arrest – though that did not stop her from being awarded the Sakharov Peace Prize in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Released from house arrest in 1995, she was told that if she left the country, she would not be allowed back in. Her British husband was in the UK with their children and was dieing of cancer. She never got to see her husband, and has not seen her children from 1990.

The junta is widely believed to be at the centre of human trafficking, enforced labour and slavery, and commonly uses to torture and execution to maintain control. That situation remains.

The recent demonstrations by monks and the population are yet another effort by those who see a democratic future for the country to persuade their ‘Government’ to abdicate and allow genuine free elections. It is a window of opportunity for the rest of the world. Already, George Bush has announced sanctions to be imposed against Burma. Anyone who has read my posts knows I’m no admirer of Bush, but in this act, as far as it goes, has to be applauded. This time, there is no reason for the rest of the free world not to follow suit. As I write this, reports are coming in of 3 monks shot to death by the military. There is no time to waste. We must act now.

My father always said that the Burmese people were some of the gentlest, yet bravest and compassionate people he had ever met and it tears him apart to this day. From his descriptions, it is definitely a country I would want to visit, but not until a true democracy exists.

Aung San Suu Kyi once said: ‘It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.’

American Jackass

2007-09-21T16:27:00.000Z

How typical, I thought, as I read Rudy Giuliani's disparaging comments about 'socialised medicine', in other words, our universal and free National Health service. It is all fine and good for an ex-mayor of New York and 'White House hopeful' on a cynical photo opportunity to bolster his flagging campaign, to say he had beaten prostate cancer because the survival rates are better in the US than in the NHS. I really do not know where he got his figures from, but from what I was able to find, our survival rates for prostate and a number of other cancers are as good as anywhere else - private or free!

However, if Giuliani looked at the figures for the rest of his countrymen, and not just the rich and privileged like himself, he would find that the vast majority of people would not be able to even walk through the door of the hospital he was treated in.

OK, the NHS is not perfect, and it is a perennial subject for complaint and criticism, and maybe they aren't as good as the best private hospitals in the world, but it is definitely better than Medicare or any other half-baked system the Yanks can come up with!

Maybe Mr Giuliani could explain how are health service would be better if, as in the US, 40 per cent of Britons could not even afford to see a GP? Or how those without expensive healthcare insurance have to sell their homes to pay for even the most routine of operations? Or how it would be better for us to have insurance companies refuse to insure our children due to 'existing medical conditions'?

When the US finally drags itself out of its Victorian attitudes to healthcare, in other words "the rich get the best and the rest can die", then he can comment.

Finally, he personifies the prevailing attitude amongst right-wing Americans, the arrogance to openly state that if other countries do not follow the American path, then they are wrong, degenerate or even a threat and this gives them the right to interfere and comment in such a crass manner.

The NHS is our health system. It is the jewel in the benefit system in the UK and is regarded with great affection by the vast majority of the UK population, and I take it as a personal insult when someone who knows nothing about it, and is a guest in our country, pipes up ind basically condemns it.

Go home Rudy, your opinions are not welcome here.

Rugby World Cup 2007 - Day 1

2007-09-08T09:23:00.000Z

France 12 - 17 Argentina

Opening day of the World Cup and the hosts, France - everyone's second favourite to lift the cup after New Zealand, were in action at the Stade de France in Paris. Their opponents, - The Pumas, Argentina.

The expectation was that this would be a match worthy of the opening ceremony with a spirited performance by Argentina, but France coasting to a reasonably comfortable win. Lets face it, France were at their national stadium, performing in front of the fans, what could go wrong.

Unfortunately, Argentina had not read the script. They had the audacity to take the game to France and actually apply pressure leading to uncharacteristic mistakes by the normally dependable backs. This pressure finally led to a French handling error, giving a penalty to Argentina. Inside-centre, Felipe Contepomi stepped up and slotted the kick over the bar to score the first points of the tournament.

France came back quickly to score a penalty of their own, but Argentina had still not learnt due reverence and continued to pester and challenge France, scoring another couple of penalties. Even when France attempted to play their own game, they came unstuck, leading to the first try of the tournament, and the only one of the match, being scored, again, by the Pumas. In, what can only be seen as a desperate attempt to get some movement, Remy Martin threw an interception pass which Argentina's Felipe Contepomi shipped on the ball quickly to racy full-back Corleto, who outpaced the covering defence to score in the right corner.

At half-time, the score was France 9; Argentina 17 and the French nation was in shock.

In a second half dominated by mighty defence and enterprise by Argentina, they restricted the French to just one more 3 point score, and held on to conclude a mighty and historic victory - one, this rugby fanatic will remember for a very long time!

This Is Happening Here!

2007-09-05T16:30:00.000Z

This sign, erected in a small town in America, is a heartfelt response to the destruction of local culture by big business and globalisation.

Every Pound spent in our big supermarkets, is a coffin nail in local markets selling local goods at a fair price.

In Wigan, the town's market is a shadow of it's former self, having been effectively strangled by the competition of the 'Big Four'. How long before it is closed for good!

As shoppers, we have the power to change that, it just requires will and effort - and if you think I'm preaching, then be aware, I am just as much to blame as anyone else, for being seduced by the cheapness and easy shopping, big supermarkets bring.

Mum and Dad's Wedding Day

2007-08-31T15:21:00.001Z

Mum and Dad's Wedding Day
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

Sixty years ago, today! Still full of love and happiness.

Have a great day, see you both tomorrow!

Litter

2007-08-29T16:16:00.001Z

Llyn Bochlwyd
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

This lake, Llyn Bochlwyd, is three-quarters up a mountain in Snowdonia, and to reach it requires a reasonable amount of stamina and resolve. The path is steep, and at times, can become a bit of a scramble.

Generally, the only people who would see this lake, I assumed, were people who enjoy being out and about in the countryside, and would respect it. After a pretty strenuous climb, the chance to sit and rest awhile in such a peaceful and lonely spot was very welcome, before continuing onwards and upwards.

Sitting by the side of the lake, and soaking up the atmosphere was a truly wonderful experience, but all that was shattered when I looked down into the water and saw a beer can lying at the bottom.

Litter!

It is the sort of thing I would expect to see in the more accessible areas of Snowdonia, but not here! I was so saddened by this, that even (almost) pristine wilderness can be polluted by such thoughtless action.

If you've carried it up a mountain, then bring it back down - don't drop litter!

I've Passed

2007-08-22T12:41:00.001Z

I've Passed
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

Today, I took the third and final part - the practical test, - to become a fully licensed motorcycle rider, and I passed!

I am now able to ride any size of motorcycle and on any road, and I can remove the 'L' plates of my bike and carry passengers.

I still can't quite believe it. Last Saturday was my worst ever lesson when I just couldn't do anything right. I felt I was facing failure in the face. This morning, I was very nervous and tense, and did an hour's practice with my instructor, Kevin, before getting to the test centre and meeting my examiner, Peter.

Peter was just great! A perfect gentleman who, I felt, would be firm but fair. Once on the road, with him following behind, it became a lot more straight forward, and I was able to relax and I completed the test committing only 4 minor faults (you are allowed up to 14 before they fail you).

After the test, I returned to the riding school with Kevin to have a cuppa and a chance to calm my nerves. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Safety Last

2007-08-17T12:18:00.000Z

I don't know whether I've become more observant as a consequence of riding a bike, or there has been a sudden upsurge of the problem, but I've recently noticed a lot of cars with defective brake or tail lights.

The other night, on my way home, I counted 7 (seven!) cars in front of me with at least 1 tail light out. I only started counting after seeing another two or three. And that was on a journey of less than 15 miles!

When I think of the stats on this one, the maths become mind-blowing. The vehicles I counted were those immediately in front of me; there were probably lots more going in the opposite direction and elsewhere on the road. I believe that there must be many cars on the road with a tail light out - with all the inherent danger that brings.

Doesn't anyone do their weekly vehicle checks anymore. Once a week, we are supposed to check our vehicle is in a road worthy condition. That all lights are working and properly adjusted, tyres are at the correct pressures, oil and water are topped up and windscreen wash is not empty. My understanding is that these features are there to protect the driver of the vehicle and other road users. At night, I want to know whether the vehicle in front is a car or a motorcycle, and a major clue to that is the number of tail lights. One tail light generally means bike rather than car.

If the owner is so casual about something so obvious, what else is wrong with the car?

If people are going out on the highway, then please, do so in a car that is fully road worthy. They may not value their life too highly, but I do value mine.

The Die Is Cast

2007-08-14T14:51:00.000Z

Four years ago, the England rugby team - known affectionately as "Dad's Army" due to the relatively old average age of the squad, packed their bags and left this fair isle to ply their trade in the Rugby World Cup in Australia. With almost the final kick of the game, in the final against Australia, Johnny Wilkinson broke the deadlock and gave England victory.

That moment is still crystal clear to me today - England had won the World Cup.

The final squad for next month's World Cup in France has now been named and it contains 13 of that victorious squad (highlighted below) - including the 35 year-old Lawrence Dallaglio at No. 8.

Backs (14):

M Cueto (Sale - Age 27, 19 caps); J Lewsey (Wasps - 30, 48 caps), J Robinson (unattached - 33, 45 caps), P Sackey (Wasps - 27, 3 caps); D Hipkiss (Leicester - 25, 1 cap), J Noon (Newcastle - 28, 25 caps), M Tait (Newcastle - 21, 12 caps); M Catt (London Irish - 35, 70 caps), A Farrell (Saracens - 32, 4 caps ); O Barkley (Bath - 26, 17 caps), J Wilkinson (Newcastle - 28, 59 caps); A Gomarsall (Harlequins - 33, 26 caps ), S Perry (Bristol - 29, 11 caps), P Richards (London Irish - 29, 6 caps).

Forwards (16):
G Chuter (Leicester - 31, 12 caps), L Mears (Bath - 28, 16 caps), M Regan (Bristol - 35, 37 caps); P Freshwater (Perpignan - 34, 7 caps), A Sheridan (Sale Sharks - 28, 13 caps), M Stevens (Bath - 24, 13 caps), P Vickery (Wasps - 31, 54 caps); S Borthwick (Bath - 27, 28 caps), M Corry (Leicester - 33, 56 caps), B Kay (Leicester - 31, 46 caps), S Shaw (Wasps - 33, 36 caps); L Dallaglio (Wasps - 35, 79 caps), N Easter (Harlequins - 28, 5 caps), L Moody (Leicester - 29, 45 caps), T Rees (Wasps - 22, 5 caps), J Worsley (Wasps - 30, 59 caps).

Since that famous win back in 2003, England have not suffered the best of fortunes on the international front, and my confidence in an England win is based more on hope than conviction. However, when one takes a cool look at the squad, there is quality and experience everywhere. The forwards are really impressive, big, beefy men who give no quarter when the chips are down, and on their day, there is no pack in the world that could live with them. And if the pack is on song, then they will give time and space for the talented backs to conjure up their magic.

I suppose, my one concern is that the reactions from some of the older players may not be as sharp as they should be, and on the counter attack or in defence, may leave a few holes to be exploited by the opposition.

Ah well! This is the team that is going to cause me such joy and grief (probably at the same time!) and I wish them all the best. Whatever the result, I know they will have given their all, and if England pull this off, then I'll probably stay drunk for a month!

A Lesson In World Economics

2007-08-13T13:05:00.000Z

As the World's financial markets start to recover from the 'jitter's' over the weekend, it is interesting to see just how entwined we, in the free world, have become, economically with the fortunes or otherwise of the US.

Some financial institutions in America offering 'sub-prime' mortgages, - those are loans and mortgages to high-risk lenders, were facing severe problems, which in turn, led to cobby-wobbles in the larger institutions which, if the crisis continued, would have led to the interest on my mortgage in the UK going up to pay for it.

Thanks America.

What, I think, was interesting, was that it was the non-US financial institutions, and in particular, the European Bank, that led the support and rescue operation, releasing funds to ensure the whole tottering edifice remains. Perhaps we are starting to see the end of the mighty dollar dominating my world - at least I truly hope so.

