Bill's Comment Page

Graham's Dairies profits plummet

2012-01-26T10:36:00.000Z

(Please see UPDATE at end)

I've just come across this report in the Herald about the recent dramatic fall in pre-tax profits at Graham's Dairies, down 42.5 per cent, whereas turnover rose a significant 20 per cent.

This is usually a sign of over-trading, gaining turnover at the expense of margins. Graham's supplies dairy products to supermarket chains Asda, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Tesco and recently won new business from Morrisons; all have been conducting a 'price war' to gain/retain market share in the current difficult economic climate (and of course it was announced only a couple of weeks ago that Tesco has had very poor trading conditions over Christmas, resulting in a significant fall in share value for the company with renewed profit warnings for the upcoming Easter trading period).

Graham's describes itself as the 'largest independent dairy' group in Scotland. I last wrote about the Bridge of Allan-based company in September 2010 when it was announced it was acquiring Claymore Dairies, at that time the largest employer in Nairn.

All this is unfortunately a graphic illustration of the general malaise that the country, the EU and the wider world is experiencing just now and quite probably for some time to come - as I have written here before "hold on to your hats, folks", expect things to get worse before there is even the glimmer of a prospect of them getting better (for those who remain standing).

UPDATE (Friday 27JAN2012 13.50 GMT) I had not realised that Graham's Dairies was not the only dairy company in the news. The Glasgow-based Robert Wiseman Dairies agreed a couple of weeks ago to be acquired by the German Muller in a cash deal valued at GBP 279.5 million; the company announced 16JAN2011 that more than half the shareholders have agreed; although they have not yet officially voted, it is regarded as a 'done deal'. The company produces about 30 per cent of the fresh milk consumed in the UK. For an insight into how a 'savvy' investor analysed prospects at Wiseman to his advantage click here. Like Graham's, Wiseman recently reported a major drop in profits and the further concentration in production is already worrying some farmers as Muller have apparently in recent weeks cut the price they pay for milk by 0.5p to 29.8p a litre, presumably a way of increasing their own margins (by use of their significant buying power) at the expense of producers who are faced with unavoidably increasing input costs.

What we mean ... What they think we mean

2012-01-24T21:38:00.000Z

Occasionally I come across something interesting, or amusing, or both and this seems to qualify.

When British people say something [idiomatically], do other nationalities, whether English-speaking or non English-speaking, always understand accurately what is implied by the words being used? Communications between people using supposedly the same language, English, as their native tongue can certainly be fraught with misunderstanding when British, Americans or Australians are involved, although I'd say this tends to be marginally less so when I've dealt with Canadians. My own experience over the years has led me to understand that very often misunderstandings arise because people (in this case we British) do not necessarily say directly what they mean, out of 'politeness' or an unwillingness to upset the other person in a social or business context. Mind you, it is not only we British who do this - my dealings with non-European nationalities such as Chinese or Japanese have often thrown up similar mutual misunderstandings and for much the same reasons, not to mention the perils of taking at 'face value' what a French person really means when [s]he says something.

Anyway here is what I came across in the Twitter feed of someone I follow:

I asked him where he got it from and he mentioned the website of a UK charity, but it seems they got it from someplace else and so on - this article in the University of Pennsylvania's "Language Log" gives more background although how accurate or exhaustive it is I cannot say. It adds some more detail to the table above and gives a few phrases in French which can mask what is really being said. In my experience all these are scarily accurate.

Nairn man may face jail, but there's another aspect to the incident

2012-01-13T10:44:00.000Z

A young Nairn man has been told he may face a jail sentence, even if the preferred punishment is a 'restriction of liberty' order (I presume this is something like a curfew enforced by an electronic tag?) for having fired an air-gun over the heads of three boys and a girls (aged between 12 and 15) who were engaged in throwing snowballs at his door. Apparently he asked them to stop doing this, but when they ignored him he used his air-gun.

It is clear that the domestic circumstance of the man who fired the air-gun are somewhat precarious and that if he cannot supply a permanent address the only alternative may be some kind of custodial sentence.

Obviously it is not acceptable for someone to use an air-gun in this manner and he requires punishment, but I wonder if the children who were making a nuisance of themselves will be admonished in any way at all? The article certainly gives no clue about this. Will their parents take them in hand and ensure they do not make a nuisance of themselves in future? Presumably they were discussing the incident (jokingly or in a terrified manner, we are not told) when their 'Guidance teacher' (whatever that is!) overheard them. Will their 'Guidance teacher' be telling them the facts of life about what it takes to be a 'good citizen'? Obviously the man possibly facing a jail sentence needs to learn about this too, but those kids need to know that they shouldn't be going around annoying their neighbours 'for a lark'!

Could north Scotland get a Waitrose in coming 5 years?

2012-01-11T14:06:00.001Z

A couple of evenings ago I was discussing with some friends here our current supermarket shopping options, both very locally here in Nairn and within reasonable distance (by car or bus) in Inverness, Forres or slightly father afield in Elgin. Very locally, we now have a recently-opened and very welcome Sainsbury, with the main alternative being the decidedly inferior (in various ways) Co-operative. In Inverness there are several Tesco outlets, as well as a Morrison, plus various others such as a Co-operative, Lidl and Aldi. Forres duplicates up with a Tesco and a Lidl and Elgin has various including the only Asda in the area, until the planned store in Inverness opens later this year.

We all agreed that it would be great if a Waitrose were to come to this area, but thought that this was unlikely - but one can live in hope. Currently there are 3 branches in Scotland (2 in Edinburgh, 1 in Glasgow), with a 2nd store planned for Glasgow soon. However, Waitrose has signalled it would like to open a further 16 stores in Scotland over the coming 5 years. Now, I expect most of those will be in the Edinburgh or Glasgow area, with perhaps Aberdeen and Dundee getting a look-in, but maybe, just maybe, their consumer profiling exercises could justify one further north, possibly in Inverness, or even (I said I was being fanciful!) in little old Nairn?

Honesty in advertising, if not at all pretty

2012-01-05T15:42:00.001Z

I daresay if you're in the market for a "pre-owned" stained, damaged and scummy "trailer-park" home this might be just the thing:

(thru Kenneth in the (212))

Oh, and a Happy New Year to everybody!

Peace and Joy at Christmas

2011-12-24T19:45:00.000Z

I am signing-off now for a day or so over Christmas, but wish all who pass this way a Joyous Christmas and a Peaceful, Happy and Prosperous New Year. For my music this year I am embedding a short video-clip of images taken from the Hubble Telescope and using the music of Johnann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, highly appropriate at this time of year. Enjoy!

Breast implants - in most cases, why?

2011-12-21T22:56:00.000Z

One thing that has puzzled me for years is why some women have felt the need to have breast implants. I can understand why some women who have been unfortunate enough to become afflicted with breast cancer, necessitating partial or total mastectomy, have wanted to replace the removed cancerous tissue to allow them to regain their former physical profile and perhaps boost their own self-esteem. But I have never understood why a perfectly healthy woman would feel the need to 'enhance' her natural breast profile with artificial implants.

Some women naturally have larger breasts than others, but provided a woman is healthy, what is the point? Is it to boost their own self-worth, or to please a husband or boyfriend? Let's face it, men have different sizes of penises - some 'small', some 'average' and some 'large', but if every man who had (or felt he had) a penis which was too small underwent implant surgery to try and make it appear bigger, it would be a sad commentary both on them and whoever may have encouraged them to do so.

I feel exactly the same about botox or lip enhancement procedures. For goodness sakes, if there is no medical requirement for any of these procedures and they are motivated solely by vanity or to 'please' someone else, then my strong view is that people should leave well enough alone.

This little article has obviously been prompted by the news stories today that many thousands of women had breast implants made using what is described as non-medical grade silicon, manufactured by a now-defunct French company and that there have been some cases of the implants splitting and causing toxic effects in the body.

I seem to have heard this same kind of story a number of times over the years - I'm pretty sure I first heard of this kind of problem at least 20 years ago, perhaps involving breast implants manufactured by a different company for all I know, but just as with the potential dangers associated with smoking tobacco, the risks have been known for a long, long time and in the case of breast implants there is no addictive substance involved, simply what are in my view 'skewed' notions of what constitutes 'beauty'.

Obituary - Václav Havel

2011-12-18T23:27:00.017Z

Václav Havel
5th October 1936 - 18th December 2011

Rest in Peace

Václav Havel died today, aged 75 years. He had fought over many years for an end to Communism in Czechoslovakia and in 1989 led the "Velvet Revolution" which finally toppled the regime. In June 1990 he became President of Czechoslovakia and after Slovakia broke away, the first President of the Czech Republic in February 1993, a position he held until February 2003. You can read his full Obituary in the Telegraph here.

Price differences in Nairn - Sainsbury's & the Co-op

2011-12-13T18:19:00.000Z

Yesterday I had my first visit to the main Co-operative supermarket in Nairn since Sainsbury's opened here back in August this year. I didn't need to buy much, or anything really, but as I was in town anyway I thought I'd take a glance and see what might have changed in the past few months - not a lot, in summary. I did buy a few things (some cheeses, some liquorice allsorts [which I only have around Christmas, as I gorge on them, however big the box!], and some paté), but only really so I wouldn't walk out of the shop with nothing.

However, I did notice a couple of items which illustrate the price differences, some pretty dramatic, between Sainsbury's and the Co-op. Sainsbury's is not known as a low-cost supermarket (and is generally a little more expensive than Tesco, in my experience), but for many things it seems to be positively cheap when compared with its 'rival' in Nairn! The two items I noticed in particular:

- Brussels Sprouts - bagged - £1.00 in Sainsbury's for 500 grams, but for the same price at the Co-op, the bag contains only 250 grams. In other words the Co-op is charging double what Sainsbury's charges for this basic, if seasonal, vegetable! It so happens I had purchased some loose at Sainsbury's a day earlier, and the charge was £1.90 for a kilo, a little less than the bagged price; I didn't notice that the Co-op had them for sale loose. I tend only to buy brussels sprouts in the run-up to Christmas and in January. I love them, either simply steamed or occasionally I will over-cook them deliberately, then purée them with cream and freshly-ground nutmeg; if I'm feeling in the mood I will pipe the purée into spirals on baking-paper to keep warm in the oven - I love it!

- Sherry - Amontillado - bottle of 1 litre. In Sainsbury's this sells for £6.49, whereas in the Co-op it is on sale for £6.89, a 40p (or a 6.2%) mark-up. I buy sherry of various kinds on a very regular basis and can therefore report that Amontillado at Tesco costs £6.47 for a 1 litre bottle, but the 2p price differential (possibly with similar savings on other items) is perhaps only partially worthwhile for a major shopping-basket, given that one must drive either to Inverness or Forres to shop at Tesco, so the slightly higher costs at Sainsbury's seem relatively unimportant. A further advantage of shopping at Sainsbury's for a regular sherry-drinker such as me is that, unusually for a supermarket, they have two different styles of Amontillado, a 'Pale Dry' and a 'Medium', whereas both the Co-op and Tesco have only one, of the 'medium' variety. Sainsbury's 'Pale Dry' is not quite so dry as a classic 'Fino'.

So, there we have it - the Co-op in Nairn seems for many of the kinds of products that I might wish to buy, even if they stock them in their much smaller floor-space, to be considerably more expensive than our new Sainsbury's. It is probably true that I am not your typical consumer, at least not in this area, but unless you live close to the Co-op and don't have a car, then I'd say it's a clear no-contest - shop at Sainsbury's!

A video-clip religious bigots should be forced to watch ...

2011-12-04T10:56:00.017Z

... to try and get it into their thick skulls that hatred and bigotry hurt real people. Yes, this is relevant to the consultation currently going on in Scotland about whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry and if so whether such marriages may take place in a religious setting or officiated over by religious bodies or whether they should be possible only without religious intervention. I'm not 'religious' in any way myself, but some people are and for them it is important. On the other hand I think it reasonable that particular religious bodies should not be obliged to conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies if they do not wish to and I cannot imagine why any same-sex couple would wish to be married in circumstances where those conducting it objected to doing so, but that does not mean that religious bodies should have any kind of veto over allowing civil same-sex marriages. Tolerance needs to work both ways - and neither Scotland nor the UK generally are theocratic states, but secular democracies, even if we have the bizarre system of having 'established' churches.

Anyway, I came across this powerful video-clip today which, although obviously put together by a young American boy, is a very powerful testament to the types of consequences which can flow from the hateful beliefs of some religious bodies which they have been spewing forth these past weeks against the possibility of allowing any kind of same-sex marriage here:

(thru Boy Culture - relevant post here.)
- this boy, despite being bullied, taunted and made fun of because of the possibility he is gay and having indulged in 'cutting' and thought about suicide in response to the treatment he has received, has decided he isn't going anywhere. Far too many 'teens (specially male teens and young people) have committed suicide over the years for the same reason - read the statistics about suicide in Scotland.

In Nairn we have a weekly newspaper, published every Tuesday - The Nairnshire Telegraph does not have any online presence, so it is not possible to link to their articles, but one item they carry every week is a sort of 'moral homily' from some religious bloke signing himself 'Sandy Shaw - Nairn Christian Fellowship' and they are usually pretty trite, apart from being poorly written and full of logical non sequiturs. The article this past week was titled 'Marriage' and yes, it was about that old hobby-horse, religious objections to gay marriage. I reproduce the article below so you can read it for yourself, but I will be making a few comments about it further down this article:

The Nairnshire Telepgraph
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - page 6

Now to the fisking of this piece of tosh:

"For centuries, heterosexual marriage has been recognised across cultures as the most successful building block for sound solid society"

- I don't quarrel with the basic premise of this sentence, but the word "heterosexual" is completely superfluous, because it has been the only kind in recent centuries, but in those few countries where same-sex marriage already exists there is absolutely no evidence that this has led to societal breakdown or to heterosexual marriage being in any way diminished in value, one of the postulations put forward without any evidence by those who object to the concept of same-sex marriage. In any case, the modern concept of marriage does not have the deep roots in history which Sandy Shaw would have us believe; it has evolved over the centuries - and this is as true of same-sex as heterosexual marriage. Read more here.

"Marriage recognises and acknowledges the uniqueness of the complimentary genders of male and female, and their ability to produce children."

- I do not wish to be unnecessarily rude to ignorant fools like Sandy Shaw, but he really does need to learn the difference between "complimentary" and "complementary", the latter being the word he should have used. His statement, with that correction, seems at fist glance to be not completely nonsensical, but then of course we come to the not enormously rare number of cases where marriage partners (a man and a woman, just to be clear) do not have children, either through the incapacity of one or other or both to procreate or because one or the other or both does not desire to have children. It almost seems as if Sandy Shaw is implying that marriages without children are not valid marriages - I expect he would deny this interpretation hotly, but it is certainly a logical interpretation of what he has written.

His next sentence: "Jesus Christ honoured marriage and put his imprimatur upon this holy institution" is a matter of belief without any concrete historical evidence, but in modern cultures (including that of the UK) civil marriage is just as valid and legal as marriage under religious auspices and indeed in many countries (for example France and the Netherlands, of which I have personal knowledge) it is the civil ceremony which is required by law to make a marriage legal, with a religious ceremony following on only for those who wish to have one, but has absolutely no status under civil law.

"When people have asked if marriage will make any difference, where a couple are living together, one response has been, "It will make it right"."
and
"This move to redefine marriage marriage is far more serious than many realise"."

In his first sentence I wonder of Mr Shaw has thought through the implications of what he has written. It has been held, or I always thought it had been, that for a [heterosexual] couple to 'live together', specially if they procreate and have children, that such a couple is 'living in sin' from a Christian perspective. But as Mr Shaw must know, just as much has me, this has become an increasingly common occurrence in recent decades, whatever he or I may think about this, so to 'correct the matter' by formalising the relationship must surely be a 'good thing' in his terms? Of course one response has been that "It will make it right", but there may be other responses. Then he proceeds with his logical non sequitur in the second sentence, because the earlier sentence could apply equally to hetero-sexual marriage as to same-sex marriage. But why is it "far more serious"? Sandy Shaw makes that statement, but then of course blunders on with his article without providing any information to justify it.

"It has been suggested that Government has no right to redefine marriage. To do so would be acting ultra vires - acting beyond their powers and authority."

Well, many things have "been suggested", but it doesn't necessarily make it so and of course Mr Shaw provides no evidence to back up his statement, because of course there is none. The Government, provided it can get a Bill passed through Parliament (whether at Westminster or at Holyrood in the case of Scotland) and get the resulting Act signed into law by Her Majesty the Queen (which She does automatically, by convention, when Parliament passes Bills), can make whatever laws it chooses, with the only sanction being that a subsequent Government, after an election, might reverse or nullify that law. Those are the facts, Mr Shaw, so to "suggest" the Government "has no right" to redefine marriage or anything else is just idiotic. I could suggest the Earth is flat all I like, or that the Earth was created a mere six thousand years ago, but apart from in my own little fantasy world no-one else would have any obligation to take me seriously. Of course in Sandy Shaw's special 'fantasy world', merely making the suggestion makes it a fact, as he then goes on to talking about it being "ultra vires", as if his cod misuse of Latin makes his contention any more believable, or valid.

"If Government is so rash as to define marriage, then that is what will be taught in schools, and will be upheld by other public bodies, and woe betide anyone daring to be controversial or intolerant, by simply holding to the traditional biblical pattern.

Fair enough, Sandy Shaw may assert that such a change would be "rash", but of course he provides no evidence to back up the assertion. It used to be held that marriage between members of different races was somehow "wrong" - there was even a word for it "miscegenation", just like it used to be believed in some places that children of different races should attend different schools, or that people of different races should use different beaches or sit in different parts of buses. So, Mr Shaw, please provide some evidence to back up your assertion, but please don't peddle your bigotry and petty prejudices as having some kind of objective validity. As for "... holding to the traditional biblical pattern", well I hate to be the one to have to point this out to the delusiuonal Mr Shaw, but neither Scotland nor the rest of the UK are theocracies - people like Mr Shaw are free to believe whatever nonsense they wish, but until a theocracy is established in this country, his view on this matter is no more 'valid' than my 'belief' that green wine gums are somehow 'better' than orange ones, but I expect some others think the opposite, or that yellow ones are the best. It's a matter of opinion, nothing more.

