Indiana Jones Returns

Harrison Ford returns for the title role in the
next instalment of the Indiana Jones movies.

I seem to have talked a lot about movies recently - must be all the festive television I've been watching. Before I talk about Indiana Jones a quick update on the last few days.

It's been kind of hectic around here so my thesis is on the back burner until after New Year's Day. I have set myself a deadline of the end of January 2007 to get 2 chapters completed - I should still make it with a bit of self-discipline and lack of distractions. I have another important date coming up next week in Sheffield. I'm down there for an exam - a rather costly exam to sit, so I'll try and get some revision done in the next few days.

A couple of days ago I talked about Stephen Spielberg's epic sci-fi adventure ET. I mentioned the heart-warming storyline, the dazzling special effects and musical genius of John Williams. I read today that Spielberg and Williams are to be reunited with another of my favourite movie directors, George Lucas, as they film the next of the Indiana Jones movies. Lucas, for the benefit of anyone who has been living in a cave with no contact with the outside world, is the driving force behind the Star Wars movies. I'm surprised I've not written about those movies yet, because the original three episodes are cinematographic masterpieces in their own right - that's for another day when I have blogger's block.

Harrison Ford makes a comeback in the lead role of the movie, which is due to grace the big screen in May 2008. The 64 year old actor promises to "bring the same physical action" that typified the first three movies, in which he performed his own stunts. Lucas has confirmed that the film is "going to be fantastic", but then he would say that. Going on his repertoire there's a good chance he speaks the truth. He is keeping tight-lipped about the storyline, but has said some "very interesting mysteries" lie in wait. There's also unconfirmed rumours that Sean Connery may return as Indiana's father.

Of course, the jewel in the crown will be the Williams musical score to accompany the action. Looks like another blockbuster on the horizon.

Caught Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

Hazel with Karl and Sarah Brookes and baby Ben.

Poor old Hazel Blears, the original Blair Babe, Labour Party Chairman and MP for Salford. She's got a right predicament on her hands at the moment - does she (A) support her government's move to close Hope Hospital's maternity unit and risk alienating her constituents, or (B) risk alienating her cabinet colleagues and battle against the closure. As Chris Tarrant would say, fingers on your keypads - all vote now. Something else that we need to factor in is that the Boundary Commission, the authority that decides how many voters fall into each Parliamentary constituency, are due to carve up the political map of Greater Manchester in time for the next General Election.

So what do you know, Hazel is out on the Hope picket lines today fighting for her political skin. She faces two major challenges - not only is her government as desirable as a lost darning needle in a condom factory, but the Commission has decided that the game's up for the Salford constituency. At the next election Blears will have to fight it out with neighbouring MPs for a single Parliamentary seat.

Good luck Hazel. I don't suppose your constituents will believe for one moment you had nothing to do with Hope's closure.

Generic Prescribing

It has been a few days before I have mentioned a news story, and even longer since I've delved into a health related matter. The BBC News website reveals today that GBP £85 million could be saved if doctors prescribed cheaper versions of cholesterol-busting statins. Statins are used by 2 million people in the UK, which is an increase of 150% over the last 5 years.

The way prescribing works in the UK is that a doctor can choose to prescribe a proprietary or generic version of a drug. Best illustrated with an example: diazepam is the generic version of the Roche proprietary known as Valium. It makes matters complicated for the pharmacist if the doctor, through matter of habit, familiarity or favouritism, prescribes a proprietary version because that is the only brand that can then be dispensed. If the doctor prescribes the generic, as commonsense and economics would seem to dictate, the pharmacist can dispense any version they have that fits the bill.

There is a school of thought that some generics have lower efficacy than the corresponding brand name, although once the patent on a particular brand has expired a generic version with identical active ingredients can be marketed.

Professor Peter Weissberg of the British Heart Foundation, said "The problem is that the two generic versions available to the NHS are not as potent as some of the newer, more expensive statins coming on to the market". That seems a perfectly valid argument, but all other things being equal generic prescribing is the way to go.

ET - The Extra-Terrestrial

I'm getting all concerned - the Christmas spirit and new arrival to the family means I've not had a good rant for a while. Continuing my new found fluffy-duffy, rose-tinted look on life I thought I'd take you back in time a bit.

We're going all the way back to 1982 - the year which heralded the lowest ever UK temperature (-27.2 C in Braemar, Aberdeenshire), the Falklands war, the birth of Prince William of Wales, Barney Clark receiving the first artificial heart, the release of the Commodore 64, the opening of the Thames Barrier and the raising of the Mary Rose. In the pop charts we had Michael Jackson's Thriller album and on the big screen we had Rocky III, Poltergeist and Annie. A busy old year, I'm sure you'll agree.

It was also the year that ET - The Extra-Terrestrial was the highest grossing movie of all time. The movie, starring Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore and Dee Wallace, won 4 Oscars in the categories of Best Original Music Score, Sound, Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects. All the more remarkable is that the movie was produced on a shoe-string budget of only USD $10 million.

It has a very special place in my heart and ranks in my top 3 or 4 movies of all time. I was very young when it was released, only 2 years-old, but I remember being mesmerised by the cutting edge (at the time) special effects, endearing storyline and musical score. The music is one of the most important parts of the movie, as Spielberg himself would acknowledge. John Williams, the composer of such greats as Indiana Jones, Star Wars and more recently Schindler's List, created a masterpiece here. Perhaps the most memorable piece, Adventures on Earth, accompanies Elliott's daring escape from the authorities, concluding with the famous flying bicycle scene.

Listen to Adventures on Earth (volume nice and loud):

(Apologies that these aren't the images that accompany the music in the actual movie).

