predator

I spent some time around different parts of the middle east prior to the Iraq war, and one of the things I remember from the period was the local television reports describing escalation of American planes flying along borders and demolishing radar installations and similar. Whilst it was regularly reported in the region, it didn't seem to have the same coverage in the UK. Also, at the time it was difficult to triangulate the stories because of the possibilities of spin and propaganda, so I mainly have it as a mental marker.

I'm similarly noticing what is happening at present along the borders of Pakistan, with increases in American activity, after George Bush gave the order to allow special forces to operate inside Pakistan. Nowadays the planes are unmanned Predator MQ-1 drones flown by a remote pilot, with another different remote person responsible for controlling their Hellfire missile payload.

Some of the accounts ring similar to what I heard about pre-Iraq, where there's now reports of these American planes being used in hunting missions across the Pakistan borders, apparently without the agreement of nuclear-equipped Pakistan.

These cross border activities started early in September and seem to be progressively escalating. The US line is that the North Waziristan area is the 'wild west' of Pakistan and a Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold. The US have sent planes and commandos into the area where they believe bin Laden is based and as part of actions to prevent a terrorist strike in the period leading up to the US Presidential elections.

The recent terrible Marriott hotel bombing, the subsequent cancellation of BA flights to Islamabad, the evacuation of UK diplomats' children and the allegedly US driven Mohammad Khel missile strike at the end of Ramadan, are all signs of the escalating situation in this area.

The combination of the current global economic tailspin and the vying for attention of the new Presidential candidates has distracted attention from this tightening situation. The George Bush sanctioned moves now effectively extend the zone of US military operations from Iraq and Afghanistan into Pakistan but are receiving far less commentary than they would at other times.

woodland

Apart from the first hour or so, my day's plans were completely re-arranged, as is all of next week's schedule. Its one of the occasions where events have actually given me back some time because a couple of things have been delayed.

Usually it works the other way around and everything gets compressed, so I'm predicting that the current gap will have to be reclaimed in later weeks.

My modest celebration of this mythically rare gain included a brief cellphone-free stroll in the afternoon crispness. Aroma of woodsmoke and something glimpsed through a clearing which could almost have been a unicorn.

circulars?

Like most people, I bulk delete most of the viral emails of fun with water, bikinis, cream, cats, skateboards, animations of politicians and similar that slither into my email inbox (mainly, it has to be said, via my free hotmail account).

Occasionally something good pops up and the trick is to find it without opening yet another graphic with a free java scam included in it. Luckily the Mac is pretty good at spotting this kind of thing and the junk folder can even display the embedded programming so its easy to tell that someone is up to mischief.

Anyway, the one I quite liked recently was the little graphic of an optical illusion with a spirally effect which is really made up of circles. Trace around one of the spirals and you'll see they go around and around, rather than disappearing into the middle.

That's from illusion sciences where the clever folk also explain how it all works, as well as a whole raft of other effects.

I wonder if they have any idea how the intriguing beans work at Lady Banana's?

every leaf speaks bliss?

After my tranquil weekend cycling around sun dappled lanes, early in the week the signs of Autumn are creeping into presence.

The grass has suddenly filled with damp leaves and, significantly, the train announcer is now saying that the leaf timetable is coming into force.

Trains will now start earlier and arrive later during this difficult time whilst the trees shed their leaves. I just hope they are not the wrong kind of leaves.

As a rashbre central public service, the comprehensive leaf timetable changes for South West Trains are published here. To summarise, get to the train station 2-3 minutes earlier or you could miss the train. Expect to arrive later than advertised.

one little piggy went to market

Once upon a time there was a little pink piggy.

The little piggy was always hungry.

He ate and he ate and left a big hole where there had once been enough for everyone. His friends were also very hungry and they would all play eating contests with complicated rules to see who could become the biggest.

They all lived in big towers unlike the other folk who lived in much smaller houses. Gradually as the piggies ate more, there was less left for everyone else.

Some had to move out to find more food, and some had to give up their houses before the big bad wolves came along to throw them out.

One day a man named Mr. George noticed the big hole where the piggies had been eating. He knew he had been encouraging the piggies to make the hole in the first place, but now it was so big it was becoming inconvenient to walk around and some of his own friends were slipping on its edges.

So Mr. George had an idea in a dream where he was helped by a friendly advisor.

"I'll fill in the hole", he said, "and then there will be enough for everyone to eat again".

He took his idea to the important house where some of his friends lived, at the end of the road, but the selfish people in the house were all too busy to listen. They had heard about the wolves and decided that their own best chance was to keep the hole and hope that they could survive until another hole even bigger appeared somewhere else.