We Were So Young

2007-08-05T22:22:00.000Z

I recently received an email from my mate Dave who had unearthed a few shots of a holiday we had shared many years ago. This particular picture was taken in a folk club in Douglas on the Isle of Man back in 1970.

We had decided to take a week away, so with a loaned tent, we grabbed the next ferry out to Mona's Isle for a week of R & R. A couple of our friends were already over there working the summer and we had a great time. The club was an opportunity to earn our beer, so I made a real good effort on the guitar while Dave (clearly suffering from earache - but then we all did when he sang!) provided the vocals. We did seem to go down pretty well, and the beer flowed freely that night if I remember correctly!

The other picture was taken after we had walked up Snaefell - Isle of Man's tallest "mountain", - from Laxey on the coast. Fortunately, there is a cafe at the top which sold beer - so we felt pretty chuffed at the top.

Not Taking It Seriously...

2007-07-29T18:40:00.001Z

Not Taking It Seriously...
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

The first decent day, this summer, and a chance to stretch the legs over the West Pennine Moors.

We left the car in Rivington and climbed over Winter Hill to Belmont where we had lunch at the Black Dog Pub, before heading back over the hill via Rivington Pike. A great walk, and I felt a lot better for it.

Now, if only I can get some people to take this sort of thing seriously....

A Change In The Weather?

2007-07-27T15:38:00.001Z

The weather forecast for this weekend is looking a bit better than it has been throughout this week. For those living with the floods it could be an opportunity to get back to homes and businesses and start to assess damage and its effect on lives. For all those affected, I hope they can resume their lives.

For me, this weekend, it will be an opportunity to get out for a decent length walk. Unfortunately, I'm working on Saturday, but Sunday is looking good, and a brisk walk over the hills will be a good step up. It'll also give some quiet time to Christine, who had a carpel tunnel operation this week and is not able (or allowed) to do very much.

What I would like to do is walk from Rivington, over Winter Hill to Belmont, have lunch at the Black Dog, then walk back over the hill. The great barn, in Rivington, on a Sunday, is a meeting place for bikers and there is generally a Bar-B-Que and a chance to check out bikes and meet people. If the weather holds up, it should be a great walk.

Britain's Katrina

2007-07-24T15:51:00.000Z

As large tracts of southern England spend another submerged day, it is becoming clearer how ramshackle the response has been. The success of meeting the demands of the situation were down, more to luck and the dedication and skill of many in the emergency services, than design.

A report in 2004 made clear that the diversity of responsibility in the face of a natural disaster leads to confusion, delay and potential loss of life. It recommended that the Environment Agency would, in situations such as we are seeing today, take overall responsibility for co-ordination and decision-making.

In 2005, the Government agreed to this and said it would be in place by summer of 2006. We are still waiting.

Now I don’t believe that this is due to lack of Government concern or care, it was just that it was not a priority, and with a hot summer in 2006, followed by cabinet in-fighting, the risk of flooding receded. But this year, the flooding has been the worst since 1947, and the problems have been made worse by the way development and growth has been managed - Green Belt development and house building on ‘desirable’ green field sites, mean there is less land for the water to soak into.

Gordon Brown has already announced the intention to build 240,000 homes over the next 10 years or so – many of those have been earmarked to flood plains which, from where I sit, doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. Clearly we need houses, but much more thought is required at the planning stage into foreseeable environmental problems, as well as social issues, and their solutions. Clearly, not everything can be planned for, but much can, it just requires will.

And Then The Waters Came!

2007-07-23T11:52:00.000Z

Large areas of Southern and Eastern England are under water after some of the heaviest rainfall to hit the UK in half a century. Last Thursday saw an unprecedented "one month's" rain in less than 3 hours, and it has continued to rain since then. Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire is the meeting point of the River Avon and Severn, and as a result of both rivers bursting their banks, the town is now, effectively, an island.

Unfortunately, although the rain has eased off, both those rivers are fed from Wales, and so there is likely to be a flood surge over the next few days. Emergency services are in full flow, but there are real problems now emerging. The most ironic is a scarcity of drinking water! Large tankers are being brought in to help with the supply, and food is being brought in. The government has agreed to offset 100%, local authority clean-up costs in all emergency areas, which should mean a quicker and more efficient response to need - lets just hope that the insurance companies (which make big fat profits each year) are just as quick.

However, the problems that remain are practical and unsettling for those involved, and will be with them for many months to come. Saturated homes which will take months to dry out; lost crops in the farms, businesses not able to do business and just the general mess and muck something like this brings.

Finally, I hope this will bring about a re-think on planning for weather driven disasters. Building on flood-plains needs to be assessed. Flood-plains existed to allow rivers to burst their banks and let the surrounding ground to soak up the over-flow. Better flood defenses, with more thought going into how water can be channelled away from population centres. Clearly, I'm no expert on these things, but we can't keep allowing our country to drown each time El Nino decides to burp!

Four-Wheeled Idiots

2007-07-16T15:17:00.000Z

I have only been riding my bike for a month or so, but I am already aware that, as a biker, I "share" the road with a whole range of imbecilic "drivers".

Twice, I have had someone pull out in front of me without once looking to see if anyone was coming. Mind you, the drivers were very busy on their hand-held mobile phones at the time, which probably is a good enough excuse. But what about the woman busy in an animated conversation with her friend, who changed lanes without realising that I was alongside her at the time! Maybe I am being unfair, as she did have one hand on the wheel, while using the other to describe what she was talking about, and of course, she had to look at her friend/partner to ensure she got the point.

No, it is the "faffyness" of drivers that gets to me! Do drivers not realise that crawling at 2 mph is very difficult for a motorcyclist. The other day, I was in a queue, when the cars in front started to crawl forward - not very far or very fast, so I decided to wait until the queue started to move properly before attempting to move off. Eventually, there was a gap of about six to ten feet in front of me and it was at this point that the wazzock behind me beeped his horn! Now I was both enraged by his idiocy while admiring his bravery. Beeping a large hairy (well in my case - hairless) biker is likely to lead to a short ride to the nearest hospital. In this particular instance, I took pity on his mental illness and just gave him the finger. Sensibly, he left it at that.

Another guy was indicating right - and turned left; someone else turning right, but not moving over to the middle of the road (of course, I am describing driving in Britain where we drive on the proper side of the road) and of course, the nightmare that is the "school run"!

But I am left with the impression of how bad drivers are - something I hadn't really noticed before, and I am aware at how well my driving in general has improved since taking up the bike. I have greater road sense and awareness now and my road positioning and signalling is a lot more clear (the number of drivers that don't indicate on round-abouts are legion). I now also understand the desire of bikers to get to the front of the queue - it helps to keep them away from the idiots. In the UK, there is a big debate about congestion charges, and of course the majority of drivers are up in arms about it, but lets face it, cars cause congestion - bikes don't.

Like A Virgin

2007-07-08T10:46:00.001Z

Like A Virgin
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

Moving on up the bike size. I'm about to have my first ride on a 500cc motorbike. It was absolutely fabulous. At one point I was feeling so great I let it all out in one great expletive filled scream - good job no-one could hear me!

Why didn't I do this sooner?

Fifteen Years Ago

2007-07-04T16:23:00.001Z

Me & Christine In The Back Of The Car
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

Fifteen years ago, Christine and I got married. It is important to say that I have never regretted a day of those years. Many ups with very few downs, and I love her as much today as the day she refused to say "I obey" at the altar steps!

Two children and a move away from our beloved Wirral to Wigan and the adventures continue. The time seems to have flown by - frighteningly so and who knows what will happen tomorrow, but I don't care as long as it is with this woman. All I can say is that I am looking forward to the next 15 years.

By the way, our grateful thanks to all America for joining us in celebrating our marriage, you do it every year and it means so much!

Thick As Thieves

2007-07-03T15:24:00.000Z

Former White House aid and criminal Lewis "Scooter" Libby has, in the face of a jury and a number of senior judges, had his sentence commuted by George Bush. No longer will he have to serve a prison sentence for his treasonable role in obstructing an inquiry into the leaking of a CIA agent's name.

Makes me wonder what form of blackmail was used to twist Bush's arm. I wonder if Libby had actually gone to jail, he might have started talking about the rogues that dumped him in that situation. There does seem a major air of desperation and cover-up over this, because if there was nothing to hide, then there would have been nothing to fear and America's "Rule of law" President would not have got involved.

Come on America, the Bush is now on the run - get after him before its too late and he causes any more damage.

Under Attack

2007-07-02T16:00:00.000Z

Over the past few days, terrorism has, again, raised its ugly head. Two car bombs were discovered in London over the weekend and a third attack took place at Glasgow Airport which did go off, but did very little damage and no loss of life. Those are the basic facts of the case, and there are a lot of reports and information about them, which I don't want to go into here.

I was more interested in the nature of the public's response to these criminal attempts. We, in the UK, have lived with terrorism and terrorist attacks for a long time - certainly we have had the car bomb since the late 60's when the IRA stepped up it's attacks in both Northern Ireland and the UK mainland. More recently, we suffered, attacks in July 2005 which killed and maimed a lot of people (and incidentally, was the subject of my very first post). We must be one of the most terrorised and fearful countries in the Western World.

So if we are terrorised, why aren't we showing it? We do we always have the same spirit after these attacks - "it isn't going to make me change what I do, or where I go" is the general refrain from people. Even when the guts of Manchester city centre were destroyed by the IRA in the 1996, people were more concerned that the reconstruction of the city was better than what went before (it could hardly be worse!).

What is really fascinating is that there doesn't seem to be any deep-rooted anger or hatred of the perpetrators - in some way, we feel sorry for them - but that is not to say that we don't get angry at all. And when we do get angry, it is because we know that the attacks will provide ammunition to those who want to screw ever more tightly the "security" lid on our society, couched in friendly terms as "protection of the innocents".

Just being alive is a risk, and these sad, stupid people just make that risk a bit bigger, but most of us accept that at a personal level, we can do very little but carry on with our lives. To the security forces, yes, protect me, but don't swaddle me or constrict my freedoms through fear or physical restriction, because if you do, then the terrorist wins. I intend to continue to do the things I like doing, and enjoying the good things this beautiful world can offer. It saddens me, that these people do not seem to be able to appreciate the goodness and beauty of the world that I see every day.

A Change Of Government

2007-06-30T09:20:00.000Z

This week has seen a change of government in the UK. A new Prime Minister, a new Cabinet and, we are informed, a new direction. This has come about without anyone casting a vote or meaningfully voicing an opinion. No! One person resigns and another takes his place without the mess of an election.

Not sure how I feel about this. As a democrat, I have always believed that the people should have a say in who governs us. However, a change of Prime Minister between an election, seems to be an increasingly common aspect of British politics. Harold McMillan and Lord Home in the 1963 at the height of the Profumo affair; Harold Wilson and James Callghan in 1976; Margret Thatcher and John Major in 1990 and now Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in 2007. What is interesting is that, John Major apart, the transition led to the party of power losing the next election - John Major survived only because the Labour party under Neil Kinnock imploded on the eve of the election.

I do have a lot of time for Gordon Brown. I feel he is principled and focused. I hope he can stand tall and true on the world stage and provide a riposte to the criminal activities presently being formulated in the White House. He seems to be surrounding himself with talent rather than 'Brown's Cronies' and, even in these early days, he is looking to place his own stamp on the office. I wish him well.

When I've had time to reflect, I'll write something about Tony Blair. He wasn't all bad, and Iraq should not be the only measure for his Prime Ministership.

Mid Life Crisis - The Reality

2007-06-29T15:25:00.001Z

Tryfan Sunday Morning
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

This mountain is Tryfan, the lowest of the 15 Welsh 3,000 foot mountains. I have climbed this mountain many times when younger - in fact, when my friends and I were going to spend the weekend in the mountains, we would climb this rock on a Friday evening just to loosen up. In those days, just turning up at the foot of a mountain would guarantee it would be climbed.