"Take this one stage further. If marriage is legally redefined in this one area, why not polygamy."

Oh, I accept it could happen, but do not think it terribly likely - and indeed polygamy has existed at different times and in different cultures throughout human history. Really, Sandy Shaw is 'clutching at straws', or 'dredging the barrel' with this tired argument (and I apologise for my use of cliches, but I find it difficult to take people like Mr Shaw seriously).

I'm nearly reaching the end of this yawn-fest. His penultimate and before penultimate paragraphs are so logically chaotic that I think I will leave them to stand in their sublime meaninglessness, but his final sentence:

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

is presumably his basic contention that "the country is going to the dogs" by considering a change to permit same-sex marriage, but as with the rest of his assertions he provides no corroborating evidence. People like Mr Shaw said similar things when buses were desegregated in the US South, or when women were campaigning for voting rights in the early part of the 20th century in the UK. Societies evolve. It is no longer considered 'sinful' to have clothes made of mixed threads or to eat shellfish or to eat milk and meat together, all things which are in his Christian Bible.

I usually glance at Mr Shaw's 'homilies' each week when I am in Nairn; they are all of a type - prejudice masquerading as 'morality'. His subject the week before was "Money", but I shall spare myself the penance of de-constructing that article and any readers to tedium of reading about it.

I hope the Scottish Executive (aka 'Scottish Government') will, after its consultative programme, get with the 21st century and pass the Bill into law to allow same-sex civil marriage and permit those churches that wish to permit adherents to use their premises or personnel for this purpose to do so.

The face and the name behind the "Lallands Peat Worrier" blog

2011-11-27T12:58:00.003Z

I've had the Lallands Peat Worrier blog in my bloglist for some years, but apart from coming to value the obvious 'erudition' of his articles on legal issues affecting Scotland I had no real idea of who the person behind this blog is. So I was inerested to come across this video-clip of a recent appearance by Andrew Tickell on the 'Politics Show - Scotland' programme:

- speaking from Oxford. However, as the programme presenter introduced him as a "Scottish legal blogger" we are not in fact very much farther forward in being able to understand who he is, so a little digging via Google reveals this very interesting biography, which I think puts his credentials into much better focus. Below is an excerpt:

Education

Andrew Tickell is a DPhil candidate. Before joining the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in 2009, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2008 with a 1st Class Honours degree in Law, awarded with the Lord President Cooper Memorial Prize. A year of his undergraduate study was spent in the Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands. In December 2009 he completed an MSc in Equality and Human Rights (awarded with distinction) at the University of Glasgow’s School of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences with a thesis exploring ‘Gender and the Scottish Bar: Masculinity, Femininity & Representation in the Faculty of Advocates.’ He holds an Arts and Humanities Research Council Award.

- so the basis for his erudition is much clearer. On the other hand I do not share his views on Scotland's position within the United Kingdom, nor his desire to see that position change with a move to Scottish separation/independence. However, whatever I may think of his views on this matter, he is certainly someone who writes with great clarity of thought and rationality and his is one of those blogs that I try and read regularly, simply for the sheer quality of his writing.

(Video-clip thru Caron's Musings, another blog I read although somewhat less-regularly, but also thru Scottish Roundup whose weekly selections I generally glance through. I did some more research myself to find the link to his biography.)

Nigel Farage tells the truth to the European Parliament

2011-11-18T11:39:00.004Z

I am not remotely a supporter of UKIP, nor of Nigel Farage, but it is undeniable that he often speaks great sense - colourfully, yes, but always jovially and rationally. Here he is, telling the unvarnished truth to the European Parliament on Wednesday 16th November 2011, in the presence of both Herman van Rompuy (President of the European Council) and José Manuel Barroso (President of the European Commission), about the constitutional outrages that have been perpetrated upon two EU member states in recent weeks, namely Greece and Italy.

Whatever one may have thought of Papandreou and Berlusconi, both were democratically elected by their respective countries, a lot more than can be said of the current puppet governments in both countries, nor indeed of von Rompuy and Barroso. It is a truly extraordinary phenomenon! Europe has slid, without any fanfare whatsoever, into a fascistic nightmare not, I am completely certain, any part of it a desire by modern-day Germany to 'dominate', but perhaps because of a completely understandable desire in Germany not to debauch their currency because of the painful relatively-recent history of that country. Even now, I can hardly believe what has happened and is still continuing to happen. From the time the UK joined what was then the European Economic Community (EEC), I have been a fervent supporter of it and I was even, emotionally at least, in favour of the setting-up of the Euro as a currency. However, I was always worried that this could never work properly without complete fiscal union of the countries involved, and for more or less the reasons that most now see the Euro as being a complete disaster. It bears repeating that the two countries which first broke the rule that national budget deficits should not exceed 3 per cent, as far back as 2003, were Germany and France and nothing happened, because both were/are too powerful. However, when a third country, Portugal, did the same it was 'read the riot act'. It was really from then that I began to have a much stronger view that the UK had been completely correct not to join the Euro, not of course that our own Labour government was behaving any more responsibly, but at least Labour kept us out of that disaster.

To be honest, whilst I am still not a Eurosceptic, I hesitate any longer to say I am a Europhile - if people like me are beginning to think this way, then I really do wonder how long we can be denied a referendum on our continuing membership of the European Union.

Lest we forget ...

2011-11-13T11:00:00.000Z

London 2012 - Olympic torch route around Britain

2011-11-07T13:52:00.007Z

The route the London 2012 Olympic torch will take around the UK next year was announced today, beginning on 19th May at Land's End, in the extreme south-west, before progressing around the whole country until it arrives at the Olympic Stadium in east London for the Opening Ceremony on 27th July. You can see a map and list of place-names the torch is going to be on any given day here.

The Olympic torch won't actually be passing through the town where I live in Scotland, Nairn, but it'll be passing pretty close on 9th June, when it will be travelling from Glasgow to Inverness (15 miles west of Nairn), with various places around Loch Ness being mentioned as way-points on its journey (Fort Augustus, Invermoriston, Lewiston, Drumnadrochit then Inverness). Then again on 11th June it will be passing relatively close by on its way from Stornoway to Aberdeen, the following perhaps being of local-ish interest (Inverness, Aviemore, Carrbridge, Grantown-on-Spey, Tomintoul), with either Carrbridge or Grantown-on-Spey being the easiest to get to from here, quite apart from involving a journey through lovely scenery to get there.

I'm not entirely sure that I shall be here myself to even contemplate making a journey to see the torch pass by, because it is possible/probable I shall still be at my place in Spain at that time next year, but I'll certainly read with interest what others say about it passing their way, wherever that is in Britain. I think that whatever one may think about the Olympic Games coming to the UK, and the undoubted expense it will involve, I do think that it may serve to cheer up at least a little what could potentially be a pretty troubled period for this country and for Europe generally, if recent events in Greece (the birthplace of the Olympic Games) are any guide.

The "Jesus Saves" stone that didn't save a lady driver

2011-11-02T08:08:00.005Z

A dreadful incident is reported on in the Inverness Courier in which a lady driving on the Nairn to Grantown-on-Spey road was assaulted whilst parked at a stone with the words "Jesus Saves" painted on it. It's not in fact very clear from the report what form the assault took - whether it was theft or for some sexual reason.

I don't drive on that road very often (although the scenery in the area is rather dramatic) and have often noticed the message on the stone - it is indeed something of a 'feature' on this road, so the fact that it makes it into a newspaper report doesn't entirely surprise me. So far as I recall, it is on quite a bendy bit of the road, with no obvious place to park nearby. It is certainly ironic, and I do not wish in any way to minimise the seriousness of what happened to this unfortunate lady, that the message conveyed by the words was not borne out in practice. If anyone has any information about this incident they can contact the police in Nairn on 01667 452222.

UN-BUH-LIEV-ABLE !!

2011-10-17T20:10:00.006+01:00

OK, I've been silent here for a few weeks (having too much fun whilst on my current sojourn in Spain - plus possibly some very good personal news - more later perhaps, if things continue to develop positively), but this is really too interesting (and gruesome) not to pass on:

- this image-grab gives the salient details:

- read more from the Las Vegas Review-Journal here

There but ...

(thru Kenneth in the (212), here)

Article heading list for latest 6-month period (April 2011 to September 2011) now up

2011-10-01T09:34:00.001+01:00

The archive of 'Article Headings' for the latest 6-month period is now available - click here for the period April 2011 to September 2011.

There are permanent links in the right bar to this and earlier 6-month 'Article Heading' indices, immediately below the standard 'Blogger' monthly archive links.

The economic and political shambles that is the Euro

2011-09-29T18:34:00.009+01:00

My basic view about the currency called the Euro has not changed much over the past 10 or 12 years - as someone who is basically in favour of the EEC (now the EU), I was emotionally attached to the idea of having a common currency. However, whatever my emotional attachment to the concept of a single currency, I was always aware that that it could probably never work without the full fiscal (and effectively political) integration of all the countries participating. Trying to tie countries with low productivity and 'inefficient' tax collection regimes, into the same interest rate regime as countries with high productivity and a much more effective tax-collection history was bound to lead to major problems - and it has.

As such it was clear to me, however much I might personally have regretted this, that it would have been folly for the UK to have adopted the Euro as a replacement currency for the Pound Sterling. The political will simply did not (and does not) exist in the UK to adopt common fiscal and economic policies across the EU (or the more limited Eurozone). The price of keeping France and Germany 'sweet' with each other has always been for France to be allowed to dictate to the 'club' politically, with Germany picking up the 'tab'. Now the German population is at last waking up to the awful implications - the likelihood that Germany will have to subsidise the less-productive and more profligate countries on a semi-permanent basis. Germany may be a prosperous and successful economic 'powerhouse', but it is certainly not a bottomless pit - and Angela Merkel's efforts to carry a vote for continued German financial support for the troubled Eurozone economies may cost her dear politically in due course with her own electorate. On the other hand, one cannot ignore the fact that the low interest-rate regime and the downward effect on the value of the Euro because of the less-performing economies has certainly not been bad for the efficient German export-led economy; now the costs of that success are becoming clear to the German people.

Of course, now it is fashionable to blame the 'soft underbelly' of the EU (i.e. the profligate Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain - plus of course the 'celtic tiger' Ireland) for the 'pickle' that the Euro and the Eurozone countries have got themselves into, but it was two of the theoretically strongest economies in the EU that first broke the rules by allowing their budget deficits to exceed the 3% laid down - when a little later Portugal also broke that particular rule it was of course this last country that suffered the ignominy of being called on it, whereas the first two miscreants escaped unscathed, simply because they were too big and powerful for the EU Commission criticisms at the time to have any effect at all - they were simply ignored. So the country that had always, since the 1950s, exercised prudence with both its currency and budget planning (West Germany, later the re-unified Germany, using the Deutsche Mark) broke with its own recent history, whilst France of course didn't need much excuse to follow.

Tax may be difficult to collect in most countries, but generally-speaking most countries in Europe have reasonably-sound systems for ensuring compliance (not perfect of course), even France, which has a reputation for 'creativity' in this area historically. But no-one could possibly have imagined that Greece fell into the same category - I don't think even the most fervent Greek patriot would ever have claimed this.

Of course, it's not only within the Eurozone that fiscal common sense went out the window! Our own beloved and much-unlamented Labour government, under Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer and latterly as Prime Minister, thought that transforming as high a proportion as possible of the population into clients of the State, as recipients of so-called benefits, was a good thing to do, if only to try and tighten their own grip on political power forever - fortunately that particular myth, and horrific prospect, was dispelled with the election result of May 2010, even if somewhat inconclusively.

It so happens I was watching Newsnight last night and watched the bunfight develop in which Peter Oborne, a right-of-centre journalist for the Telegraph, became rather rude about an EU official speaking by video-link from Brussels:

- it is a pity that Oborne flung the 'idiot' label at the European Commission spokesman, Adameu Altafraj-Tardio, who is undoubtedly not an 'idiot' in the literal sense, although his attempted robust defence of the policies being carried out both by the European Commission under Barroso and various of the European political leaders, notably Merkel of Germany and Sarkozy of France, in their attempts to defend the [very continuance of] the Euro, might cast doubt on their total grip on reality. The unfortunate Adameu Altafraj-Tardio responded by walking out of the studio in Brussels.It is doubly-unfortunate that Oborne's verbal aggression took the direction it did, because his basic arguments were sound.

How long can the Euro survive in its present form and with its current constituent members? Whether it does survive or not, it is unfortunately likely that the political and economic costs will be huge and far-reaching. It is hard not to be melodramatic about what could happen, given the kinds of things that have happened in European history in the not so very far distant past.

"Engrenages" - Spiral (French TV cop series) - Series 1

2011-09-24T23:26:00.009+01:00

I wrote a couple of years ago about the 2nd series of this 'gritty' French television 'cop' drama.

Since then I've seen the 3rd series, equally-astonishing in its 'grittiness', but just recently I've at last seen the 1st series, which I missed the first time around. This evening, in fact, I've just watched the final two of the eight episodes of this marvellous drama, like all the three series it was shown on BBC4 television. The adjective 'gritty' doesn't quite do it justice though - perhaps 'stomach-churning', 'hurl-worthy' or plain 'gruesome' would sum it up better!

It would be wrong and insensitive to say I have grown to 'know' and/or 'love' any of the characters in this bleak drama, but I suspect it is, whilst no doubt over-dramatised for the purposes of producing a television series, unfortunately not too far removed from the harsh daily reality of many involved in some of the nastier real-life crimes I've heard about in recent years.

I do hope a 4th series is in prospect? - and from this website of French producing company Canal+ it seems that filming of the 4th series began in August this year and will be completed by next April, with the series being expanded from the usual 8 episodes to 12 for this 4th series. What new horrors they will have in store for us can only be imagined! You can find a rough translation into English of the synopsis of the 4th series, linked to above, here.

Ten years on - 11th September 2001

2011-09-11T13:46:00.001+01:00

It is hard to believe it is ten years already since the horrific events of 11th September 2001 (otherwise known as "9/11"), but it remains vividly etched in the memory.

There have many television programmes in recent days covering different aspects of this terrorist outrage and tragedy. However, I prefer simply to mark the tenth anniversary with this brief message and pictorial story-board.

This and other recent terrorist acts are commemorated permanently in my personal website here.

PS/ I wrote an article entitled "Terrorism and Civil Liberties" shortly after '9/11' in the comment area of my personal website (as I only began this blog 6 months later), as a reminder, still just as necessary today, that the fight against terrorism should not be used as a justification by governments in democratic countries to curtail civil liberties; fortunately we have now got rid of the Blair/Brown/Blunkett/Straw Labour Party 'cabal' of quasi-authoritarians who cynically used fear of terrorism to set about turning the UK into the most watched nation in the world, with the possible exception of North Korea, and whilst many of the worst aspects of their collective mania have since been rescinded (e.g. ID Cards) we are still living with many of their follies. A couple of wise sayings need to be borne in mind here:
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." (Wendell Philipps);
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Benjamin Franklin).

Nairn murder - potential new lead?

2011-09-10T09:13:00.007+01:00

(Please see UPDATE at end)

The Inverness Courier (picked up by the Press Association and the BBC) is reporting that it has received a telephone call from a man who "claimed he was a Dutch charity worker who met a Highland man who knew the killer of 30-year-old Mr Wilson. During the conversation, lasting almost 20 minutes, the contact first enquired if the case had been solved and went on to name the man he met abroad and give details of where and when.". The caller is reported by the Inverness Courier to have said: "He said he knew all about it. He knew this Mr Wilson and knows the man who killed him".

Very circuitous information - what we can gather is that a caller, apparently a Dutch charity worker, says he spoke with a 'Highland man' who says he knew Mr Alistair Wilson (who was murdered on his doorstep in Nairn in November 2004) and the man who killed him (who according to what he is alleged to have said is a person other than himself). The Inverness Courier reports also that the caller named the 'Highland man' he had met abroad and made mention of it being a crime with an 'international link' and that the clue may lie in China.

Presumably the Inverness Courier has passed on the name of the person named by the caller to the Police (Northern Constabulary) and that assuming this 'Highland Man' is in the Highlands efforts will be made to trace him and to ask him what he knows. All very intriguing.

As I usually mention when writing about this case, if you have information about this crime, visit the Northern Constabulary dedicated page or telephone Nairn Police now on 01667 452222, the Inquiry Team in Inverness on 01463 715555, or you may make an anonymous call to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

My most recent previous article on the murder is here. There are links to all my posts on this murder, so close to where I live, in the right-hand column under the heading 'Murder in Nairn' articles.

UPDATE (Tuesday 29NOV2011 08.40 GMT) The Inverness Courier is reporting that the potential new lead, referring to a connection in China, has now been ruled out. This 7 year old murder remains unsolved.

Blanket ban on blood donations by homosexual men to be lifted

2011-09-08T14:15:00.005+01:00

The blanket ban on blood donations by homosexual and bisexual men is to be lifted from 7th November 2011 in England, Wales and Scotland; not [yet] in Northern Ireland, though.

Whilst this is a definite move in the right direction, there is a big caveat attached to the relaxation of the ban which makes me wonder if it is being made merely to comply with the strict letter of EU anti-discrimination regulations rather than to effect any practical change. The change applies only to gay men who [say they] have not had anal or oral sex with another man in the twelve months prior to the donation. Even those in long-term committed monogamous relationships are not exempt from this 12-month rule. What is really being said is that a man (whether homosexual or bisexual) must abstain from having sex with another male for 12 months, but of course the bisexual man is in no way banned from donating if he has had sex with a woman during those 12 months.

