Strangely Perfect

Windows 8 Developer Preview I’ve finally decided to test the next Windows edition, probably to be called Windows 8, although things like that are never certain in Microsoft-land. Virtual Box I did a Virtual Box install, which is fairly straightforward.  There are many tutorials on-line now which show how to do this, so I won’t [...]

Introduction There’s a well-known adage that says, Don’t believe everything you read in the papers (Point 1) Another, (which is derived from the mantra of the old UK stock market) goes like, An Englishman’s word is his bond (Point 2) Make what you want of them, but many people still go by this, replacing “An [...]

Heysel and Beyond Being justifiably upset by the events at the Heysel Stadium many years ago, the recent comments on a video I made about it … … on the 25th anniversary of the awful event made me recall some TV reporting of what was reputedly  to be a Juventus “fan” brandishing a gun on [...]

Healthcare Woes Lying sick in bed this morning listening to a Radio 5 phone-in about the “state” of our Accident & Emergency (A&E) healthcare system here in the UK, I was struck by the failure of the radio show’s producers to engender the expected flurry of tales of woe and poor service. Happy and Immaculate [...]

I’ve been on holiday for a while.  Today’s encouragement from Sensei I thought wonderfully appropriate for us in Britain, given the imminent general election and the hunt for a supposed centre ground. Quite simply, there can be no true democracy unless the citizens of a country realize that they are sovereign, that they are the [...]

Students die in India as bus plunges into river The above headline is awful enough for the people involved, but in reality, it’s subject, a road crash, is common enough in my own country, the UK. What is really bad is how the BBC is reporting this.  They should know better but essentially, they’ve reported [...]

The Hell of Incessant Suffering and the Land of Tranquil Light Note: This was originally published here http://buddhastate.co.uk/blog/?p=30 on Sunday, September 24th, 2006 at 4:28 pm and filed under Buddhism..  The link has been dead for quite some time, looks unlikely to re-appear,  so I’m showing the words here as they are so wonderful because [...]

“Lord” Ashcroft Then It’s ten years since Ashcroft “gave assurances” that he would reveal his er.. something or other, to William Hague – according to William Hague in his famous Paxman interview – See Below: “Lord” Ashcroft Now Today’s news is that if the tories win the forthcoming election, (and in a statement today, he [...]

How Summer Camps Could Change Britain by Christopher M. Green (Convenor of the Summer Camps Forum and Founding Director of The ATE Trust) Download Links to Original Chris Green Articles: Letter to MPs February 2010 Suggested letter format to lobby your local MP on behalf of Chris Green’s summer camps’ initiative. How Summer Camps …inline [...]

Introduction Yesterday’s News The use of intercept evidence in courts in England and Wales is not “legally viable”, …the Home Office has said.  This is reported on the BBC here, Using intercept evidence in court ‘not yet viable’ Security From the earliest days of the British (English) Secret Service, back in Elizabeth I’s time, all [...]

No Problem The towns of Workington and Cockermouth are now effectively isolated because all the bridges are down, washed away in the floods. However, they are ONLY bridges, and bridges can be made and rebuilt.  The problem is the lack of communications for the towns and surrounding villages, which affects everything, not least the provision [...]

Coroner and Law I’m often struck when reading the papers or news, to see the coroner’s verdict on someone’s death as: Ending his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed Well they have to say something, it’s their job, but the phrase is very peculiar. Take this couple, the Milners, who were [...]

PreScript Advice If you think you’ve had your bank ‘cleaned out’ by any of a multitude of ‘life cleanse’ or ‘colon cleanse’ type internet scams, there is only one real remedy… Ask for a charge-back against the company through you credit card company. Your reason, when asked, is that the company has either: Not adhered [...]

As MP’s expenses come to the fore again, Peter Mandelson spoke on Radio 4 this morning and did his usual self by not explaining anything and being perfectly unclear about everything!  Listen hear here! Thank god the interviewer cut him off. The question was “Have you got much sympathy with MPs who’ve claimed under one [...]