Current Affairs

Ageism and On the Spot Fines

From 1st October 2006 in the UK it will be against the law to discriminate against people due to their age. The government feel that too many people of a certain age do not have the rights that people of a younger age have, and of course visa-versa.
But why change something that hasn't really been that much of a problem in the past? I have to say that as I am 40, and am caught in the middle really, neither too young or too old, but what is going to happen when this law comes in?

I think there is going to be chaos, and lots and lots of litigation against companies for wrongful dismissal, not employing people etc.

Here is why...

Imagine if you will a company decides that they want to have an experienced employee to fill a vacancy for a job, and ad for the job could under the old system read something like this.

"Experienced Engineer required to fill the position of Field Service engineer, must have a minimum of 5 years working in the electronics field, have clean driving license, and be well presented. Ex forces engineers will be looked upon favourably, please send CV including date of birth to..."

Now under the new rules, the company posting this advert could be in trouble, as it states minimum employment period, date of birth, and ex-forces. Which basically means they want someone in there late 20's early 30's.
But it isn't just these sort of ads that are going to get people into trouble. If you club together and buy a birthday card for someone in the company that is of an age, and someone signs the card, "How many candles you Old Git!". If objected to by the receiver of the card, not only can the writer of the card be done, but so can the company!

What about sacking people? They could claim it is because they are too young/old. Then there is experience, I mean how do you get experience? By been in the job a long time, so all these graduates will have a case when they complain that they are been discriminated against as they are not been given the opportunity to prove themselves.

What of the, shall we say more mature lady, that fancies herself as a pole dancer??? No don't laugh, she could also have a claim.

Like I said CHAOS!!!!! So I await with bated breath to what will happen in the next few days, the nanny state gone mad, or a good policy by this ridiculous government?

Speaking of which, there has been a leak to the Times newspaper, that has said this government want to introduce On the Spot fines of £100 ($175) for petty crime. But on the list they include Mugging and Robbery and Obstructing Police?? WHAT!!! I can REALLY see a mugger saying to a policeman, "It's a fair cop, here's the money".
Or take it the other way, a policeman fining someone perfectly innocent £100 because they couldn't get their car out of the way quick enough!

Who is going to administer the fines? Who is going to control them? What constitutes an On the Spot Fine? What if the person refuses to pay? Oh yes Mr Blair/Brown, a really well thought out idea.
But here is thclucksux, the reason why they are thinking of doing it is to clear up the overworked court system!

Well a little word of advice and perhaps an idea that might work a little bit better, why not spend a little bit more money in the courts area, cut all the bloodbureaucraticic red tape, and then you wouldn't have such a problem, and therefore not have to bring in such stupid pointless laws!

Or is it just another way to get money for the taxman???

Watch this space.

Entertainment

The Sequels Game

Soon to be released here in the UK will be Saw 3, a film that began with surprise, surprise SAW. But will SAW 3 be one of those film franchises that go just a bit too far, and become ridiculous? SAW broke new ground, in that it was unlike any other film previously released. But it's very success could lead to it becoming a Rotten tomato.

Lets look at a few more sequels and then you tell me what you think...

Perhaps the running of the sequels genre is the "Friday the 13th" group of films. The first was not too bad, and it was a typical teen slasher movie. But did we really have to have another 10 yes that's TEN!! more of them?? Somehow I don't think so, they should have stopped at one in my opinion. Then there was "Nightmare on Elm Street", the first one really made me uncomfortable for some reason, but when it got to 3 I thought it was pushing the boat out a bit, I believe they are now on Number 9.

Friday 13th 11/Elm street 9

It's getting daft. Some films though benefit from becoming sequelised (if there is such a word), look at the Matrix Trilogy for instance. Most people I know didn't really have a clue as to what was going on in the Matrix, until they had seen it 2 or 3 times, and even then they were unhappy that their questions were still left unanswered. Then came the next two films, and it kind of closed the chapter. Hopefully there will be no more films in the Matrix series, otherwise it is just going to make the whole thing seem pointless.

Another one of those that I think falls into the decent sequel category is "The X-men", I haven't yet seen X-men 3, but I think they would be very foolish to go and make a fourth film, a spin-off is OK but a fourth film...Nah it would spoil the others.

X-Men 3 A worthy Sequel ??

To tell the truth though, we are to blame in a way that there are so many sequels out there. I mean if the film wasn't so popular they wouldn't bother making a sequel to it now would they?

I had a look earlier today at the Box office top 10's, in the US the top movie is Jackass 2, a sequel. In the UK we have Clerks 2 at number 10. Not very many really, but then there are more to come such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The Beginning and The Grudge 2 which I am sure will draw in their respective fans. But, why do we crave for a sequel? I think it is because we enjoyed the first movie so much, that we want more. Only trouble is the movie makers think we want more and more and more, eventually giving us too much, and therefore rendering the first movie we saw in the series, as crap too, even though we really enjoyed it.

Take another great series on TV, that became in effect a Movie series and that was the "Star Trek" series. I thought it would end with Star Trek 5 - The Final Frontier, but NO, in 2002 they had Star Trek 10 - Nemisis. I mean what the??

