Watercress prevents cancer

This story from Fridays Guardian is good news indeed particularly for someone who absolutely loves Watercress. I always knew that Watercress was a good source of iron but the article reveals a lot more. Apparently Watercress "contains more iron than spinach, more vitamin C than oranges and more calcium than milk"

More importantly the study "suggested that eating 85g of watercress a day could inhibit the growth of cancer cells and even kill them. Scientists at Ulster University found that the watercress reduced the damage caused by cancer cells to white blood cells by 22.9%. Watercress also raised levels of antioxidants which absorb so-called "free radicals", molecules which some experts believe damage the body's tissues.

A bag a day please - yum!

Coppell is top

The League Managers Association has published its Managers Performance Table for the 3rd quarter of the season up to the 12th February and Steve Coppell is top! Not surprising given the performance of Reading this season and the lions share of credit has to go to him for the way in which he has built a team out of players who by and large did not cost much and have not achieved much prior to their time at Reading.

Greenpeace victory on nuclear power

Apparently Greenpeace has won its High Court bid to make the government rethink its programme to build a new generation of nuclear power stations. The judge ruled that the consultation process before making the decision last year had been "seriously flawed" and "procedurally unfair".

Greenpeace complained that there had been a failure to present clear proposals and information on key issues, such as disposal of radioactive waste and building costs.

The Trade and Industry Secretary contested the judicial review but Mr Justice Sullivan took a different view. He said "something has gone clearly and radically wrong" He went on to say that "the consultation document contained no actual proposals and the information given to consultees had been wholly insufficient for them to make an intelligent response" and that"the information given on waste had been not merely inadequate but also misleading".

Of course the DTI say (correctly) that this is about the process of consultation and not about the principle of Nuclear Power. The point they omit to make is that of course with full, correct and accurate information the consultation paper might have led both the consultees and the DTI itself to a different conclusion!

Sort it out

This is becoming a complete and utter farce from a so called professional football club. Apparently the Leeds Chief Executive Shaun Harvey has stated that the club do not know which player leaked team news to Crystal Palace before Saturday's league game. Shaun Harvey said "While we know it happened, we do not know which Leeds United player it was. There are people at the club who know but they have not told us as yet."

He needs to have a word with Ken Bates pretty smartish and ensure that Dennis Wise informs him who the culprit is so that the appropriate disciplinary action can be undertaken. What is more this all needs to be done and an announcement about who the culprit is needs to be made before Leeds face Cardiff on Saturday.

Yes we got a great result against Crystal Palace last Saturday and Dennis Wise probable used this incident to engineer some of the required team spirit but this incident could backfire if it is not resolved quickly. The team must all be looking at each other wondering who it is and meanwhile some of the players are picking up a lot of stick on the message boards.

Of course maybe just maybe Dennis Wise has a plan and will unveil the player to his team mates just before handing in his team sheet on Saturday hoping to inspire them to another three points. If he does everyone will be happy.

Points total update

Some small signs for optimism despite the ongoing saga over who revealed the team lineup to Crystal Palace the day before the game.

When we were on 24 points with 18 games to go I calculated we needed 1.55 points per game to reach 52 points (the highest total required in the last 10 years). Now on 3o points that is down to 1.46 points per game.

The performance level required for the remainder of the season when we were on 24 points was somewhere between the sixth and seventh placed teams at the time. The performance level now required on 30 points is somewhere between the tenth and eleventh placed teams

The future of the British nuclear deterrent

The government claims it is undergoing a period of debate and consultation ahead of a final decision although it is starkly clear that the decision to develop a new generation of weapons has already been taken. That much was clear nearly a year ago when The Sunday Times ran a piece entitled Revealed: UK develops secret nuclear warhead. I blogged about this at the time and my main concern was that the debate should take place in the open and parliament should have the final say on whether or not we want a replacement and if so what form that should take, when it should be developed by and what budget should be allocated to it. To be already spending money on a replacement weapons system without parliamentary approval was and is quite simply wrong.