It is timeless classic telling a story of unwavering friendship, loyalty, courage, countering adversity and adventure. Look closely at the movie and you'll notice the brilliant choreography between music, movement and emotion - the slightest on-screen movement or gesture, the tracing of ET's finger over the wide night sky, is accompanied by a flourish of William's talent. Just to highlight William's talent, as if it needed it, he conducted a live, real-time performance of the movie's musical score the celebrate the 20th anniversary in 2002. Two whole hours of painstaking concentration and getting the notes in the right place, without one millisecond of fault - true genius.

The scene at the end, where ET boards his craft and finally heads home, still gets a lump in my throat. It really is a brilliant movie.

Why do I mention all this now? The movie is on UK terrestrial (no pun intended) TV this afternoon. It will probably be the best thing to grace the Christmas listings judging by the dross that's been on so far. I know what I'll be doing this afternoon.

Little Lucy

A few people have been asking me what my new niece looks like, to which I reply, in my usual dismissive and non-descript tone, "she looks just like any other baby - kind of small with a squishy little face and delicate little fingers". I'll let you judge for yourself by looking at one of her very first photos. She's a perfect little girl.

Christmas Delivery

Christmas this year is extra special because we have a new addition to the family - my Sister in Law gave birth to her first child just before midnight on Christmas Eve. Ten minutes later and baby would have shared a birthday with Jesus. The baby girl, Lucy Isabel, bounced into this world a week late weighing in at 7.5 pounds. She is named Isabel after my late grandmother. Suffice to say we're all well chuffed.

Lucy is a very special baby for two reasons: Firstly, and most obviously she's a Christmas baby; secondly, her coming was foretold by my Gran just before she died.

Gran died of lung cancer in 2005, only a week before my Brother and Sister in Law were married. She got cancer despite being a non-smoker, otherwise fit and healthy and having no history of it in her family - the fickle finger of fate, to coin a phrase, just happened to point at her. She was very wise, incredibly intelligent, with razor sharp wit and looks and agility much younger than her years. I love her dearly and miss her terribly. She was brave in the face of her illness, but realistic of the prognosis. She didn’t become resentful or wallow in self-pity, just shrugged her shoulders, kept her head down and accepted her misfortune. In characteristic fashion she worried more about the affect her death would have on us, than how it would affect her self. She was a lady of strong faith, which served to comfort her in the twilight of her days.

Before Gran caught the train she made a few predictions, one of them being that my Brother and his Wife would have a baby girl. The amazing thing is that at the time, unbeknown to Gran, my Sister in Law was having problems that meant she was unable to conceive. We never told Gran this because we didn't want her to be disappointed that her prophecy may never come true.

Low and behold, just as Gran predicted my Sister in Law became pregnant, in the face of medical opinion, earlier this year. Even more amazingly, the baby doesn't arrive until Christmas night. Now that truly is magical.

Quick Review: Dot Flowers

This is a sponsored post. To view my policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

What better time of year to show your loved ones how much you care by sending them a bouquet of fresh flowers. If you're in the US then www.dotflowers.com may have just the floral treat you are looking for. Dot Flowers have a wide range of flower bouquets, gift baskets, floral wreaths, fruit baskets and gourmet food. Their fresh field flower delivery service gets your flowers from the field to your door the very same day. Dot Flowers pride them self on the high quality of their products and customer satisfaction.

For all your floral needs, whatever the occasion, you can rely on Dot Flowers.

Go Big, Go Long, Go Home

The rapidly expanding Natanz
nuclear site in Iran.

I might have to cut down my posts over the festive period because of other goings on in the Jackson household. In case this is my last post before the big day, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you have an enjoyable day with all your loved ones.

But the festivities don't bring a halt to the mounting tension in the Middle East. Yesterday the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to impose economic sanctions on Iran. The sanctions have arisen because Iran, dubbed as part of the 'axis of evil' by President Bush, has continued to develop nuclear technology in the face of international opposition. The resolution bans imports and exports of technology related to uranium enrichment, nuclear reprocessing, heavy water reactors and ballistic missiles. It also freezes the financial assets of targeted Iranian businesses and individuals.

As expected the resolution, which was specially tailored to appease Iran's economic partners Russia and China, has been flouted by the Iranian government's announcement of the installation of 3,000 Uranium centrifuges in key nuclear facilities.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the resolution as a "scrap of paper" adding that it "will not do any harm to Iranian people, but the signatories of this resolution against Iran will soon regret this superficial and trivial move". Senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani further enflamed the situation by announcing that "our (Iran's) immediate response to the UN Security Council is that, as of today (23rd Dec 2006), we will start the activities at the site of the 3,000 centrifuge machines in Natanz and we will go ahead with full speed".

The resolution paves the way for further, possibly military, action against the rogue Middle Eastern state. Meanwhile President Bush has a difficult decision on his strategy in neighbouring Iraq - does he go big (increase US forces), go long (maintain the current US presence for the longer term) or go home (withdraw US forces altogether)?

I think the smart money has to be on the 'go big' option, given that further action against Iran's non-compliance is almost inevitable. Of course the White House will not try and sell it that way to the US electorate.

Quick Review: payperpost

This is a sponsored post. To view my policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

As some of my regular readers may have noticed I'm throwing in the odd sponsored post every now and again. I'm trying to maintain a high content of regular posts because I don't want readers to think this is a 'sell, sell, sell' kind of blog. I also disclose every sponsored post I do and refuse to take opportunities I disagree with.

One of the companies I am using is payperpost. What payperpost do is basically offer advertisers the opportunity to post their link, with specified anchor text, in a variety of different blogs. The theory is that the words in the anchor text become associated with the advertiser's website and help it in the search engine rankings.

The payperpost bunch, slightly extrovert it's fair to say, have posted some videos about their service on YouTube. It's worth having a look if you're thinking about trying paid blog posts. They are running a competition at the moment where any blogger who writes a paid post about Hewlett Packard digital cameras has the chance of winning a camera.



