Saturday, July 29, 2006

A World of Stereotypes

From the Daily Telegraph's letters to the Editor (Tuesday 25th July):

"Dear Sir,

Recently I read about an old lady who failed her stroke recovery test because of her old-fashioned method of making tea. It doesn't surprise me.
Eight years ago, during the World Cup, I had a stroke. The nurses were going to write me off because I couldn't answer their questions about football. They would not believe my wife when she told them I had no interest in the subject. "All men know about football," they said.
It took a visit to the hospital, by my boss, to converse with me about nuclear engineering, to convince them I was actually compos mentis."

The letter goes on to describe how he is now forced to watch every World Cup in case he has another stroke.

I admit, football is one of my hobbies, but it is further proof that the world is full of generalizations.

Jetstar

Friday, July 21, 2006

Full Scale War

The violence has escalated, with more than 40 more targets hit today by Israeli aeroplanes. It may well turn into a full-scale war very soon and now the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, has heavily criticized the Israeli's for using excessive force. (I'm sure you've heard that before). They say that Israel's war is no longer against Hezbollah, but against Lebanon and the Lebanese people themselves. Good point, I agree. Striking medical workers and hospitals is out of line in any situation. Will America get involved?

In my wise evaluation, Israel just want the power and the critical acclaim for defeating Hezbollah.

Jetstar

Monday, July 17, 2006

Mumbai Blasts

I know it is nearly a week on now but I wanted to cover this eventually.

The Mumbai blasts are terrible. The tragedies caused are despicable. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I found several articles, but this one really appealed to the heart. In situations like this, everyone must pull together, and I praise any Indian who had the courage to help other people, especially if they were not of their own race or religion.

Good Samaritan

A couple of other articles.

Mumbai Train Blasts Blog

CNN

The Guardian

Timesonline

BBC

Hate To Say I Told You So

And so the troops go in.

Jetstar

Saturday, July 15, 2006

One Anomaly Down, Many More To Go

Finally, a breakthrough of sorts.

John Reid has finally admitted that the train times from Luton stated in the official report are wrong. It states that police first noticed the error (proof he didn't even read my letter).

Is this the beginning of many admittances or is this John Reid again rubbishing Charles Clarke and everything he did while he was in the job? (e.g. asylum policy, immigration, prison services, the Home Office report) Could he be trying to portray himself to the Labour party as someone who will iron out flaws (aka he would be a good prime minister)?

Jetstar

Labour's Dodgy Dealings

Just short and sweet, about the Lord Levy/Sainsbury news.

First, a humorous post by The Antagonist, but could it be serious? The fire-fighters quote makes it seem slightly more likely. (BBC Article)

Then the Beeb's article about the actual Levy situation.

Jetstar

Friday, July 14, 2006

Israel vs Lebanon (but will it stay that way?) UPDATED

I decided to just quickly round up some news which may interest anybody reading.

The Israeli War

As you must have heard, Israel and Lebanon have declared war on each other, with the latest news being the Hezbollah chief declaring "an open battle".

I have looked at why each country would possibly want war and I have also investigated the nearby countries that may later get involved, one way or another.

I think there are three or four reasons why Israel want this war as a solution to their problems. There is the innocent reason, they just want their men back, but this seems unlikely as no public negotiation has been attempted. They don't even seem to have tried. I found this interview, in which the man seems convinced that the Lebanese provoked them. My personal opinion is a different idea though. Ehud Olmert, the new Israeli prime minister, is seen by many Israelis as quite soft on some issues, so perhaps this could be his way of proving himself a worthy leader, and I'm sure he is gaining a couple of votes in the process. The other idea is that israel just wants an excuse to go to war on the Hezbollah warriors.

What on Earth did Lebanon want to achieve when it kidnapped those two Israeli soldiers? (Some answers here?)
Could they just be cover for another country or are they really just the Hezbollah militants on their own?

Syria and Iran are kind of mysterious in this case. Did they send the rockets towards northern Israel last night? I find it unlikely but it is a possiblity.

Can Iraq free themselves from America and mount an attack? Or will America use them to fight for them?

Now, America. The old America. Meddling here, meddling there, meddling just about everywhere. I give them a week before they send in the troops.

And how long before Tony follows him?

Jetstar

UPDATE: Bush refuses to accept that his close allies Israel are being disproportinate in their attack and blames it all on Hezbollah. At least he knows how to sustain good friendships.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Train Times Update

Just a quick update to the train times article I wrote a while back.

My dad went up to London today and did an interview about the 'narrative' the government gave for an English-speaking Indian television company.
While he was up there, he decided to pay a visit to Luton train station, and after a couple of test runs, he has worked out that it is pretty well possible for someone to go from outside the train station itself and go to the furthest platform in under three minutes.

Thanx to everyone who oibserved the two minute silence.

Jetstar