The Liberal Democrats will be deciding their policy on this issue at their Spring conference in Harrogate on Saturday 3rd March. The motion can be found here.

In a nutshell the Lib Dem motion notes the Labour governments position namely to retain a nuclear deterrent, extend the life of Trident and reduce the number of warheads by 20% and commence procurement for a new class of submarine. The motion then goes on to propose that the Liberal Democrat policy should be as follows :

a) Britain should now begin a major reduction of its nuclear arsenal by approximately 50%, retaining no more than 100 warheads; with each Trident submarine carrying no more than 24 warheads when on deterrence patrol;

(b) The current Trident nuclear system should be maintained and its operational life extended;

(c) A final decision on whether and, if so, how to procure any successor system be taken at the point when the significant capital spending would begin to be incurred on a three boat replacement.

An amendment is to be tabled along the lines of conference resolves that the UK should not procure a successor nuclear weapons system to the current Trident system.

I hope that the amendment is passed and that we make a clear stand on what is the correct way forward for the UK. Why do I feel like this?

1. From a moral standpoint I do not see how we can justify the possession or usage of nuclear weapons let alone the design and production of a whole new system and the submarines which act as a delivery platform.

2. As I understand it the development and production of a new system would break our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for a start.

3. Were we ever to use nuclear weapons there would be disastrous consequences for the local population and the environment in the affected region. Not forgetting of course the continuing environmental impacts of the current weapons system just through the work going on to maintain the system in a safe state.

4. The governments own scientific advisor has stated that the greatest threat that the UK faces is global warming - perhaps we would be better employed spending our time and money on tackling this issue

5. The biggest threat to our security would seem to come from terrorism within our borders. The possession of nuclear weapons will not help us protect the security of our own people against this threat one jot. According to No New Trident one retired general has summarised Trident as: "useless, expensive and dangerous". The defence of the UK actually requires more and better equipped infantry and air and naval transport. Trident is a poor use of scarce resources needed elsewhere for our national security.

6. There seems to be a general consensus that we could not use our nuclear weapons without the consent of the United States - if this is so then we do not have an independent nuclear deterrent so why have one and pay for one if we have to ask someone else for permission too use it?

7. The potential cost of this new system is colossal. The figures I have seen quoted range from £65bn to £75bn depending on the option selected. The reality of what it will eventually cost is I suspect likely to be much greater than these figures given the propensity for such schemes to experience time and cost overruns. Indeed CND quote another figure - the savings which could be achieved if the UK were to spend at the EU average for military spending would equate to £8.5 bn per year (over 25 years that is £212.5bn)

If we accept that we should not have them and are obligated not to design and produce new systems then it seems far more sensible to scrap the system and have a genuine debate about the best way to spend the consequential savings. Some could doubtless go on conventional forces and security measures but I would prefer to see most of this money being invested in protecting us from the greatest threat we face - global warming. It depends on what figure you believe for the cost of a Trident replacement but a couple of ideas of how this money could be spent were given recently in The Ecologist :

• Nine million homes in the UK need cavity wall insulation. Providing this would cost £16bn and would save 6.5 million tonnes of C02 emissions per annum
• 25,000 onshore or 8,000 offshore turbines would generate 33% of the UK energy needs and would cost £75bn. I guess that if the government invested in this then the government would reap the income from the sale of the resulting electricity so providing further funds for other projects.

This is to say nothing of the many other issues which face the UK and desperately need tackling.

The NHS needs fixing once and for all, clearly some more money is required given the shortfalls but more importantly would be some form of cross party consensus which would take the NHS away from being a political football and towards being a stable organisation which can deliver a consistently high standard of health care and drugs throughout the UK.

The waste we generate and how we deal with it is a huge problem and we are only scratching at the surface of what needs to be done to invest in systems to deal with the waste as well as the requirement to ensure that we produce as little as possible in the first place.