Lucky New York blogger Anna Maria, who runs a blog called She's Fantastic, has managed to scoop the first camera. Veronique, one of the crazy payperpost bunch, presents this short video congratulating Anna Maria on her achievement and posing with the prize. If you're interested in earning a few extra dollars from your blogging, or reaching a wider audience with your advertising, I recommend payperpost.

Roaring Log Fires

Since we moved to our 'newly' built house about 7 years ago we've had the benefits of cosy central heating, sound-proof double glazing, brilliant cavity and loft insulation, endless supplies of hot water and the view of beautiful Northumberland farmland and seascape. One thing the house doesn't have is an open fire - there's no need, other than sentimental reasons, for having one. It's this time of year, with chestnuts roasting and period drama on TV, that we reminisce about having a fire - the enchanting dance of the flames, melodic crackling of the fuel and warm rush as you enter the room. Even the harsh grating sound of metal on concrete as the ashes are cleaned out has a place in my heart. There is something very primeval, spiritual about fire that takes us right back to our ancestors - hunting and gathering game and braising it on the hearth - there is something quite eloquent about the base-instinct of self-sufficiency.

Alas, today my fire withdrawal symptoms have been eased. We have acquired a DVD of a burning log fire, so instead of the endless drone and mysery of soap operas our lounge TV now flickers to flame. Better still the logs crackle exactly as real life logs do and there is a reassuring roar as wind rattles through the burning struts.

I know what you're all thinking - how sad is he? Maybe my thesis is driving me to distraction.

News elsewhere in the blogosphere - yesterday I got an interesting, if somewhat ill-informed, comment from freelance Irish reporter Neil Michael. Apparently he was 'gobsmacked' when he read my post about Steve Wright being charged with the five Suffolk murders. He then proceeded to cut and paste my post - a recurrent theme if you read his blog, which is nothing more than a collection of press releases. He said I was in contempt of court (he meant sub judice, but even that was wrong) for my prediction that Wright was the more likely of the two suspects. As I said to Michael, it transpires that this prediction was perfectly true given the fact that Wright is the one who now stands accused. By implication this means the Crown have significant evidence to use in his prosecution.

I like reporters and journalists but I wish that they, along with lawyers, would remember they are somewhere on the evolutionary scale between prokaryotes and protoctista.

Breaking News: Tom Stephens Released, Steve Wright Charged

So, just as I predicted immediately after his arrest, the Walter Mitty character that is Tom Stephens has been released. He's obviously a bit of an extrovert, but no way a murderer. The police have excavated his home, garden and piece of mind over the last four days and have found not a sausage - just as I said they wouldn't. I could tell things were getting desperate when the police had to beg Magistrates for extra time yesterday. I hope the people of Suffolk will recognise there is no evidence of Stephens' involvement and leave him in peace to get on with the rest of his life.

If Suffolk Constabulary had read my blog 4 days ago they could have saved the rate payers of Suffolk the considerable amount of money that they will now invariably have to pay to Mr Stephens to compensate him for the damage to his home, his reputation and his mental state.

The second person arrested, Steve Wright, who I said was the more likely of the two, has been charged with the five murders. Wright will now go before Magistrates tomorrow, when he will be remanded in custody pending trial before Ipswich Crown Court.

National Identity Card Hits Buffers

The Home Secretary, John Reid, has decided to abandon plans to establish a multi-billion pound computer system designed to administer the new national identity card. Instead of information being stored on a single, stream lined system it will be held on three existing separate databases. The ultimate aim of the hugely unpopular ID card scheme, set out in the Identity Cards Act 2006, is to record up to 49 pieces of personal information on every man, woman and child in the UK. Current predictions cost the scheme at GBP £5.6 billion and expect a 10-year roll out period. From 2010 it will be necessary to obtain an ID card to renew your passport, effectively making the card compulsory for anyone intending to travel.

Only a few days concern was expressed by doctor's at the introduction of another governmental white elephant - the NHS database. A Guardian poll of more than a thousand doctors revealed that 4 out of 5 had serious doubts about the security of patient records on the system. More than half of the doctors surveyed said they were worried that confidential information would be hacked by public officials, or misused for bribery or blackmail. Hardly surprising when you hear that government agencies like the DVLA are openly selling people's personal details to insurance and marketing companies.

I think a lot of these schemes are fundamentally flawed - what's the point in having a national identity card to secure our borders when immigration officials are too scared (substitute with 'inept' or 'stupid' if you prefer) to check the information matches the holder?

Quick Review: CreditCards GB

This is a sponsored post. To view my policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

Love them or loathe them you certainly can't avoid credit cards at this time of year. Despite the scare stories you hear of people getting into debt, credit cards do have some major benefits. One piece of credit card news people might be unaware of is the fact that they offer better legal protection for you, the consumer, than debit cards or cash do. They are also a handy way of getting a short term, no interest loan if you are able to pay the balance off in full when you get your next bill. That said, they do have the significant negative of charging a fee for withdrawing cash or missing a payment.

If you would like to get more credit card advice just click on one of the links in this post.

Is Mr Wright Mr Wrong?

I didn't have a chance to blog yesterday because I was that busy writing my thesis - I think I achieved the sum total of 1 page of writing, so I'm pretty disappointed with myself. It is proving much harder than I thought. I have previous progress reports to work from, but it isn't just a case of cutting and pasting - some of the things I wrote 2 and 3 years ago I wouldn't dream of putting in the final draft! I am writing the literature review/previous work chapter at the moment and, despite having done maybe 30 pages earlier this year, I thinking I might have to restructure it from scratch. Bugger.

News I should have broken yesterday, but obviously in my absence didn't - Suffolk Constabulary have arrested a second man on suspicion of murdering the five Ipswich prostitutes. The man, believed to be Steve Wright, was arrested at 5 am yesterday in his London Road bedsit, just a few hundred yards from the red light district. The Police are being very cagey, understandably so in light of the legal wheels in motion, about which details they release about Wright. The media are reporting that he is 48 years-old, a lorry driver, has a teenage daughter and is separated from his partner. Stay tuned for further updates on this character - he is a more likely suspect than the Walter Mitty character arrested on Monday.