Last weekend, I thought it would be fun to meet up with someone who was attempting the 15 peak challenge - that is, all 15 peaks in 24 hours (something I did when I was about 19 or 20) at the top of Tryfan, or if possible, up on the Glyders which are connected to Tryfan by Bristly Ridge.

So I packed the car, kitted out the girls and off we went. 2 hours later we caught sight of Tryfan as we approached from Capel Curig and I began to feel the heart begin to race. I have always loved the mountains and walking, and I could almost taste the anticipation. Weather was not great, but certainly not as bad as I've known it in North Wales, so with boots and the correct gear on, we started up.

About an hour later, and still only half way up the north ridge, I finally admitted what my body had been telling me for the past 30 minutes - I'm 54 not 24! Physically, I felt awful and I knew that there was no option but to descend, otherwise we would all have been in danger. The weather was also taking a turn for the worse, and so we came down.

All was not lost, however, as I knew of a couple of walks that we could do, and in the end we did a turn around Cwm Idwal, but I am left with the realisation that no longer will things come so easy.

If I'm ever to get to the top of the mountains again, I'm going to have to train and work for it. My target now is August when I have a week's holiday and I intend to do Snowdon! Strolling across the West Pennine Moors or cycling the canals and stopping at every canalside pub is not going to do it for me.

There are some pictures of the weekend here if you are interested.

I Thought It Was My Crisis!

2007-06-21T15:15:00.001Z

Ready To Hit The Road
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

Christine doesn't want me to suffer alone.

Mid Life Crisis

2007-06-17T12:48:00.001Z

Should Know Better
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

It's my mid-life crisis, and I'm going to enjoy it!

An Honest NeoCon!

2007-06-11T15:58:00.000Z

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums in war to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword.

It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, they will offer up all their rights unto the leader and gladly so.

How do I know ?

For this is what I have done.

And I am Ceasar."

Courtesy of "and yes, I DO take it personally"

I Should Have Known Better

2007-06-06T15:13:00.000Z

Reports from the BBC indicate that George Bush is really not that keen to tackle the main causes of global warming after all.

His spokesman at the G8 meeting has said that targets "...should be established on a national basis, and the only area of disagreement is that the G8 should dictate the national policies of its members." Germany is looking to increase fuel efficiency by 20% and set a target of limiting the world's temperature to a 2% rise if possible by cutting emissions by 50% by 2050.

President Bush responded by saying he still has a strong desire for a post-Kyoto agreement, but does anyone believe him? The man is an international joke, - unfortunately, no0one is laughing.

Further, Bush is now trying, for no obvious reason I can see, to stoke up tensions with an already flaky Russian government, the result of which will mean that us in Europe will be in the front line again.

Can someone please tell me, one thing that man and his administration has done on the world stage that has been good! (and if some clown says getting rid of Saddam - I want them to try and explain that to the hundreds of thousands of people who are presently suffering in Iraq). Everything that man touches ends up worse than it was before.

Global Warming - A New Dawn!

2007-06-01T15:40:00.000Z

It would seem that President Bush has decided that the world is not doing enough to fight global warming. He has urged countries to set long-term goals and has set a target of 2050 for cutting global emissions.

Is he having a laugh!

What he appears to be advocating is very similar to a something that was agreed back at the turn of the century ripped apart by the then American administration headed by someone, funnily enough, also called Bush. That was the Kyoto agreement, and, for many countries, it remains a fundamental cornerstone of their environmental policies. Mind you, that agreement set more urgent targets than Bush. Unfortunately, the good work of the majority of the world has been shafted by the dirt and pollution pumped indiscriminately into the air by the US over the past 6 years, - a similar amount of time that a certain President has been significantly playing down global warming and its effects.

Mind you, I was almost deafened yesterday by the non-us world falling off their chairs in hysterics, when Bush said "The US takes this issue seriously."

How Organic Is Organic

2007-05-31T14:21:00.000Z

Organic produce and lifestyle has been one of the big successes of the past ten years and has become a multi-billion pound industry. Even the major supermarkets are providing more and more food that claims to be organic and consumers are, increasingly, buying more and more.

Most people understand the basic concepts of organic food - raised on land free from chemicals and fertilisers, cattle and other livestock raised with a minimum, if not zero medicines and fodder raised organically.

It is said by those who are real advocates of this type of produce, that the food tastes better, is better for you as one's intake of chemicals is reduced and that by farming in an organic manner is environmentally friendly.

But hang on! Organic strawberries from Egypt, organic blueberries from Chile, Argentinian blackberries - all of this produce is air-freighted and is in the shops generally within 48 hours! How environmentally friendly is that!

Sure, I believe that organic is probably best, but I like to give equal weight to the distance it has had to travel. Our local market generally supplies food from the locality - most from a 30 mile radius. The carrots (shock, horror) still have the soil on them, moreover, they are not single straight tubers, but often knobbly and a combination of 2 or more tubers. But the taste! Wow.

Most of the food has been out of the ground, by the time I get to the market, no more than 6 or 7 hours, and for me, the taste is out of this world. Some of it is organic, most isn't, but the level of chemicals used in the locality is much reduced on other parts of the country where soils are less fertile. Moreover, food is seasonal again. If it is the wrong season, then it is unavailable in the market and that is good, as far as I'm concerned. The seasonality takes me right back to when I was a child and the local greengrocer only stocked local apart from some fruit such as citrus fruit. I believe that, more important than 100% organic is that food should be, as far as is reasonably practical, local. Let's cut food miles and support the local farmer and we might just get food worth eating.

Congestion Charges

2007-05-25T16:33:00.000Z

My local city and place where I work, Manchester, is one of the first cities, outside London, to consider a full congestion charge for drivers. Effectively, charges will be levelled on drivers coming into the city, bounded by the M60, during 'rush' hour in a bid to cut congestion and pollution in the city centre.

Obviously, this is controversial and everyone I've spoken to, so far, is against the idea. Of course, these self same people drive into work on the routes selected and would probably be adversely effected.

Personally, however, I think it would be a good thing to do!

I get the train into Manchester and walk - in all weathers, - the mile to work from the station. As I walk in, I pass lines of cars - some of them big cars - sitting in queues, engines pumping out all kinds of pollutants as if there is no tomorrow, - most of them with only the driver in the car. Four-seater cars with just one person in them driving to work, where the car will sit all day in a car park (which itself is taking up valuable real estate) before, again, sitting in queues, with a lone driver in the car for the journey home. Is this not a totally irresponsible waste of natural resources?

Obviously, public transport infrastructure needs to be improved, and hopefully, revenue from the congestion charge will be used for exactly that purpose. I am a driver, and will undertake journeys that are necessary in the car, but I do feel that the free lunch has to come to an end soon, and a more socially responsible method of moving around has to be developed.

We Lost!

2007-05-23T21:40:00.000Z

Liverpool lost 2-1. I'm gutted. Don't want to talk about it.

"You'll never walk alone."

Champions League Cup Final

2007-05-23T16:15:00.000Z

AC Milan v Liverpool FC - the sequel!

Two years ago, my life nearly ended when I was watching, what was originally, a wretched Liverpool performance against AC Milan, but which, in turn, became one of the most exciting games of football I've seen for a while. From 3-0 down in the first half, Liverpool managed to drag it back to 3-3 and extra time which eventually went to penalties and a glorious result for the 'Reds'. For a time, I really thought my heart would not stand up to the tension.

Tonight, the fates have conspired to repeat that final in Athens - perhaps Zeus wants to watch some real sport for awhile, and I can only say that I am very nervous. Arguably, the two of the best teams in Europe go head to head, and I really want Liverpool to win - if only to shove it up arrogant Manchester United and Chelsea supporters. I'm just hoping that Liverpool will do the business in a calmer and more efficient way than 2 years ago.

If Liverpool win, it will be their 6th success at the highest club level over the past 30 years. In 1977, Liverpool won 3-1 against Borussia Monchengladbach in which even Tommy Smith managed to score a goal! Since then, Liverpool have tasted success in 1978, 1981, 1984 and 2005.

All I need to do now is to persuade my wife to allow me to watch it!

"You'll never walk alone"

Well, We Made It

2007-05-21T20:32:00.000Z

Bodies gently aching - well actually screaming in pain, we finished the fifteen miles of the Wirral Coastal Walk!

In truth, it was a great day out. First off, the weather forecast all week had been promising showers, cloud with occasional sunshine, and what we actually got was a day of near uninterrupted sunshine. A light sea breeze meant that it didn't get too hot, and the walking was pretty easy.

Having met up with a friend at the start, we set up a reasonable pace which meant that we completed the walk in six hours. The organisers had done an amazing job of ensuring that everything was ready and were really pleasant and helpful.

I was particularly impressed and proud of the girls who made it all the way round, and only really complained towards the end - and who could blame them, but they soon perked up when we reached the end, and they got their form stamped.

We managed to raise about £200 for Cancer Research - not a great amount in the general scheme of thing, but a worthwhile contribution non-the-less. I'll be more organised next year!

There is a set of pictures here, and, Jen, as you can see the Red Sox caps are very much in evidence.

Walk Of Hope

2007-05-16T12:57:00.000Z

This Sunday, the family and I are going to walk the Wirral Coastal path - 15 mile ramble from Seacombe Ferry on the River Mersey round to the Wirral Country Park at Thurstaston on the River Dee.

Although there is no real compulsion to raise money, I thought it was a good opportunity to be sponsored for a charity, so we will be walking on behalf of Cancer Research UK.

When it came to selecting a charity, I found it very difficult to choose - there are just too many good causes to fund, but better one than none. Having known people who have suffered and succumbed, or have been treated and are in remission, I felt this was the one to go for.

Do click on the picture to get a better view of the route. We are starting around 10:00am and hope to complete the walk by 3:00pm including a stop off for lunch at some stage.

Some of the people I will be walking for are:

Ruth - Grandmother
Frank - Cousin
John - Cousin
Peter - Friend
John - Friend
Elizabeth - Cousin
Richard - Friend and fellow mountain walker when we were young
Grace - Colleague's 4 year-old daughter
Peter - Ex-colleague and friend
Jen's Mum

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but all these people will be metaphorically walking with me on Sunday, and I hope they enjoy it as much as we will (there are quite a few pubs on the route that will sustain us)!

If there is anyone else that you think might enjoy the walk, please add their name into the comments.

Madeleine McCann

2007-05-14T13:22:00.000Z

As with any other parent in the world, I suffer the same recurring nightmare - something happening to either of my children. Fortunately, to date, it has been exactly that - only a nightmare.

But for one family, that nightmare has become frighteningly and solidly real, and it is playing out across the airwaves on every news bulletin.

Ten days ago, 4 year-old Madeleine McCann was asleep in her bed with her parents, a short distance away, at a restaurant with friends, when someone broke into the holiday apartment and abducted her. Nothing has been seen of her since.

I have absolutely no idea how her parents are feeling at this moment. They must be totally devastated and destroyed inside, but day after day they soldier on, determined to carry the hope until that hope has gone. I'm sure I would be an emotional wreck within a very short space of time, my panic would be almost pathalogical!

How do they stop tearing themselves apart? If only they hadn't left her to go for a meal.... Already the criticism is being raised, and, with only the facts in the news to go on, it is an easy case to make.

However, I can understand, a little, the decision she took. Recently, we were in a holiday complex very similar to the place the McCann's were staying at. These complex's are very much a self-contained world with everything a person would want available on-site: restaurants, swimming pools, bars, entertainment, etc. and it is that inclusiveness that can lead to believing that the place is ultra safe - our complex even had its own security force that patrolled on a regular basis. I certainly didn't bat an eye-lid when my children went off and explored the site (I even encouraged it) with minimal warnings to danger - to me, there just didn't seem to be any danger! I know my children are older, but bad things can also happen to children of their age.

'Maddy's' parents still believe that their daughter is still alive and I'm hoping their faith will be answered. She is a beautiful and precious person (they all are at that age) and deserves to have her natural life back - now.