Public Transport need some serious investment - it is just not acceptable to have stations (as we do) with no service whatsoever on a Sunday. More houses have been built near our station in recent years and even more are going up now. Wonderful until the occupants discover that the service is somewhat infrequent at the best of times and non existent on a Sunday and they will have to use a car anyway

If you want to read more about the issues go to No New Trident here or click on the button on my side bar.

Is this what we are going to do with our nuclear waste?

According to the BBC scientists have backed the government's plan to store the UK's nuclear waste deep underground.

David Miliband told the House of Commons back in October that we were to bury our nuclear waste so I guess it is handy that this report supports the governments policy.

The policy announcement last year was not unexpected and was in line with the Committee on Radioactive Waste Managements report a summary of which can be found here. In summary the report states that :

• Geological disposal is the preferred long term solution
• Interim storage arrangements will have a vital role to play in the mean time
• A new approach to implementation is required which should be based on the willingness of local communities to participate.

Professor Charles Curtis, president of The Geological Society of London, presenting the latest report, said "After a long period without waste policy, the UK finally has a way to go forward. We concur the safest and most secure way to go is deep geological depositories, and we see no insurmountable scientific and technological barriers to this."

Apparently between one-third and two-thirds of the UK have a suitable geological make-up for deep nuclear waste burial. It is also likely that the approval, design and construction of such a facility will take up to 40 years to achieve!

There are as I see it a number of problems with the way forward as proposed.

Firstly, the government has to identify and acquire a suitable site. The search for such a site in itself will be mired in political difficulty. The government will not want to look at any sites near to any marginal Labour seats for a start. The uproar amongst the local community eventually chosen to site this repository is likely to be significant.

Secondly, the scientists may be convinced about the viability of such a storage facility but I guess the great British public may take some further convincing. I sat on the Atomic Weapons Establishment Local Liaison Committee for a number of years and this issue was discussed at length on several occasions. My only conclusion was that this stuff was best off contained in specially constructed stores above ground where the state and condition of the drums could be easily monitored and where any faulty packages could easily be retrieved and repackaged.

Thirdly, even if one agreed with the long term disposal option the government needs to address the second point made by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management namely that Interim storage arrangements will have a vital role to play. If it is going to take up to 40 years to implement the long term strategy then they had better put a bit more thought and effort into the medium term strategy.

Of course the problem might not be quite so big if we were not proposing to replace Trident with yet another Nuclear weapons System about which I propose to write more soon.

Leeds player stitches Leeds up

According to Dennis Wise he found out at 1pm yesterday that one of the Leeds United players had given details of the team selection to Crystal Palace. On the various fan sites the rumours on the message boards would tend to indicate that the front runners are Thompson, Derry and Sullivan.

I sure hope it is not Thompson who has been playing well and seems unlikely to have a motive for such a thing having not long ago arrived at the club. Apparently he picked up a late injury and hence did not play today.

Sullivan is rumoured to be upset at being dropped to the bench. But if it was him then I cannot believe that he would have been on the bench yesterday afternoon.

Derry apparently has links to Palace having played for them and may have been upset at not being in the team.

Other names in the frame include Carole, Crainey, Elliot, Stack and even Gary Kelly. I hope for the sake of all the innocent parties getting dragged into this that Leeds United name the player and soon.

It is possible that Crystal Palace may come out of this with some credit as rumour is that it was Taylor who tipped Wise off about what had happened. Having said that knowing the team line up the day before did not help as Palace lost 2-1 thanks to goals from Matt Heath and Robbie Blake. More importantly the bottom of the table is now tightening up and it looks like three from six to go down with just three points separating the bottom six.

Meanwhile Reading march on with a place in Europe starting to look a possibility as Reading beat Villa 2-0 and move onto 43 points. They are the form team in the Premiership with 16 points from the last 6 games.

Oxfam - pot calls kettle black

Don't get me wrong I think that Oxfam do a lot of good work but I think they need to make sure that their own house is in order before they have a go at others.