Is this in any way realistic, quite apart from whether it is discriminatory or not?

Nor of course are sexually promiscuous supposedly heterosexual men or women in any way banned from donating blood, however unsafe their sexual practices may be.

Another factor that is crucial, whoever is donating blood, is honesty and truthfulness. How is any verification to be carried out, in a practical sense, of whether a man's declaration (whether homosexual, bisexual or indeed heterosexual) that they have not had sex with another man during the preceding 12 months is factually correct? How has it been possible, until now, to verify a delcaration from any man that they have never had sex with another man, to comply with the current blanket ban.

What really needs to happen is that ALL potential donors should be quizzed about their sexual history, whilst accepting that some people (whether homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, male or female) will not be completely open and honest. Who is to know whether a purportedly heterosexual man (or woman) has not had unsafe sex of one kind or another whilst away from home on a business-trip or a vacation? And how likely is it that a purportedly happily-married person will admit willingly to such unsafe behaviour unless there is compelling evidence which makes it impossible to cover up?

Forgive me, but I think this change is cosmetic and with little real substance in any practical sense.

Austrian Economics: Why it matters

2011-08-28T21:42:00.011+01:00

I believe that the best long-term remedy for the economic catastrophe that has been plaguing us these past four years is the adoption one simple strategy: the government should largely step back from trying to 'manage' the economy and allow market forces to play the primary role in its management, so that resources would be diverted, by these market forces, into the most productive outlets. That in a nutshell is what "Austrian Economics" is all about. Think about the real reasons the housing price boom which preceded the current prolonged recession occurred - I would say it was because interest rates were artificially maintained at too low a level by government intervention, so that it became too easy to borrow money, much of which was not employed in genuinely productive investments, but instead was used by many individuals as seed-money for investment property portfolios, which itself of course fuelled the building of property to meet the increased demand for property. Now the government tells us it must keep interest rates low so as not to cause a downturn and to stimulate spending, even if it requires the printing of more money without any backing. It is like pouring petrol on a blazing fire! The net result of this kind of madness is the inflation which we are now seeing beginning to gather pace, after having been told every month for the past four or so years that the rise in inflation was only 'temporary' and would soon be reversed - that reversal has of course not occurred yet. The "Keynesian" model that is being followed is not working, and never worked (nor could it ever work), but governments and central banks (in our case the Bank of England) are loath to accept this - because the conventional wisdom is that the "Keynesian" policy of interventionism is the correct path to follow, when empirical evidence points in a completely different direction.

This is just a small example of the fundamental differences in ideas which separate "Austrian Economics" from the "Keynesian" philosophy of economics which many western countries have followed far far too many decades. The video-clip below is well-worth watching in full - it is quite lengthy - as it discusses very clearly and I think pretty objectively the rationale which lies behind "Austrian Economic" theory:

- this is taken from the an article in the blog of the Ludwig von Mises Institute whose website is here.

If you are not familiar with "Austrian Economic" theory, then I urge you to become so - for then you will, I hope, begin to understand why the "Keynesian" economic theories which our and many other governments have been following for so many decades is so counter-productive in the longer-term and that there is another better way of conducting our economic affairs.

"Everybody Hurts" - a very professional amateur choir performs

2011-08-25T11:16:00.004+01:00

I just came across this extremely professional 'cover' version of the REM song "Everybody Hurts", sung by 32 High School kids from schools in Chapel Hill NC (USA) - it seems the REM group are just as impressed by their fine performance. Enjoy!

(Spotted in the Kenneth in the (212) blog here - "Glee!" indeed.)

A German journalist gives his views on the English/UK rioting

2011-08-11T11:41:00.011+01:00

Thomas Kielinger has been a London correspondent of the German newspaper Die Welt for over twenty years, has been made an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen and has been interviewed by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

I think his views are worth listening to because they are from an interested and probably pretty knowledgable 'outsider' who has never seemed to me, whenever I have read his writings or seen him on various television programmes in the past (mainly on the BBC News channel, where he often in the panel on the programme Dateline London, but occasionally in other situations, too) to have any particular axe to grind. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says in the interview, because it is clear that whilst many (perhaps most) of the persons involved in carrying out the recent rioting and looting have been 'black' mainly Afro-Caribbeans (hardly any 'Asians' were involved at all, so far as I understand, although a number were certainly victims), there have also been a significant number of 'white' youths and children of both sexes who have been actively involved. Nevertheless I think Kielinger's views do merit careful consideration; let's hope he is correct in his comments about Germany.

I don't have any useful comments to make about the underlying causes of what has happened in various large urban settings across England; there are people much more competent than me who can perhaps comment sensibly. All that I will say is that I am thankful that this contagion has not spread to major Scottish cities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee or Aberdeen and it is pleasing to have seen that some police personnel have been sent to assist their English colleagues in various parts of the country with restoring and maintaining law and order - last night seems to have been considerably more peaceful with no major incidents reported.

Now I am watching the emergency debate in the House of Commons. I have so far heard the Prime Minister, David Cameron, make a statement, followed by the response of the Leader of the Opposition, Ed Milliband. Both have spoken well and I think broadly constructively, although there are perhaps too many 'platitudes' from the Labour leader and the PM is not entirely guilt-free in this regard either - now I am listening to Daviod Cameron making his follow-on comments. That's really all I've got to say for the present. Perhaps there will be more later.

Petition to retain the ban on Capital Punishment

2011-08-05T07:28:00.007+01:00

I support the principle that capital punishment, which in plain language is judicial killing by the State, is wrong in all circumstances. The State should not be in the business of executing people. Crimes for which people are convicted according to law do require punishment - that punishment should be strict, but humane. Some will argue that persons convicted of certain particularly heinous crimes (wilful murder, torture, rape to take a few) deserve no compassion and no rights. I don't necessarily disagree with either argument, but it is not the 'immortal soul' (if such exists) of the convicted person which concerns me, rather what it says about the societies and people who sanction judicial killing. Do we really wish to liken ourselves not just to the US's of this world, but to the Irans and Chinas, too?

A number of people convicted of murder in recent years have had their convictions overturned; in some cases they have been exonerated completely and in other cases new evidence has come to light which has cast sufficient doubt upon the original conviction for it to have been suspect. Were investigative processes always completely accurate during the period when capital punishment was still in force? Forgive me, but I simply do not believe it. What is completely certain, however, is that once someone has been executed, the punishment (as distinct from the conviction) can never be retracted.

I do believe, however, that a term of punishment should be observed strictly - a sentence of 'life imprisonment' should mean precisely that. There should be no parole, ever, under any circumstances, unless new evidence comes to light casting doubt upon the original conviction. So someone suffering from a terminal illness and who was serving a term of life imprisonment would die in prison - there should be no nonsense about allowing someone home to die.

It is on this basis that I have signed the e-Petition for the retention of the ban on captial punishment. If you share this basic view and if you wish you can sign the petition here.

Sainsbury's Nairn - first visit

2011-08-03T20:20:00.004+01:00

(Please see UPDATE at end)

OK folks, today was the big day when Sainsbury's came to Nairn - yippee!

I decided to go along late-ish in the morning, possibly not one of my more brilliant ideas, because of course by that time the decent-sized car park was completely full- after driving round a couple of times I decided to cut my losses and drive out - in the the event I drove back into town and around the building where I live, then back up to the supermarket. After 'kerb-crawling' around the car park for a second time I was able to wait for a family about to leave and get into their spot. Success!

The trolleys are the kind where you have to put a £1 (or a €1) coin in the slot - fair enough, lots of supermarkets do that now, although Tesco doesn't. The petrol station seems conveniently-positioned and although I didn't use it today (my tank is almost full at present), I have no doubt I will use it very frequently in weeks/months to come.

Anyway, on to the 'shopping experience'. I'll write a few words at the end about some trends I've noticed at many supermarkets over the past few years, but for the present I'll write about Sainsbury's Nairn specifically. A pretty conventional lay-out, with open ducting and pipework visible above your head - a bit like Asda or Homebase with its 'warehouse' feel), unlike Tesco where the ceiling is enclosed with a false-ceiling. However, the lighting at Sainsbury's is bright, without being in any way 'harsh', so quite pleasant. To the left there was a counter/kiosk (presumably for the tobacco addicts amongst us - I didn't really look), with newspapers on a walk-around rack nearby, including the local 'rag' The Nairnshire Telegraph (a weekly publication), then to the left an aisle of magazines including 'Attitude' I was pleasantly surprised to see (the sub-header for this blog will enlarge on why this is important for me); I used to buy this from the big Tesco outlet in Inverness, although I don't think their Forres outlet stocks it - however, I now get it by subscription as it costs less that way. but it it still very pleasing to see it stocked in a local store - the Co-op in the town of course never did; if it is still stocked here when my current subscription expires I may choose to purchase it locally, even at greater cost, to express my pleasure at this welcome change.

The fairly usual lay-out continued at the left with aisles of women's, children's and men's clothing, then household goods and some small electrical household items. Not as extensive, of course, as in the larger Inverness Tesco, but much more than in the Forres branch of that chain - I'd say the store in Nairn is about 1/3 bigger that its Forres 'cousin'. It was in this area that I made my first purchases - although I really don't need more towels, they had some really attractive colours on offer so I had myself a large bath sheet and a matching bath-mat in a particularly bright colour which was labelled 'teal' - a sort of very deep turquoise.

Actually I had done a pretty big shop a couple of days ago in Tesco at Forres so didn't 'need' to buy too much, but I had a good look at the meat and fish counters and bought something from both and a few items from the salad vegetable area - all seems of nice quality and attractively-presented. Prior to my visit I had a good look through my jars of dried herbs - I have quite a large selection at home, but I expect like most people some get used fairly infrequently so have been in my herb/spice racks for 'some time' and I thought they probably needed 'updating' - doing this gave me a chance to check the range on offer at Sainsbury's and I'd say it is pretty good, although I noticed a few gaps - in any case I got two of the three I was looking for (the missing one was the classic 'fines herbes' mix which I always use in omelettes) and an extra one because it seemed a good price, although the existing jar I have is almost full and pretty new, but I use it quite a lot.

I enjoyed having a look at the display of sherries - I drink this quite a lot - very unusually for a supermarket there were two different kinds of own-brand Amontillado, a 'pale dry' and a 'medium' version; as I usually only see the 'medium' locally I decided to give the 'pale dry' version a whirl and I had a glass a short time ago and can report it is pretty good. I also got a bottle of their fino, although I haven't tried it yet. In addition I got a couple of reds - an 'own label' Claret from Bordeaux (i.e. France) and a Merlot (not 'own label') from Carcassonne in Provence (i.e. also in France). Big supermarkets do have skilled wine-buyers so I have no doubt both will provide a good glass, well worth the relatively modest prices paid.

Again, as with the towels, I didn't really need more eggs, but I use a lot so bought some of their 'free range' as this is what I always buy.

The staff seemed pretty 'on the ball', and I did ask one for some help in the salad area, and although he didn't know the answer himself he was very pleasant and immediately went off to find out from someone who did and was back in a few moments directing me to the right shelf area and he led me there. So full marks for that. A couple of other staff also asked me how I was getting on, one seemed to be a more 'senior' person given his different attire. Obviously the whole place was very busy, as lots of people were 'milling around' getting to grips with the layout, but overall I was pretty impressed by the general 'body language' of staff, busy yes - but never abrupt or harrassed-looking. The Tesco in Inverness (and indeed in Forres, also in Eastbourne in a very large store, as well as in Perth, all of which I have shopped in recently) always seems to me to have staff who look 'busy and harrassed' and more senior people who tend to stride around and barge past paying customers, doing whatever they are doing (i.e. maintaining their positions in the 'corporate chain', somehwat self-importantly). Tesco is obviously a big, successful supermarket chain, which provides decent quality at a relatively-decent price, but it is all pretty 'soul-less' and one never feels particuarly 'valued'. I'd have to say that on its opening day the Nairn Sainsbury's, even though very busy, provided a rather more 'civilised' shopping experience. Interestingly, and carrying on this 'theme', I'd have to say that Asda in all its stores I have ever visited seems to have particularly friendly, helpful and well-trained staff, even though it is usually regarded as a 'value' brand, if not exactly 'low cost' in the Lidl or Aldi mould.

Pricing. I'd say Sainsbury's here is generally a little more expensive than Tesco, but certainly much better value than our local Co-op, but on the other hand as I don't need to drive 12 miles (to Forres) or 15 miles (to Inverness) to shop there, or spend the petrol doing so, there is no contest! Sainsbury's here seems to have a sufficiently large range of goods on offer to make it perfectly well able to cater for most of my weekly shopping needs, even if I may still make the trips to Inverness, Forres or Elgin occasionally. I cannot say I will never darken the door of the Co-op in Nairn ever again, but if I do it will certainly not be very often, unless I wish also to visit one of the shops in the High Street. That's the reality and I daresay I'm not going to be specially unusual in that blunt analysis.

Now, and finally, to return to the general layout matters I referred to near the beginning of this article. Entrances - why do most large supermarkets now have 'foyers' tacked on to the front of their premises with pretty restricted areas for traffic to flow in and out of the store?! Sainsbury's is just like Tesco in this respect. I expect it has to do with 'security' to make it easier for shop security staff to apprehend pilferers from making-off with merchandise without paying for it, and I can hardly blame them for that. However, for whatever reason, and probably to do with deep matters of human psychology, people tend to 'loiter' at these entrance, or in the 'foyers', and generally make it an obstacle course to get in or out of the place! This applies to Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and to Asda - the four UK-based superkarkets I have recent experience of (we will never, unfortunately, have a Waitrose in this area, I expect, but I can dream, can't I?), I'm sure there are better ways of organising things. And of course there are - any branch of Lidl, the 'low cost' German supermarket chain I have ever visited (in the UK or Spain) has a segregated entrance and exit - whatever other faults that brand has (and there are a number), neither the entrance nor the exit is ever an obstacle course!

To end this extended review on an overwhelmingly positive note, however, I must record that the new Sainsbury's in Nairn will be of huge benefit to Nairn residents and indeed those from the surrounding area - I am completely certain that many of the shoppers I saw at the store today came from well outside Nairn, probably from a radius such as Elgin, Grantown-on-Spey and Inverness or perhaps further. I have no doubt that things will settle down in a few days and whilst it is likely that people from the towns and areas nearby will continue to visit our new Sainsbury's in Nairn, from time to time (and with a bit of luck some of the other retail outlets in Nairn, too, if the latter are wise and 'embrace' this new magnet to our town, rather than continue the negative mantra that typifies this rather inward-looking little town - yes, this is as positive as I can bring myself to be as a reaction to some of the attitudes here, sorry, one of which I listened to with barely-suppressed irritation from a fellow Nairn resident, like myself an 'incomer' although one who has lived here much longer than me, even if she hails from a much farther-distant part of the UK than I do, when relating my experiences today after my first Sainsbury's visit). So a big 'thumbs up' to Sainsbury's!! Welcome!

PS/ Having just read the 'pap' that passes for comment in another Nairn blog, I must report I forgot to mention the issue of Gaelic signage - it is very irritating that the Gaelic versions are printed above the English in many of the major signs near the entrance, no doubt to appeal to the local 'Gaelic mafia' contingent, so one (and undoubtedly most customers, too) has to do a double-take to understand what the sign is saying, but after my initial irritation with this 'pandering' to the sensibilities of a [very] small minority, it is pleasing to report that once one proceeds into the shop this nonsense is quietly fortgotten and the language that the vast bulk of customers have as their first language, English, reigns supreme! I am of course Scottish and very proud and happy to be so, but I am primarily British and my first language is English, just like most people here in Nairn and elsewhere in Scotland and of course throughout the UK. I have no objection to catering for minority languages, for that is what Gaelic is, indeed I am very happy that effrots are made to accommodate it, but I really do object to it being giving precedence over the language of the vast majority of people even in what is laughably called 'Gaeldom' - although I can well appreciate the delicate path that Sainsbury's has had to tread to establish its presence here. Now, having got that off my chest, let me reiterate how happy I am to see Sainsbury's here in Nairn.

UPDATE: (Friday 05AUG11 20.01 BST) I posted a comment in one of the other Nairn blogs (My Nairn, relevant article here) earlier today and quote it here for completeness: "I had my second visit this morning – it was easy to park this time, although there were still quite a few people. Altogether very pleasant. I seem to recall the lack of an in-store cafe/restaurant was part of the planning conditions, perhaps to try and protect the numerous low-cost tea-shops and restaurants in town. Personally I shall still have to go to Inverness (Tesco or Boots) for a few items Sainsbury’s don’t stock, but for almost all my needs it will suffice and I will in any case be going in the direction of Inverness every so often, so it is no hardship."

Sainsbury's Nairn - one week countdown begins tomorrow!

2011-07-26T17:47:00.009+01:00

(Please see UPDATE at end)

Yes, only about a week to go until the new Sainsbury's supermarket just on the eastern edge of Nairn is scheduled to open on Wednesday 3rd August 2011. The last time I passed nearby was a few days ago, on my way to do some shopping at rival store Tesco in Forres and it seemd then that the infrastructure for the new Sainsbury's outlet was just about complete - obviously I haven't been able to see inside the new store yet, but my comments relate to the car-parking area and to the dedicated petrol station near the entrance to the site. The new roundabout on the A96 seemed complete, with only minor work still to be done before the new road infrastructure would be complete.

As part of the planning for the new Sainsbury's, several (5 I believe) new sets of traffic lights have been installed at various parts of the A96 as it passes though Nairn and these were switched on a little over a week ago, since when the traffic seems to have been flowing through the town remarkably smoothly at most times of the day, with only a little congestion for what seem to be quite brief periods and certainly a lot fewer than there were before. From my apartment I get a good view of a part of the highway as it passes through the town so these comments are based on my personal observations.