Final Frontier not Final Film

So what are the next films that are going to be ruined by the sequel craze? Well a lot of people didn't like it, but Pirates of the Caribbean have filmed backed to back 2 and 3. So it looks like that is one of the ones that will sadly be ruined.

If you have any others to add, please feel free to comment.

Fun and Games

Weekly Quiz

Well I don't know what happened with the last postings pictures, but hopefully I am going to be able to post some for the quiz. As it would be pretty pointless to have a picture round with no pictures! So here we go, fingers and toes crossed it works out...

Round 1 - Movie Mist ups

Quite simple, name the movie and the actor/actress, from the following.

1)















2) Number one is easy, this is a little Trickier

3) Another that may trouble you

4) This one is a little easier I think

5) And the last one should be straight forward too!
















Round Two : - Name the Game

Bit of a change in the quiz this time, as all you have to do is to name the game. I am sure you will recognise the games, but I also want to know the company that introduced them to the world.

1) A Nice easy one to start you off

2) Another quite easy one











3) This is a little harder
















4) An oldie but a goodie, and of course a little harder

5) Finally for this round, a game that launched a thousand copies!

Final Round - Quizicles

Last round now, and five easy (ha ha) questions for you to tackle.

1) What is the lightest metal ?

2) What is a Icosahedron ?

3) What island was known as Van Diemen's Land ?

4) Who were Fleago, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky ?

5) What is the more common name for the Cavy ?

OK that is your lot, you have until Thursday!

Travel

India Rediscovered

Well Finally! After over a week of inactivity on the Blog due to the slight problem of not having any Internet connection, I finally have managed to get a good connection. Where? Hyderabad airport in the 'Port Lounge', and what's more its FREE!
So here we go on what has happened in the last week or so, I know Europe have won the (sorry completely thrashed!) Ryder Cup. The Imps lost and home but won away to the top team (5 on the trot now), and the shuttle is OK. But what of my journey? Well it's 12:55 am here as I write this, but the trip began at 4:30 am on 17th in England...

I left in good time, well thinking I was going to be faced with a few security issues I left earlier than I had to. Got to the Birmingham airport, and found that the security issues had mostly cleared up, this I got through no worries and found myself with 2 and a bit hours to waste (Bugger!), the good thing was I was going by KLM which meant another few thousand air miles to add to the 142,000 I have already. Trouble is I have never been able to use them, I mean every time I go for a free flight paid by air miles, surprise surprise there are none available on the day that I want, or there available on the day I want but, not for the return. Any chance it may be a con???
Anyway, flight went well, and I arrived at the hotel in Hyderabad at about 1:30 am on the 18th. Now the first thing you notice about Hyderabad is the smell. I do mean SMELL kind of like a bad egg smell, or sweaty sock type smell, but it is there and it kinda lingers if you know what I mean!
So after a nice long sleep it was onto the cement plant, and a 5 and a half hour car journey. Remember the Calcutta Taxi ride I talked of last time, well this wasn't as bad, but it was close. Having to spend your time avoiding bikes, motorbikes, other cars, trucks, tractors dogs, people, cows, goats, and things I don't even have a name for must be a joy for the car drivers of India, for they have to do it all the time, even my good friend Keyur, who is my co-worker and interperetur here was looking, shall we say apprehensive on a few dozen occasions, and he was in the back seat!

Still we got there in one piece, and didn't have to start till the morning, hum this is sounding familiar 2 days of travel and I still hadn't started work yet!
For those of you who don't know what a cement plant is about, here is a photo of the site, a dank and dismal, filthy place, but it is more than 30 years old, and you do get clean ones...sometimes!
The dirtier one on the right is the coal mill.







So now you have an idea of what I face, it's not all fun and games travelling let me tell you.
OK so the job didn't go too badly, at first but by the end of it I had just about had enough I can tell you, just when I thought all was well, the proverbail bee came and stung my arse. Still at the end both systems worked and the customer seemed happy, which is the main thing.

Now one thing I would say is that the food was vegetarian, and you had what you was given, so most of the time I had Roti's (like a pancake) and rice, and very little else, then one day as I went to go to the dining room, the chef/room keeper/laundry man et al, said I was having dinner in my room, strange I thought maybe the dining room was full. But no, he opened the pan and the delicious aroma of chicken poured out. The guy had not really cooked chicken before, but he had done wonders it tasted delicious! I didn't eat the giblets, there is a limit to my pallette, but cooked to perfection comes to mind.
The next night he told us we were eating outside this time, I had a wry smile on my face, chicken on the menu again, and this time it was better than the last. I gave him a few extra Rupees for those two meals let me tell you.
So to last night, and my stay at the Taj in Hyderbad, after a 6 hour car journey avoiding the usual goats, cows, cars buses, trucks etc, etc etc.
I felt like dinner a bit later, and got taken to the restuarant attached to the hotel, imagine my surprise to find MEAT on the menu, not just any meat, LAMB, CHICKEN, PRAWNS!!!!
I had the house king prawn special, with fried rice, and then polished off the BEST meal I have had in India. If you visit Hyderabad be sure to go to the Taj, that is only 3 clicks from the airport, and eat in the restuarant you will NOT be dissapointed.