A Photo Set

2007-05-08T16:40:00.001Z

Delara Darabi
Originally uploaded by Welcome to Infinite Pictures.

If you look at the left hand side of this page and scroll down you will find my Flickr badge which, if you click, will take you to my pictures on Flickr. When I upload some pictures onto my site, I tend to put them into 'sets' for ease of location and viewing. Once I do this, I then send emails to people so they can bore people all over the world with my pictures of canals, boats and beer.

However, I came across a set that gave me a jolt. The set is of pictures by Delara Darabi who, at the time of writing this, is a 20 year-old woman sitting on death row in Iran, and who had been 'convicted' of a capital crime at the age of 16 and condemned to death. At the time of witing this, Iran has another 31 young people who had been convicted while still a 'child' of a capital offence.

In Delara's case, she was convinced by her then boyfriend to confess to murder committed during a burglary. He convinced her that she could not be executed because of her age, but this turned out not to be the case. She also was given a three-year jail sentence, 50 lashes for robbery and 20 lashes for an 'illicit relationship'. All of this Delara denies and pleads her innocence.

Not knowing the actual facts of the case for certain, I can't comment, but the UN states that a child is someone who is under the age of 18 at the time of the offence, and as a child, is not expected to fully understand the consequences of their actions and thereby be put to death. Iran (and the US) have signed up to this Covenant, but the executions continue.

Obviously, Delara doesn't have her own page on flickr, but a supporter does, and has loaded some of her pictures, along with a personal statement from Delara, onto his page.

You can see those pictures here.
You can read more about Delara and the others presently sitting on death row in Iraq on the Stop Child Execution website; and on that website, you can sign a petition.
Delara also has, courtesy of Amnesty International, a MySpace page where you can find further information.

Whatever the circumstances and offences, it is, fo me, an offence against civilisation that there are countries and systems that feel comfortable putting children to death.

Star Wars Day

2007-05-04T13:22:00.000Z

May The Fourth Be With You.

Rumours

2007-05-02T15:00:00.000Z

Following my previous post, I got to thinking about another album I purchased in 1977 - Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours".

At the time of buying it, I was blissfully unaware of how the band was imploding, but just staggered at the brilliance and craftsmanship of the album. When I later heard about the difficulties that the band members were having with each other, it just seemed to me to raise both the band and album higher in my respect. How they were able to put aside their differences to produce such a work of beauty and quality is beyond me, but I am very grateful.

Again, like "Hotel California", it does seem to be an ageless LP. The songs and melodies have stood the test of time, and it is an LP that I've returned to many times over the years.

I've been a fan of Fleetwood Mac from the very start - and before! I was well into the Blues during the sixties, and in particular, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in which Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie were all members (and from which they were all eventually sacked).

In 1969, they released the album "The Pious Bird of Good Omen" which contained, along with a number of covers, Albatross composed by Peter Green - a stupendous guitar led instrumental which just about blew me away along with Jigsaw Puzzle Blues by Danny Kirwen, a guitarist who had joined in 1968. After a tour of the US supporting some of the blues greats like Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon, the early seventies saw them drift away from the blues - a pace of drift that increased once Peter Green left the band suffering schizophrenia brought on by a LSD spiked drink in Munich. I also lost a bit of interest at this time, and it was only hearing a couple of tracks from the 1976 "Fleetwood Mac" album, that I rekindled my interest in them. I had heard a Stevie Nicks/Lyndsey Buckingham LP which I liked, and hearing that they were now part of the band, decided to give them a listen.

"Rumours" was next, and I was hooked. It was brilliant and my first copy was played to death. I truly believe that the album marked their zenith as a band because nothing I've heard since has come close to the freshness and vibrancy of that album. Sure "Tusk" and "Tango In The Night" are very accomplished albums, but there is something extra about "Rumours" that the other albums didn't have, and it probably has something to do with the way, as people, they were falling apart, but, as musicians, they were able to come together.

Christine McVie explained that the title came from the fact that everyone was writing about everyone else - hence all the rumours! As far as I'm concerned, one great album, and 30 years old this year.

Hotel California

2007-04-30T16:26:00.000Z

Another anniversary coming up, this time for the LP that finally killed off hippiedom! First released in the US in late 1976, Hotel California was released in the UK in 1977 and very quickly eclipsed just about every other album on release. I do still have a copy of the album from its first UK release somewhere.

The Eagles, originally Linda Ronstadt's backing group, who had boozed and tripped their way through the '70's came out with this powerful indictment of the whole drop-out culture. The classic line "You can check out anytime, but you cannot leave" says it all, and puts a definitive full stop on the whole pseudo turn-on, tune-in, drop-out attitude of Timothy Leary and the late '60's, early '70's counterculture and which had led to the extreme excesses of Charles Manson in 1969. For years, flower-power was looking for the right moment to grow up and move on, and this LP, as far as I was concerned, did that.

Yesterday, I put my CD version on the player, and the songs still seem fresh and original 30 years later. Not many LP's are that important, but this one was.

80 Years Old!

2007-04-28T14:20:00.000Z

One of the first 'real' beers I ever drank was Newcastle Brown ale and this mildly nutty and malty concoction turns eighty this week.

In a world full of pasteurised, sterile 'keg' bitters as it was in the early '70's, the taste of "Newky", as it is affectionately know, was a revelation. Sensibly priced, this 4.7% taste of heaven became a student's cheap night out - and thereby hangs a confession. It has been many years since I had a bottle - and it used to only come in a bottle, - and that may be because of its association with students, bed-sits, late-night studying/partying and the general squalor that was such a traditional part of student life.

I'm now thinking this is denying me one of life's pure pleasures - and one I need to rectify as soon as possible.

Happy Birthday Newcastle Brown Ale, many happy returns and thanks for the memories.

Holiday Over

2007-04-27T16:42:00.000Z

I have just completed my first week back after having a fortnight off on holiday, and have just about cleared the decks of stuff that had been waiting for my attention.

It is very gratifying to know that I am the only person in the entire company who can deal with all this, and that I am so indispensable to their continue success that no-one else can do what I do!

We did have a great time on the Costa Del Sol and if you are masochistic enough to want to find out what happened - up to and including the point where my trousers fell apart and split in a busy Spanish shopping mall, then you can click the Mark's Holidays link on the left, but I warn you - there is a lot of it!

Now planning what to do in the forth coming bank holidays this May. If the weather holds, it will be great to get out onto the hills for awhile - even though I can hear my bike plaintively pleading from the garage that it hasn't seen the light of day for a while!

Three Reservoirs Walk, April 2007

2007-04-10T08:17:00.001Z

The Route
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

After the glorious Easter weekend, the weather did a reversal and dawned dull and gray, though the forecast promised that it would stay dry. Originally, we were going to walk the canal to Manchester, but decided to try something a little more ambitious.

The three reservoirs are a linked set of lakes in the West Pennine Moors just north of Bolton and consist of the Jumbles, Wayoh and Turton & Entwistle reservoirs. The whole walk is approximately 8 miles in length and take in a height gain of about 500 feet or so.

Boots on and waterproofs in the rucksack, we set off from the car park at the southern end of Jumbles Reservoir heading along the path at the side of the lake. It wasn't long before the primary theme of the day made itself known - intermittent drizzle. However, we were pretty well prepared so the thought of abandoning the walk just didn't surface.

At the far end of the lake, we followed a tree-lined valley towards Turton Bottoms where we climb up through the village to Wayoh reservoir (where the name comes from, I've no idea). Again, we followed a tree-lined path on the bank of the lake. In good weather, the views and countryside would have been magnificent, but as it was, the cloud was low over the hills, and the sun never had a chance to come out.

At the far end on Wayoh Reservoir we reached Entwistle and the Strawberry Duck Inn where we had lunch. The food was very good and plentiful and the beer excellent. They serve a very good Black Sheep bitter and their own brew - Strawberry Duck Ale - brewed by a local brewery especially for the pub. The pub is very popular and we arrived at just the right time. Any later and we would not have been able to eat as it was so full.

After lunch, we climbed up to the third reservoir, the Turton & Entwistle Reservoir. By this time, the drizzle was less intermittent and more constant, but as we were at the point where it would have been just as far to go back as it was to go on, - we went on. Part way along the path, someone had decorated a holly bush with Easter Eggs (plastic, not chocolate I'm afraid) as an Easter Tree. Quite unexpected, but very pretty non-the-less. Eventually, we reached Yarnsdale at the far end of the lake and the point where we turn back towards the car and home.

When we reached the Turton & Entwistle Reservoir dam, we left the lakes to follow a path across the moors back to the Jumbles Reservoir and our starting point. This path marked the highest point on the walk, and the downhill stretch was very welcome. Before long, we were back at our starting point, tired, damp but very happy at what we had achieved. It has now got us thinking about future walks in the summer.

We Made It

2007-04-08T10:16:00.001Z

Yesterday, we set off very early with our bikes, to catch the train into Manchester and then onwards to Greenfield in the foothills of the Pennines. Our intention, - to cycle the Huddersfield canal from Greenfield in Lancashire to Huddersfield in Yorkshire.

There is just one major drawback to this route - at one point, the canal goes through a tunnel for 3 miles, while we will have to go over the spine of Britain - the Pennines!

The weather was superb, and a slight breeze meant it wasn't too hot. The trains were delayed so we didn't reach Greenfield until about 10:30 - about half-an-hour later than I expected, - but no matter. We had all day.

From Greenfield, it is about half-an-hour to Diggle up the canal. Lots of locks to cycle up, - The Huddersfield canal has 74 locks in its 20 mile length and also boasts the highest, longest and deepest canal tunnel in Britain, the Standedge Tunnel. There is more information about the canal here.

At Diggle, both the trans-pennine railway and canal plunge into their respective tunnels and take the underground route to Yorkshire. We, on the other hand, have to climb 700 feet to go over the Pennines. naturally, this was the slowest and longest stretch of the ride, requiring a number of stops to "admire the view". However, like all good things, the climb had to come to an end, and the long descent to Huddersfield began.

First stop in Yorkshire was Marsden where both the railway and the canal emerge from the Pennine depths. Here we stopped for lunch at the appropriately named Tunnel End Inn. A lovely little pub serving Black Sheep ales and great food. Jayne had a massive, roast beef filled Yorkshire pudding, Bethen Steak and Ale stew and I had Cumberland sausage with mustard mashed potatoes. We felt we deserved it!

From there, it is a quick downhill run to Huddersfield, passing through small West Yorkshire towns like Slaithwaite, Linthwaite and Milnsbridge. At Slaithwaite, we stopped at a canal boat cafe and treated ourselves to ice cream before moving on. The canal at Slaithwaite runs right through the centre of the town, and was clearly the most important part in times past.

At Huddersfield, we left the canal and made our way to the station, - we were going to let the train take the strain going home! Imagine my pleasure when I discovered a superb station pub, the Head Of Steam selling more Yorkshire Black Sheep ale. We just had to stop and have a refreshing drink before catching our train home.

It was a magnificent ride in superb countryside and a thoroughly great day out.

Wishing For A Peaceful Easter

2007-04-05T15:53:00.000Z

From tomorrow, I start a 2 week holiday. A chance to recharge the batteries and get some much needed rest.

The second week will be taken up with a family holiday in Spain, but I will no doubt blog about that sometime next week.

But next week, if the weather stays as it is, will see an abundance of bike rides and walks. This weekend, I'm hoping to cycle from Lancashire over the Pennines to Yorkshire following a route Jayne and I attempted last year along the Huddersfield canal. Last time, we retreated when we reached the hills, but this year we are stronger and fitter, so we should be able to manage it this time.

Monday, as Christine is off, we're hoping to do a long walk as part of our training for the Wirral Coastal walk in May. Not quite sure where we will be going, but there will be plenty of good pubs to choose from on the way.

The rest of the week, the girls are at a Rugby League Easter, camp run by Wigan Rugby League club, learning how to play the game, though I would dearly love them to play the proper game - Rugby Union.