Speaking of the Walter Mitty character, Tom Stephens who was arrested early on Monday morning, is coming to an important milestone in his detention. At just after 7.15 am tomorrow he will have been held for a total of 72 hours of questioning - if the Police want to detain him any longer, up to the maximum 96 hours I mentioned before, they will have to put their request before the Magistrates again. Now, a smart talking senior Police officer can probably outfox a crusty old JP and wangle the extension on the supposition they might uncover significant further evidence - however, as I'm sure most of you will agree, if the Police haven't found the concrete evidence they need by ransacking his home for the past three days it is unlikely they will do so now. My prediction still stands - they will not find the evidence and will have to release him tomorrow morning or, if they get a tame Magistrate, Friday at the latest. That will be very interesting when it happens - Suffolk Police have ripped his home and garden to shreds and he will be perfectly entitled to go home after his release and order them out. Suffice to say the rate payers of Suffolk will have to make good the damage and inconvenience caused during the search of his home.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Suffolk Murders - Man Arrested

The whole of the UK has been following the case of the 5 murdered Ipswich prostitutes. I'm wary of using the word prostitute for fear it will sound disrespectful to those unfortunate girls, but their deaths can almost certainly be attributed to their wayward lifestyle and profession.

At about 7.20 am 37 year-old Tom Stephens, from the small village of Trimley St Martin near Felixstowe, was arrested by officers from Suffolk Constabulary. He is being questioned on suspicion of the murders of all five girls, namely Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls. Police can detain Stephens for 24 hours before charging him. However, this can be extended to 36 hours by a senior Police officer (Superintendent or higher) and further extended up to a total of 96 hours by the Magistrates. After 96 hours he must be either charged, released or bailed to reappear.

This is an unusual case. Stephens appeared in the Sunday Mirror yesterday and acknowledged that he knew the girls, had the opportunity, fitted the killer's profile, doesn't have an alibi but protesting his innocence. He has been interviewed four times by Police before his arrest this morning.

I don't think we should jump to too many conclusions just yet - it is my honest belief he will prove to be nothing more than an attention seeker.

I base my prediction on the following factor: he was first interviewed just a few days after the first victim, Tania Nicol, had gone missing - we know that Paula Clennell, one of the last victims, was last seen on 9th December - is it likely that he bumped her off when he was already under such close scrutiny from the Police? I find that highly improbable.

It'll be interesting to see how this one develops - stay tuned.

Spreading Like Wild Fire

A few strange things have been happening recently that lead me to believe this blog is developing a regular following.

You might remember a few days ago I brought you breaking news of the latest two bodies, now identified to be those of Paula Clennell and Annette Nichols, to be found in Suffolk. The news was literally unfolding as I sat working on my PC with Sky News in the background. I called the post 'Suffolk Strangler Strikes Again'. Well, low and behold, the next day all of the newspapers are calling the killer the Suffolk Strangler - they're obviously avid readers of TJO. You might think I'm joking but news organisations crawl blogs like this on the off-chance there might be something interesting to read - the BBC come here every week or so. If you do a Google on 'Suffolk Strangler' you'll also find we come quite near the top.

On Friday there was news that GNER, who you might remember I called the 'scourge of the east coast mainline', have lost their franchise to operate the UK's premier rail route. The Bermuda-based parent company, Sea Containers, is in serious financial dire straits. They have just filed for bankruptcy protection in the States. Unsurprisingly GNER can't afford to keep the financial terms of their franchise agreement - you may recall they offered the government GBP £1.3 billion when their nearest rival, Virgin Trains, offered around GBP £700 million. GNER paid through the nose, and now they are paying the ultimate price. They have provided a shoddy, unreliable and uneconomic service for years and the passengers have voted with their feet. Perhaps the first inkling that GNER was under pressure was when they launched a legal challenge against Grand Central trains. Grand Central, a brand new operator on the east coast line, are due to run 3 trains in each direction between Sunderland and London Kings Cross. GNER, which runs nearly 200 services a day, should barely have noticed a fish as small as Grand Central, but their legal challenge betrays the fact they are desperately trying to cling on to the few customers they have.

Quick Review: Acorn Systems

This is a sponsored post. To view my policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

Acorn Systems is an interesting one, not least because I can barely understand their web release. They claim to 'enable meaningful and sustained profit improvement by providing continuous enterprise-wide visibility into business performance'. Sounds like a load of gibberish to me, but in plain English I think it boils down to telling other people how well your business is performing, which in turn generates confidence in your product or service and new business for you. They offer the Enterprise Profit System (something to do with Star Trek I think) and Activity Based Costing solutions (beats me too). Another one of their things is IT chargeback software. Apparently their revolutionary software and unique methodology enable you to confidently measure, optimise and predict costs, net operating profit, capacity and resources.

It all sounds very interesting, so if you're bored and lonely on these cold winter nights I recommend visiting their website. It's guaranteed to cure all forms of insomnia!

Gas Hydrates

Gas hydrate - methane trapped
within an ice shell.

On one hand we have climatologists preaching the need to burn less fossil fuels, reduce carbon emissions, use renewable alternatives and guard against global warming. On the other we have those who, quite sensibly, recognise that coal, gas and nuclear power offer the only realistic, tried and tested prospect of sustaining short-term global energy demands.

Researchers from McGill University, Montreal, Canada are coming in from a practical direction of attack against the world's ever dwindling fuel reserves - the harvesting of gas hydrates. The hydrates, a complex mixture of methane and water ice, are usually trapped deep beneath the floor of the world's deepest oceans. The high concentration of hydrates, discovered in shallow sandy sediment just off Canada's western coast, lead to the realistic prospect of mining and harvesting the trapped methane. The hydrates are stable under the cold, high pressure sea bed environment but readily degrade and liberate the methane trapped within when brought to the surface. It is estimated that there are 10 billion tonnes of gas hydrates, compared to the 5 billion tonnes of conventional fossil fuels that remain.