So that brings me to here, and after this I am going for a nice kip, 1:35 am, only another 12 hours to go!

Travel

Updates??

I am sitting here at Amsterdams Schipol airport, typing the post whilst waiting for my flight to Hyderbad. Because of this I have no idea whether I will be able to post anymore posts until my return, on 25th!
Apologies in advance, but thems the breaks. If I do manage to get an internet connection where I am going, then I will post as normal. But, somehow I can't see it.
So have a nice week, and keep up the good work all you Bloggers out there!

Impy

Paranormal

Weekly Question - Do Ghosts Exist?

You may not have gathered this, but apart from films being a love of mine, another thing that I am very, very interested in is the Paranormal, and the Unknown. Things like ghost stories and unexplained phenomena fascinate me. I remember as a kid avidly watching Arthur C Clarkes Mysterious World, and been gobsmacked. I would buy the 'Unknown' type books from Readers Digest and read them cover to cover 3 or four times over.
I regularly have a look at Most Haunted just to try and get a sighting, of something as seen in my previous subject, and sighting ( My sighting ) which is one of the reasons why I fully believe that there is such a thing as Ghosts. The thing is Do You?
Let's have a look at some things...

The overwhelming amount of people that have reported seeing strange and unexplained things, cannot be explained away as sensationalism, or people trying to obtain publicity. There have been reported ghost sightings since time began, and long before papers were invented, so lets rule that one out for a start.

The next thing is the amount of pictures that are out there reportedly capturing a ghostly image. Now experts have the technology to determine things about the photo such as double exposures, under exposure, digital manipulation and the like. I would think that 75% of the photo's taken can be ruled out as fake either intentional or unintentional. But what of the other 25%?? Also what of the vast amount of stories that have come to the forefront regarding Hauntings, the Connecticut house is a case in point. Why would normal everyday people want to make this up, they only face ridicule and the kids get bullied, so why do it?

I suspect there are an awful lot of sightings or events that go unreported, and therefore are never shown, or heard of. Seeing a ghost creates a stigma on that person, I never told of the one I saw for years after.

Have a look at this picture.

At first glance it looks like two ghostly images forming in space, but I think (and remember I am a believer) all it is, is smoke from the person taking the photo. But then again, isn't smoke thicker than that, less transparent? Difficult isn't it to tell the real from the fake.
But now click on this link and watch the video, tell me what you think.

Ghostly door

Very Strange, but is it something that could have been faked somehow? I really don't know. Which I suppose is the thing that all the skeptics say, "Prove they exist!", and when images are produced to try and prove the existence of ghosts, they are pooh-poohed, and put down as fakes.
Just imagine seeing something like this though in your shed window;

I know what I would be dreaming about those glowing eyes for quite a while, and what about seeing this on your pet dog, would you be ushering it out the door as soon as you could to fend for itself?

For all you Americans out there, would you continue camping in the wilds of Gettysburg, if you happened to see something like this tramping through the undergrowth?

I hope that I have grabbed your attention, and just given you a little bit more reason to believe in something, even if it isn't ghosts. I hope in the future to be able to post stories of ghostly phenomena, that have not been explained. Along with pictures of course, I hope also that people will share with me their stories, you can use my email link if you would like, and I will try to post your tale.

Whatever, you believe have a vote on the weekly poll, and let the world know what you think.

By the way the result of the last poll "Are We Winning the War on Terror" produced the following results.

Yes - 30.4%

No - 69.6%

Thanks to all those 24 who voted.

So remember when you go to sleep tonight in your cosy warm bed, you will have someone watching over you. You may not know it, you may not feel it, but they will be there. Just hope that they don't get as close as this.

Until next time SLEEP TIGHT!

Entertainment

The Console Wars

When I was a lad (sounds like one of those sort of things granpa or Nan would say!) I scrimped and saved all my pocket money, because I wanted one of the latest things to come into the home. That was the Atari 2600 VCS games system, I thought it was the bee's knees to be able to plug a thing into the TV and play games, the joysticks were crappy, and so were the paddles, but I didn't care. The games were very expensive, but I somehow saved for them as they were ones I wanted to play. Indeed the VCS was my introduction to the world of consoles, it was regarded as the first most successful console around, and spawned quite a few more.The newest consoles however make my trusty Atari look like a comparison between a soapbox racer and a formula F1 Ferrari!

As I have said ATARI were the mainstream producers of the games console, in the early eighties, indeed people would by an Atari just so they could play the game Space Invaders, which was created by Taito, but licensed by Atari. This game became the basis for thousands of clones.

But even though this market leader in consoles had cornered the market, they still wanted more. They tried to ban 3rd party software for the console especially titles from Activision but failed. Then a company called Mystique started to release pornographic games for the console, including the infamous Custer's Revenge that outraged women's groups and native Indians, Atari's image was tarnished, and it started to spell the end of consoles in 1983, that and the growing interest in home PC's.