Friday will be a day of preparation and next Saturday we will be "off to sunny Spain"!

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy Easter - and watch the chocolate intake!

First Ride Of The Year

2007-03-25T16:31:00.001Z

The Old Bike
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

Yesterday, the weather was superb. The sunshine bright and clear and so I felt the time was right to get the old bike out for its first serious ride of the year.

Of course, the first thing I had to do was fix a puncture (I've now got tyres that are supposed to resist the temptation to deflate!), make a flask of tea and pack my saddle bags. Although the weather was dry and sunny, there was a breeze whipping off the West Pennine moors that had come straight down from the arctic, and of course I was cycling straight into it.

Down to the Leeds Liverpool canal and along the tow path to Red Rock where I can join the old Wigan to Chorley railway track that takes me to Adlington, about five miles up the canal. This bit was really heavy and sticky, and occasionally my route was blocked by fallen trees blown over during the previous autumn's storms. I do love this route because it is so peaceful. No sounds of cars, just the birds making sure I had a tuneful accompaniment along the track.

Eventually, at Adlington, I settled down outside the Bridge Inn and had a couple of mugs of tea and had a long chat with another cyclist who had done the Anglezark reservoir circuit and told me of a little known track around the lake which I must try.

Heading back home was a lot easier as I now had the wind behind me and made really good progress along the canal. At one point, I spotted a moated manor house which I hadn't seen before. Mind you, that wasn't surprising as in the summer it would have been completely hidden by trees and bushes with their full compliment of leaves.

With a pint at my favourite pub, I drifted back home feeling very saddle sore, aching and tired, but definitely happy. Roll on the summer!

I Hate Cats!

2007-03-22T17:31:00.000Z

This morning, I came down for breakfast and opened the curtains at the front. A cat was slowly, but deliberately walking across my newly cleared, forked and hoed front garden. It looked up at me and stared at me malevolently, and then proceeded to scrape out a hole to do its business.

Unfortunately, I was dressed in a short dressing-gown and people were walking past, so going outside to chase it off was not an option. Something the cat clearly knew as it squatted down and dropped its parcel. I am convinced that the beast smiled cynically at me.

Makes me start to wonder what goes well with cat! A bit of garlic and olive oil? A touch of fennel?

However, what really makes my blood boil are the bloody owners who quite freely kick their moggy out without a single thought of the damage and mess they make on other people's property. However, if I did anything to their precious cat to dissuade them from my garden, I would be the one in the wrong!

I hate cats and I hate inconsiderate cat owners

What A Difference A Week Makes!

2007-03-19T17:13:00.000Z

It's taken 2 days to find the strength to write this!

Saturday evening I sat down to watch England play Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in the firm expectation of watching a renewed England side consolidate the march back to the top of world rugby. We were playing a Welsh side that had even lost to Italy! From last week's well constructed win against France, this match should have been a breeze.

Well it would have been if the forwards had bothered to turn up! Last week, they were magnificent, and stopped the French from playing while giving the England backs time to make their moves, but this time? They were all over the place. Hitting mauls and ruck in ones and twos, providing the slowest of balls giving Wales time to prepare their defence. The England back line was under constant pressure, and as a result, mistakes were made that Wales capitalised on. When Mike Catt had to leave the field injured, it left England with the youngest and most inexperienced set of backs we've had for a long time, and would have looked to the forwards to give them some protection and time to play. The problem was, that the forwards seemed to be playing as if they had never met each other before!

It was so depressing!

As a matter of record, France won the 6 Nations Championship by scoring a try in the last seconds of their match against Scotland. That gave them a marginally better points difference to Ireland, who up until that moment, thought they were champions.

Ah well. Next stop the World Cup where no doubt we will probably go out to the American Eagles if we carry on playing the way we are playing at the moment!

Small Light At The End Of The Tunnel?

2007-03-15T17:12:00.000Z

Every day, by the time my train gets into Manchester, it is jam packed full of commuters, most of whom are squashed together around the door making it difficult, if not impossible, to get off the train at my station. As most of us are fairly regular passengers, we have got to know each other pretty well.

Our main target for animosity are those who play their not-so-personal stereos, followed closely by the mobile phone fanatics. For those of us trying to have a quick pre-work snooze, it has become the impossible dream.

However, things could change. Great news! The government is going to increase the national rolling stock by 10% to ease the overcrowding we presently endure. Fabulous, great, what a marvellous benevolent government we are blessed with. I will have a seat. A chance to not have to stand under someone else's sweaty armpit. A chance to breath.

But wait! What's this?

The government goes onto say that these carriages will be in place by 2014!!!!! Four years before I retire! Seven years from now! And of course, when you factor into that 10% increase in capacity, the fact that the number of passengers on the rail network is annually increasing at 10%, it doesn't look that rosey after all. Of course, most of these carriages will find themselves down in London and the south-east, and me and my mates will continue our joint daily journey through purgatory.

We are about to spend £10 billion on the 2012 Olympics, but can they find the money for a decent rail service? No.

England Beat France (Again)

2007-03-12T17:06:00.000Z

An eerie piece of magic happened yesterday on a rugby pitch in Twickenham, - just south west of London. England won a rugby match!

Moreover, that match was against this year’s potential world cup finalists, France.

It has to be said that although France did turn up in person, they didn’t in spirit. They looked flat-footed, slow to react and very devoid of ideas. Very much like England did against Ireland two weeks ago! They rarely competed in the loose, and when in possesion, tended to go backwards and sideways. They only had a couple of decent mauls and a lot of their rucks were turned over. One telling statistic that explains this is that England managed to create over 100 phases to 33 by France.

In contrast, with 8 changes of personel, and a new captain, England looked a totally different side to the one that surrended to Ireland at Croke Park. Although at times, England looked ragged and made silly mistakes, that was more than made up by spirit, endeavour and sheer guts. Led by 35 year old Mike Catt, by the time the first half whistle came, England were on the front foot, and although down at the interval by 3 points, looked the far happier side.

The second half saw England, basically set up camp in the French half. On the rare occasion when France did manage to cross the half-way line, the move, more often than not, ended in a turnover, and in seconds they were back in their 22, defending their line.

From what I could see, all the England players put in a performance for the first time in this 6-Nations, - though all made mistakes as well, which a more positive side than France, would have exploited and punished. None-the-less, this was a good positive start to England’s long road to recovery.

As for the other games, in a very close match, Ireland edged out Scotland by 19 points to 18 at Murrayfield to win the Triple Crown while Wales lost to Italy, - Italy’s second win in a row! This was the first time that Italy have managed to win back to back matches and marks a real step up for Italian rugby. Wales were very upset at the end as they felt the referee had misled them out of the chance to win the game, but on balance, Wales didn’t deserve to win.

Next weekend sees the last matches in this year's Six Nations. France take on Scotland in Paris - God help the Scots now; Italy play Ireland in Rome, which has now become a tough one for Ireland and England take on Wales in Cardiff. All I'm looking for now is that England step it up a gear or two and aim for a full 80-minute performance.

Update: Patricia Tabram

2007-03-09T17:01:00.000Z

Patricia Tabram was saved from a prison sentence for the absolutely shocking crime of keeping 4 cannabis plants in her wardrobe, and utilising the harvest to relieve the symptoms of depression and chronic neck pain. She was ordered to pay £1,000 costs and to do 175 hours Community Service.

Her caring Housing Association has told this 68 year old women that they will throw her out of her home if she continues to self-medicate with cannabis. It is time we came down hard on these mass producers of dangerous drugs, and spend the money prosecuting pensioners rather than on adequate health care and support.

I Want To Be Invited For Dinner

2007-03-07T16:47:00.000Z

Patricia Tabram, a 68 year old woman who advocates cooking with cannabis is to be sentenced shortly for breaking the terms of a 2005 suspended jail sentence.

In 2005, following a police tip off, this dangerous woman to all mankind was found to be in possession of cannabis plants and drugs worth £850, which she used to make curries, casseroles, biscuits and soups for local people. Clearly this arch-criminal should have been locked up there and then and the key thrown away, but some namby-pamby liberal judge decided that society would not be best served if she went to prison.

However, after another anonymous tip off, the police mounted another raid and found four plants in a wardrobe and powdered cannabis by the cooker. Really, does this woman have no shame!

Apparantly, during this court case, she caused up roar in the court when she claimed that three bags of cannabis she had brought to court had gone missing! These later turned up in her handbag. She claimed they were for use in evidence!

Mrs Tabram says that she uses cannabis to ease her depression and gain relief from numerous aches and pains.

I do wish her well and, before she trots of to do her porridge, she sends me some cookies.

Biofuels - Saviour or Danger

2007-03-05T16:55:00.000Z

George Bush is about anounce that to combat global warming - something he has denied existed for the past 6 years, is to announce an "Opec for ethanol" and has committed the White House to substitute 20% of its petroleum use with ethanol.

Ethanol is derived from plant extracts, specifically; corn, barley, wheat, sugar cane or beet and burns a lot greener in specially adjusted vehicles. Dr Plinio Mario Nastari, one of Brazil's leading economists and an expert in biofuels, sees a bright future for an energy sector in which his country is the acknowledged world leader: "We are on the brink of a new era, ethanol is changing a lot of things but in a positive sense." Ethanol is the panacea for all the world's oil ills. Wars will stop, the planet will cease to warm up and everyone will love everyone else!

First off, the amount of corn grown to fill one full tank of the average 4X4 would feed a man for a year! Just one tank full.

Once we get our heads around that and multiply the amount of land required to fill that car for a year, and multiply that again by the number of cars on the road and the scale of the enterprise starts to become apparant. I haven't even started to think about trucks, planes, ships or heating, or any other oil use. Clearly there is going to have to be some serious mono-cultural farming just to feed our vehicles, - what price those raw materials if you also want them as food!

However, it gets worse. Clearly the ideal place to farm these crops are where you can get more than 2 harvests a year. They need to be grown in places, or countries, where there is round the year sunshine. Somewhere like the equator. Brazil already has a major ethanol producing industry based on sugar cane. This came about after the oil crisis in 1973 when the dictators decided they no longer wanted to be reliant on foreign oil. In Brazil, some of the plantations are as large as European states, and of course, when the sugar is harvested, it needs to be burnt - how's that for a carbon footprint? Fabio Feldman, a leading Brazilian environmentalist and former member of Congress said; "If you see the size of the plantations in the state of Sao Paolo they are oceans of sugar cane. In order to harvest you must burn the plantations which creates a serious air pollution problem in the city."

In America, the crop of choice would appear to be grain. The American economist Lester R Brown, from the Earth Policy Institute, has said; "The competition for grain between the world's 800 million motorists who want to maintain their mobility and its two billion poorest people who are simply trying to stay alive is emerging as an epic issue."

Finally, however, many biofuel crops, such as corn, are grown with the help of fossil fuels in the form of fertilisers, pesticides and the petrol for farm equipment. One estimate is that corn needs 30 per cent more energy than the finished fuel it produces.

I can see wars ahead, this time fighting over land to grow these crops. Why don't we start to consider how we can change4 our lives, culture and society so that the need for oil and oil substitutes are radically reduced. For me, that is the only long-term solution worth considering.

Lunar Eclipse

2007-03-04T18:03:00.001Z

Three Moons
Originally uploaded by markhsal.

Last night I spent the latter part of the evening watching the lunar eclipse. It was a cold, crisp, frosty and clear evening - ideal for sky watching.

I was out there with two cameras - one a film camera for those old enough to remember such things, and my digital compact, - a glass of whiskey and the occasional company of my wife.

I really enjoyed watching the shadow slowly creep up the face of the moon - at first making the shadow area black, but later turning a dull bronze. At one point, I thought it would never reach total shadow, the diamond ring effect seemed to go on for ever (I had to force a glass of whiskey down while I waited) but eventually the whole moon turned a deep copper.

It is amazing that even in this sophisticated, high-tech world,I can still be amazed by a simple natural phenomena.

Super Saturday....