Over the past couple of days I have crossed the threshhold of the main branch of the Co-op in Nairn on a couple of occasions (most recently earlier today). Unlike some in the town I am not 'boycotting' it per se and will probably still visit it occasionally from time to time for small purchases, just as I have in the past, but the vast bulk of my weekly shopping requirements will probably shift from the large Tesco store on the eastern edge of Inverness, with lesser but still significant shopping being done in the smaller, but somewhat closer Forres store, to the new Sainsbury's outlet in Nairn - that is the reality and I expect I will not be the only one who will relegate the second-rate Co-op to the bottom of my list for shopping preferences.

I notice that there is a page in Sainsbury's website dedicated to job recruitment for the new Nairn store - I have no idea of course how many if any of these jobs remain available, but one imagines that for the store to be opening next week, many job vacancies have already been filled.

Roll on Wednesday, 3rd August 2011
- for the new Sainsbury's store in Nairn!

UPDATE: (Thursday 4th August 2011 13.51 BST) Please see my article yesterday entitled Sainsbury's Nairn - first visit, written following my first visit to the new store on its opening day.

Nairn - new Highland Council refuse collection schedules

2011-07-19T14:11:00.021+01:00

Earlier this month Highland Council introduced new recycling procedures, which involve all households being issued with an additional blue 'wheelie bin' to supplement the green 'wheelie bin' everyone already has, plus of course the brown 'wheelie bin' that some housegolds have for the collection of garden waste.

All households in the Nairn area received a pack a couple of weeks ago with a calendar of the new collections schedule for different categories of waste, together with a leaflet explaining in some detail what may be put in each type of 'wheelie bin'. Of course it remains possible to visit the Nairn recycling centre outside Nairn on the Grantown-on-Spey road (see my blog article about that and some other issues here) to dispose of bulkier items, specially between the dates when regular kerb collections are made; that earlier article contains a photographs of the opening times in November 2009 - current opening times are listed here, which at this time are shown as:

Nairn Recycling Centre
Park Quarry on the A939
Nairn
IV12 5QN

Summer
1st April - 30th September
Monday to Friday 10.00am - 7.00pm
Saturday - Sunday 10.00am - 4.30pm

Winter
1st October - 31st March
Wednesday to Sunday 10.00am - 4.30pm.

Below are images of the front cover of the 'Recyclying Guide' and of the collection calandar for the year 2011/12 (July 2011 through June 2012), but enlargements of both these images and of the rest of the 'Recyclying Guide' and of the collection calendar for the following year (July 2012 through June 2013) are available here; this link is also shown in the table below:

Nairn - new Highland Council refuse collection schedules
from July 2011

Click here to see enlargements of both the photographs below,
together with several additonal photographs.

Click here to see enlargements of both the photographs above,
together with several additonal photographs.

When it was first announced some months ago (perhaps late last year, or perhaps earlier this year, I don't remember exactly when) that there were going to be changes to Highland Council's refuse collection procedures, my recollection is that it was said to be an exercise to reduce refuse collections from once every week to once every two weeks, with the aim of saving money, to help plug the gap between what income Highland Council receives in various forms and what it spends (in other words to reduce its large budgetary deficit). However, this exercise seems to have 'morphed' into a completely different exercise, with the aim of 'reduce', 'reuse' and 'recycle'. I don't necessarily quarrel with this, but it does seem to be VERY good business for the manufacturers of 'wheelie bins' - shares in such companies must be very buoyant at present, I would imagine, as Highland Council is certainly not the only local authority in the wider UK and Scotland which is undertaking this kind of exercise. Also, weekly refuse collections have simply been replaced by weekly collections categorised into the different kinds of refuse - with the requirement on householders to separate their waste into those categories, not perhaps a 'bad' or terribly 'cumbersome' requirement in itself, but what it does require of householders is to provide space for not just one 'wheelie bin', but at least two and in some cases three - not everyone has the space to store these additional 'wheelie bins' conveniently or in a tidy manner. Finally, it is hard to believe that this massive exercise will result in the saving of any money whatsoever, but if I am wrong about this I shall be glad to have evidence provided.

Internet speeds in Nairn

2011-07-13T20:50:00.003+01:00

I've noticed over the past few weeks that the responsiveness of the internet in Nairn has grown very patchy, particularly during peak 'business hours' between Monday and Friday - certainly between 9am and midday and between about 2pm and 5pm. We are being promised 'high speed interet' fairly soon in Nairn and I can only surmise that business usage of the internet in and around Nairn has grown steadily in recent times, or perhaps the data links between this part of Scotland and the wider world have become saturated. My rated internet speed here is the ubiquitous "upto 8mB", whereas at my home in Spain it is rated at only "upto 2mB", but I have to say it seems better and more reliable in Spain - perhaps because my internet connection there is via an optical-fibre network, whereas I think in Nairn we are still reliant on good old copper wires so far as I am aware.

I did think at one point it may be my own internet connection that was faulty, or that my own PCs (I have a few which I use regularly) were somehow at fault, but I think I have established this is not the reason. However, I would still be interested to know if anyone else in the Inverness - Nairn - Forres - Elgin area is having similar experiences of late.

An era of spaceflight ends with the last Shuttle flight scheduled later today

2011-07-08T11:36:00.006+01:00

(Please see UPDATE at end)

Later today, if all goes as planned, Shuttle Atlantis will be launched on the last ever Shuttle Mission, designated as ST-135. Full details of all Shuttle missions are listed here, from the first test flights until the later operational flights.

I am lucky enough to have been on vacation in Florida during the time of one of the launches in 1985 and because my itinerary was flexible I extended my stay in the Daytona Beach area for a couple of extra days, staying at an hotel on Cocoa Beach just south of Cape Canaveral (aka Cape Kennedy) so that I could line up on the beach with several hundred others to watch the launch and even although we were in fact some miles away from the launch site it was quite impressive. A couple of days earlier I had in fact visited the Kennedy Space Center on a regular tourist bus picked up through my hotel and enjoyed it very much - quite apart from visiting the various exhibition halls there (for example the displays relating to the Apollo moon missions and the old mission control room used for them) we were taken on a tour of a small part of the base, which is vast, with the various launch sites pointed out in the distance even although for security reasons we were never taken very close to them - but because the assemble halls and launch structures are so huge one never had any difficulty in seeing them.

So that was pretty exciting, but a few months later my memories of watching the launch of mission STS-61-A on 30th October 1985 (the 22nd Shuttle mission) became somewhat bittersweet, because that was the penultimate mission of Shuttle Challenger, which exploded soon after its launch on 28th January 1986 (Shuttle mission 25).

Now the International Space Staion will be reliant on manned flights provided by the Russians and in future it seems possible that the major space-faring nation will be China. Who knows? All of this will probably come when I am far too old to know or care, or perhaps after my demise. Near-Earth flights seem to be what we will be limited to for the forseeable future.

My hope of course is that today's planned launch of Shuttle Atlantis will see its 12-day mission completed successfully and safely.

UPDATE (Friday 08JUL2011 16.40 BST) Shuttle Atlantis was successfully launched about 10 minutes ago, I am very happy to record.

Nairn bank fraudster fined for "ringing the changes" offences

2011-07-07T09:25:00.003+01:00

The Highland News is reporting that a fraudster called Andre Rostas (from Thornton Heath, Croydon) has been fine at Inverness Sheriff Court for an attempted fraud and a further successful fraud at the Nairn branches of Bank of Scotland and The Royal Bank of Scotland respectively.

The fraud involved trying to confuse bank cashiers ('tellers') when asking for largie sums of money to be changed into different note denominations, then changing his mind and asking for another denomination, abstracting some of the notes in the process by sleight of hand. The report mentions that this individual had a conviction for a similar offence last February, although it does not mention where that offence took place.

The court warned Rostas that if he came before a Scottish court again the matter would be dealt with very severely. One does wonder whether this man, clearly a serial and habitual offender, has not been dealt with too leniently this time with only a fine (of GBP2,000-) being imposed.

Nairn Dunbar to host Scottish Boys Open Strokeplay Championship

2011-07-02T10:06:00.003+01:00

The Scottish Boys Open Strokeplay Championship is to be hosted this year in Nairn at the Nairn Dunbar Golf Club.

Success at the event is coveted by aspiring young Scottish male golfers. Nairn Dunbar Golf Club last hosted the event in 1999. The event will take place this time between 19 July and 21 July 2011.

Good Scottish Beef - from Nairn

2011-06-27T09:25:00.004+01:00

Yes, a Nairn farmer has taken top accolade at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh in the Asda/ABP Beeflink steak competition. 'James Fraser said he was delighted with the win, more so as it was the first time he had entered the competition. "I was over the moon last week when we found out we’d qualified for the final eight, to win something on this scale is simply amazing."' There's another report of the win here, with a photograph of the prize presentation.

Well done!

The egotist has landed ...

2011-06-20T13:58:00.004+01:00

Yes, "The Donald" has jetted-in in an aeroplane bearing his name to oversee progress on his new golf course development near Aberdeen. According to the linked BBC report, he is is expected to spend a number of days at the Menie Estate.

I watched an interview with him on the BBC news at 1 o'clock and he was quite frank in stating that, without the projected golf development arousing controversy, few would know it was happening and although he did not state this explicitly he implied very strongly that he was very happy with this. Of course "The Donald" could never be accused of being a shrinking violet! And why should he be? He has built up what appears to be a successful business empire and 'brand' by being brash and tough, with his name being plastered across everything from office buildings, hotels and of course his aeroplane. My attitude is definitely one of "Good luck to him!" and of course I am not one of those who objects to him developing a golfing, hotel, residential and leisure complex north of Aberdeen, indeed I think it is great and I hope the whole place will be a huge success once completed.

PS/ My slightly ironic title for this article is not in any way critical of him, it is just my little joke based on the title of the movie The Eagle has Landed, by Trump's hawk-like facial features and his not inconsiderable ego.

Strange things people leave behind after a day out

2011-06-19T22:11:00.006+01:00

(Please see UPDATE at end)

Spotted from my apartment earlier this evening and still there now. I hope and pray the parents actually remembered the child which presumably formerly occupied this push-chair and anorak. The scene is at the edge of the cricket pitch, immediately in front of my apartment.

UPDATE (Sunday 19JUN2011 22.32 BST) Amazing - I wasn't aware my little blog was quite so widely-read; within 15 minutes of me publishing this article the push-chair and anorak have disappeared, presumably collected by the owners - but who knows. I took the photograph only about 5 minutes before writing my article.

Bill's encounter with a hot steam iron ...

2011-06-18T12:08:00.006+01:00

I tweeted a couple of days ago about my carelessness whilst using my steam iron:

After a day the scorch marks on my arm began to be quite visible and this morning I took this shot of the affected arm after my shower:

- the longer scorch at the top is a little sore, as the wound is beginning to scab, but it doesn't seem to be infected in any way - in any case a dab of Savlon has been applied just to be sure. I'm sure in a week or so it'll just be a painful memory.

Interesting visits to my little blog

2011-06-16T15:51:00.004+01:00

Occasionally I notice a particularly interesting visit to my little blog and such an event occurred just about 15-20 minutes ago and I thought I'd say "Hi!" to whomever it was who was kind enough to land here, just in case I have a return visit.

The Google query concerned was "carol barclay kinghorn" and when I checked, my relevant blog article comes at the top of the Google search results, amazingly ahead of two BBC news reports at around the same time; as the link in my blog article was to a similar BBC article I had read and which prompted my article, I think it illustrates just how discerning Google is to 'recommend' me so highly.

However, the really interesting thing about this search so far as I am concerned is that it emanates from a "Halifax & Bank of Scotland" server, seemingly in Halifax - the lady concerned was at the time employed as an Assistant Manager by HBOS at its Gyle Shopping Centre branch in Edinburgh. I wrote my article in March 2009, so I am wondering if she is now at liberty once more or perhaps in discussion with her [now presumably former] employers.

The pitfalls of "anonymous blogging"

2011-06-15T17:02:00.013+01:00

(Please see UPDATE at end)

One of the things this blog is not, and never has been, is "anonymous" - there really is a person called "Bill Cameron" and I have been blogging here for in excess of nine years. Enough people in the "real world" (assuming you don't actually buy into the notion that we are all living in some kind of Matrix make-believe world) know both me and this blog for its genuineness to have been established long ago.

What has prompted this now? Well, it seems there has been for some months a blog purportedly written by a lesbian in Syria, a country currently enduring considerable social turmoil, which was revealed a few days ago to have been a completely fictitious creation of an American heterosexual male currently studying for a Masters Degree at, of all places, Edinburgh University. Another false blog profile was apparently created, a male US military person again writing as a lesbian, to 'authenticate' the original fraud.

Many people write 'anonymously' for one reason or another. Often-times, in my opinion, such blogs are written by Walter Mitty types who have no obvious real need to write anonymously, but seem to feel that it adds an air of 'mystery' or 'exoticism' to their scribblings. So far as I am concerned I find such 'coyness' merely tedious - and boring. I could cite dozens of blogs in the UK and US which fall into this cateogry (but won't, or at least not directly) - some do write interestingly, but most are really not worth the time and effort of anyone else to read them. Perhaps they do save some money on therapists for the writers.

The first I heard of the 'Syrian lesbian blog' in question was a couple of days ago in a gay news ['mainstream' in the online gay community] website, based in the UK although the first link I saw to it was in a blog article today, but unfortunately the blog in question has now been restricted only to invited viewers, so I am unable to comment directly on any of the actual articles in the 'offending' blog; I use the word 'offending' ironically. Equally ironically, the linked blog is itself written 'anonymously' - no doubt the person behind it is a person who exists in a physical reality, apparently in Dundee (a city in Scotland), but I have absolutely no means of evaluating this in any way that might be called 'evidence'; the email address provided in the linked blogger profile is decidedly obscure. I have no particular reason to doubt the claim within the blog that the writer is indeed a 'lady of a certain age' living in Dundee, but nor is there any credible 'evidence' to substantiate this, so I have always read 'her' blog with a certain degree of scepticism. There have been certain incidents in the past which have since made me wonder whether my classification of the writer as 'histrionic' (a sort of 'Winifred Mitty' if you like, a female version of the afore-linked 'Walter Mitty') is not so very far off the mark.

I make absolutely no apology for the scepticism with which I view all 'anonymous' blogs; the writers of such blogs may protest their genuineness as much as they want, but I reserve the right to continue to regard them with some suspicion. Even some of those where I have come to know the real identity of the writers seem to me to have suspect motives for continuing to write their blogs anonymously.

More pernicious undoubtedly are those blogs which set themselves up with a completley false 'persona' which purports to be that of a real person - such seems to be the case with this latest "Syrian lesbian" blog imposter; perhaps the original motive of Tom MacMaster for starting this blog was honourable, but it was at best naïve and at worst deeply destructive and dangerous for those within Syria who have apparently been duped into believing in the genuineness of his blog.

The only safe stance on the internet is to be on guard at all times. It has become all too common in recent years for 'phishers' to purport to send emails from genuine companies or oganisations in the hope of gleaning from innocent users of the genuine websites their usernames and passwords, later to be used by the 'phishers' for nefarious purposes. So although my little blog is completely genuine, as could be attested by various friends, acquaintances and family members in the 'real world', most readers of it do not know me personally, so the only completely safe policy for them is to maintain a healthy scepticism.

One of the other links that Subrosa provides is to a Guardian article written by someone called Kira Cochrane, a more contrived load of pseudo-feminist claptrap than which I have not read in a very long time, richly deserving a complete fisking, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to do a complete job as I have a life to live. However a couple of examples:

In the case of MacMaster and Graber, sexual gratification doesn't seem to have been the prime motive, although there are certainly signs that the two men may have got some erotic thrill from pretending to be lesbians – "Amina" apparently often flirted with "Paula".

- well, although as I mentioned above I have not been in a position to read the actual exchanges in question, it seems to me that it would be a prerequisite to 'carry off' the deception that the two purportedly lesbian protagonists would have possibly 'flirted' with each other, although frankly any semi-sentient human being might just have smelled a rat - just how 'genuine' and believable were these exchanges? Moreover, unless at least some of the articles in the blog were in Arabic I would have been extremely sceptical as to the blog's genuineness - it is perfectly true that a number of blogs written by Arabs (male and female, gay and straight) exist or have existed with most articles written in English, this was specially true in the run-up to and following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 (there was indeed one very well-known blog written by a gay Iraqi man who subsequently became a columnist in the Guardian for a while), but most had at least some content in the Arabic language, either in the articles themselves or in the comments. If the whole thing was in completely perfect idiomatic English, and none of the comment I have read indicates otherwise, then that alone would have been a warning indicator to me.

In fact, as the psychotherapist and feminist writer Susie Orbach says, they seem to have been using these lesbian personas as a "double inversion – exploiting the 'illegitimacy' of the person they were impersonating to give themselves legitimacy".

- am I the only one who thinks this is just so much iname 'gibberish'? It reads like invented pyschobabble to me!

Alomost the only part of this tendentious twaddle that seems to have any validity whasoever is the final paragraph which reads:

While there are worries that this will undermine the lesbian blogosphere – creating a question mark over all who write about gay issues online – Campbell suspects it won't do too much lasting damage. "Internet life is full of hoaxes," she says, "it's full of virtuality. Lesbian bloggers who are embedded and authentic will continue, and all these others will fall away."

- although the bit about internet life being 'full of virtuality' is the kind of trite, pseudo-profound insight that is in reality just the meaningless rubbish that typifies far too much mainstream media writing about the internet. The whole internet IS VIRTUAL - Doh!

There are/were bloggers writing in western countries who have perhaps been justified in maintaining anonymity, either because they were writing about sensitive matters that might have personal ramifications for them from those who know them in real life, or because of their employment if their blogs touched on matters relating to their place of work; indeed a number of such bloggers have been dismissed or forced out of their employment when their identities were revealed.