So the market was stagnant for consoles until 1985 when a Japanese company released their Nintendo Entertainment System, coupled with a little robot called ROB (Robot Operated Buddy), and a light gun for shooting games. But it also game with a certain game featuring an Italian Plumber called Mario, and his brother Luigi. That game was Super Mario Brothers it was a game that would eventually be listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest selling game of all time. It put Nintendo on the map, and got people interested in consoles again, indeed that one game was probably the game that started the console wars.

With no other games to touch it at the time Mario ensured Nintendo would become one of the main players in the Console Wars. But in the late eighties and early 90's that was set to change, with the arrival of the SEGA Mega Drive, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Unfortunately, despite all the hype and the fact their system was released 2 years before the new Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), the little hedgehog couldn't beat off the Italian plumbers, and soon the SEGA faded into history. That and the fact that Nintendo had released in 1989, a handheld console that guaranteed they would forever be at the top of the charts when it came to hand-held consoles - The GameBoy!

Nintendo were to stay at the top of the tree for nearly 10 years, until a rival Japanese company produced a far more superior product that was based on a 32-bit system rather then the 16-bit of the SNES. That company was Sony, the product the Sony Playstation, the Eagle had landed!

More to follow next time...

Travel

Remembering Places

I am off on my travels again this weekend, leaving on the 17th, and coming back on the 25th. This time I am going back to India :-( , not one of my favorite places in the world (apologies in advance, it's Calcutta (Kolcata) that does it!) but at least this time it is a different area of the country, and I don't have to go to Calcutta. Anyone know what Hyderbad is like????
But that is in the next few days, it got me thinking as to the places I did enjoy going to and one place came up straight away Guapan in Ecuador.

Now Ecuador is a country that is just 2 hours flying time from the Galapagos Islands home to some of the most fantastic and unspoiled country in the world, and abundant with all manner of wildlife.

One of the Islands

Then you have beautiful unspoiled beaches on the Pacific Ocean side of Ecuador, 1,390 miles of coastline, so your sure to find an empty spot on the beach. Go a couple of hours inland and you come to the sprawling cities, which are quite nice. Then as you move further inland westward you come to the Andes, and this is where I was in Guapan. If I carried on further westward I would have been in the Amazon. So there you have all the main types of terrain spaced 2 hours apart!

What of Guapan? Well it is a small town in the middle of the Andes, which means you are about 3000m above sea level. Because of that I had a headache for three days, not a "God my head is killing me, I wonder if I push my hands against my temples I will be able to stop my brain from leaking" type of headache, more a dull thud, uncomfortable, but livable. I was also short of breath for a while. Trouble is I was only up at Altitude for 4 days, so just as I was acclimatised, I had to go back home!

I stayed in Quito, which was only a 40 minute drive from Guapan, and is a lovely place to visit, with plenty to eat! It is also very close to the volcano Pichincha, which I was unfortunately not able to visit due to time constraints. Here is a picture of me, at a typical roadside eatery where I enjoyed probably the nicest plate of pork I have eaten in a long time. No wonder I look such a Lardy arse!

And here is a side view of the very same, with the lads I worked with.

This trip was to do a couple of systems, and involved the first to utilise an Ethernet connection within our equipment. Halfway through commissioning the system, and the day after we had just managed to get the Ethernet system working, Xavier my interpreter said to me, that the papers wanted to come and see the system, and also give me a short interview on the system and the commissioning. Papers! I said no problem, as long as he didn't mind as he was going to be doing the translating (I know very little Spanish - Gracious, Buenos noches, is about my limit!), he agreed so we waited. Then 10 minutes before the press arrived, Xavier came to me and said " Sorry Dave, it is not only the papers, the local TV news wish an interview too!", Silence for 30 secs as this piece of news sank in. Then I said "No problemo!" (I learnt that from the Terminator). So in came the film crew, and I got 5 minutes of fame on the Ecuador news channel, LOL. I just hope Xavier translated exactly what I said, he looked a lot more nervous than me, LOL.

The rest of the trip went pretty much as normal, but it wasn't just the film crew that made the trip memorable it was the country itself.

Here are a few more photo's

They have another trip coming up in the near future to Ecuador, and I have got my name put down and my dollars booked already!

Fun & Games

Weekly Quiz

It's that time again, and as there were sadly no entries last week into the quiz, nobody got a link to their site. Ho Hum, I will keep plugging away in the hope that the questions are going to get answered, so click continue to take this weeks quiz, and find out what the answers were to last weeks. Best of luck!


Round 1 - Splatter Heads

The following pictures have had there stars faces mangled by a duplicator ray, rendering their faces a right mess! Just tell me the name of the film ans name of the star/s.

1. Piece of Cake this one.

2. Film should be OK but how about actor/actress?

3. Another easy one.

Round 2: What on Earth?

Another pictorial round, this time it's another of those what on earth is that ones.

1. What could this be?

2. This next one is tricky but you will measure up.

3. Finally for this round take a look at this.

Finally Round 3 : Quizicals

1. Who wrote the words of the hymn Amazing Grace?

2. What was the name of the lioness in the 1966 film 'Born Free'?

3. You have heard of spiking drinks, but in what game would you spike the ball?

4. What anniversary do you celebrate after 15 years?

5. Which US president said "Read my Lips: No new taxes"?

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS QUIZ

Invisibles: 1. Dan Akroyd and John Belushi in the Blues Brothers, 2. Jim Carey in The Mask, 3. Bruce Willis and Ulma Thurman in Pulp Fiction.