There is some environmental concern that methane released or combusted will further accelerate climate change. The most conservative estimates predict that if the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide was to double, the average temperature would rise by 3 degrees Celsius. Concern about mining such an unstable fuel source have also been voiced. The violent disturbances caused by drilling can result in a rapid release of methane but Peter Brewer, a geochemist at the Institute, predicts that it will be no more risky than current mining practices. "As our fuel futures get more restrained it (hydrate mining) is something we will have to look at", he said.

Police Drivers Fall Short of the Mark

Leafing through the daily propaganda this morning I saw another subject close to my heart - the thorny issue of Police driving.

Inspector Paul Gee of Durham Constabulary was caught 'bombing' around at 118 mph in an unmarked BMW 5-series. He was on official duty at the time, but by some geographical twist of fate the boundaries of the Durham Force area have moved as far north as Central Scotland. Gee was caught in a speed trap on the M9 near Falkirk. Gee, a driving trainer for the Force was in uniform and carrying out a risk assessment on the new vehicle. One can only imagine what his motives were for taking the vehicle 160 miles north when there was an almost identical piece of motorway to do handbrake turns on within 10 minutes drive of Durham City.

I often see Durham Constabulary driver training going on in the city centre. They race along the narrow, pedestrian filled streets in their barely marked (they have the Force crest stuck on the rear wing) white Peugeot 406s and it's an absolute miracle they haven't killed someone. Bear in mind that the people driving these things are just ordinary drivers with ordinary driving licences - they are not yet advanced drivers. It wouldn't take much to hit a (dozy) student who has accidentally stumbled from the swollen pavement.

Only a month ago PC Steven Akrill, of South Yorkshire Police, was caught speeding in a Police Landrover in Rotherham. He was snapped by a speed camera at 48 mph in a 40 mph zone - not a particularly heinous offence, but one which he used all the tricks in the book to wriggle out of. His defence was that he was going to an accident, although he had not been dispatched to one, was heading in the wrong direction and his blue lights and siren were turned off. He was actually sighted a few moments later entering the Wickersley Cantonese Takeaway. His quick exit from the takeaway has led to speculation that he actually telephoned the order in beforehand and used the vehicle to speed towards his supper. One could speculate that he went to court knowing he had committed the offence, fabricated the accident story, led the Magistrates on a merry dance and wasted a significant amount of taxpayers money and court time bringing his misdemeanor to trial. Had he owned up earlier instead of trying to cover it up he would have at worst got a £60 fixed penalty notice, at best (and most likely) told to watch his speed in future.

These two stories are just scratching the surface of the way Police drivers escape justice for performing unjustified wreckless manoeuvres every day on Britain's roads.

Sure, the Police have a difficult job because of ridiculous, unenforceable legislation and impotent court system we have in Britain but stories like this don't ingratiate them to the ordinary driver. The Police are there to enforce the law as it is written in statute - they are not there to interpret it, fragrantly breach it and randomly dispense justice as and when the cap fits.

Sad News of Little Rhianna

Regular readers may remember I wrote a short article about the horrific scalding of little Rhianna Hardie. Ten-month old Rhianna was lying in her cot when a pipe, carrying hot water in the ceiling cavity above, burst in a freak accident leaving her with 95% burns.

I am very sad to report in this update that Rhianna has lost her battle for life. Rhianna was being treated in Bristol Children's Hospital. The Health and Safety Executive will be very carefully scrutinising the maintenance records of the family's council home - if the authority is found to be a fault I hope justice prevails. In the meantime my thoughts and prayers to the Hardie family as they struggle to come to terms with their tragic loss.

Whistle Stop Tour of Hull

If you don't want to read about my nerdy chemistry meeting today, skip straight to paragraph 3 below:

I've feeling a bit lethargic after spending the day down at Hull. I was at the inaugural meeting of the Robin Hood Interdisciplinary Network in Electrochemistry (RHINE). RHINE is basically a collaboration, pooling of ideas and resources, between electrochemists from Durham University, The University of York, The University of Hull, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and The University of Cambridge. The Robin Hood reference is nothing to do with the folk law hero (or thief, depending on which way you look at it), more to do with nearby Robin Hood's Bay which borders the RHINE catchment area. It sounds a bit nerdy, but it's actually a good opportunity to catch up with old friends, have a chat, a few bites to eat and share our recent work.

The day started for me when I left home at 5.45 am and I didn't get back in until 9 pm. I got a lift down to Durham, from where I caught the train on to Hull. Durham is a very lonely place at 6.30 am - no cars, very few people and eerily quiet. Nowhere to get a bacon sandwich either, much to my annoyance. We eventually arrived in Hull just after 10 am and got to the meeting, after being stung for a taxi fare, at about 10.20 am. These meetings make you aware of the exceptionally good work that the smaller institutions produce. Take Hull and Nottingham Trent for example - they are both very humble, poorly equipped and poorly funded departments compared to ours (a statement of fact, not meant to sound critical), but they're right at the forefront of electroactive material and biosensor technology.

I'm not going to write a news comment this evening because I haven't got the stamina. I'll try and get back to my usual posting routine tomorrow.

Quick Review: PokerSavvy

This is a sponsored post. To view my policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

I've always wanted to learn how to play poker, but I've been too embarrassed to ask anyone to explain it to me. Maybe I was worried I wouldn't understand and would look stupid, or ignorant, if I had to ask them to repeat themself. Luckily the PokerSavvy website has a detailed explanation of the game, reviews of reputable online casinos as well as useful start up tips for those who want to get involved with playing poker for money.

PokerSavvy is a good place to look if you would like some Free Poker advice and guidance.