Finally, I don't pretend to know what it is to be lesbian or to be a lesbian writer from a country where repression and intimidation is the norm. On the other hand I am a gay man who has lived for many years in a number of extremely repressive societies in the Middle East and elswehere, so I think I do have an inkling of some of the pressures involved and certainly a lot more than some of the male and female bloggers and journalists who have been pontificating about this over the past few days, most of whom are neither lesbian nor gay, nor do they have the experience of living under a repressive reigime.

To whose who say "Don't believe all you read on the internet", I can only respond that I may enjoy reading many things on the internet, but I never, ever forget to be sceptical of all I read there - and for you, dear reader, that means this article, too (unless you happen to know me personally, that is).

UPDATE: (Thursday 16JUN2011 08.50 BST) Here's a more wide-ranging analyis and discussion in Slate on the phenomenon of people adopting false personas for their writing exploits - click here; the Google-cache link to the blatantly false apology from the operator of the LezGetReal bulletin board is well worth clicking on, too, from there.

Brian Souter Knighthood - sign the petition opposing this

2011-06-14T07:27:00.004+01:00

Brian Souter, a co-founder of major transport company 'Stagecoach', has just been granted a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2011. However, as the man who provided a million pounds of his own money for a campaign opposing the repeal of the anti-LGBT 'Section 28' (Clause 2a in Scotland), I feel this is a deeply flawed award and should be withdrawn as it is deeply insulting to the LGBT community, who suffered increased violence in the wake of the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to keep this odious piece of legislation. The legislation was finally repealed in Scotland in June 2000 and in the rest of the UK in November 2003 - the full history of this legislation is here.

In the event that you feel as I do, I wanted to draw your attention to an important petition that I recently signed to "Withdraw Brian Souter's Knighthood" - I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes just a few seconds of your time. If you wish to visit and sign the petition, please click here to go there now.

I urge you to consider signing this petition.

My Kindle in its new 'skin'

2011-06-13T19:31:00.005+01:00

I had tried to order this, without success, from the Gelaskins US website a few months ago, but now Gelaskins are available through the Amazon UK website I ordered "The Great Wave" skin of a painting by Katsushika Hokusai (probably one of the most famous Japanese paintings) a few days ago and it arrived today. It looks quite good I think.

Front

Back

Apart from reading books on my Kindle, I download the Telegraph newspaper daily (GBP9.99 a month) and the Spectator magazine weekly (GBP2.99 a month) - pretty good value, I think - even without all the pictures and cartoons.

Criticise Gaelic broadcasting and the "Gaelic Mafia" rears its ugly head!

2011-06-12T17:13:00.004+01:00

My last article was about the recently-launched BBC Alba, a development which I regard as fundamentally positive - because it provides a suitable widely-available channel for those who wish to view it to watch programmes in the Gaelic language, but at the same time should relieve other channels (for example BBC2) of the need to broadcast in that language, in my opinion, except in exceptional cases.

Whilst I accept that some may hold different views on this matter, I object very strongly to comments from two of the three persons who chose to comment upon what I write that if I didn't like Gaelic-language broadcasts on BBC2, even now that BBC Alba is widely-available, I should move to England; the 3rd commenter in particular over-stepped what I consider acceptable limits in writing:

If you don't like Scottish telly, in Gaelic or English, then move to England.

- of course this goes way beyond what I wrote. I like a lot of television in Scotland, but even if I didn't to basically be told to move elsewhere just to accommodate the wishes of a pretty small minority of the population (estimates are that there are 50-100,000 speakers of Gaelic in Scotland, in other words between 1 and 2 per cent of the population), speaks volumes about the attitudes of at least some of those who use Gaelic, although I hope and believe not many share these kinds of absolutist 'take it or leave it' views. I have just as much right to live in Scotland (just of course has any other citizen of the UK, whichever part of it they consider 'home'), and to state my views plainly and unequivocally, just as they do. But this is my blog and I will not be told in comments in it that I need to move from my homeland just to accommodate their small-minded prejudices. If they want to express such views, then they should start their own blogs or other means of publication to promulgate them, but I do not propose to allow my blog to be used to promulgate such small-minded and nasty views. Naturally I exclude from these remarks the comment made by the first commenter - he and I differ radically in how we see Scotland's [political] future, but his comments here and his writings in his own blog have always been expressed in a civilised manner, even when as on this particular issue our views do diverge quite a lot.

NB/ I am not permitting comments on this article (this is only the second time in over nine years I have taken this action - the only other time I have felt the need to close comments on an article here was also caused by unpleasantness in comments by Gaelic-speakers discussing the usage of Gaelic on road-signs in Scotland and who seemed unable to discuss the matter rationally without resort to abuse).

BBC Alba, Gaelic-language programming and BBC2 Scotland

2011-06-10T08:53:00.011+01:00

This is a mostly-good-news observational article, with some less good news thrown in just to 'keep it real'.

First the good news; from 8th June the Gaelic-language channel TeleG (which broadcast only for a couple of hours a day and was, I understand, an offering from ITV) has been replaced on digital television channel 8 in Scotland by the BBC offering - BBC Alba - broadcasting mainly in Gaelic for 7 hours a day (8 hours a day at weekends) during late-afternoon until midnight.

As all parts of Scotland now receive digital television only (the analogue transmitters having been switched off some months ago), it is now possible for everyone in Scotland and who still wishes to watch terrestrial (as distinct from satellite) broadcasts to see all the Freeview digital offerings, so BBC Alba is now a truly 'national service'. I have no personal interest whatsoever in Gaelic-language broadcasting, but it is certainly a 'good thing' for those who do wish to do so to be able to watch programming in that language, wherever in Scotland they happen to be.

One of the things that has 'bugged' me for years was the two-hours of Gaelic-language broadcasting on BBC2 every Thursday evening, during the peak early-evening schedules, when there were usually much more interesting (to me) programmes airing in England, but which I could not watch in Scotland (although ironically I could in the past few years whilst at my Spanish home). The move of BBC Alba to the Freeview platform seems, happily, to have ended this lamentable state of affairs - next week's Radio Times magazine shows that Thursday-evening BBC2 programming is now Gaelic-free. Hurrah!

However, nothing in the BBC is ever that simple, of course, specially where the Kremlin-on-the-Clyde (the BBC Scotland HQ in Glasgow) is concerned! A close study of the BBC2 schedule for next week shows that a 1-hour Gaelic-language broadcast has been sneaked into the schedule at 7pm on Monday evening; the alternative in England seems to be an episode of James May's Toy Stories - the Great Train Race, which is possibly a repeat, although I'm not sure about that. However, it still does not explain why, or excuse, a 'Gaelic Music Sessions' programmes being slipped into the schedule on a Monday at peak viewing time.

In fact the 7pm slot on BBC2 next week on several days seems to be devoted to local Scottish programming of one kind or another, although only on Tuesday does it seem to be in Gaelic. I have no particular objection to this, except that for example on Tuesday I'd far rather have the opportunity of watching "This World: The Invasion of Lampedusa" (the Italian island which has had an influx of illegal immigrants crossing from Libya and beyond in recent months) to something called 'The Adventure Show' about sporting events based in Scotland this week it seems. Wednesday and Thurday seem to be mercifully free of 'parochial' programming, although it creeps back in on Friday - but at least it's only on Monday that it's in Gaelic, still too much now that BBC Alba is available.

I do have a 'bee in my bonnet' about this issue, don't I? So sue me!

NB/ In view of the unpleasant nature of some of the comments here, I regret to advise that further comments on this article are not permitted.

Super Injunctions and the "right to privacy"

2011-05-23T12:02:00.014+01:00

(Please see UPDATE at end)

The current controversy, farce, call it what you will, about the "right to privacy" which people may or may not have in different circumstances and whether it should be possible to injunct not only mention of the underlying subject of the injunction, but the very fact that an injunction has been granted (in other words a 'super injunction'), has continued to grow. All of this is relevant to the Common Law of England and Wales; as was shown yesterday a Scottish publication has published some information subject to an injunction under English law, on the grounds (which seem pretty incontrovertible) that as Scotland has it own legal system, Scots Law, persons in Scotland are not subject to rulings by English courts, unless similar injunctions ('interdictions' in Scotland) are applied for and granted by a Scottish court. This is no different, in legal terms, from a US or French publication choosing to ignore a ruling in an English court. And vice versa or course. The fact that both England and Wales and Scotland are part of one political entity, the United Kingdom, is just one of the curiosities of British life.

Anyway what I have written above relates solely to the mechanics of what is going on, not to the underlying merits of the various cases and, going beyond that, the willingness of those subject to various laws to acquiesce in their effects.

Now I am not going to name the footballer named yesterday by a Scottish newspaper, and which I had already known for quite some time of course as it has been mentioned or alluded to regularly on the internet for many days. However, it is alleged that this footballer has been having an adulterous affair with a lady not his wife; the lady has been named (she is not the beneficiary of a super injunction), but I am not going to mention her name here either. So far as I am concerned whom the footballer or this lady whoose to have sexual intercourse with is a matter of complete indifference - the fact of me knowing or not knowing about it does not affect me in any way at all, nor does it affect 'national security' so far as I can see. They are breaking no law. Some people may consider the footballer, as a married man, a 'sinner' or morally flawed for having had sex outside marriage. For me, I simply do not care - it is a matter for the two individuals concerned and the wife and children of the footballer.

However, we British and indeed most nationalities have rather hypocritical attitudes to matters concerning sex. Most of us would be horrified if our own personal sexual life was plastered across the front page of a newspaper, but are 'titillated' to read of the goings-on of the rich and famous in this area. A few countries do seem to have a more 'sophisticated' view (or 'debauched' if you take a different attitude) of such personal matters where they have no effect on public affairs. The former head of the IMF, a French citizen, is currently undergoing legal process in the US because of the differences between the US and France relating to such issues - although it is clear that in that case it is not simply a matter of sex, but the exercise of power in a sexual context by one person over another, something which is tolerated in most societies, at least historically but probably contemporaneously too, far more than most would care to recognise or acknowledge.

So why do newspapers publish such personal information, which has no public dimension? Well, it is really very simple - it helps them to sell more copies, because many people (whatever they may say) enjoy reading about sex or 'famous people' acting in a way that some consider inappropriate. So it is basically about money. In that context it would seem sensible to me that there should be some element of privacy - not to protect a footballer, or indeed his children (that's his job and if he was really concerned about that then he wouldn't have done things which so many people would pay money to read about and which he could have predicted would be the case once the 'lust' was over), but simply because it really is not anyone's business but those involved. Only if society changes such that most people would not care about others knowing of their own sexual behaviour - always provided of course it is mutually consensual and not carried out using coercion of any kind for any of those involved - would it seem to become a matter of such indifference that publication would have no effect on a person's 'reputation', so would be unlikely to increase sales of any publication that chose to print stories about it. The financial imperative would have disappeared, so it is unlikely any newspaper would bother.

Until society does change, and most people's hypocrisy lessens, then individuals probably do require some legal right to privacy for their private life where it has no impact whatsoever on public affairs. The mechanism of achieving such privacy in the internet age with different legal systems and principles applying across borders is not immediately obvious to me.

Then you have cases where a person's behaviour in private does have an impact on public affairs - and sometimes it may genuinely be difficult to differentiate between those that do have an impact on public affairs and those that don't. I cite the case of a former newspaper editor and currently presenter of a major political discussion programme on television (yes, I speak of Andrew Marr) whose name was revealed generally a week or so back as having been involved in an extra-marital affair, despite him having secured a super injunction against such information being made public. Does his extra-marital affair affect the public affairs of the UK? Incidentally his partner in the affair is similarly involved in the media. Evidently it doesn't seem to have affected his role on the BBC, nor does it seem to have proved an impediment to his interview broadcast yesterday with the US President. In fact I knew about his affair (and the name of the partner) some years ago, having read about it in another blog, but I simply did and do not care - except to wonder at how a man so [ahem] ugly could seduce not just one woman (his wife), but a second; mind you his 'mistress' ain't no looker either, even if I have no idea about his wife. Human attraction is a very personal thing - some people go for looks, some for intellect, some for money, some for power, some no doubt go for other 'attributes'. The bottom line is that his affair is not relevant, I suspect, to his job or to public affairs so is no business of mine or anyone else not directly involved. So he had a right to keep this private if he chose to do so, although perhaps his questionning of the former Prime Minister about personal matters weakens his case somewhat - this is why such cases are not so clearcut as some would have us believe.

Similarly with the former CEO of The Royal Bank of Scotland who apparently had an affair with another senior executive of RBS during the period leading up to its financial collapse, with that person having apparently been promoted several times during his tenure. Could there have been, or the legitimate perception that there was, a 'conflict of interest' or defective decision-making associated with his professional functions?

A law, if it is to generally accepted by the people to whom it applies (i.e. all of us) must be founded on common sense and generally regarded as 'fair'; it must also take into account the fact, however regrettable it may be to some, that the writ of an English court (or indeed a Scottish, French or US court) runs only within its own jurisdiction and that if there is prurient interest in private matters which can be published in other jurisdictions then in practice there is little an English court can do about it; the advent of the internet and 'social media' accentuates this situation, certainly, but it has not created it. One of the most famous relatively recent cases of an attempt to prohibit public knowledge of what the rich and powerful were doing happened in the 1930s when the King was having an affair with a divorced person, not a crime of course, but not sanctioned by the Church of which the King was the titular head; the matter was successfully kept out of the British media for some time, but even then the fact that it was widely-published elsewhere (in the US and various European countries as I understand it - all this happened long before I was born) meant that it could not remain secret from the British people forever. Whether the King having an affair with a divorced woman would have materially affected his duties as King is open to debate, as distinct from his role as titular head of the Church of England. Of course my view is that as a secular country, even one with an 'established' church, this should be irrelevant, but many other people think differently - so quite apart from the impracticality of trying to maintain secrecy within Britain, it was obviously a matter which (like it or not) was of national importance, so attempting to keep it secret was quite wrong.

I expect the law will have to be 'adapted' to suit the world we now live in, with its ease and speed of communication, not to mention its cross-border nature. In the recent troubles in Iran and Libya, attempts by the local authorities there to restrict information to their own populations was attempted for a while, but quickly abandoned at least partially, just as attempts by the government of the former East Germany to keep its people insulated from outside viewpoints were never very effective; the same could be said of China today. The only country I can think of where a repressive regime has some success in restricting information is North Korea, but that is achieved only by extreme repression, something that is unlikely ever to be possible, or at least not for very long, in even nominal democracies.

UPDATE (Monday 23MAY2011 18.17) LibDem MP John Hemming named in Parliament this afternoon the footballer referred to above as Ryan Giggs; he was chastised for doing so by Speaker John Bercow, no doubt strictly correect according to the law, but frankly his objections would have been pointless last week and even more so now, whatever the "law" says as this particular law is no longer fit for purpose. As someone with no interest whatsoever in football I don't have a mental image of what he looks like. but a quick Google image search reveal this. As a corollary, a short while ago I watched an interview with Alistair Campbell, former spin doctor for Tony Blair, and a former tabloid journalist, not someone with whom I agree very often (or almost ever, really) say something which I thought was pretty sensible - basically that the journalistic attempts to get the name of Ryan Giggs into the public domain in this context are just so much hypocritical hogwash (my words), because there is no public interest in naming him, but it does help to sell newspapers, pretty much one of the points I was making in my own article. The fact that Ryan Giggs was at best naïve and at worst plain silly to pay a law firm good money to try and keep his name out of the public prints, given the salacious nature of his actions and the appetite of the [mainly tabloid-reading] public for 'juicy' stories about well-known people so that UK (in this case English) law can be flouted easily by way of the internet, not to mention print publications in other legal jurisdictions, is just becoming ever more clear.

Europe Day - 9 May 2011

2011-05-09T08:59:00.006+01:00

For better or for worse today is celebrated as 'Europe Day':

- read about it here. You can read the 'Schumann Declaration' here.

For as long as I've been able to think about politics I have been broadly in favour of European unity as a concept, even if I would have voted 'no' to the EU Constitutional Treaty had a referendum on the matter been held in the UK and I would certainly also have voted a resounding 'no' to the hotchpotch that is the Lisbon Treaty had we been given a referendum on that topic. Similarly, whilst I was in theory in favour of having a single currency for the EU, I realised at the time that its introduction was being planned that it could never work long-term without complete fiscal (and probably political) integration, too - something that was deeply unpopular not just in the UK, but also in practice in other countries usually considered to be more pro-European, for example Germany and France - specially the latter, where what I will euphemistically call 'national self-interest' is a very highly-deleveloped part of the national psyche. And so, sadly, it has proved - as we have seen in the last couple of years with the shambles in Greece, Ireland and Portugal, perhaps to be followed by Spain or Italy in due course. Even now, however, I remain broadly in favour of the EU, but I do believe that certain powers need to be wrested back from the unelected European Commission, the civil service bureaucracy that runs the EU.

Anyway, folks, that's what we are marking today.

The fundamental anti-democratic nature of socialism

2011-05-08T07:25:00.003+01:00

Nottingham North MP Graham Allen (Labour) tells Laura Kuennsberg (of the BBC):

"It was a very good result under the rules, but the Labour government should have changed the rules so that we would never have been out of power, regardless of a General Election result."

(seen in a Guido Fawkes "Quote of the Day")

Job done! Proposal for AV voting system sent to 'central filing'

2011-05-07T08:40:00.004+01:00

The proposal to change (euphemistically called a 'reform' of) the UK voting system by introducing the 'Alternative Voting' system for Westminster elections has been soundly defeated and the proposal consigned to the history books as a 'failure', or as I prefer to put it, it has been sent to 'central filing'.

A great result!

(NB/ It is bizarre that I have to go to the Guardian newspaper to get straightforward information about the results, whereas the BBC website waffles on interminably, without giving actual cold, hard figures - why and how has it wasted so much time, effort and money and still manage to avoid giving the results in figures?!)