Mr. George was confused. He wanted to fill the hole and he thought the people in the house at the end of the road were his friends.

Mr. George set off to find a bigger house with more of his friends so that they could persuade the people in the smaller house to help. It was so difficult though, because he was already almost at the end of the road.

Whilst Mr George was walking to the bigger house the little piggy and his friends kept eating. In fact they were eating even faster. Soon the hole was as big as a country.

"Eat that, Mr George", said the little piggy, who wasn't so little any more.

I'm not imagining

that Hob Nobs have got bigger.

summer - a slight return

Out in the lanes and fields today, making the most of the end of Summer. I've decided its the end of Summer rather than the beginning of Autumn, because there's still far more green leaves than brown ones and most of them still seem to be on the trees. However, this looks like the weekend when its beginning to turn and I noticed some areas where trees were sporting yellow edges.

My route cut across a couple of quite squelchy areas underlining the current burst of sunshine is after a period of sustained wetness. Its lucky I'd taken the boingy bike because my thin wheeled roadbike would have definitely got stuck in the pervasive mud.

As I passed the maize in a nearby field, it seemed abundant enough, but I'm wondering whether the same squelch factor is going to be messing with the harvest this year.

Further along, the lane looked positively summery, with dappled green and hardly a trace of the Autumn lurking around the corner.

tea first

Sometimes there is nothing for it but to cut out a chunk of time to do the household paperwork. Its amazing in a week or two just how much can build up. Salient features involve tax authorities and things to do with keeping cars on the road. It always starts as a random pile of paper, collected from the various flat surfaces and put into a heap.

Then several smaller heaps which have the effect of moving away some of the reading material and the rubbish, leaving a few items for proper filing and a lot more needing some kind of action.

I'm around the action stage right now. Maybe after I've made a cup of tea.

blown

Cover blown with this mono shot. Euro rustic. French cafetiere, Zassenhaus grinder, Italian balsamic and a Spanish garlic squisher. All lurking on the windowsill and part of a casual test shot. Didn't really notice until it came out of the camera. Gulp. Not so London Streets now. I'd better post a picture of a red bus quickly, to compensate.

gone in 3 seconds

I gather George Bush took over the television schedule yesterday in America to explain about the need for $700 billion of extra economic support for the US economy. Add that to the previous $300bn or so and we have the first Trillion of repair funds. I was looking around for some Trillion sized objects to get a sense of proportion.

Where to look: Fortune 500 maybe: Walmart turnover : $378bn, Exxon : $372bn, Chevron $210bn, General Motors $182bn. Close enough. Thats about a trillion. The entire revenue of the four biggest US corporations. The two biggest Banks (Citi and BoA) are around $280bn combined.

Then I noticed the Iraq war as a US Congressional budget line item.

The stats are probably highly political, and this source is Congressional Research Service cost data graphed by zFacts, so suitable caution etc, but the figures suggest somewhere north of $550bn since the start. Thats just over half of the trillion thats being allocated to rescue the US economy in the last 6 weeks or so.

My example above shows circa 3 seconds spending towards consuming a trillion in a year. Thats a lorra wonga in any language.

Victorian moment

Normally I'd look at 'fun going forward', but I've recently received back the 21 cans of old film, which I sent away to be processed, which cues some retrospective moments.

Quite interesting to see the random nature of the returns, with scenes and haircuts that just don't seem probable. There's also some interesting chemical effects from the ageing of the unprocessed films. A small set from Scotland look positively Victorian.

fatality

Docklands today, with a speedy trip across on the Jubilee Line but a later much slower transit involving the Overground railway network.

Sadly, a fatality at Earlsfield had stopped the trains for what became hours. They'd appear on the board, edge towards getting a platform, become delayed and then finally get cancelled. One train even had a platform allocated and we all sat on it until it too was cancelled. Of course one's mind flicks to the sad cause and its human impact but there is a kind of commuter parallelism about these 'incidents' which often don't get any detailed references at all. In fact, the Network Rail announcements and management of the entire situation was about as bad as it can get. No compassion or leadership, unclear and incorrect messages, muffled explanations and all the apprentice platform helpers shrugging their shoulders.

Earlier I'd been watching the dials and arrows in Canary Wharf, where Reuters and various large plasma screens flickered out further messages of general economic doom. I waited by the big ticker that scrolls around the edge of a building to look for an uptick. Long wait, with most companies again drifting downwards. Then across to the television screen. More negativity.

So whilst waiting for trains, I spotted today's Evening Standard referring to Gordon's speech. He was implying the need for experience rather than 'apprentices'. Unfortunately, I couldn't help thinking of the parallel between the handling of the rail incident and those of the recent economic situation.