2007-02-25T14:15:00.000Z

Unless you are English or, for that matter, Scottish or Welsh! The middle Saturday of the 6 Nations has become known as Super Saturday for the fact that three internationals are played on the same day.

First off, for a rugby nut like myself, it is one of the best days of the year. I get to monopolise the TV for practically the entire day. But more importantly, yesterday saw three of the best games I've seen for some time.

First off was Scotland against Italy. With the game being played in Edinburgh at Murrayfield, this game was yet another where one's interest was how big would Scotland's winning margin be. For once, I was ready for the start of the match, and how lucky I was for that. Italy was 21-0 up within 7 minutes - 3 converted tries had put the team which has never won away from home, almost out of sight! All three tries came from Scotland errors the type of which, even schoolboys would never do. Scotland made things even worse for themselves by not kicking penalties as the usual Italian indiscipline crept in to their game. With the amount of kickable penalties awarded, Scotland could have been on level terms by half time, but they preferred, for reasons known only to themselves, to kick for position. What was even more impressive, was that the Italians didn't sit back, but took the game to Scotland and managed a couple more tries, including one for Alessandro Troncon Italy's 34 year-old scrum-half. Although Scotland did attempt a rally in the second half, on the day, they were always going to be second best after such an awful start and in the end, the 37 - 17 scoreline to Italy was a true reflection on the match, and their first away win was quite emphatically, in the bag.

Next up Ireland against England at Croke Park in Dublin.

For anyone who has followed the 'troubles' in Ireland will know that Croke Park has been home to Irish Gaelic Games since 1884, but is more infamously known as the place where the original 'Bloody Sunday' happened. November 21, 1920, a troop of the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary Entered the ground and started shooting indiscriminately into the crowd killing 14 during a Dublin-Tipperary gaelic football match. This was in apparent retaliation to the killing of 14 British intelligence officers earlier that day by Micheal Collin's squad. From that day forward, it was decreed that no 'English' game will ever be played at Croke Park, and inparticular, no 'English' team will be welcome onto the ground.

However, Lansdowne Road, the traditional home of Irish rugby, is under development for the next few years, and Irish rugby has been, temporarily moved across to Croke Park. Given all the cultural background to this game, there was a real possibility of 'problems' at the game, and in particular when 'God Save The Queen' was sung and played. What I witnessed brought a tear to my eye, and a pride in my heart that I support a game that has the best and most noble of supporters. Where I expected cat-calls and whistles, barracking and shouting (there were even reports that the Irish would turn their backs when the anthem was played) I was immensely
pleased to see everyone in the ground who were not English, standing respectfully and quite, and at the end, giving the English team a round of applause of welcome. A truly, but characteristically Irish welcome to the English.

Unfortunately, that is where the welcome ended as the Irish team led by the magnificent O'Driscoll at Outside Centre (my old position) cruelly and ruthlessly to England apart. I don't want to go into details at this stage - it hurts too much, but to echo England Coach, Brian Ashton's words, "We were stuffed". Ireland beat England 43 - 13 - their biggest ever winning margin in this or the previous 5 Nations tests. England choked at Croke Park.

Finally, under the floodlights at the Stade de France in Paris, France took on Wales. History indicates that this should have been a good match for Wales, having won their last 4 matches at the ground. Moreover, the French are not too happy to play under floodlights. The game certainly started off well for Wales with 2 tries and conversions, but as the dust started to settle on the first frantic quarter, France started to impose themselves on their visitors and countered with tries and penalties of their own. The second half was a 40 minute demonstration of keeping it tight and controlled, and apart from a couple of occasions, one of which led to a Welsh try, didn't give the Welsh opportunity to put anything together. However, compared with the two previous matches, this game was a much more even affair, though a late score saw France take the honours, 32 -21.

Wales have now lost all 3 games and are languishing in the wooden spoon position. There next match is against Italy, which previous form would indicate a win to Wales, but from what I saw yesterday, all bets are off. Italy have found some belief, but more importantly, a style of rugby that suits them and is now paying off.

Role on to next week!

Home Building

2007-02-23T17:36:00.000Z

Standing for my 8:50am train to work on Hindley station today, I saw a female Blackbird gathering nesting material.

Does she not know it is still February?

I know the picture is of a Robin, but I couldn't find a decent one of a Blackbird. If I do, I'll change it.

I'm Living With A Teenager

2007-02-18T17:29:00.000Z

The 18th February 1994 at 8:04 in the morning, a nurse placed something into my arms that was to change my life for ever. Mr eldest daughter, Bethen, had been born to the strains of Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell (Christine's choice!). She was starting as she meant to go on by giving her mother a rough time in labour and eventually being delivered by Cesarean section after untold hours of not wanting to face the world.

From that auspicious start, Bethen has continued to mark her own way in the world. An independent thinker, and, like me, not afraid to state her opinion, she can, at times, be a bit difficult to live with. Two highly self-opinionated people under the same roof can make for uncomfortable living, but to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.

However, today, she became a "teenager"! (In truth, I think she has been a teenager for sometime!). Thirteen!

Where have the years gone? The early days when she neatly fitted into the crook of my arm falling asleep, later when she would snuggle in on my lap before going off to bed, rushing up when I came home from work to tell me what she had done at school and the look of relief and love when I finally gave up smoking! It all seems like yesterday, and I treasure every memory.

But she is now a teenager! No longer the 'lets go for a bike ride' but now, 'I'm going to town with friends, and can I have some money!'. Everything now becomes a 'big' deal and 'you don't understand!'.

I'm beginning to think, will either of us going to survive the next seven years! I've decided, I think the best thing is that I leave home!

Britain Condemned On Extraordinary Rendition

2007-02-15T17:07:00.000Z

Britain was condemned by Euro MP's yesterday for colluding in secret CIA operations to fly terror suspects to countries where they faced torture.

A report, approved in Strasbourg after a year long inquiry, said more than 1,000 covert flights operated by the US intelligence agency had flown into European airspace or stopped over at European airports after 9/11.

Britain was singled out for co-operating with the CIA by sending 3 British citizens on rendition flights.

The report expressed 'outrage' at a legal opinion provided by Michael Wood, former legal adviser to the Foreign Office, who said that "...receiving or possessing..." information extracted under torture was not, in itself, against international conventions banning torture, "...in so far as there is no direct participation in the torture". Mr Wood refused to give evidence to the European Parliament committee which conducted the inquiry.

The study follows last year's findings from the human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, that the CIA ran a 'global spider's web' of rendition flights, with Europe as a major staging post.

The report found that at least 1,245 flights stopped at European airports or flew into the continent's air space between 2002 and 2005, and expressed 'serious concern' about 170 stopovers by CIA flights at British airports.

Well we can certainly hold our heads up high after this one.

Will They Ever Learn?

2007-02-12T17:01:00.000Z

The inability to learn from past mistakes and a lack of understanding of the consequences of action are to of the main characteristics of the psychopathic personality.

It now seems that the White House has embarked on a path of "educating" the American people on the need to invade Iran. The evil of Iran has been a mantra for the US for some time now, but the time has now come to ratchet up the fear.

With similarities that are both laughable and chill the blood to the build up to the Iraq war, the US military has decided to present "evidence" of Iran's involvement with the militias in Iraq. A number of "explosively formed penetrators," or EFPs were displayed to which three nameless (of course) "experts" confirmed were manufactured in Iraq.

The display appeared to be part of the White House drive that has empowered U.S. forces in Iraq to use all means to curb Iranian influence in the country, including killing Iranian agents. All means includes invasion!

It is clear to me that Bush wants to invade Iran and exercise the same principle of "regime change" that has been such a success in Iraq, - oh, and of course, knock out a nuclear complex or two.

It will be interesting to see if the American people will allow themselves to be suckered again and swallow the nonsense pedaled by this regime. Certainly I expect my government to resist this latest bit of adventurism to the hilt and not cravenly fall in line as they did last time.

I am sure that Iran is stirring the pot, but the place for that to be aired is in open at the UN, not behind closed doors in the White House. Can the American troops, their families and people afford to open up a third front, baring in mind the lack of success in Afganistan and Iraq. Moreover, can they afford it in cash!

As one of the "experts" said; "We know more than we can show," said one of the senior officials, when pressed for tangible evidence that the EFPs were made in Iran. Of course they do, and I'm living in Groundhog Day.

Unfriendly Fire - Part 2

2007-02-06T16:33:00.000Z

The Sun newspaper has acquired and released a copy of the cockpit video of the 'friendly fire' incident I wrote about yesterday. From what I saw and listened to just adds to the concern.

It appears that the American pilots had no real idea where they were, and even though their controllers told them there were 'friendlies' in the vicinity, they still mistook the orange recognition flashes on the vehicles as rocket launchers. They also seemed to think that Scimitar armoured vehicles looked like flat-bed trucks.

What I also heard was the shock and grief from the pilots when they realised what they had done. Sobbing could clearly be heard.

I know that in the heat of battle, things can get very confused and accidents will always happen - it is, after all, part of being human, but that being said, it was daylight and visibility was reasonable, - and at the end of the day, taking time to check once more could have meant the Corporal Matty Hull might still be alive today.

Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted, and in this case, can save lives

Friendly Fire - Bloody Murder!

2007-02-05T15:27:00.000Z

Lance Corporal Matty Hull of the Household Cavalry was on duty in Iraq in his Scimitar armoured truck in 2003 when a circling pair of American A-10 tankbusters suddenly opened fire. This so-called 'blue on blue' killing, also know as death by 'friendly fire', happened four years ago. The coroner's inquest is presently under way to finalise and determine cause of death.

Obviously, a tragic accident - or was it?

It now emerges that there is a cockpit recording of the incident which our America allies refuse to allow the coroner to play in court. This despite the tape's crucial importance, as it is said to contain 'incriminating' information, including the line: 'Someone's going to jail for this.'

Alas, our Ministry of Defence is complicit in a cover-up. Not merely because it will not let the Oxfordshire coroner flick the 'play' switch until America gives permission, but because, scandalously, for four years it has denied 'categorically' that any such recording exists, knowing this to be a lie.

If Defense Secretary, Des Browne can't ensure this tape is admissible when the inquest reconvenes later this month, he should be fired, himself, in a manner most unfriendly.

And what of America? It claims the right to try foreign nationals in foreign countries for 'crimes' defined by American law. Yet it requires Britain to extradite suspects to America, while failing to ratify a treaty that would let us try Americans here, such as those who kill our citizens. So often, British ministers plead with this administration to show some slight consideration that would make our support for the Iraq war easier, but, as usual, they are rebuffed.

The sadness is that with a Democrat Congress and - we hope - a less ideological President, American activism and interventionism could become a more consensual force for good in the world once again. But that might be too late for Britain. It certainly is for Lance Corporal Hull.

Drip, Drip, Drip

2007-02-03T13:28:00.000Z

"From the perspective of the White House, it was smart to blur the lines about what was acceptable and what was not in the war on terrorism. It meant that whenever someone was overzealous in some dark interrogation cell, President (George W.) Bush and his entourage could blame someone else. The rendition teams are drawn from paramilitary officers who are brave and colorful. They are the men who went into Baghdad before the bombs and into Afghanistan before the army. If they didn't do paramilitary actions for a living, they would probably be robbing banks. Perhaps the Bush Administration deliberately created a gray area on renditions." This quote was made by Tyler Drumheller, the former chief of the CIA's European division during an interview with the German current affairs magazine Der Spiegel in responce to a question about extraordinary rendition.

On how the White House viewed Europe after 9/11 he had this to say: "Elements of the Bush administration developed the view that European personal privacy laws were somehow to blame, that the Europeans are too slow. We can be very frustrating to work with. I always said, 'Stop preaching to them.' The Europeans have been dealing with terrorism for years, we can learn from their successes and failures. Its not a good spy story, but it's actually how you do this."