A further reminder - Vote NO to AV on 5th May!

2011-05-02T17:26:00.004+01:00

As I have written here before, I am supporting the "NO to AV" campaign in the referendum to be held on 5th May 2011. The video-clip below is of the campaign broadcast to be transmitted this evening at 6.55pm (BBC ONE), 5.55pm (BBC TWO), 6.25pm (ITV ONE), 7.05pm (CHANNEL 4) and 6.55pm (CHANNEL 5)
(NB/ all timings are UK timings - GMT+1/BST)

The Alternative Vote is a complicated, expensive and unfair system that gives some people more votes than others. It might sound like a small change but the danger is in the detail - it's a politicians' fix.

Governments would be selected through backroom deals and people would have no control over where their vote goes. It should be voters that decide who the best candidate is, not the voting system.

Defend one person, one vote. Vote NO to AV on 5 May.

Finally, they got their man! Osama Bin Laden is dead.

2011-05-02T08:32:00.006+01:00

It has been announced earlier this morning (White House website) by US President Obama that an operation by US Special Forces had succeeded in killing the terrorist and al-qa'ida leader Osama Bin Laden at a location in Pakistan not very far from the capital Islamabad. (see also this BBC news report)

The mastermind behind the terrorist outrages in the US on 11th September 2001 has finally been taken out of action and his victims at least partially avenged. I write this not in a tome of triumphalism, as the death of any human being [even one so misguided and despicable as Osama bin Laden] is not an occasion for rejoicing, but I am certainly not sorry to hear of his death.

Unfortunately with his death it is highly unlikely that the threat of terrorism posed by al-qa'ida and its co-conspirator organisations is at and end. Indeed it is possible there may be retaliatory terrorist outrages in coming days or weeeks. Defending freedom against those who would seek to deprive us of it is never going to be easy - life, unfortunately, is not like that.

PS/ Although I watched most of the events 'live' on television from soon after the aircraft hi-jackings began I did not write about it immediately; this blog began only 6 months later. However in the comment area of my main website I did write an article on the general topic of Terrorism and Civil Liberties a couple of weeks later, once the impact of what had happened had begun to be absorbed. Like many others I sat open-mouthed in horror on that 11th September almost ten years ago, my only immediate analysis being that this was going to change the world in fundamental ways.

Nairn murder - top cop in pledge to find banker’s killer

2011-04-30T12:52:00.007+01:00

The Inverness Courier published in its edition yesterday an interview with the new Chief Constable of Northern Constabulary about the murder of Alistair Wilson in November 2004 - Northern Constabulary has a dedicated page for this crime here.

Chief Constable George Graham said he has 'ordered a detailed report on the hunt for the killer of Nairn banker Alistair Wilson' and is 'telling his officers not to give up on the investigation into the death of the father-of-two, who was shot dead on his doorstep on the evening of 28th November, 2004, in the area’s most notorious murder of recent times'. He said:

"It’s a dreadful crime and we will not let up on it. If it takes a year, 10 years, 15 years, 30 years or 100 years, I guarantee that if we can resolve it, we will.

"I have not been fully briefed yet on where we are with it, but homicides like that are never taken off the books. I’m not a skilled investigator, so there’s not much of my own personal ability I can add to it, but I will support and encourage our head of CID Gordon Greenlees to satisfy ourselves that anything we can possibly do, we would do.

"We are always reliant on information from the public and someone out there murdered Mr Wilson and somebody must know something about it. It would be wonderful if our officers and detectives could get the information that would allow us to solve this, because somebody out there has killed Mr Wilson and is still at large and that is not acceptable to me. We want to keep our focus on crimes like this. These are important to communities and to families, who have lost loved ones in such dreadful circumstances."

If you have information about this crime, visit the dedicated page or telephone Nairn Police now on 01667 452222, the Inquiry Team in Inverness on 01463 715555, or you may make an anonymous call to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

My most recent previous article on the murder is here. There are links to all my posts on this murder, so close to where I live, in the right-hand column under the heading 'Murder in Nairn' articles.

250 million reasons why the country can't afford the Alternative Vote. Vote NO to AV!

2011-04-20T16:37:00.003+01:00

I am supporting the "NO to AV" campaign in the referendum to be held on 5th May 2011. The video-clip below illustrates one of the many reasons why the 'Alternative Vote' is a very bad idea; it will cost a huge additional amount simply to stage this kind of election, quite apart from its inherent unfairness:

The Alternative Vote is a complicated, expensive and unfair system that gives some people more votes than others. It might sound like a small change but the danger is in the detail - it's a politicians' fix.

Governments would be selected through backroom deals and people would have no control over where their vote goes. It should be voters that decide who the best candidate is, not the voting system.

Defend one person, one vote. Vote NO to AV on 5 May.

Vote NO to AV on 5 May

2011-04-11T17:46:00.005+01:00

I am supporting the "NO to AV" campaign in the referendum to be held on 5th May 2011. The video-clip below is of the campaign broadcast to be transmitted this evening on BBC 1 at 6.55 p.m., ITV 1 at 6.50 p.m., Channel 5 at 7.25 p.m. or Channel 4 at 7.55 p.m. (all times are UK times - GMT+1):

The Alternative Vote is a complicated, expensive and unfair system that gives some people more votes than others. It might sound like a small change but the danger is in the detail - it's a politicians' fix.

Governments would be selected through backroom deals and people would have no control over where their vote goes. It should be voters that decide who the best candidate is, not the voting system.

Defend one person, one vote. Vote NO to AV on 5 May.

Is Letwin deliberately trying to undermine the Conservative Party?

2011-04-05T11:13:00.004+01:00

Dear Oliver Letwin MP, if reports of a private conversation he has had with London Mayor Boris Johnson (which the latter has chosen to speak about) are accurate, then he (Letwin) is a prize chump with the political antennae of an amoeba - and that is probably deeply insulting to all right-thinking amoebae. According to a report of a 'row' Boris is said to have had with him, the conversation with Letwin went thus:

Boris Johnson has had a blazing row with a Tory Cabinet minister who privately told the London Mayor that the Government doesn’t want people flying abroad on holiday.

Johnson told a "People's Question Time" event: "I was absolutely scandalised the other day to hear a government minister tell me he did not want to see more families in Sheffield able to afford cheap holidays.

"Absolutely disgraceful, a bourgeois repression of people’s ability to take a holiday. It is a matter of social justice."

Who was the Tory minister concerned? Impeccable sources tell me it was Oliver Letwin, the Hampstead-born minister of state at the Cabinet Office, 'leading Cameroon thinker' and former investment banker.

One can only speculate on the motives of Boris Johnson having revealed this embarrassing exchange, as James Delingpole did in the Telegraph on 2nd April here. A small extract:

Once again we see Boris positioning himself as the ideological conscience of the Conservative party. I’m not suggesting he doesn’t also believe this stuff: I’m sure he does, with a passion. But politically it makes sense too for Boris understands clearly, as his party leadership apparently does not, the Conservative party in Britain is in dire, dire trouble. And the root of this malaise is precisely this mix of snooty remoteness, intellectual woolliness and odious wetness exhibited by senior party figures like Oliver Wetwin.

Wetwin, let it not be forgotten, is not some random pillock on the fringes of the Tory party. He is the Prime Minister’s key policy adviser. If somebody that influential cannot understand why trying to clamp down on cheap holiday flights (as indeed the government is doing: through the swingeing eco-taxes imposed on air travel) is inimical to Conservatism, then truly the Tory party is doomed.

- the whole article is worth reading.

I suppose the only crumb of comfort to draw from this debacle for the Conservative Party is that there does not seem to be a video-clip or voice-recording of Letwin dropping these pearls of wisdom (and amazingly-outdated snobbishness) on a breathless British public. The fact that LibDem Coalition partner and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg is the MP for a Sheffield constituency only adds to the excruciating nature of Letwin's wrong-thinking and mis-analysis of what Conservatism should be all about - personal freedom and individual liberty - not some Conservative 'grandee' trying to dictate the lives of masses of his fellow citizens. He really needs to get out more - and remember that even folks in Sheffield and other northern cities have a vote and that their votes will play a part in determining the electoral future of the Conservative Party.

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 - the entry from Romania

2011-04-04T22:52:00.008+01:00

I came across the ESC 2011 entry from Romania this evening:

It's a lively song, he's got a good and powerful voice (and he ain't bad-looking either) and he's singing in English. I haven't yet seen/heard the UK entry this year, but it'll have to be pretty good to beat this kind of classic 'Europop'.

After a bit of searching I now discover that the UK has already selected its song this year; it's to be by the group Blue and is called "I Can". In my view it is certainly the most powerful UK entry in many, many years and as it's by an established and popular group it should, in a fair world, do very well. It would certainly be very fitting if the 2012 contest were held in London, the year of the London 2012 Olympic Games. See what you think:

The Eurovision 2011 website is here; the contest will take place in Dusseldorf this year as Germany won the contest last year. The contest will be staged on 10th and 12th May (1st and 2nd semi-finals) with the final being held on Saturday 14th May.

Marking 9 years of blogging

2011-04-04T08:41:00.003+01:00

Yesterday 3rd April 2011 marked the ninth anniversary of this blog; I can't on this occasion think of this as an occasion for 'celebration', to be very frank, but do want to 'mark' it. It has been a difficult year for me personally and this has been reflected in the [lack of] frequency of new articles posted to this blog:
April 2010 - 18 articles
May 2010 - 6 articles
June 2010 - 10 articles
July 2010 - 11 articles
August 2010 - 7 articles
September 2010 - 12 articles
October 2010 - 9 articles
November 2010 - 4 articles
December 2010 - 4 articles
January 2011 - 9 articles
February 2011 - 7 articles
March 2011 - 4 articles

In the earlier part of the year (March to early June 2010) I was spending my usual extended break in Spain, but in May I had visitors so blogged less. When I returned back to Scotland in mid-June I had many personal matters to deal with, probably the most important being the by then rapidly-declining health of my late mother, who passed away in October. For most of November and December I blogged very little in the aftermath of that emotional trauma, but am probably now beginning to get back on to a more even emotional keel. I have now been back in Spain for about a month and will be here until mid-June and am much enjoying it (except for the hay-fever that I seem to suffer from here, unlike any other place I have ever lived or visited - I can only assume some of the plants here are the cause), although I shall be travelling across to the UK in early May for a few days to continue my tentative planning for a move of my UK home from the north of Scotland to the south of England - I mentioned this in an article in January, just prior to a visit there in early February; my visit again next month is to see the 'target area' again in Spring and assuming that I decide to go ahead with this plan I will probably put the 'wheels in motion' when I return to Scotland in mid-June. So whilst the past year, 'year 9' for this blog, has been a somehwat difficult one the coming year may well see major personal changes for me, which I hope to write about here from time to time admixed with a blend of articles on economics, politics, current and social matters of the kind I have been writing about for the past nine years.

I hope those who take the trouble to visit this blog, or read some of my Tweets or Facebook thoughts find something of interest to enjoy, amuse or infuriate you and that you'll join me from time to time on my journey over the coming year.

Article heading list for latest 6-month period (October 2010 to March 2011) now up

2011-04-04T08:26:00.002+01:00

The archive of 'Article Headings' for the latest 6-month period is now available - click here for the period October 2010 to March 2011.

There are permanent links in the right bar to this and earlier 6-month 'Article Heading' indices, immediately below the standard 'Blogger' monthly archive links.

Stand Up! - Don't Stand for Homophobic Bullying

2011-04-04T07:40:00.007+01:00

A simple, but effective short video from Ireland:

- bullies can be beaten provided others decline to acquiesce, quietly and firmly - and with a smile.

Rather a cool music video

2011-04-01T12:22:00.002+01:00

Enjoy!

"Depressed" teenager gaoled for fire-raising at Nairn harbour

2011-04-01T09:48:00.004+01:00

An apparently 'depressed' teenage young woman, Dawn MacRae, 18, has been gaoled for 16 months (presumably to be reduced if she can find it in herself to be of good behaviour whilst in prison) for setting fire to a boat in Nairn harbour, the fire spreading to three other boats and destroying all four.

Apart from being, it seems, a bottle-a-day of vodka drunkard (although as the report puts it ironically she managed to stay 'mostly' sober for the two days prior to the trial) it is mentioned that she may have suffered some kind of sexual abuse, causing the depression and perhaps the drunkenness and if this is true then I hope she is given some kind of remedial help. On the other hand it could be that she is just an evil little ***** .

Kesennuma and its terrifying tsunami ordeal

2011-03-27T21:20:00.006+01:00

The recent tsunami basically 'trashed' the town of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture (Japan). What is so awesome and terrifying is the inexorable power of the water - it seems so slow at first, but gradually builds up into a maelstrom of water and debris with whole buildings being swept away:

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (1932-2011) - R.I.P.

2011-03-23T20:06:00.009Z

I was saddened to hear that the actress Elizabeth Taylor has died today aged 79. For all of my life she has been regarded as one of the world's great female 'beauties' and her trademark violet-coloured eyes were remarkable. Even in later years, although her beauty had faded and she was latterly not in good health at all, she still retained the glamour and star quality of her earlier years. I must admit that until today, when I started to research her life, I had always assumed she was British, or more specifically English, but although born in London her parents were both Americans who resided here so she had dual British and US nationality by virtue of her place of birth and her parentage. Her personal life was somewhat colourful and she even managed to marry one of her seven husbands (the actor Richard Burton) twice, consecutively, the two having presumably decided after their first divorce to 'give it another go' after a brief period apart, but their second marriage lasted less than a year.

She, as one of the most beautiful actresses around, played opposite many of the most handsome male actors of the time - Richard Burton, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman and Rock Hudson to name just four.

For many years, later in her life, she was a staunch supporter of AIDS charities and was named DBE ('Dame of the British Empire') by Her Majesty the Queen in the Millennium New Year's Honours List on 31st December 1999. The BBC obituary for Elizabeth Taylor is here. The world is a sadder and greyer place with her passing.

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
27 February 1932 - 23 March 2011

~ Rest in Peace ~

Potentially landmark ruling on EU residency rules

2011-03-16T11:44:00.003Z

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the body which ensures compliance by member states with EU Treaty law, has issued a ruling which could have very far-reaching implications for the residency rights of non-EU citizens.

In a case brought to it by the Brussels Labour Court for clarification it has ruled that a child of non-EU parents born in an EU state automatically acquires the citizenship, and must take the citizenship, of the EU member state in which [s]he is born and that by virtue of this the parents acquire automatically the right to live and work in that member state (and perhaps any other EU state[?], although the ruling does not seem to address this specific issue).

I do not have the negative attitude that many seem to with regard to non-EU immigration into member states, but it seems to me the implications of this ruling are potentially huge, whatever view one takes of the matter.

David Cameron's speech to the Spring conference

2011-03-06T16:02:00.004Z

It is very refreshing, after more than a decade of Labour 'apparatchiks' pretending to be competent managers (whilst wrecking the economy), to see a proper Prime Minister once more in place, promoting sensible business-friendly policies:

conservatives on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

It is like a breath of fresh air!

PS/ A young LibDem-leaning Scot, Doctorvee (for it is he), explains why he is perfectly tranquil with the current Conservative-LibDem coalition government.

Ed Balls - deficit denier and now personal debt denier

2011-02-19T22:33:00.004Z

Guido has the scoop on this odious individual's attempts to deny liability for personal debts. Not as dramatic as the debts he and his erstwhile boss Gordon "deficit denier" Brown have left the country with, but it is an interesting insight into the delusions of this socialist fantasist.

عيناك خالد الشيخ

2011-02-19T01:10:00.003Z

خالد الشيخ (Khaled El Sheikh)

- I've been listening to Khaled al-Sheikh's music for about 20 years. I'm posting this because of what is happening just now in Bahrein and various other countries in the Middle East.

الحزن لمنطقة الشرق الأوسط

Problems with television cable connections - solved

2011-02-16T19:56:00.004Z

A couple of months ago I had problems getting a decent picture on one of my televisions, the one located in my living-room. The television is a pretty new set (less than 2 years old) and is an LCD unit from a 'good' maker; it had worked well in another location, but I seemed to have trouble getting a reliable, decent-quality picture. The unit I had there before (a conventional, but now obsolete CRT unit) had given a perfectly good picture. I traced that to a defective TV-antenna socket in an intermediate VCR/DVD-player, which was little used, but needed to be powered-on to feed the signal to the TV. I dumped the VCR/DVD player, as I had another DVD player in reserve (and rarely watch video-cassettes any more). In addition I replaced the SCART cable from the DVR unit in that room with an HDMI cable to connect to the TV, so that only the DVD player is connected to the TV using a SCART cable. Perfect, stable picture in all modes.

Now in another room, my dining-room/kitchen, I have another LCD TV (less than a year old, also of a 'good' make), to replace an equally-obsolete CRT unit. I replaced all my televisions last year with LCD units to prepare for digital switch-over in this area (which I wrote about some months ago). Prior to my departure to Spain for a few weeks last November the new television performed well, but ever since I returned home it has been performing poorly on an intermittent basis. I had assumed it was a defective unit that needed replacing (preferably under the guarantee), but I had been too lethargic to take definite action as it did perform OK some of the time. In the last week, however, it had begun to 'play up' more and more and earlier this evening the picture was breaking up persistently, so even I was spurred into action! Yesterday I went so far as to do research on-line on TVs I could replace it with. In the interim, this afternoon I thought I would replace it temporarily with another very new LCD unit from one of the bedrooms, which I brought through ready to do the switch. Of course I had to move the stand the TV sits on and, lo and behold, the picture became perfect. I think the problem was a loose SCART cable and the general jumble of wires behind the stand (for various items of equipment) causing interference. I think I may have cracked the problem! I'm also releived to know that the television itself is probably functioning perfectly normally. I won't 'count my chickens' too soon, however - assuming it's working well, consistently, over the next few days then I think it safe to assume the problem is solved.