Suffolk Strangler Strikes Again

Worrying times for prostitutes in the Suffolk city of Ipswich in the south east of the UK. It has just been announced that TWO more bodies (bringing the total to five) have been found in the space of 9 days. The bodies of 25 year-old Gemma Adams and 19 year-old Tania Nichol were discovered in a burn early last week. The two bodies were found in a state of undress in the same stretch of waterway only a few hundred yards apart. A few days ago the body of 24 year-old Anneli Alderton was discovered in woodland in Nacton, a few miles south east of Ipswich by a dog walker.

News of the gruesome discovery is hot off the press - just announced in the last ten minutes. The bodies were found just off the Levington road, about a mile south east of Nacton. Worrying times for the prostitutes pounding the streets of Ipswich - get inside and stay off the streets. There is bound to be talk of a new Yorkshire Ripper style serial killer. Check out the newspapers tomorrow for the latest.

Trafalgar Square Pigeons

There's a bird with a secret to hide - which horrible
diseases is this filthy specimen spreading?

Love them or loathe them you certainly can't ignore them if you're in the centre of London. I am, of course, referring to the unusually coloured, disfigured, feathery bundles of joy that are the Trafalgar Square pigeons. A few years ago the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, affectionately known as Red Ken for his wayward socialist tendancies, issued an all out declaration of war against the pigeons and pigeon lovers by making it an offence to feed the birds. Animal Rights Protestors are taking the Mayor to court for reneging on an agreement to keep the pigeons fed by alternative, bread crust-free methods. Mr Livingstone set aside £3000 to buy corn for the pigeons and sustain them in the absence of public contributions. The protestors claim that Mr Livingstone is indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands of birds through starvation and the deployment of Harris hawks in the Square. They estimate that 100 pigeons have been killed by the hawks over the last 3 years - that's about one pigeon a fortnight falling foul of the hawks' razor sharp tallons. One pigeon a fortnight? Get real - more get hit by London buses every hour!

Poor pigeons. I've got my violin, the smallest violin in the world, out for your plight. I also feel some sympathy for the pigeon rights protesters, who are quite clearly deranged. Feral pigeons are filthy, disgusting creatures that hoover up all the dirt and disease that no other self-respecting creature would touch. They spread horrible diseases like salmanellosis, tuberculosis and ornithosis. Their dropping, as well as being unsightly and causing widespread damage to buildings, are a haven for little critters that cause allergies, skin and respiratory irritations. The dropping also create a horrible, treacherous slime on pavements and fire escapes. Feathers and nesting materials clog up gutters and drains causing water damage to the surroundings.

I've often wondered what the purpose is of pigeons - do they contribute anything to society or the environment? Apart from consuming copious amounts of cigarette butts, discarded chewing gum and dog faeces and hobbling along the pavement, with their stumpy little deformed legs and evil glint in their eye, I'm afraid they have no purpose whatsoever.

With all these negatives in mind I find it difficult to comprehend why anyone would choose to defend a pigeon's rights over those of a human. No doubt there's some lawyer rubbing his hand with glee and an equally evil glint in his eye.

Quick Review: Boxing Depot

This is a sponsored post. To view my policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

It's not long until Christmas and soon every one's wallets and waistlines will be heaving under the strain of festive spending and eating. One solution for the waistline problem is to engage in a program of aerobic exercise, and you'll not find many things more aerobic or exhilarating than dodging flying fists in the boxing ring. If you are looking for quality Boxing Equipment then go no further than Boxing Depot. Boxing Depot has a huge selection of boxing gloves, punching bags and everything else a budding amateur boxer could need. If you're not feeling too energentic after Christmas, as will probably be the case, you can even buy a desktop punch bag!

For all your boxing needs, why not give Boxing Depot a visit?

Plane Grounded By Flatulence

No, you didn't misread the title - it is meant to say flatulence instead of turbulence.

Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Washington to Dallas became concerned when the distinctive smell of burning wafted through the cabin. With the threat of terrorism in the forefront of everyone's mind the precautionary measure of diverting the plane to Nashville was taken. All 99 passengers and 5 crew were offloaded from the aircraft while the FBI investigated the source of the suspicious aroma. FBI sniffer dogs (not to be confused with sniffer bees) found the charred remains of used matches lurking in the footwell. An unidentified Dallas woman was identified as the culprit and after lengthy questioning revealed she had lighted the matches to disguise the smell of her flatulence. She was removed from the plane and the flight continued without her.

Lynne Lowrance, spokeswoman for Nashville International Airport, confirmed "she was trying to conceal body odour", adding there was no malicious intent but airline rules had been broken.

(If you look carefully at the URL of the Telegraph article you'll see that someone obviously has a sense of humour!)

Pay Peanuts, Get Monkeys

Kingston Value RAM - avoid like the plagued.

I've been having a few difficulties with my big PC recently. I got a mate to build it and it was all set up the way I wanted it - nice fast processor, plenty of RAM, decent graphics card and big hard drive. I foolishly took the offer of a pirated copy of Windows XP because it would keep the price down. Where's the harm I thought. I remember reading on the BBC News website that more than half of the Windows XP discs owned by the government of some obscure far eastern state were pirated.

I have now learnt, to my cost, that Microsoft has wised up to software piracy. Since July 2005 you have required authentic Microsoft software to download updates from the corporation's website. My problems began when I tried to download updates whilst running a 'hooky' copy of Windows XP Pro. One upload crashed half way through and caused my computer to slip into a time-warp of automatic shutting down and restarting. I tried to fix the problem by reinstalling my dodgy XP Pro over the top, but that only added to my woes - the machine now wouldn't get past the black and white BIOS screens before rebooting.