When asked how much the CIA was to blame for the amount of wrong information about Saddam Hussein and Iraq, he responded: "The agency is not blameless and no president on my watch has had a spotless record when it comes to the CIA. But never before have I seen the manipulation of intelligence that has played out since Bush took office. As chief of Europe I had a front-row seat from which to observe the unprecedented drive for intelligence justifying the Iraq war."

He was then asked about the critics in Washington who claim that the Germans, because of Curveball, an Iraqi dissident who gave information about supposed Iraqi biological and chemical weapons development, bear a large part of the repsonsibility for the intelligence mess. His reply: "There was no effort by the Germans to influence anybody from the beginning. Very senior officials in the BND expressed their doubts, that there may be problems with this guy. They were very professional. I know that there are people at the CIA who think the Germans could have set stronger caveats. But nobody says: "Here's a great intel report, but we don't believe it." .... The administration wanted to make the case for war with Iraq. They needed a tangible thing, they needed the German stuff. They couldn't go to war based just on the fact that they wanted to change the Middle East. They needed to have something threatening to which they were reacting."

At the time of Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations, Drumheller said: "I had assured my German friends that it wouldn't be in the speech. I really thought that I had put it to bed. I had warned the CIA deputy John McLaughlin that this case could be fabricated. The night before the speech, then CIA director George Tenet called me at home. I said: "Hey Boss, be careful with that German report. It's supposed to be taken out. There are a lot of problems with that." He said: 'Yeah, yeah. Right. Dont worry about that.'"

He then adds: "I turned on the TV in my office, and there it was. So the first thing I thought, having worked in the government all my life, was that we probably gave Powell the wrong speech. We checked our files and found out that they had just ignored it." ..."The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy. Right before the war, I said to a very senior CIA officer: "You guys must have something else," because you always think it's the CIA. "There is some secret thing I don`t know." He said: "No. But when we get to Baghdad, we are going to find warehouses full of stuff. Nobody is going to remember all of this.""

The full interview transcript can be found here, but it is yet just another piece of evidence of the White House's comfort with using lies. When is impeachment going to be started?

Penis Envy

2007-01-31T16:28:00.000Z

Two pupils who drew a giant penis on a school lawn using weed killer two years ago can still admire their work from satellite photos now posted on the internet.

Despite the school re-seeding the area, the penis has turned up on satellite image search engines because a photo was taken before the new grass could conceal the appendage.

The unnamed pair of year 11 pupils from Bellemoor school for boys in Southampton, burned the 6 metre phallus into the grass as an end of term joke.

Staff, parents and pupils who log on can now see the image in all its glory.

A spokeswoman for the school said: "It was just one of those high school jinks. This was an act of vandalism that took place during the summer of 2005. Southampton city council re-seeded the area and the grass was re-grown by the beginning of the new school term."

Perhaps a monument needs to be erected to their ingenuity.

Silver Balls And Mirrors

2007-01-30T15:28:00.000Z

George Bush has gone green! He now recognises that there are issues to be tackled and action to be taken to counter-act the effects of climate change.

The demand appears in a recent US memo to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It describes "modifying solar radiance" as "important insurance" against the threat of climate change. A more accurate description might be important insurance against the need to cut emissions.

The idea is to either put large solar reflectors out into space or clouds of reflective small particles into the upper atmosphere. The technology for the first idea is, at least, 50 years into the future, and the second idea would have the side effect of killing off the ozone layer for good.

Other ideas include spraying sea-water into the air (ensuring that any country downwind is likely to suffer crop failure and drought). Another idea would be to inject sulphate particles into the atmosphere with the likelihood of disrupted rainfall patterns. All these fixes appear more expensive than cutting the amount of energy we consume. None reduces the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which threatens to acidify the oceans, with grave consequences for the food chain.

The demand that money and research be diverted into these quixotic solutions is another indication that Bush's avowed conversion to the cause of cutting emissions is illusory. He is simply drumming up new business for his chums. In his State Of The Union, he called for raising the government's mandatory target for alternative transport fuels fivefold. This is wonderful news for the grain barons of the red states, who will grow the maize and rapeseed that will be turned into biofuel. It's a catastrophe for everyone else. With only 5% of Europe and the US's requirement for fuel comeing from biofuels, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation reports that using land and crops to feed cars has, already, raised world food prices, with serious consequences for the poor. Biofuels fall into the same category as atmospheric smoke and mirrors - a means of avoiding difficult decisions.

However, credit (no matter how small) where it is due. At least president Bush has publicly acknowledged the problem unlike Wag TV in the UK who are completeing a 90 minute 'documentary' for Channel Four entitles "The Great Global Warming Swindle". Its basic thesis is summed up in a statement from the company that man-made climate change is "...a lie ... the biggest scam of modern times. The truth is that global warming is a multibillion-dollar worldwide industry: created by fanatically anti-industrial environmentalists; supported by scientists peddling scare stories to chase funding; and propped up by complicit politicians and the media ... The fact is that CO2 has no proven link to global temperatures ... solar activity is far more likely to be the culprit."

The director, Martin Durkin, had previously made a 'documentary' series for Channel Four in 1999, in which he peddled very similar arguments and therories. When the series was concluded, Channel Four was forced to make one of its more humiliating public apologies for the way scientists had been mis-represented in the series.

But with Bush's defection, the band of quacks making these claims is diminishing fast. Now the oil and coal companies that support such people have changed their target. Instead of trying to persuade us that man-made global warming is a myth, they are seeking to divert us into doing everything except the one thing that has to happen: reducing our consumption of fuel. It is another species of denial.

George Bush's purpose - to insulate these companies from the need to cut production - is unchanged. He has simply found a new way of framing the argument.

Happy New Year

2007-01-16T11:36:00.000Z

Repaired Pipe, originally uploaded by markhsal.

A good start to the year - a blocked drain!

The blockage is now clear - finally, but the potential for more is still high as the drains have developed faulty joints (a bit like me), so we are waiting for our insurance company to agree to further repairs to add a lining to the pipe.

In the meantime, we have this hole on our front drive.

For the past week, we have been living with the sort of stuff that generally comes out of Blair and Bush's mouth! Not nice.

Well, That Went Down Well!

2007-01-12T12:32:00.000Z

When asked about President Bush's plan to send even more American troops to be killed in the Iraqi civil war, Tony Blair said it "made sense"!

What an ever-present comfort our glorious Prime Minister has been to Bush! What a wazzock!

In a poll yesterday for the Washington Post and ABC, 61% opposed the plan, while just 36% backed it. In another poll by Associated Press and Ipsos, 70% of Americans said they were against sending more troops.

Interestingly and more significantly for the Middle East, there is now some real confusion and concern over Bush's intentions with the apparent threat to escalate the conflict to include Syria and Iran. Mr Bush, in his speech, warned that the US would "seek out and destroy networks" of insurgents moving into Iraq or based in these neighbouring countries. While US commanders insisted yesterday that this did not signal an intention to go into Iran or Syria, Ms Rice confirmed that all options were open.

Meanwhile, increased bi-partisanship in congress is increasingly making Bush appear more and more isolated. What a pity those Republicans had had the courage to denounce the White House idiot before now.

Barack Obama, the senator from Illinois and a long-term opponent of the war said: "We are not going to babysit a civil war."Even Hillary Clinton, the other Democrat frontrunner, who has been careful so far not to be too critical of the war, said Mr Bush "will continue to take us down the wrong road - only faster". Now there's someone who has been steadfast on her principles!

In my experience, military engagements only have a chance of succeeding if there is, at least, the perception of unanimity in the action and goal, but a fringe plan such as this stands very little chance with the present level of opposition.

Mr Bush, think (if that is at all possible) again, and this time listen to people who don't have a vested interest in perpetual war, but who offer seasoned and experienced advice such as those who made up the Iraq Study group and in particular, listen to those who have had direct experience of war.

Mr Blair - just shut up and leave. You are now becoming a major embarrassment to the UK.

Unhappy Birthday

2007-01-11T17:29:00.000Z

Today, the Guantánamo detention centre will be five years old.

If You Are In A Hole....

2007-01-11T12:34:00.000Z

STOP DIGGING!

President Bush has announced that 20,000 plus troops are to be sent to Iraq in an attempt to put down the insurgency and militias that have caused so many problems since the American led and British supported invasion.

The speech was a cleverly contrived show of humility for 'mistakes' in the past in an attempt to bring Americans on side again and committed to an engagement that will be longer, deeper and more costly in both dollars and people. This "new way forward" is designed to re-take the neighbourhoods from the gangs and militias, and then remain in those neighbourhoods to ensure the insurgents don't return. This will be done by joint operations alongside the fledgling Iraqi army and police.

Sounds good. Sounds reasonable. Who could argue with that scenario?

But this strategy is heavily dependent on the willingness and ability of the Iraqi government and armed forces to confront and disarm insurgents and militias. They will have to take on the militia of Moqtada Sadr - the largest, most powerful and the most murderous of the Shia groups, and one which controls much of eastern Baghdad, and with sectarian interests a prominent preoccupation in Iraq, how willingly will the predominantly Shia recruited security forces take on the predominantly Shia militias. I predict that it is going to get bloody!

Moreover, these troops are going to be fighting one of the worst forms of military action, - urban, house to house fighting. Dirty street fighting in some of Baghdad's poorest neighbourhoods, places where America's enormous technological advantage over its adversaries is severely lessened.

The neighbourhood bases for the soldiers are going to be very vulnerable to attack, and logistics re-supply hazardous.

Finally, there will be the problems of distraction. If it gets too hot for the insurgents in Baghdad, then they will up sticks and go somewhere else in Iraq. It will also be an opportunity for Iran to up the anti, knowing that America is now just about fully committed militarily. Nowhere was there any reference to the recommendations from the Iraq Study Group.

I am not impressed by the way he worded that bit of the speech where he said that the responsibility for past mistakes lie with him. The impression left is that it was not the policy that was wrong, but the implementation.

The mess is now so bad that what really needs to happen is for Bush to vacate the White House ASAP and someone with a bit of intelligence take over and can see a true way forward. What Bush fails to recognise is that more of the same that has caused this mess is not going to solve it. On the contary, things are going to get worse. People are going to die or be seriously injured because America is, unfortunately, in the hands of a President that can't take reasonable advice, and works off the basis of his own conviction - or should I say, - wishful thinking.

FOAD - American Government

2007-01-08T16:41:00.000Z

The American government's path to totalitarianism and World domination continues apace. Not only does America feel it has the right to inspect my credit card transactions and any email I send, it has now decided that Britain is such a hotbed of global terrorism, that if I was stupid enough to want to visit this soviet clone I would have to agree to have all my fingerprints taken rather than the 2 presently demanded.

Why those of us who still live in the free world would want to visit America I don't know, but I'm sure there will be a lot less now. Shami Chakrabarti, head of rights group Liberty, said: "This must be the 'Keystone Cops' school of border control. Accumulating the fingerprints of millions of innocent passengers will not deter suicide bombers."

The right-wing mantra that "If you do nothing wrong, then you have nothing to fear," is a nonsense in this case, because the implication of a false match can be so serious. Goodbye Las Vegas, hello Guantanemo Bay! Knowing how far the American government has gone to destroy civil liberties in America, this development has to be seen as part of that sinister trend.

There are also fears that innocent holidaymakers could be wrongly arrested. Simon Davies, of Privacy International, which campaigns against intrusive surveillance, said: "This maniacal proposal will turn thousands of law-abiding travelers into terror suspects.
"The technology will be far less reliable - anyone could be the victim of a false match. Be warned. A San Francisco Bay family holiday may easily become a nightmare."

A recent report by the civil liberties group Statewatch highlighted a Japanese study that tested 15 biometric systems and found 11 of them failed to detect 'false' fingerprints were being used in the form of a latex strip covering a person's fingers.

Although it is now probably too late, and certainly the idiot Blair isn't going to do anything about it, I resent that such a country as America that view civil liberties, freedom and justice with such low regard has any information about me in their database.

I'm sorry America, but the government you 'elected' is now so far beyond the pail, that I wish it would FOAD!