Moral - the importance of ensuring cabling (even shielded SCART and HDMI cables) are fully connected and don't overlap too much with power cables.

At Walmart, the Customer Really Is Always Right

2011-02-14T22:15:00.005Z

I make no apology for lifting the title for this article and this link from the kenneth in the (212) blog. Four Walmart employees have been 'let go' for having disarmed an armed robber.

I have never before thought Walmart (or its Uk subsidiary Asda) overly afflicted with the dreaded 'political correctness', but I think I will have to reassess that judgement.

You may think it crazy. I certainly think it crazy!

What a depressing tale this is!

My brother named "Carnival Prince of Sweikhuizen"

2011-02-10T16:39:00.016Z

My brother becomes this year's "Carnival Prince of Sweikhuizen", South Limburg, The Netherlands, the village where he now lives; it is quite a big event locally. You can see a video-clip of the event as shown on a local television station in the Netherlands by clicking here.

You can see a local print article about it here (obviously the article is in Dutch, which I'm afraid I can't help you with, but there is a nice photograph); the young lady in the photograph is the Carnival Princess for this year, Lorelle I.
Congratulations to them both!

Are bacteria the future of data storage?

2011-02-07T16:43:00.006Z

Extraordinary research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is being carried out into storing vast amounts of data in bacteria. It sounds like science fiction, but maybe this is the way for the future - I won't make any pretence that I have even the vaguest understanding of how this technique works, however. How many of us really have any understanding of how data are stored in silicon-based media for that matter?

Local 'good service' award - "Stitch in Time, Inverness"

2011-01-26T22:18:00.000Z

I can sew on a button, I can do a few other basic haberdashery tasks where functionality is more necessary than elegance in the finished product, although I am a reasonably proficient embroiderer and enjoy the detailed work this involves - it relaxes me.

However, hemming trousers is way beyond me; it is probably unnecessary to add that I do NOT possess a sewing machine. I did occasionally (under supervison) use my mother's sewing machine when I was a boy, but only avoided sewing my finger to a piece of material as a result of her panicked intervention on one memorable occasion, so it is probably safer for me to stay away from these devil's devices! I jest, of course.

In any case, apart from the quite rare occasions nowadays when I wear a suit or even more occasionally a dinner suit, as a 'retired gent' I tend to wear jeans or chinos. I usually buy both from the UK part of an American mail-order/on-line company [Lands' End] because their styling suits me and because their sizing is reasonably 'generous', no doubt to cater for its mainly US clientele and of course British people such as me. One important feature that particularly attracted me to them is that they offer 'free' hemming (either turn-up or plain) for all their trousers and jeans and as I am shorter than the standard 29" shortest trouser length this is quite important so that I can get a good fit. I've been using the Lands' End service for over 15 years and have always been and remain completely happy with it. In addition to trousers and jeans, I tend to buy shirts, polo shirts, t-shirts and jackets from them and various other items from time to time.

Fairly recently I got a pair of dark brown chinos from them, perfect as usual, but after two or three cleanings the stitching on one of the leg hemmings unravelled, so for a couple of months they have hung forlornly in one of my wardrobes. Rather than send them back to Lands' End for repair I hoped to find a local solution, but in recent years places to get minor jobs of this kind done have grown scarce in most cities and towns. I was not aware of a local service (apart from a lady who used to do adjustments for my late mother) and whilst I had thought of contacting her I had never gotten around to doing so. Anyway, yesterday a leaflet appeared in my postal mail-box from a local firm in Inverness called "Stitch in Time" offering all manner of tailoring adjustments for male and female clothing, so I thought I'd give them a whirl for my minor problem. Today I had occasion to go to Inverness to do some food shopping and during the visit I popped in to "Sitch in Time", located in the Victorian Market (covered market) at 5 Queensgate Arcade - one of the assistants took the torusers from me, asked me if I could wait and I said 'Yes'. He moved across to one of the sewing mahines along one side of the shop and in less than 5 minutes had done the job perfectly. I got out my wallet to pay and he waved it away, saying that for such a small job they didn't want payment; I said I was happy to pay and he laughed and said no, it wasn't necessary. Now that is what I call service! And good business tactics, too! I shall certainly always think of them for jobs like this in future and recommend them to friends. Incidentally, two of the three staff I saw were Indian/Pakistani/Iranian (not sure which) and the other was British. I dealt with one of the former as it so happens. It is really pleasing to find such courteous, willing and helpful service nowadays - and offered with a smile. I have a lot of experience with Indian/Pakistani/Iranian/Chinese tailoring services from my time in the Middle and Far East, invariably they were expert at their jobs, friendly, courteous and willing. It is a pleasure (and a little bit of a surprise, I must admit) to find such similar superb service so close to home.

Rabbie Burns an a' that!

2011-01-25T20:19:00.005Z

To celebrate the Bard's birthday, a couple of short poems which strike me as ususually pithy, even for him!

Pinned to Mrs Walter Riddell's Carriage

If you rattle along like your Mistress's tongue,
Your speed will outrival the dart;
But a fly for your load, you'll break down on the road,
If your stuff be as rotten's her heart.

Epitaph for Mr Walter Riddell

Sic a reptile was Wat, sic a miscreant slave,
That the worms ev'n d....d him when laid in his grave;
"In his flesh there's a famine," a starved reptile cries,
"And his heart is rank poison!" another replies.

Charming, eh! And such economy with words!!

Nairn getting emergency pothole repairs?

2011-01-21T19:48:00.004Z

I have just noticed (from my apartment as I ain't going outside tonight) that temporary traffic lights have been put in place on the road out of Nairn going east (heading for Forres), with many road-works vehicles with yellow flashing lights. Presumably they are going to be working during the night and I can only imagine they are in process of repairing some of the quite bad potholes that have appeared in that area since the really cold weather began in early December.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to see what they have achieved overnight.

Denying gay civil partners a double-bedded room is illegal

2011-01-18T10:22:00.006Z

(Please see UPDATES at end.)

The BBC is reporting that Bristol County Court has ruled against a couple who own an hotel, and who have 'Christian' beliefs, who said it was their policy to deny double-bedded rooms to couples who are not married, even if they are heterosexual.

From what I understand the court has ruled the couple's policy illegal because 'civil partnership' for homosexuals (male gay or lesbian female) is the legal equivalent of marriage for heterosexual couples and the law forbids discrimination of this type. In running a business, hotel owners may not impose their religious beliefs on others. There was a video-interview with the gay couple who brought the action following the judgement and understandably they are very pleased with the outcome of their case. There are no online links as yet, as the judgement has just been given, but I will undoubtedly come back to this story in due course.

It is very pleasing that this clear case of flouting the law by this homophobic couple has been stamped on by a court.

UPDATE (Tuesday 18JAN2011 11.03 GMT) PinkNews now have an article up about the judgement. The BBC have now also shown a video-statement made by Mrs Bull, one of the joint hotel-owners; she seems still not to accept that her 'beliefs' are not justification for discrimination so far as the law is concerned.

2nd UPDATE (Tuesday 18JAN2011 11.17 GMT)The BBC now have a report on the judgement.

Daniel Balavoine: 25 ans déjà

2011-01-14T09:05:00.006Z

Daniel Balavoine sadly left us 25 years ago today.

- for 'SOS d'un terrien en detresse' visit here (this was his only public performance of this song).

Read his Wikipedia biography / Lire sa biographie Wikipedia:
English version / Version française

He died much too young (5 February 1952 – 14 January 1986). In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of his death I wrote a tribute to Daniel Balavoine last October here.

So sad. Rest in Peace.

Early planning - possible house move in prospect

2011-01-11T20:31:00.006Z

A desire I have been harbouring for some years to move from the north of Scotland to the south of England may possibly come to fruition later this year. With the recent passing of my mother I now have no very close family ties locally (in the north of Scotland) to keep me here (apart from a cousin and her husband and their son); I would gladly have remained here in Nairn, in all probability, however long my mother might have lived, but now that is no longer the case I feel free to look to my own future without regard to anyone else. Much as I love living in the north of Scotland (specially during the longer days of the summer months) - and I was after all born and had close family ties in this area, even if I never lived here as a child - I do find it somewhat isolated and lacking in some of the things I want out of life.

Whilst there is no particular urgency to a possible move, I would ideally like it to happen within the next year; apart from anything else, I am not getting any younger, however trite that may sound. The first step is to make a number of exploratory visits to my target destination (the Sussex coast of England) and the first of those visits will be happening early next month. In all probability I shall make a further visit in early May so that I may see the area in Spring (as I shall be at my home in Spain from March to June I shall be travelling to England from there for this second visit) and there will probably be several subsequent visits prior to any final move. Of course I have visited various parts of Kent, Sussex and Hampshire many times over the years so none of it is entirely new to me.

There are various attractions for me in considering a move:
- a slightly milder climate than we have here on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland;
- proximity to Gatwick aiprort for my regular visits to and from my home in Spain;
- proximity to the Channel Tunnel to allow me to make occasional visits by car and/or train to various parts of Europe, particularly Normandy and Brittany;
- proximity to London to allow me to make regular visits to concerts and the theatre, not to mention close proximity to Brighton and the 'delights' on offer there.

I don't often post very personal and self-indulgent articles here; this is one of those occasions, if you will forgive me.

"Brothers & Sisters" - series 5 begins Thursday 20th January on More4

2011-01-11T17:26:00.003Z

At last there are firm details about the start of series 5 of "Brothers & Sisters" on More4. Until Sunday the few announcements about it just mentioned, tantalisingly (and irritatingly), that it was 'coming soon', but I expect that in advance of the TV magazines for the week 15-21 January going on sale today meant that Channel4 could no longer plausibly keep it secret!

According to my Radio Times, purchased today, the series will commence its run at 10pm Thursday 20th January on More4, with a repeat later that night at 12.50am. On past experience it is likely to be repeated at least once more before the next episode airs on 27th January, but I won't know about that until next Tuesday until I get my Radio Times for the following week 22-28 January.

Here are edited excerpts of the final episode of series 4, when 'Senator Robert McCallister' (actor Rob Lowe) was [it would seem] killed in a car accident:

- apart from the 'promo' for series 5, currently being shown on More4/Channel4, I've seen some parts of the coming series 5 episodes online (already shown in the US), so I know some of what is going to happen, but I won't spoil the 'excitement' for others. I'm just looking forward to seeing the gorgeous couple, 'Kevin' (Matthew Rhys) and 'Scotty' (Luke Macfarlane).

The truth about inflation, interest rates and Mervyn King

2011-01-07T13:21:00.004Z

Fraser Nelson in this week's Spectator tells it like it is about the policies being pursued by the Bank of England under current governor Mervyn King: inflation is being allowed to gain a hold, probably quite deliberately, as a way of inflating away the value of debt. Read a summary of Fraser's contention (with which I agree wholeheartedly) in a CoffeeHouse article appropriately entitled King's Ransom. The tool of choice to engineer this madness has of course been the now-ubiquitous 'quantitative easing', in other words 'debasing the currency'. A couple of excerpts from Fraser's article:

Inflating away debt is politically attractive.

It makes cuts all the more easy. Freezing pay means a 3.3 percent pay cut, thanks to inflation (of 4.8 percent if we were using RPI, as we did from the war until the Brown era). Reducing the actual amount of government debt – or staff salaries – is hard. But to debase the value of the currency in which they are paid has always been the easy option.

But once unleashed, inflation is very difficult to control.

As we know to our cost. Rates have to be rammed up to emergency levels, and the only victors from such struggles against money tend to be people like George Soros. Fiscal problems do not go away if you ignore them – that was the moral of the last crisis. Credibility, once lost, is very hard to retain for a central bank. And, given how much debt the UK government needs to issue, credibility is a very precious commodity.

- read the full article here

Ballet as acrobatics

2011-01-05T15:44:00.003Z

A quite extraordinary performance of Swan Lake by the Great Chinese State Circus. Perhaps not entirely conventional 'ballet', but very beautiful to watch and demonstrating amazing skills on the part of the two central dancers - balance, dexterity with grace and total confidence in each other.

- a suitably uplifting way to begin the New Year for this blog, I think.

A Joyous Christmas and a Peaceful, Happy and Prosperous New Year

2010-12-24T09:31:00.004Z

My favourite composer is, by a long way, Johann Sebastian Bach so for my pre-Christmas message this year I'm going to feature two of my favourite pieces of music by Bach, one of which (the second) is rarely performed so there are not many recordings of it. The first is slightly better known, I think. Although I have little religious belief and much of Bach's compositions were written with religion in mind, I have no difficulty in reconciling this contradiction at all; Bach's works are sublime, whatever the motivation for them having been written.

Happy Christmas!

Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt, BWV 112
(The Lord is my faithful shepherd)

(Unfortunately I have no information about the record label from which this video-clip is taken. My own recording is on the Joker label, reference SM1047 - see below for more information.)

Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe, BWV 185
(Merciful heart of eternal love)

(A 1951 recording of a performance by the Swabian Choral Society and the Bach Orchestra of Stuttgart - under the direction of Hans Grischkat - Renaissance label, serial number X36. My own recording is of the same performance, but on the Joker label reference SM1047, purchased in Casablanca in 1973. The record pressing from which the recording in this YouTube video-clip is taken also contains a recording of BWV 112, the first video-clip above, as does my own record, although they are on different labels.)

I hope you enjoy these pieces of music as much as I do.

Vince Cable is a very silly man - even if I share his views on Murdoch

2010-12-22T11:12:00.009Z

Vince Cable MP, Business Secretary in the current Coalition government, has got himself into a 'spot of bother' as a result, fundamentally, of his own vanity and by revealing that he is, despite impressing the gullible as some kind of economic and business 'sage' [when he is neither of those things - a polite way of putting it], really rather a foolish man, rather too obsessed by his decidedly left-wing views as well as being too easily flattered, it would seem from the embedded recording below, by what sounds to be a young female, perhaps pretty (I have no way of knowing, not having seen a photograph of the lady in question as yet), but certainly giggling and probably putting herself across as a simpering admirer of the 'great man', casting his pearls of wisdom in her eager direction:

- that would have been embarrassing enough even if the lady was what she was purporting to be, a LibDem member and supporter, although one whom Cable had apparently not met before, and to whom he nevertheless felt free to unburden himself of indiscrete comments (given his specific role in government). It turns out that she is a Telegraph reporter, who very probably is not a LibDem supporter and/or member, playing a part to flatter an elderly gentleman. One can just imagine the fluttering eyelashes which accompanied that simpering giggling we hear in the recording, with her pretending to be only vaguely aware of moves by Murdoch's interests to increase their BSkyB shareholding. It is cringe-worthy and one is tempted to feel sympathy for the predicament Cable got himself into. He was well and truly had! But he has only himself to blame.

I share what seem to be Cable's views of Rupert Murdoch and News International, the media conglomerate which he dominates and which various of his children now help to run on his behalf. Some people feel, and I am amongst them, that Murdoch and his commercial interests dominate too much of the UK media already, although it has to be said that the immediate subject exercising Cable (the precise shareholdings in BSkyB) is not really, in my view, terribly critical. I understand Murdoch's interests already control something like 61 per cent of the shares, which already gives him effective control, so increasing that is not likely to change massively his ability to influence how the satellite broadcaster operates, even if full control will presumably mean that the views of [the current] minority shareholders would no longer have to be taken into account. However, whatever I or Cable (more relevantly) may think of Murdoch and his organisation, it is imperative that the matter be dealt with by the regulatory authorities and government in an impartial, objective way. Vince Cable has plainly fallen very far short of what his job as Business Secretary requires - so it was inevitable that responsibility for this decision, at least, be removed from him.

Now we come onto some of the issues flowing from this:
- should Cable [have been allowed by Prime Minister Cameron to] remain in the Government and the Cabinet;
- the difference in 'punishment' meted out to Cable (from the LibDem wing of the coalition) and that meted out to Lord Young (a Conservative Peer and adviser to the Government) for his indiscrete [but true] comments a few weeks ago;
- the motives of the Telegraph for mounting this kind of 'sting' operation.

It seems clear that the only reason Cable has been allowed to 'survive' in Government, albeit with curtailed responsibilities, is because to eject him would badly destabilise the Coalition (perhaps even cause it to collapse) and risk making a martyr of him on the Coalition back-benches, with less constraint upon his ability to express his own [pretty well-known and strongly-held] views from outside the Cabinet. I can't say I'm exactly in favour of the Coalition, but have accepted it was a necessary and desirable alternative to the risk of the LibDems forming a similar arrangement with the Labour party; however, if strategically the collapse of the Coalition led to another election sooner than might otherwise be the case and it was thought the Conservatives might increase their representation as a result, then it would be worth it to get rid of Cable. It would be a risky option, though, and it is not even certain that this would be desired by David Cameron, although I have no real way of knowing what his views on this [or any other] matter might be. No such risk to the Coalition was posed by jettisoning Lord Young in a humiliatingly-public way. Raw politics is a ruthless business and whatever else one may think of David Cameron it is clear he possesses the ability to be ruthless when required (there have been earlier examples and there will probably be more).

The motives of the Telegraph are not entirely clear to me, however. The newspaper was behind the earlier 'scoop' involving MPs' expenses and this was much more clear-cut; they were correctly exposing MPs who had abused their position to take public money to which they were not entitled in whole or in part so they performed a genuine public service. In this case, however, little in what Cable was revealed to have said could come as any surprise - his views are pretty well-known on a variety of topics. Moreover the Telegraph in this instance did not simply report on a story, it created it by conducting a 'sting' operation. Admittedly it did expose the potential for partiality in the way business decisions might be made by Cable, but I think the possibility that Murdoch might be thwarted in his desire to increase his shareholding in BSkyB has been lessened, not increased, as a result of this incident. One is forced to consider the possiblity that the whole driver of the Telegraph's actions is designed to desatbilise either Mr Cable's position within the Coalition, or the Coalition itself. It is no secret that many Conservatives (some of whom are MPs, plus a significant proportion of grass-roots Conservatives) remain deeply-opposed to the Coalition with the LibDems and believe too much was given away, in terms of policy direction, to achieve it.