What on Earth: 1. A Computer Mouse, 2. A 3-pin Plug

Quizicals: 1. Potatoes, 2. Mexico, 3. Sheryl Crow, 4. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, 5. John Paul Getty III

Good Luck for this week!

Movie Review

A Haunting in Connecticut

Believe me if you watch this movie/documentary you WILL be scared, I am pretty good with horror films, but this one which I saw on Discovery channel, had me shitting bricks! The most appealing thing of all, is that it will soon be released as a revamped version from Hollywood. I just pray that the original concept of the film is kept, and they don't mess it up by adding needless effects. I also hope that they keep with the storyline of the TRUE events that happened in the house, which is one of the things that makes this film so scary, and that is the events portrayed are, I repeat, based upon TRUE events.
Here is the storyline...

Ed and Karen Parker rent a rambling old house in Connecticut. They need to be near the hospital where their 14-year-old son Paul is being treated for cancer. The day they move in, they notice crucifix hanging over all the doorways. More telling is a basement room filled with head tags, toe tags, coffin keys and religious medals, the house is an old funeral parlor. Although they withhold this information from their four children, Paul makes an ominous announcement; ?we have to leave here?this house is evil.?

Now to me that would already set the alarm bells ringing, and I would look elsewhere for a house! But when a loved one is concerned reason doesn't come into the equation.

The names in the docu/film are not those of the family that set up home there, but what happened is taken from transcripts from the family members, and others involved in the haunting. This what makes the film so compelling, you don't see gore and blood, you do see a few violent attacks, but most of the film basis itself on viewing what you 'CANT' see. The most disturbing thing of all, is the families refusal to believe their son, until events take over when they have him committed to a mental home.

This is one film that had me searching on the net to try to find out more about the home, which isn't very often I say that about a film. Most of all though the events that occur in the house are quite plausible, although a couple of them make you think "Oh Yeah!, Sure that happened", but then you see another event and all you can think is "Bloody Hell!".

I will not put any of the events that occurred in this posting as it will ruin your enjoyment of the film, and you really do need to watch it at night to be truly scared, although if you read this quote from someone on the website Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) , even watching during daytime can scare you.
"I watched this for the first time 3pm on a Sunday afternoon (yesterday) the sun was shining and the room was fully lit up, and I was still scared to hell!!!!!! I feel sorry for anyone who watched it in the dark before going to bed!"

They aren't kidding, you can keep your, FT13th, Halloween, Hellraiser, and Nightmare on Elm Streets, this made for TV docufilm, will do a scare job on you no worries!

Starring: Vanessa Lock, Brett Fleisher, Rob Pearson, Tyler Read

Rating: *****

Further reading
Carmen Reed
Connecticut Haunting

Art

Thermal Art

As promised here are a couple more Thermal art images, but this time they are not from a cement kiln, this time they are a couple of everyday things, that most of us have. I think you will be able to tell exactly what they are, but it would be nice to know what you do think they are. I will let you know tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will include one in the weekly quiz, just for you to identify.

Current Affairs

In Memory of..

All those who died in the 9/11 attacks, and all those who subsequently died as a result of those attacks, I publish this poem, slightly adapted for all

Stop all the Clocks by W H Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffins, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message They are Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
They were the North, the South, the East and West,
Our working week and our Sunday rest,
Our noon, our midnight, our talk, our song;
I thought that their love would last for ever:
I was wrong.The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Weekly Question

Are we Winning the War on Terror?

The Day The World Changed

Monday 11th September see's the 5th Anniversary of the attack on the World Trade centre in New York. Probably the most horrific terrorist attack in history, it had the world glued to their TV sets, and affected the lives of millions of people. It also signaled the beginning of the long overdue War on Terrorism.
But the question is are we any further ahead now than we were 5 years ago? Are we actually winning the "War on Terrorism", or has the last 5 years just been a tragic loss of human lives for the sake of nothing?

On September 11th 2001, a number of planes took off on a regular flight, carrying with them passengers that had no idea what was in store for them.

Here is the timeline of just what happened;

7:58 a.m. - United Airlines Flight 175 departs Boston for Los Angeles,
carrying 56 passengers, two pilots, and seven flight attendants. The
Boeing 767 is hijacked after takeoff and diverted to New York.

7:59 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 11 departs Boston for Los
Angeles, carrying 81 passengers, two pilots, and nine flight
attendants. This Boeing 767 is also hijacked and diverted to New York.

8:01 a.m. - United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 carrying 38
passengers, two pilots, and five flight attendants, leaves Newark, N.J.,
for San Francisco.

8:10 a.m. - American Airlines Flight 77 departs Washington's
Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles, carrying 58 passengers,
two pilots, and four flight attendants. The Boeing 757 is hijacked
after takeoff.

8:46 a.m. - American Flight 11 from Boston crashes into the North
Tower at the World Trade Center.

9:03 a.m. - United Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the South
Tower at the World Trade Center.

- U.S. Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New
York area airports.