The only way I could think of fixing the problem was to rip out and replace the hard drive and purchase a genuine (OEM) copy of XP Pro. It wasn't cheap, because naturally I had to have the biggest drives I could afford! I did that, but for some reason the machine still kept on rebooting. Thinking this was a bit odd I returned it to my mate - after all, I paid him to do the job so I wanted it done properly. About a fortnight of head scratching later my PC landed back on my doorstep with the promise it was fixed. I plugged it back in, started it up and ran some programs. Low and behold the crash cycle started again, much to my increasing frustration and greying hair. I returned it back to my mate and had him have another look at it. Finally a few days later my PC boomeranged its way back to me. Finally it was fixed.

I turned out it was partly (mostly) my fault. A few days before my problems started I got my brother to put new RAM modules on the motherboard. I, not knowing any different, thought RAM is RAM and went for the cheapest I could get. It happened to be Kingston Value RAM from Dabs - about £70 for 2 x 512 MB strips. It turns out that this was the cause of my problems from the outset!

So saving maybe £20 by buying the cheapest RAM I could has actually cost me 2 x 350 GB hard drives, an authentic copy of Windows XP Pro and new RAM. Dick Turpin couldn't have done a better job on me. I must have 'sucker' tattooed on my forehead.

(Note to Aidan: No comments about this when I return to work - touchy subject.)

Hell Hath No Fury

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or so the saying goes.

Further evidence of this in the newspapers today. A Birmingham lady known only as Jane was rightly upset that her husband, Mark, and best friend, Shelley, had been having an affair behind her back. Instead of taking a pair of garden shears to his suits she decided to pursue a more creative avenue of retribution.

The story began to unfold on the airwaves of Birmingham local radio station BRMB back in September. It began when Jane emailed her initial suspicions to breakfast show host Caroline Martin and asked for advice. The pantomime has played out for the past two months until last week when Jane finally found cast-iron evidence of her husband's infidelity.

Jane reported he findings back to BRMB and sought suggestion of retalliation. After several prompts from listeners, she eventually decided to create a website about the treacherous duo, followed by a billboard advertising campaign around the city (pictured above).

Jane's explains on her website "If you are reading this, I guess you are wondering what this is all about. Is it a joke or is it some kind of cryptic advertisement or something? I'm sad to say it's not. It's none of the above. It's just my way of getting my own back at the B*stard who I have devoted most of my adult life to, only to find out he is a piece of lying cheating scum!"

Ouch.

More Legal Lunacy

The Royal Courts of Justice - even their sign
contravenes the Trade Descriptions Act.

It's taken a while today to surf around and find a story that gets my blood pumping enough to put pen to paper (figuratively speaking). Whenever it's a slow news day you can guarantee that the UK legal system will throw up a gem of a decision, that contradicts all logical rhyme and reason.

Today it's the story of convicted child rapist and failed asylum seeker known as 'A'. A, a Somali national, was convicted of raping and holding a 13 year-old girl at knifepoint back in 1998. He was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment, during which he showed no remorse for his crimes and refused to participate in the sex-offender treatment programme. Things must have been bad because the Probation Service, whose inadequacies I've already discussed elsewhere, considered him "too high risk" to be considered for parole. When his sentence was up in late 2003 the Home Office decided to hold A in custody, under immigration powers, until he could be deported back to Somalia. The political unrest in Mogadishu meant that it was deemed unsafe to remove A back to his homeland and he was detained in custody.

Mr Justice Calvert Smith ruled that A had been illegally detained for a period of 20 months, during which there was no reasonable prospect of him being deported due to the unstable situation in Somalia. The judge ruled the A should have been released on bail after deporting him proved impossible, despite the likelihood he would abscond.

A has been receiving legal aid funding to fight deportation since 2003. It is estimated he'll receive £50,000 compensation from the Home Office for the 20 months he was 'illegally' detained.

The lunatics really are running the asylum. If you read legal textbooks you'll see that one of the main principles of British justice is to protect the public, but Calvert Smith's ruling about A's release seems to contradict that. The tragic thing is that if A had been released on bail and re-offended, as the Probation Service suspected he would, then someone else would have been taking the Home Office to court. Decisions like this confirm the British legal system as an absolute farce.

Christmas Overkill

The outside of the Lumsden's home.

Following on from 'Forget Festive Cheer - How About Festive Fear?' a couple of days ago, we go from one extreme to the next. You might like to turn down the contrast on your monitor to look at the image above.

Bernie and Denise Lumsden from Bristol, south west England, have an 'impressive' display of 40,000 lights and a huge array of festive novelties. If you think the outside of the house looks bad, you want to see the inside - it's enough to turn even the most of hardy of stomachs! Whether you think it's spectacular or downright tacky (as I do) it's sure to turn heads.

Last Christmas

Josie with brother Charlie
and mother Jacqui.

A heart warming tale of bravery and compassion from not far away from where I am.

Like a lot of people teenager Josie Grove is looking forward to a Christmas at home surrounded by her family and friends. Sixteen year old Josie, from the small market town of Corbridge in the north east of England, looks and sounds just like any other bubbly teenage girl on the outside - perhaps the only sign anything is wrong is her short, cropped thinning hair. She holds high a very wise head on young shoulders.

For Josie this Christmas will be extra memorable - it will be her last. For the past two years she has been battling a virulent strain of Leukaemia. The chemotherapy has taken its toll making her tired, nauseous and distancing her from those she loves. She is worn out from all the needles, operations and hospital visits - she's had enough. The prognosis isn't good, as the Leukaemia relentlessly chomps away at the white blood cells and the medication isn't working. It is unlikely Josie will see the end of 2007. Now Josie has taken the brave decision of fronting out her illness at home, with her parents and baby brother. She wants some final months of quality time in the peaceful, warm surroundings of the family home.

I'm choked just thinking about it. God bless you Josie. Do not fear boarding the train. Your courage is truly inspirational.

Windows Vista Activator - Caution

Windows Vista offers a breakthrough
user experience according to Microsoft.