They have taken the EU to task for bank charges incurred in transferring money to the Palestinians. More than €3m (£2m) of EU aid for Palestinians was spent on bank charges last year in an effort to bypass the Hamas-run government, Oxfam said yesterday. The money was spent between August and December under the temporary international mechanism, a system run by the European commission that delivers directly to Palestinians and avoids supporting the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

Oxfam described the mechanism as an "aid fiasco" and said it should be scrapped. But the EC said it was the "most direct and most efficient" means of delivery.

Fair enough you might think except for the fact that there was a piece on the BBC back in June 2005 stating that Oxfam had paid $1m to the Sri Lankan government to allow its vehicles into the country to help with the relief effort after the Tsunami! That's another Aid Fiasco that should be scrapped.

Waitrose and packaging

Why is there a picture of a lasagne on my blog you may ask?

Well I have just had some home shopping delivered from Waitrose.

In the shopping (as ordered) were two Waitrose Lasagnes (see above)

I was absolutely stunned by the amount of packaging involved - each Lasagne is contained in a foil tray with a film of plastic over the top. That is then sheathed in a cardboard cover with the cooking instructions on it. But the piece de resistance was the individual cardboard box that each of the two Lasagnes was contained in. Why oh why in this day and age is this level of packaging considered to be necessary?

I went to the environmental bit of the John Lewis website here and it says very clearly "we regularly review our business practices and performance to identify how we can improve our energy efficiency, minimise packaging and reduce air emissions, waste disposal, water usage and the impacts of our transport operations."

Well John Lewis / Waitrose you claim to minimise packaging but the evidence says otherwise. I have emailed them so we will see what of response I get.

Leeds for sale again?

Rumours are circulating about the future ownership of Leeds United – again!

The current one circulating is that Peter Wilkinson currently owner of Hull City and said to be worth approximately £400m (although according to the 2005 Rich list he was worth £269m) is to buy the club off Ken Bates. There was supposed to be a big announcement in January according to Uncle Ken but it never came so maybe this is what it was and negotiations are still ongoing.

Wilkinson is said to be Leeds through and through and he lives in Ilkley. He was quoted in an article on Real Business Online as saying “I am never, ever buying Leeds United.”

However back in 2003 he told the Yorkshire Evening Post "I'm heartbroken at what's happened to this football club. I've lived through hell for the past three years watching what's gone on at Elland Road. I've watched Leeds for 40 years and I hate seeing them where they are now. I've watched the club destroyed. It's desperately sad when you see Leeds are at the bottom of the league.”

Deja Vue – only we are now bottom of a different league

This guy is an astute businessman and would I feel be good news for the club - Just for good measure it is also rumoured that the new manager will be Paul Jewell.

Climate change concerts

According to the FT today a series of concerts "bigger than Live Aid" is being planned for July, in a bid to put the subject of climate change before an audience of a global audience of 2 billion.

The event, scheduled for July 7, will feature co-ordinated film, music and television events in seven cities including London, Washington DC, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Kyoto.

It is understood that former US vice-president Al Gore, whose movie An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change to cinema audiences last year, will announce the event tomorrow in London.

Straw man

Jack Straw has published his proposals for reform of the House of Lords but I have some serious concerns about what the government are proposing.

Their proposals are summarised on the BBC site as follows:

• A 'hybrid' of elected and appointed peers
• Reduce size of House from 746 to 540 members
• End hereditary and life peerages over time
• Elected peers to be voted in at same time as Euro elections
• Maximum time in office of 15 years for elected and appointed peers
• Appointees a mixture of party politicians and non-party figures
• Lords may be renamed - possibly 'The Reformed Chamber'
• Anglican bishops and archbishops to keep seats

In contrast with this Liberal Democrat policy is that:

1. The majority of the House of Lords should be elected, with no more than 20% appointed by an Independent Appointments Commission.
2. There should be no additional political appointees.
3. No more hereditaries and no more life peers created. Hereditaries should cease to serve at the date of the first elections.
4. Members should be elected under a system that gives voters real choice (such as the Single Transferable Vote).
5. Members should serve for three fixed 4 year terms, i.e 12 years non-renewable.
6. The Reformed Lords (and Commons) should retain its powers of scrutiny over the government.

