Hotel California

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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?

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)

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

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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

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?

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.