Ashes to Ashes

2007-01-06T15:07:00.000Z

"In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at The Oval, 29th August, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances, RIP. NB The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia."

Australia's first victory on English soil over the full strength of England, on August 29, 1882, inspired a young London journalist, Reginald Shirley Brooks, to write this mock 'obituary'.

It appeared in the Sporting Times.

It was long believed that the real Ashes, a small urn thought to contain the ashes of a bail used in the third match, were presented to Bligh by a group of Melbourne women. In 1998, Lord Darnley's 82-year-old daughter-in-law said they were the remains of her mother-in-law's veil, not a bail. Other evidence suggests a ball. The certain origin of the Ashes, therefore, is the subject of some dispute.

After Lord Darnley's death in 1927, the urn was given to MCC by Lord Darnley's Australianborn widow, Florence. It can be seen in the cricket museum at Lord's, together with a red and gold velvet bag, made specially for it, and the scorecard of the 1882 match.

The text on the urn is as follows:-

When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;
And the rest coming home with the urn.

Of course, I'm talking about cricket, and inparticular the bi-annual round of Test matches between England and Australia. These series of matches have come to be called the Ashes series, and are generally a hard fought battle between the twofor theries forthe honour of winning or retaining the Ashes.

Eighteen months ago, England gloriously regained the Ashes by narrowly beating Australia in the series, - the first time England had won the ashes since 1987 when the team, led by Mike Gatting and including players like Chris Broad and Ian Botham at the top of their form, returned the Ashes from Australian soil. England won the series 2:1.

Since then, and up to the summer of 2005, it has been perpetual England gloom where apart from 1997, when England actually won a couple of tests (though Australia still won the series) Australia have comprehensively beaten us. Then came 2005, and a tough and gritty encounter leading to a 2:1 series winning result and the Ashes were safely back in safe hands.

Safe, that is, until the present series which has resulted in the first whitewash since 1921!

England had lost the First Test in Brisbane looking totally unprepared and hardly putting up a fight, but the series was lost in 1 hour of torture in the Second Test in Adelaide. Up until the last day, it had been a great match, nip & tuck all the way with England slightly the better. Then, in the space of 1 hour, with a respectable draw very much on the cards, England contrived to lose 7 wickets for just 27 runs! The Geneva Conventions should have been evoked! This was cruel and unusual punishment beyond human imagination.

The test was lost, and with it, the series.

Confidence was shattered for England, and of course, confidence was unassailed for Australia - they had pulled the brands out of the fire. They were unconquerable, and everyone knew it.

What now for 2009? I don't know and I'm too depressed about it to think that far ahead, but think about it we must, and moreover plan for it leaving no detail overlooked. Never again will England be so humiliated!

Choices

2007-01-04T17:49:00.000Z

Spotting a man dressed and acting about 20 years below his apparent age got me thinking about the choices we make, and inparticular the choice to leave behind the past and move forward to the future.

Since the swinging sixties, successive generations have convinced themselves that they can postpone growing up and moving on. That, if they defiantly strike enough infantile poses, fall for the latest preposterous fad, or express opinions the rest of us have dumped long ago, they will avoid ever having another birthday. US psychiatrists call these people "adultescents"; at their best, they are Peter Stringfellow. The irony is that the very things most of us loved about youth - lack of responsibility, the illusion of freedom - are the very things that the adultescent ultimately deprives himself of.

Those who do allow themselves to make that change discover that they are more likely to become masters of their own destiny. Once you stop hanging onto your past like a drowning man to a piece of driftwood, you suddenly discover you have a future. You also discover that, rather than having fewer choices, you actually have a multitude of possibilities. Perhaps the single most interesting choice you face is what parts of your past to leave behind and what to take with you.

There are rules. It's perfectly respectable for a 40-year-old lawyer to pogo around in his room to Never Mind The Bollocks. It's a lot harder for the same man to swagger around slapping high-fives with every young person he passes. The first looks like fun. The second looks like a way of life that's no sort of life at all.

Like the Katharine Hamnett T-shirts that used to say, "Choose Life," make the choices that give you even more choices - that make life more fun, more challenging, and, above all, one a hell of a lot easier to live.

Bill Kristol - Prophet Extraordinaire!

2007-01-03T13:24:00.000Z

On March 17, 2003, on the eve of our invasion of Iraq, Bill Kristol wrote the following:

"We are tempted to comment, in these last days before the war, on the U.N., and the French, and the Democrats. But the war itself will clarify who was right and who was wrong about weapons of mass destruction. It will reveal the aspirations of the people of Iraq, and expose the truth about Saddam's regime. It will produce whatever effects it will produce on neighboring countries and on the broader war on terror. We would note now that even the threat of war against Saddam seems to be encouraging stirrings toward political reform in Iran and Saudi Arabia, and a measure of co-operation in the war against al Qaeda from other governments in the region. It turns out it really is better to be respected and feared than to be thought to share, with exquisite sensitivity, other people's pain. History and reality are about to weigh in, and we are inclined simply to let them render their verdicts."

A few more samples of the sort of intellectual analysis from Bill Kristol are as follows:

April 4, 2003:

"There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular."

April 28, 2003:

"The United States committed itself to defeating terror around the world. We committed ourselves to reshaping the Middle East, so the region would no longer be a hotbed of terrorism, extremism, anti-Americanism, and weapons of mass destruction. The first two battles of this new era are now over. The battles of Afghanistan and Iraq have been won decisively and honorably. But these are only two battles. We are only at the end of the beginning in the war on terror and terrorist states."

March 22, 2004:

"[T]here are hopeful signs that Iraqis of differing religious, ethnic, and political persuasions can work together. This is a far cry from the predictions made before the war by many, both here and in Europe, that a liberated Iraq would fracture into feuding clans and unleash a bloodbath. The perpetually sour American media focus on the tensions between Shiites and Kurds that delayed the signing by three whole days. But the difficult negotiations leading up to the signing, and the continuing debates over the terms of a final constitution, have in fact demonstrated something remarkable in Iraq: a willingness on the part of the diverse ethnic and religious groups to disagree--peacefully--and then to compromise. This willingness is the product of what appears to be a broad Iraqi consensus favoring the idea of pluralism."

March 7, 2005:

"Just four weeks after the Iraqi election of January 30, 2005, it seems increasingly likely that that date will turn out to have been a genuine turning point. The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, ended an era. September 11, 2001, ended an interregnum. In the new era in which we now live, 1/30/05 could be a key moment--perhaps the key moment so far--in vindicating the Bush Doctrine as the right response to 9/11. And now there is the prospect of further and accelerating progress."

November 30, 2005 (column titled "Pelosi's Disastrous Miscalculation"):

"All this made me think the 2006 elections could result in a Speaker Pelosi. I now think that unlikely. Pelosi's endorsement today of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq makes the House Democrats the party of defeat, the party of surrender. Bush's strong speech today means the GOP is likely to be--if Republican Congressmen just keep their nerve--the party of victory. Now it is possible that the situation in Iraq will worsen over the next year. If that happens, Bush and the GOP are in deep trouble. They would have been if Pelosi had said nothing. But it is much more likely that the situation in Iraq will stay more or less the same, or improve. In either case, Republicans will benefit from being the party of victory."

December 26, 2005 (column titled "Happy Days!"):

"If American and Iraqi troops continue to provide basic security, and if Iraq's different sects and political groups now begin to engage in serious, peaceful bargaining, then we may just have witnessed the beginning of Iraq's future."

It now turns out that this formidable and accurate analyst is to become a "star" columnist for Time magazine. Clearly, in right-wing America, the more you are wrong, the higher you climb.

Quotes are captured from Unclaimed Territory and Crooks & Liars.

Mark's Christmas Message

2006-12-16T16:19:00.000Z

Kirkless Hall, Christmas 2005

It seems that it has been some time since my last post, and I notice that I have been given a swift kick up the bum by friend Junojen! In fact my last blog was almost a month ago, which in blogland, is quite a while.

However, I've not been idle over the past month, far from it. With the run up to Christmas, life has just got more and more hectic. A couple of weeks ago, I spent an enjoyable Saturday in Manchester with my eldest doing Christmas shopping (and spending a King's ransom). We had a lot of fun, and managed to escape back to Hindley before the crowds got too oppressive.

Last week, Christine and I joined some of my colleagues from work for our Christmas party. It was a great night out, and I drank so much even I ended up on the dance floor - I do believe there was a blue moon that night! We stayed overnight in a hotel overlooking Manchester United football ground - well I suppose you can't have everything!

With the girls in different schools, it has meant double the Carol services, so it was division of labour. Christine went with Jayne to her schools service and Christingle, while I went with Bethen to hers.

A couple of weeks ago I came down with the flu, which, as everyone knows, attacks men far harder than women. It was so bad, I needed to take some time off work, but I tried very hard not to show how much I was truely suffering.

Christmas is now almost upon us, and this weekend we will be putting up and dressing the tree. Christmas will have finally arrived at a certain house in Hindley. Christine is working this Christmas so I will be doing the cooking. Leg of Pork from a pig that grew up on a local free-range farm supplied by our favourite butcher on the market. The vegetables will also be local - we will be using as little supermarket produce as possible. Later in the week, when we will have been joined by our parents, it will be a fine joint of topside.

This is probably my last blog before Christmas, and so I wish all who find and read this post the best gift I can offer, the love of someone who loves you, and to know that no matter how alone we may feel we are, from time to time, we do not walk this world alone.

Have a peaceful and loving Christmas from Mark, Christine and the girls.

The End Of An Era

2006-11-19T17:19:00.000Z

For the past few years, since the first time I discovered it, the Kirkless Hall Inn has been a regular finishing point for many a cycle ride. The first time I arrived, caked in mud, sweaty and decidedly thirsty I was made very welcome by Jill Jolly, the landlady and queen of the bar. That first day she served me a superb and refreshing pint of Summer Lightening and I was hooked.

Not only was the beer first class, but I later found out that their pub food was pretty good as well. For someone like me who is a relative stranger to the insides of pubs, this was a revelation.

The Kirkless Hall Inn has become the family's regular stopping off point, a place for us to relax in a beautiful spot. The half-timbered pub providing am eye-catching backdrop to the locks. A place where me and the girls have spent many a happy hour watching the bright and colourful canal boats as they made their way up from or down to Wigan. On hot summer days, the pub and the lockside would be buzzing with people also enjoying the environment. A truly wonderful place.

Jill & Bob Jolly, the landlord and lady were the people who worked tirelessly to ensure that welcome was always there. They got to know us very well, and were often interested in our exploits out on the bikes. Whatever condition we were in, and sometimes that was pretty mucky, we were always made to feel welcome. Mum had her 81st birthday lunch at the pub and it was a really jolly time helped by the kind attention of Jill & Bob.

Today was Jill and Bob's last Sunday running the pub. They retire this week and head off to pastures new. Jill wants to spend more time with her family and grandchildren. They will be sadly missed by us, and talking to others at the pub, they feel the same. They have left a very high standard for those who will follow to attain, and we all look forward to that with interest.

But to Bob & Jill, many thanks for your many kindnesses. For maintaining a good cellar and excellent food. Good luck for the future, you will be missed.

A Corner Turned

2006-11-09T08:07:00.000Z

People of America have, I believe, taken their first steps to recover their country from the 6 year rule of the 'democratic tyranny' of the Bush administration. Brave America is still alive and is a cause for celebration.

When one considers all the damage that has been perpetrated by that small band of the priviledged few, the road back is going to be long and hard. But the first important step has been made.

The work towards the 2008 presidential election must start now, and Democrates have got to find an internationally acceptable and respected statesman to lead America back to the light. I don't care if he or she is a heathen and has a history of affairs on the side, - all that counts is that he or she is intelligent, wise and can command respect.

America, enjoy your moment of movement back to the free world, but don't rest too long on your laurels, there is an emmense amount of work yet to do.

Two Jays

2006-10-15T11:19:00.000Z

Surely one Jay is enough! Looks a bit low in the water at the back end!