I support 4, 5 and 6 but quite frankly in a modern democracy the first three are too weak. One hundred percent of the members of the second chamber should be elected. There should be no appointed members whatsoever. Aside from the lack of democracy involved in appointed members it would also help to avoid so many of the questions about cash or loans for peerages. Hereditary and life peers should lose their seats immediately and there should be no places for bishops and archbishops. If they want to take part then they can stand and get elected like everyone else.

Is this what I will be riding in 20 years time?

I sincerely hope not. This is the world's first purpose built hydrogen powered motorbike which is designed by Intelligent Energy. It may be environmentally friendly but I would certainly dispute that it is likely to be fun as they claim. Apparently the only noise is from the tyres - not much use to a Harley loving nut like me then. And probably not very safe if people cannot hear you coming at all.

According to the BBC there is some good news in that there are some downsides to this technology :

• Producing hydrogen isn't that green. At present, the bulk of it comes from using up fossil fuels. The whole process isn't as polluting as producing oil but it still has an impact.
• Hydrogen is easy to buy (apparently) and costs about the same as petrol, but virtually no petrol stations sell it.
• The bike will cost you upwards of £6,000. For a bike with a top speed of 50. For that you could buy a proper bike such as a Sportster and still have change

If anyone is interested the bike also has its own site which can be found here at envbike.com

CNS criticise Thaksin for remarks

The chief of the Council for National Security (CNS) Sonthi Boonyaratglin has gone on record to say that "the final chapter is near" for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He claims the people will judge him for his remarks concerning His Majesty the King. The comments were mad in an interview in Time magazine's February 12 issue that Sonthi says implied His Majesty the King backed the September 19 coup.


Thaksin was quoted as saying. "It was the same with Thailand's 17 other coups. First, the people are shocked. Then they start to voice their concerns. And then they start to accept it, especially after it's endorsed by His Majesty the King, "They're very disciplined. They obey. But they are watching what the new rulers are doing and when they will return democracy to the people. People's tolerance is limited.

I think these comments can be interpreted two ways. Either you can interpret it as direct criticism of the King and an implication that he was behind the coup or you can interpret it as a statement of what actually happened (the coup happened and then the King endorsed it).

How the general population perceive this interview will be absolutely critical to Thaksins future.

Good news - Lib Dem Feed now working

I still have not changed the code on the blog other than to add the No New Trident Button and lo and behold the Lib Dem Feed has started working again all by itself. Brilliant

No New Trident button added

I have added a No New Trident button to my sidebar.

If you click on the button it will take you to No New Trident a campaign website set up by the Lib Dem Peace and Security Group who are seeking to secure a vote at the Harrogate Conference in March that will establish Liberal Democrat policy as being opposed to the replacement of Trident.

I will be blogging about my views on this later on.

40 points - chance would be a fine thing

Reading reached the magic mark of forty points yesterday after beating Manchester City 2-0 with two goals from Leroy Lita and he would have had a hatrick if a perfectly good goal had not been disallowed. What Leeds would give for forty points at this stage in the season. Yesterday they got beaten 2-1 by Norwich having at one stage been 1-0 up. It is not looking good although as they say "it is not over until the fat lady sings". My worry is that she seems to be warming up her vocal chords.

Ballots, Balls and Bikes or is it?

I have been running this blog for a little over a year now and the title was derived from those things I thought I would most likely be blogging about namely UK Politics, Football and Motorcycles.

The new version of Blogger has introduced the concept of labels and I have finally finished labelling all my posts so I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how my proposed theme for the blog has turned out.

There are 440 posts up on the site.

Ballots

106 posts were labelled as UK politics with 54 labelled as Lib Dems, 16 Labour and 12 Tories (If only winning elections was so simple). 7 posts were labelled as US Politics, 12 were labelled as Iraq and 31 were labelled Environment. Most surprising of all given where I started was that 66 were labelled as Thai Politics (100 were labelled as Thailand so 34 were nothing to do with Thai Politics). When I started the blog the Lib Dem leadership contest was under way and so naturally I had expected to be commenting on UK Politics and I had no inkling that the democracy in Thailand was going to hit so many problems or that there was going to be a military coup.