9:21 a.m. - Bridges and tunnels leading into New York City
are closed.

9:25 a.m. - All domestic flights are grounded by U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration.

9:45 a.m. - American Flight 77 crashes into The Pentagon.

10:05 a.m. - The South Tower at the World Trade Center collapses.

10:05 a.m. - The White House is evacuated.

10:10 a.m. - A large section of one side of The Pentagon collapses.

10:10 a.m. - United Flight 93 crashes in a wooded area in
Pennsylvania, after passengers confront hijackers.

10:28 a.m. - The North Tower at the World Trade Center collapses.

In the space of just over 2 hours nearly 2500 people had lost their lives. It was an event that was to see in the following 5 years, the invasion of Afghanistan and the removal of the Taliban, the invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein, and even more countless deaths.
But has the Terrorism stopped? Have the attacks stopped?

No of course not, in some respects they have intensified, the West still have soldiers dyeing in Afghanistan and Iraq, we have had attacks on the Tube here in the UK, and have stopped a potentially worse terrorist attack than that of 9/11.

But probably the worst thing of all is that the number of civilian deaths is by far higher than it was BEFORE the War on Terror began. Granted the west has rid the world of dreadful regimes but it has only succeeded in ruining lives for people, particularly in Iraq. The Middle East historically has had so many problems that we in the West cannot begin to understand, and is now a daily source of news for suicide bombers and attacks on troops as well as Muslims attacking Muslims, Iraqis attacking Iraqis. It saddens me to see all the death and destruction there, and to what aim? What is it all about? What is it going to change?

Well today, I heard on the radio that there is an increasing number of Muslims who are starting to voice their displeasure, not of the West but of the very Terrorist group that was formed to aledgedly fight their cause. Muslims are on the whole a peaceful people, and the teachings of Islam are based on peace. They hate what Al-Qaeda are doing in the name of Islam, and I would think a great many are ashamed of the celebrating they did after the attacks of 9/11. That is a beginning, the only way we will win the War on Terror, is for the people the Terrorists supposedly represent to rise up and speak out against them, to counter the fanatical fundamentalists that spout hatred in the mosques, and to once again show that they are truly a peaceful religion by defending the west rather than constantly verbally attacking it.

Are we winning the War on Terror? No we are not, not yet, but we are slowly getting there, sadly it is going to take time, and the tragic avoidable deaths of thousands.

Current Affairs

Every Parents Nightmare

Natascha Kampusch & Wolfgang Priklopil

Eight years ago a young girl aged 10 from Austria, had an argument with her mother and stormed out of the family home. She was to be the victim of the most talked about kidnap in recent times. Bundled into a white minibus Natascha Kampusch would be held captive in a windowless room until she escaped aged 18, and her kidnapper Wolfgang Priklopil committing suicide means her ordeal will stay with her forever.
So just what was it like for this fantastically brave women, and for her parents? She gave a TV interview on 6th September, but I will not post that here, just my thoughts on the situation. You may not agree, but hopefully you will make some comments, so lets begin...

Natascha was taken from off the streets of Donaustadt on March 2nd 1998 after a row with her mother Brigitte Sirny, in which the latter had slapped her face. Bundled into a white minibus she had no idea what fate was to befall her. Witnesses reported that they saw the initials G or GF on the minibus's registration (which showed it coming from the Gaeserndorf region), indeed the owner of the minbus Wolfgang Priklopil was questioned by police, and his minibus checked but nothing was found. Priklopil's excuse of using the bus as transport for construction rubble, was accepted by police as he was working on his house at the time.
But what I want to know is why did none of these so called witnesses fail to do anything? If you or I saw a young girl been pushed into a van, we would either shout at the person, try to do something, or call the police and get the registration number. Yet as far as I can gather none of these witnesses did anything!

Her Prison

A Trapdoor leads to hidden stairs

It was widely reported in the media that she was held in a "dungeon" for the period of her confinement. This very small secret room was hidden 2.5 meters underground with only 5 m² of space -- 2.78 m length x 1.81 m width x 2.37 m height (approximately 9 ft long, 6 ft wide, with a 7 ft 9 in ceiling). The chamber was not an ordinary bedroom. It was closed, with two doors and a strong-room door made of steel. The area had no windows or daylight. Kampusch was not allowed to leave the tiny space in the first years of her imprisonment at night. In later years, the room wasremodeledd according to Natascha's specifications.

The small windowless dungeon/home

As you can see this is a very small living space for a young girl to be in, it's almostpitifull, and I for one cannot imagine what a ten year old felt being there. It would have driven me insane to the pont of killing myself at that age. This only goes to highlight just how strongercharacterr Natascha is.

According to Kampusch's official statement after her escape, she and Priklopil would get up early each morning to have breakfast together. Priklopil, who was her master, gave her books, educated her, and according to acolleaguee of his, she appeared happy. She said she was lucky to have escaped temptations of the outside world, like drugs bad company or alcohol. There was also a TV added later for her to watch, and also newspapers for her to read. Because of this it is said that Natascha may have developed Stockholm syndrome as a result, (this is denied by Natascha in her interview, although she does feel sympathy towards Priklopil's suicide and his parents).
This is the most fascinating thing of all, the fact that Priklopil was a teacher to Natascha is incredible, he held her captive, yet he wanted her to be educated. There has been no comment from Natascha regarding any sexual events that happened, and I hope there never will be as this will just worsen things for her. But in the interview she did come across has a very intelligent and articulate human being. Just what were Priklopil's motives then?