As I've already written above, I'm not particularly happy with having a Coalition either, but I do recognise that it was a [and perhaps the only realistic] response to the election results in May 2010. We have only just managed to get rid of a hated (and that is not too strong a word) Labour government and I would be horrified if anything were done which might increase the possibility of an early return of these incompetents to power. Surely this cannot be what the Telegraph is aiming for? Or is it really just a cynical journalistic ploy to get a story, at any cost, and perhaps increase circulation a little?

I doubt if we've seen the last of this story or further 'sting' operations of this kind. I hope the Telegraph has not contributed to the weakening of the free exchange of views in this country, which depends on mutual trust between individuals, whether they are politicians, or journalists or just ordinary people, all of whom must have a right to be able to express their private feelings, however explosive, free of the fear that they will be plastered across the media the next day.

US Senate votes to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"!

2010-12-18T21:19:00.008Z

I break my blog hiatus briefly to report on the historic votes today in the US Senate, earlier to defeat a fillibuster motion sponsored by Republicans (63/33) and later to vote for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (65/31); the US House of Representatives had already voted for repeal. Now the bill will have to be signed into law by President Obama, but he has already indicated he will do so if presented with the bill.

Here is the full text of the statement by President Obama issued to coincide with the Senate vote for repeal:

Today, President Obama released a statement on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 -

Today, the Senate has taken an historic step toward ending a policy that undermines our national security while violating the very ideals that our brave men and women in uniform risk their lives to defend. By ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” no longer will our nation be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans forced to leave the military, despite years of exemplary performance, because they happen to be gay. And no longer will many thousands more be asked to live a lie in order to serve the country they love.

As Commander-in-Chief, I am also absolutely convinced that making this change will only underscore the professionalism of our troops as the best led and best trained fighting force the world has ever known. And I join the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the overwhelming majority of service members asked by the Pentagon, in knowing that we can responsibly transition to a new policy while ensuring our military strength and readiness.

I want to thank Majority Leader Reid, Senators Lieberman and Collins and the countless others who have worked so hard to get this done. It is time to close this chapter in our history. It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed. It is time to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve their country openly. I urge the Senate to send this bill to my desk so that I can sign it into law.

At long last the US joins most other liberal democracies (such as the UK, Holland, Spain and many others) in allowing all its citizens to serve openly and proudly in the military. We in the UK got rid of the ban on gays serving in the military some years ago, with absolutely no adverse-effects on military effectiveness whatsoever, despite the earlier whining of those opposed to the change. I suspect strongly that in a few years time the US experience will be precisely the same and that they will be asking themselves why they delayed so long and what all the fuss was about.

A good day!

UPDATE: (Sunday 19DEC10 09.10 GMT) Here's a BBC report with embedded video-clip of campaigners celebrating the decision.

I have lost the urge to write my blog ...

2010-12-08T18:01:00.003Z

J'ai perdu l'envie d'écrire mon blog ...
He perdido las ganas de escribir mi blog ...
لقد فقدت الرغبة في كتابة بلوق بلدي
Tôi đã mất đi các yêu cầu để viết blog của tôi ...

If this situation changes I will resuscitate this blog ...
Si cette situation change je vais ressusciter ce blog ...
Si esta situación cambia voy a resucitar este blog ...
وسوف يبعث هذا بلوق اذا تغير الوضع
Nếu tình hình này thay đổi tôi sẽ làm hồi sinh blog này ...

Meantime I wish you a Joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year ...
En attendant, je vous souhaite un joyeux Noël et une Bonne Année ...
Mientras tanto les deseo una Navidad alegre y un Feliz Año Nuevo ...
حتى ذلك الحين آمل أن تكونوا قد رأس السنة الميلادية
Trong lúc này tôi muốn cho bạn một Giáng sinh vui vẻ và một năm mới hạnh phúc ...

How to insult 'with style'

2010-11-28T09:42:00.005Z

(Warning - contains VERY strong language)
- it makes a refreshing change from the institutional 'blandness' that is the Andrew Marr show on BBC1; the current Shadow Chancellor, Alan Johnson, is on trying to kid himself and us that he knows the first thing about economics!

It's a beautiful, but a very cold, day here in Nairn today so far; the kiddies and their parents are out on the links using their toboggans - me, I'm still in my dressing-gown.

Death and torture - at the hands of Saudi employers

2010-11-22T10:14:00.005Z

A senior Saudi Prince was recently convicted in a British court of having murdered his servant (aka 'slave') in a London hotel. This was reported extensively in the British media.

However, through the London Muslim blog I have just come across another shocking incident in which a Sri Lankan maid employed by a Saudi family had 24 nails hammered into her hands, feet and forehead, later requiring removal with surgery:

Amnesty International has just condemned Saudi Arabia for abuse of Indonesian migrant workers. See this Amnesty International report, also.

These incidents shock me, but they do not particuarly surprise me. Having said this, I know a few British people who treated domestic servants appallingly, and not so very many years ago either, although in fairness with nothing like the same degree of physical bestiality, rather with what I would characterise as emotional and mental cruelty.

PS/ This evening's Panorama on BBC1 should be interesting - it reports on the curriculum used in certain Islamic schools ('Saturday clubs') in the UK, financed it seems from Saudi Arabia. The Royal Saudi Embassy in London has denied all knowledge; as someone once said in another context - "well they would, wouldn't they".

Personal announcement

2010-11-19T09:24:00.004Z

There has been very little activity in this blog over the past month because I have been observing a period of mourning for my late mother, who died one month ago today. I hope to return to slightly more regular blogging from now on.

Another argument for privatising the molly-coddled BBC

2010-11-07T07:40:00.004Z

The BBC is in many ways a great resource, but has become far too complacent over the years. The strike by these over-paid public-sector employees is yet more evidence that these people are far too insulated from the economic realities the country faces. It is creditable that a couple of the Today presenters broke the stirke yesterday and came to work to present the programme; perhaps it's no accident that one of the two (at least), Evan Davis, has a background in economics, although Sarah Montague perhaps also a similar background, but at any rate she is one of the better presenters there in my view.

The last Labour government debauched the economy with major negative consequences for the private sector, the part of the economy that actually generates the money that the public sector spends. It's the sense of entitlement by well-paid people at the BBC that really grates; their attitude seems to be that the rest of the country can go hang, provided their cosy little cartel is not disrupted. I continue to hope that the present Coalition government will not chicken-out and carry through its promises to reform (i.e. reduce in size) the BBC; if the cost of this tough action, and the sackings that should go with it, is a few days or weeks of 'dead air', then so be it. The Humphrys and Kearneys of this world must be made to realise they are not indispensible. The strikers may whisper malevolently that those who went to work instead of striking will not be forgotten, but equally those who did strike will not be forgotten either.

Marjory Sinclair Cameron - Rest in Peace

2010-10-24T13:43:00.012+01:00

My mother died early last Tuesday morning and her funeral service will be held this coming Tuesday. Neither my brother nor me will be wearing black at the service, as we wish to make the occasion one to celebrate her life as well as to mourn her passing. Below is a brief photographic history of her life, starting with a photograph taken around 1930 when she would have been 9 or 10 years old and ending with a photograph of my mother and myself taken around a month prior to her death. For the last 17 months she has been living in a care home and, apart from the initial few months settling in, was very happy there; we are very lucky that the level of care and the kindness shown to her (and other residents) by all of the staff there was of a very high standard indeed. We are so grateful for this.

Marjory Sinclair Cameron (née O'Keeffe)
26 December 1921 - 19 October 2010

- Rest in Peace -

Click here to see enlargements of all these photographs,
together with detailed descriptions.

Click here to see enlargements of all these photographs.

Dear BBC: Can we have the Radio4 "UK Theme" back, please?

2010-10-12T10:42:00.007+01:00

Just before the start-up of regular programming in the early morning on BBC Radio4, latterly as a break between the re-broadcast during the night on Radio4 of BBC World Service programmes and the start of domestic Radio4 programmes, a charming musical interlude comprising traditional songs from all four constituent parts of the UK was broadcast between November 1978 and April 2006, when it was 'axed' by the then Controller of Radio4, Mark Damazer, because he concluded that a vanishingly small number of people would have been listening at such an early hour of the morming and that, anyway, those who were awake or up and about would prefer a news summary. No doubt this is why about 6,000 people made formal complaints to the BBC, asking for it not to be 'axed' and/or to be re-instated?! It now turns out that Mr Damazer's decision was based upon flawed listener statistics. It seems that hundreds of thousands were in fact listening at that hour, so complaints from 6,000 is an unprecedentedly high number!

If you don't know what I am talking about, then you could do worse than spend 5 minutes of your life listening to a recording of the medley in question:

Mark Damazer is no longer Controller of Radio4, so I think his departure should be marked by the speedy return of this lovely music. Although it comprises traditional British songs it was in fact compiled by an Austrian refugee to this country in the late 1930s; perhaps it took someone originally from outside of these islands to encapsulate in music just what a wonderful country we have.

So, Dear BBC:
Can we have the Radio4 UK Theme back, please?

France Gall (Hommage à Daniel Balavoine) - Evidemment

2010-10-11T08:52:00.011+01:00

(Please see UPDATE at end)

I came across this song from France Gall on YouTube this morning; I haven't heard it for years, but it still has a haunting quality for me. It was sung as a tribute to Daniel Balavoine, tragically killed in a helicopter crash during the Paris-Dakar rally of 1986 - he was one of my favourite singers (and very good-looking), although was also very politically active and is famous for a televised confrontation in 1980 with the soon-to-be French President, François Mitterand:

Daniel Balavoine

(there's another nice tribute to Daniel Balavoine from another of my favourite French singers, Jean-Jacques Goldman, here.)

UPDATE (Friday 14JAN2011 17.55 GMT) I've written a memorial article today, on the 25th anniversary of the death of Daniel Balavoine, and you can read it here.

Cameron's 'Rap' in the national interest

2010-10-08T18:26:00.005+01:00

I thought the Prime Minister's conference speech was excellent and it is nice to see that someone has turned salient parts of it into a 'rap' song:

No doubt sad left-wingers mocked the speech and will ridicule this 'rap', but they're the ones sadly out of touch with the public's determination to repair the damage done to the country by Labour's thirteen years of mismanagement.

Tea-times in Scotland out of danger

2010-10-08T17:58:00.008+01:00

A threatened strike at Tunnock's bakery in Uddingston could be avoided as a result of an agreement (details yet to be announced) with the union, you guessed it Unite.

I have fond memories of both these 'delicacies' from my childhood, but haven't tasted either in years - my efforts at weight loss take precedence now.

Overblown corporate hype of the day?

2010-10-04T13:01:00.005+01:00

Maybe I need to start a new series of posts (or perhaps not - it wouild rapidly become tedious), but I just noticed one of those ubiquitous 'white vans' parked at the building where I live and the 'corporate slogan' under the name of the [appropriately enough] enterprise struck me as just a teensy-weensy bit grandiose:

Enterprise
maintaining the infrastructure of the UK

Mind you the company Enterprise is not a small outfit, but nor is it absolutely huge; perhaps it is only one of the 'enterprises' maintaining the infrastructure of the UK?

Digital switchover is coming to Nairn

2010-10-03T12:48:00.012+01:00

Nairn is within the area served by the broadcasting transmitter at Rosemarkie, on the Black Isle just north of Inverness. Areas served by this transmitter are broadly known as 'Inverness and the Great Glen' and it is the last area within what is known as the 'STV North transmitter group' to be switched over from analogue to digital television reception. The switchover does not affect those who receive their television programmes via a satellite dish (whether Sky or Freesat for example) or those on cable television systems. But anyone who receives television programmes through an aerial is affected and must equip themselves to receive the Freeview digital broadcasts that will be the only ones available through an aerial once the analogue signals are switched off in the next week or so in this area. You can download a brochure in .pdf format giving full details of the switchover in this area here. The main digital switchover website is here; in it you will find full details of switchover information for every part of the UK; some regions have already been converted, but the final areas to be switched are not scheduled to be affected until 2012.

Most people in this area who will rely on Freeview digital signals through an aerial will probably already have converted existing television receivers by adding a Freeview digital 'set-top' box, or have replaced their television(s) with equipment which has a built-in Freeview digital tuner. However, if you have not done this (or have not signed-up for some form of satellite or cable television reception) you will lose the ability to receive television programmes once the analogue signals are discontinued on the five 'terrestrial' television channels - BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel4 and Five.

There are two important dates to remember for those affected in the 'Rosemarkie - Inverness and the Great Glen' reception area:

Wednesday 6th October 2010
- on this date the analogue signal for BBC2 will be switched off, so you will need to re-tune all Freeview digital television equipment to continue to receive BBC2 digital transmissions.

Wednesday 20th October 2010
- on this date the analogue signals for the other four terrestrial channels (BBC1, ITV, Channel4 and Five) will be switched off, so you will need to re-tune all Freeview digital television equipment to continue to receive Freeview digital transmissions on those channels.

Once the digital switchover is complete you will lose all television reception if you have not equipped yourself to receive Freeview digital transmissions or satellite or cable reception. The advantage of these methods of transmission is that there are many more television channels available to choose from, as well as the bonus that many radio channels (including most BBC radio channels) can also be received digitally via your television.

For myself, I have been watching Freeview digital for some years, in earlier years by the use of Freeview digital set-top boxes to convert all my ordinary 'analogue' television equipment to digital reception, but during this year I have replaced almost all of these (bar one) with televisions having built-in Freeview digital tuners. I expect I shall replace the final television before Christmas, although of course as I already have a Freeview digital set-top box for that unit there is no particular urgency.

How the fanatic eco-watchers lost their way - in a big way!

2010-10-02T08:16:00.008+01:00

It is shocking to see the propaganda posing as 'humour' that some groups, in this case eco-fanatic group 10:10 (the UK wing is discussed here) feel justified in indulging. They have produced a video seeking to further their aims which they imagined would be 'funny', but which most right-thinking people consider to be a crude exercise in manipulation and intimidation:

- the mealy-mouthed apology which 10:10 have posted in their website is a classic example of insincerity, as I see no real sign that they understand the enormity of how badly astray they have gone, their 'apology' being a mere damage-limitation exercise:

Sorry.

Today we put up a mini-movie about 10:10 and climate change called 'No Pressure’.

With climate change becoming increasingly threatening, and decreasingly talked about in the media, we wanted to find a way to bring this critical issue back into the headlines whilst making people laugh. We were therefore delighted when Britain's leading comedy writer, Richard Curtis - writer of Blackadder, Four Weddings, Notting Hill and many others – agreed to write a short film for the 10:10 campaign. Many people found the resulting film extremely funny, but unfortunately some didn't and we sincerely apologise to anybody we have offended.

As a result of these concerns we've taken it off our website. We won't be making any attempt to censor or remove other versions currently in circulation on the internet.

We'd like to thank the 50+ film professionals and 40+ actors and extras and who gave their time and equipment to the film for free. We greatly value your contributions and the tremendous enthusiasm and professionalism you brought to the project.

At 10:10 we're all about trying new and creative ways of getting people to take action on climate change. Unfortunately in this instance we missed the mark. Oh well, we live and learn.

Onwards and upwards,

Franny, Lizzie, Eugenie and the whole 10:10 team

- this kind of organisation really does need to stop and think what it is doing; its moral compass must be very badly out of order for it to have ever contemplated such a way of promulgating its message.
(thru the mr eugendies blog here)

Article heading list for latest 6-month period (April to September 2010) now up

2010-10-02T07:57:00.002+01:00

The archive of 'Article Headings' for the latest 6-month period is now available - click here for the period April to September 2010.

There are permanent links in the right bar to this and earlier 6-month 'Article Heading' indices, immediately below the standard 'Blogger' monthly archive links.

Will he stay or will he go? Miliband D answers at last.

2010-09-29T18:17:00.005+01:00

David Miliband has told his brother [Red]Ed that he is bowing out of 'front-line' politics to give him maximum chance of success without any inference that there might be dissention between them over any issue (and one can be pretty certain that there ARE significant differences between them on some matters - his reaction to Ed's speech yesterday was less than cordial at some points). A cynical person might say David is leaving Ed to 'stew in his own [even more left-wing] juice'.

David Miliband's record in politics is somewhat cruelly summed-up here; when he had the chance to topple the premiership of the walking-disaster that was Gordon Brown he flunked it. The nicest thing I can think of to say about him is that perhaps he is just not tough enough for the rough-and-tumble of front-line politics; I hope he finds something to do that will make better use of whatever his talents may be.

Claymore Dairies, Nairn, to be acquired by Graham's

2010-09-23T09:13:00.003+01:00

It seems the longer-term future of Nairn's largest employer, Claymore Dairies, has been secured with the acquisition agreement for the business to be taken over by Graham's Dairies of Bridge of Allan. Graham's is a major supplier of dairy products to many large supermarkets and perhaps not uncoincidentally has Sainsbury's as its largest customer (the supermarket chain planning to open its first Highlands outlet in Nairn next year). This sounds as if it is a very positive step for Nairn and Claymore Dairies.

Verbiage blocks road

2010-09-22T12:15:00.004+01:00

It is reported that almost 15 tonnes of journalist Andrew Marr's book, 'The Making of Modern Britain', have been spilled when a truck 'came off the A4 Bath Road in Theale, Berkshire, late on Tuesday night spilling boxes of the books'. As the linked BBC article comments: The book is said to "paint a fascinating portrait of life in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century as the country recovered from the grand wreckage of the British Empire". Now folks, do you think this is a publicity stunt by agents for Mr Marr in an effort to improve sales of the book? Fortunately the driver was unhurt.