Balls

90 posts were labelled as Football with 56 being labelled Leeds and 42 Reading. Not that surprising as a Leeds fan and a season ticket holder at Reading.

Bikes

18 posts were labelled bikes of which 15 were also labelled as Harley Davidson.

Conclusions

I wondered about the imbalance between the number of posts on politics and football and the number on bikes but I guess the reality is that there is not too much to say about bikes from my perspective. It is just great fun to ride. Even better if you can combine two things and ride your Harley to the football match and ride it home again which is what I have done to most home games this season including two in January. Most of the posts have been pictures of bikes. The other big surprise was the number of posts about Thailand. I love Thailand but had no idea I would end up posting so much about it.

Maybe I should consider a rename to Bangkok, Ballots, Balls and Bikes!

Internet censorship in Thailand

The military appointed government has now gone on record to say that they are unhappy about the fact that what they term “Political undercurrents” are using the Internet to attack the government via websites.

Apparently they believe that the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology should take action against these websites. Although no specifics were given as to what action should be taken against such websites it is not unreasonable to assume that they may wish to track down the creators of such material and presumably that they will wish to take the sites down and / or block access to such sites by users in Thailand.

None of this bodes well for Thailand's democratic future although since the military coup I guess this was all to be expected.

Coppell signs Duberry!

Apparently Reading manager Steve Coppell has signed Michael Duberry from Stoke. Having already signed two defenders Greg Halford from Colchester (for a club record fee) and Alan Bennett from Cork I had rather hoped that he would sign a striker. But why has he opted for Duberry? As a Leeds fan I can truly say that this guy was a disaster. However, rumour has it that he has been much improved at Stoke this season and given Coppells record in the transfer market I wouldn't bet against him turning out to be a bargain.

Lib Dem news feed not working?

Anyone else having problems getting the Lib Dem news feed to work on their site or blog? The feed has been on my site for a consideable length of time and I have not amended the code but I have noticed that the news stories are not appearing. Any ideas anyone?

Two great wins

Leeds won their must win game against Hull last night 2-1. Heath scored the first for Leeds from a Thompson set piece before Hull equalised through Nicky Forster (coincidentally an ex Reading player). Thompson then struck the winner early in the second half with a brilliant free-kick. Strangely this result left Leeds propping up the division in 24th place due to Southends unexpected 3-1 victory over Birmingham. However Leeds are now only 4 points off safety as opposed to the 7 before kick off so at least there is some good news. If the message boards can be believed then this was the performance of the season so far and apparently it was evident that all 11 players were giving everything for the cause.

Meanwhile Reading took on Wigan who are on an appalling run of seven straight defeats and promptly made it eight running out 3-2 winners. Frankly having gone 1-0 down after three minutes Reading were lucky to still be in the game after 30 minutes when Ingimarsson scored the equaliser. Reading could easily have been 2-0 or even 3-0 down by that point but clung on and slowly started to improve. Steve Coppell must have been delighted to go in 1-1 at half time. Second half Reading were much better and added two goals through long and Lita before Wigan pulled one consolation back in the very last minute. Apparently Jewell felt that the last Reading goal was offside but having not seen a replay I cannot comment. Reading are now in seventh place on 37 points - three short of the magic 40.

Problems confirmed at Bangkok Airport

There have been rumblings about problems at Suvarnabhumi Airport ever since it opened back in September. Most of the problems, be they with the runway or with airport equipment, end up being blamed upon the previous regime and alledged corruption in the awarding of contracts associated with the construction of the new airport.

Last week it was annonced that the International Civil Aviation Authority had refused to grant Suvarnabhumi Airport a safety certificate (although to be fair apparently it does not need one).