Escape

Natascha Leaves the Police station

Natascha resurfaced in August 2006. One day when she was cleaning and vacuuming the car in the garden, Priklopil went away because the vacuuming noise disturbed a telephone call. She left the vacuum cleaner running and ran away. She knocked on the window of a 71-year old neighbor known as Inge T., saying, "I am Natascha Kampusch." The neighbor informed the police. Later Kampusch was taken to the police department in the town of Deutsch Wagram.
She had previously been allowed on outings with Priklopil, and tried at least once to escape. Natascha was identified by a scar on her body, a passport in her name was found in the hidden room where she had been held, and also by DNA tests. The young woman was in good physical health, although she looked pale and shaken and weighed only 42 kg (approximately 93 lbs).
Sabine Freudenberger, the first police officer to speak to Natascha Kampusch after her ordeal, said that she was astonished by her "intelligence, and her vocabulary.
Priklopil, having found that the police were after him, killed himself by jumping in front of a suburban train near the North Station in Vienna. He had apparently also predicted his suicide by telling Natascha that "they would not catch him alive".

Natascha had tried numerous times to escape before, but just was unable too, as Priklopil had never left her side. This was the first time she was effectively alone, in the open, and she took the opportunity. I think had Priklopil had not left her alone, she would still be a captive of him. In effect Priklopil had come to develop Stockholm syndrome, he had come to trust Natascha to the point he believed she loved him and would never leave him. Tank god she was able to get to the neighbours. The only sad thing is Priklopil's suicide means that we will never know just why he did what he did.

A Letter to the World

Natascha as well as conducting a TV interview has written an open letter to the world. Here it is in it'sentiretyy, tissues at the ready;

Dear journalists, reporters, and people of the world,
"I realised quite early what a strong impression the news of my captivity has made on people, but I ask for understanding in satisfying the tremendous interest of the public. I realise how shocking and worrying the thoughts about my time in my prison must be, and that something like this could even be possible. I also realise there is a certain amount of curiosity and a desire to know more about the circumstances in which I lived.
"But at the same time I want to make it clear that I don't want to answer any details about intimate personal matters, and am prepared to take steps to ensure this interest does not get out of control.
"My personal space: my room was equipped with everything I would need and I made it my home, and it was not meant to be shown to the public.
"My daily life: this was carefully regulated, mostly it started with a joint breakfast - he was anyway not working most of the time. There was housework, reading, television, talking, cooking. That's all there was, year in and year out, and always tied in with the fear of being lonely.
"On my relationship: he was not my master. I was just as strong as him, but he would, symbolically speaking, sometimes be my support and sometimes be the person who kicked me. But with me he had picked the wrong person, and we both knew that.
"He did the kidnapping alone and prepared everything in advance. After that we furnished the room together, and it was not 1.6 m high. I also did not cry after I made my escape. It was no reason to cry.
"In my eyes, his death was not necessary. It would not be the end of the world if he had simply been given a prison sentence. He has been a big part of my life, and as a result I do feel I am in a sort of mourning for him. It is true that my youth was different to the youth of others, but in principle I don't feel I missed anything. On the contrary, there are certain things I avoided, having nothing to do with smoking or drinking to start off with, and I didn't meet the wrong friends.
"Message to the media: the one thing I would appeal for from the press is a stop to the insulting reports, the misinterpretations of reality, the commentaries that claim to know better and the lack of respect for me.
"At the moment I feel very well in the place where I'm staying, although perhaps I feel a little bit too much controlled. I am the one who has decided only to have telephone contact with my family. I'm also one who will decide when I want to have contact with journalists.
"On my escape: it happened as I was cleaning the car in the garden and saw that he had walked away during the vacuum cleaning. That was my chance, I dropped the vacuum cleaner and left it running.
"I also want to stress I never called him master although he demanded it. I think that's what he wanted, to be named like that, but he never meant it really.
"I have a lawyer that discusses the law with me. The youth lawyer Monica Pintertis has my trust together with Dr Friedrich and Dr Berger (both top Austrian youth psychiatrists) with whom I feel I can speak. The investigations team led by Mr Fruhstuck were very good to me, and I greet them warmly, although they were a bit too curious, but that is after all their job.
"Intimate questions: everybody wants to ask intimate questions, but these have nothing to do with anybody else. It may be that one day I speak to my therapist about it and maybe not. At the end of the day the private life is mine alone.
"Mr H [a friend of her kidnapper] should not feel guilty, it was Wolfgang's own decision to throw himself in front of a train. I also feel sympathy for the mother of Wolfgang. I can put myself in her position and I feel with her and have understanding. I and we both are thinking of him. I want to thank all the people who've taken part in my fate. But please let me have some peace in the immediate future. I hope that Dr Friedrich will be able to use this letter to make that clear. There are many people caring for me now. Please let me have time until I feel I can talk for myself.
"Natascha Kampusch"

To me this is devoid of emotion, it is just a statement containing facts, cold facts, there is none of the feeling, and emotion that you may expect. Is is going to take years for Natascha to recover from this, and I for one hope she gets through.