I'm sure that everyone reading this entry has genuine copies of Microsoft's Windows operating system (wink, wink). In common with most MS products, there has been a pre-release/beta version of Vista provided as a free download on the corporation's official website. The idea is that users download, pick at the fine detail, get used to the product, help iron out any final bugs and upgrade to the full version when it is released early next year. The pre-release version expires just before the full version is released.

Microsoft are hailing Vista as a "breakthrough user experience". Some users are trying to get around the expiry date in the pre-release version, to effectively gain a copy of the full version gratis. Who can blame them - I mean is there anyone who likes the idea of paying hundreds of dollars for a Vista DVD-ROM that cost maybe one dollar to produce? I know Microsoft purists will claim that it's the development process - the thousands of trained chimps that have been feverishly slogging away for the last five years - that justifies the expense of the end-user product. In reality most of the Vista programming will be a direct lift from the previous Windows editions.

Anyway, I digress. The message I want to convey is that if you are one of the people trying to hack the pre-release version be careful. Not only is it (technically) illegal, but it can also be damaging to your machine if you download the wrong file. One file doing the rounds is named 'Windows Vista All Versions Activation 21.11.06'. Anyone who downloads this file will actually be installing a trojan called Ldpinch.AZE, which leaves them vulnerable to hacker attacks.

You have been warned.

Forget Festive Cheer - How About Festive Fear?

Bah humbug - miserable Ebernezer Scrooge from
the Dicken's classic 'A Christmas Carol'.

The details of an interesting report were released yesterday. Law firm Peninsula carried out a survey of 2,300 employers are found that 74% had banned Christmas decorations for fear of offending those of a non-Christian faith.

In a recent Sky News interview Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula, said that most employers were sceptical and dismayed at the political correctness of the trend. Mr Done continued "they feel that they have little choice in the matter due to the threat of litigation; as they have to protect themselves, their reputation and their livelihood."

The research comes as little surprise following several high profile cases of local authorities banning traditional decorations and public festivities. In 1998 Birmingham City Council renamed its Christmas festivities as 'Winterval' in an attempt to create a more cultural atmosphere in keeping with the city's mix of ethnic groups. In 2001 Luton City Council branded its Christmas lights as 'luminos' in reference to the Harry Potter books. Even Royal Mail has come in for recent criticism for completely abandoning traditional biblical images in favour of snowmen, reindeer and Santa Claus.

On a more practical note, the Royal Bank of Scotland has banned City workers from hanging decorations in their offices in case of injury. RBS workers were also reminded "Please remember not to put items on or around your PC screens as this is can be a serious fire risk." The company did offer the compromise of an engineer to hang decorations, highlighting this as primarily a health and safety consideration. I can understand the point of this ruling - wouldn't want an exuberant bank worker, full of the Christmas spirit, becoming unsteady on their feet and falling off a desk whilst trying to hang tinsel.

The sad fact is that a lot of these rules are absolute over kill - they are made to salve the consciences of tree-huggy diversity officers desperately trying to justify their own existences. The vast majority of non-Christians fully understand and accept that Christmas is celebrated in the UK - many enter into the festive spirit in a non-religious manner and have a right good knees-up. That's as it should be. It's a pity that the current legal climate is damaging the principle of goodwill to all men.

Quick Review: Advertise With Blogitive

This is a sponsored post. To view my policy on sponsored entries click HERE.

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Google assigns every website a PageRank, which is effectively a measure of its importance on the internet. The PageRank is calculated using a complicated, secretive algorithm on a scale of 0 to 10. A PageRank 10 site has the highest importance according to Google's system and every webmaster strives to get the traffic associated with this ranking. The exact details of the PageRank algorithm are a closely guarded secret, but experience has shown several strategies of increasing the PageRank value of a site. It is important to have high link popularity. This means you need as many links as possible from across the web pointing at your site. Another important factor is the position of your incoming links on their webpage. Google gives more value to a link in the text content of the page than one hidden on the sidebar. Ideally you want many links from relevant keywords pointing at your site, having given out few links on your site in return.

Gaining these links isn't easy. Most webmaster obtain links by purchasing them, but this can be costly and time consuming. Sometimes reciprocal linking is the answer, but this is counterproductive because you are swapping links instead of making an overall gain. One answer is to write a short web release and promote it through Blogitive.

There are over 2000 blogs in the Blogitive network. Blogitive allows advertisers to place their web review, written in exactly the manner they want, on this diverse range of content-rich blogs. The bloggers will include any keyword and link the advertiser specifies. Blogitive has proven to be an effective way of increasing link popularity.

Money For Nothing

Yesterday's article about Cashing in on Copper and the material worth of a 2 pence coin was an interesting discussion point in my morning coffee break. I was explaining to my workmates Aidan, Chico, Anil and Lynn that a 2 pence coin actually had a copper value of 2.84 pence and as such could be a lucrative opportunity. I can understand people being sceptical about yet another money-making article - after all, you don't get anything for nothing, right? This idea is different - there is a slight glimmer of plausibility!

Destroying any British coin in current circulation is an offence under Section 10 of the 1971 Coinage Act, but assuming there wasn't such a law there is a way of making infinite money (almost). In this hypothetical scenario you could take five hundred 2 pence coins, with a total mass of 3.565 kg, face value of GBP £10 and sell them to an unscrupulous scrap metal merchant for the material price of £14.20. You've just made £4.20 for doing nearly nothing! Now, here's the cunning bit - you take the nice crisp £10 note the scrap metal merchant gave you to the bank you dislike the most - for argument sake I'll say HSBC. At the bank you ask to swap your £10 note for 500 nice new shiny 2 pence coins, which you then resell to the scrap metal merchant - good, eh?

Since there are about 2.55 billion 2 pence coins in circulation you can repeat this up to 5.1 million times and make £21.24 million.

Start looking down the back of your furniture now!

(for anyone who didn't spot it, this is meant to be a joke)