You may be interested to know that Natascha is not the first long term kidnapping, just take a look at this;

Steven Stayner, a boy from Merced, California, USA kidnapped at age 7 and held captive for a little over 7 years from late 1972 to early 1980. His ordeal was turned into the Made-for-TV movie "I know my First name is Steven" (one of the saddest films I have seen!).

Sano Fusako, a girl in Japan kidnapped at age 10 and held captive for 9 years from 1990 to 2000.

Sabine Dardenne, a girl in Belgium kidnapped at age 12 by Marc Dutroux and held captive for 2.5 months in 1996.

Tanya Kach, a girl in Pennsylvania held at the home of Thomas Hose from 1996 to 2006.

Elizabeth Smart, a girl in Salt Lake City, Utah, who was kidnapped at age 14 and held captive for 9 months from 2002 to 2003.

Carol Smith was held captive in a box under a bed, off and on, from 1977 until 1984.

Abduction of Lena Simakhina, 17 and Katya Martynova, 14 by factory worker Viktor Mokhov, 53. He kept girls as sex slaves in the underground cellar for 3.5 years from 2001 until 2004.

The Collector, a book/movie about a lonely young man (a butterfly collector) with nonexistent social skills, who one day decides to add to his 'collection' the girl he is attracted to in hopes that if he keeps her captive long enough, she will grow to love him.

Hauntings,Ghosts,Paranormal

Most Haunted and the Like





I watched for the first time in ages last night a program on LivingTV called 'Most Haunted'. Now I used to watch this program religiously, and was always fascinated with the results and events unearthed by the team of Yvette Fielding, Karl Beattie, Derek Acorah, and the Most Haunted crew. But then Derek seemed to be gettin 'possessed by spirits' every week, and going off on one, leading believability lacking and viewing pleasure completely ruined! But last night was pretty good...

Derek has left the show and been replaced by David Wells, who never has to be possessed, to get his point across (although I do miss the scousers tones of "Sam, Sam can ya ear me Sam?"), and genuinely seems to pick up on things that he has no way of knowing about previously. So the believability factor has returned. They also have a new skeptic paraphyscologist onboard who is willing to except certain events on face value, rather than bending over backwards in trying to get a scientific explanation like Ciaran O'Keefe used to.

Yvette Fielding more scary than the ghosts!

So to last nights show, it took place at the North East Air Museum in Sunderland, that used to be Sunderland's Airport. The program centered around two entities, one who was protective of an Air/Sea rescue helicopter, and another a WW2 German spy. Most of the activity was things been thrown at the crew, or noises picked up. But what was very clear was it was a pretty active place.

The only problem is you NEVER really get to see anything, just hear things and have the crews debatable input. But the best thing about the show is the sheer terror sometimes that the crew invoke. Screams, shouts, swearing, running it all happens when something kicks off, but they only have them selves to blame. I mean last night Karl was challenging the helicopter spirit to make him stop playing with the controls. When he felt his arm been pulled off, he near shit himself, and was panicking like anything to get out of the cockpit.

The Most Haunted Team

Whatever you believe in there are things in these types of shows that really make you question whether something is out there or not. I believe there is something that cant be explained, and believe it or not I have witnessed something that had me shitting myself too. I also had someone with me to confirm what I saw, as he saw it too.

My Sighting

Let me take you back to my RAF days, I was stationed at RAF Gutersloh in Germany, and just happened to be on guard around 12:30 am, with a colleague behind a hanger. The weather was pretty pleasant for that time of night, and the sanger we were in was located amongst a crop of trees, the year 1987.

We were chatting quite normally, not really doing what we should have, in watching out the front of the sanger, it was pretty grim inside so we lingered about at the back. Suddenly, both of us shut up talking, don't ask why we just felt something, we didn't hear anything, it was just a feeling we had that I still cant describe. We looked to our right and saw a figure running in a crouched position dressed in WW2 uniform and tin hat (remember I was services), carrying what looked to be a rifle. The figure ran toward a clump of silver birches on our left, no more than 5ft away from us, we were about to issue the challenge, when the figure faded away into the trees. By faded I mean disappeared, dissolved, vanished.

We looked at each other, mouthed the words "F*!KING HELL!!" and promptly left our position, walking very fast back to the crew room. Now our Flight sergeant asked what why the devil we were not at the sanger (although he used more colourful language), but then he saw how white we were, and strangely quietend down told us to get a cup of tea, and never sent anyone back out to the sanger for the remainder of the exercise.

The strange thing is at the time of viewing this, we never felt no fear, didn't feel threatened, and basically felt very calm. Once whatever it was had gone however, that is when we started to shake!

I have not related this story to anyone before, in it's entirety, but have decided to now. I don't know what any of the rest of you think, but it would be nice to know, it would also be nice if I could with permission post any of your stories of a ghostly nature.