The government has now ordered the Airports of Thailand Plc to prepare for the re-opening of the Don Muang airport for the non-transit domestic flights pending the repair of taxiways and runways of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

Hats off to Ulises de la Cruz

The usual impression of Premiership footballers is overpaid overspending fancy dans who do a couple of hours work a week and spend most of their time working out what the latest essential luxury is that they need to spend their over inflated salary on.

But according to the BBC Ulises de la Cruz, who plays at Reading and was born in the Afro-Ecuadorian village of Piquiucho is spending his high salary not on fast cars and big houses, but on rebuilding an entire community where he grew up. I had my doubts about De la Cruz as a footballer although recent performances have improved and have included a wonder goal against Sheffield United.

Apparently Ulises de la Cruz has provided a fresh water supply by financing the 18km of water pipes and a treatment system. In addition he has financed a new sports and community centre which are currently being built. He has also provided hundreds of books, a new roof for the school and a playground. Each day 100 primary school children receive breakfast and lunch at school courtesy of the Ulises De la Cruz Foundation. He has built a medical centre and has been sending money to pay for a doctor, a dentist and a nurse at the clinic.

The brighter side of all that Premiership wealth.

Reading cruise into last 16

Reading breezed into the last 16 of the FA Cup yesterday by beating Birmingham 3-2. From what I could see this looked to be a fair reflection of the game although Steve Bruce certainly tried to imply that Reading were somewhat lucky to score two goals with their first two attempts. On the other hand Reading did field a pretty much all changed team with at least six players who recently would be classed as second string and two who were returning from injury. Reading do not have much history in this competition with the highlight being one visit to the semi final back in 1927 when they lost 3-0 to Cardiff. Given their performance in the Premiership so far this season maybe they could emulate West Ham and reach the final!

Air Travel - Part of the problem and part of the solution

Is air travel going to remain such a huge part of the global warming problem. Possibly not if one can believe a couple of interesting pieces in today's Guardian which can be found here and here.

Up until now the general consensus has been that air travel is bad. It is not that the emissions per person/mile are particularly bad as such it is more that air travel affords people the opportunity to travel vast distances in a very short period of time. Short haul flights are relatively more damaging because of the emissions caused by take off and landing.

Now the US are suggesting that aircraft may be part of the solution. They want the world's scientists to develop technology to block sunlight as a way to halt global warming. Apparently scientists have previously estimated that reflecting less than 1% of sunlight back into space could compensate for the warming generated by all greenhouse gases emitted since the beginning of the industrial revolution. It is not obvious from the attached articles but one of the graphic illustrations indicates that aircraft fuel could be tweaked to leave more permanent trails in the sky which would reflect the sunlight back

Thailand partially lifts martial law

Thailand has officially lifted martial law in 41 of its 76 provinces, including Bangkok, junta leader General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin said on Friday. Amusingly his interview was given to CNN the company that was responsible for the interview with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra which triggered the row with Singapore. Strangely this interview will be shown on Thai TV.

After a spate of bombings in Bangkok on New Year's Eve there was speculation that martial law might be kept in place indefinitely with the bombings being used as the pretext so in that context this i s positive step forward

Should we abandon GMT?

Apparently there is a Private Members Bill before parliament sponsored by Tory MP Tim Yeo's which proposes that clocks be moved forward an hour in England initially for a three year trial. We would continue with the practice of summer and winter time so winter time would effectively be GMT + 1 and summer time would be GMT + 2

This issue comes up from time to time and the same old arguments get trotted out each time. Farmers and Postal workers would be opposed. ROSPA is in favour because of the likely reduction in accidents. They claim that there would be 450 fewer road deaths and serious injuries every year if we switched.

Up until now I do not recall there being any mention of potential environmental benefits. However, this bill is called The Energy Saving (Daylight) Bill and Tim Yeo believes that it will cut electricity consumption and cut carbon emissions.

The BBC Online article on this which can be found here makes very little of the potential environmental benefits to be had but the article in The Guardian which can be found here is more forthcoming on the specifics stating that “A rough assessment reported in the journal Nature today shows that by aligning clocks with Europe, Britain is likely to save around £485m each year by using lights less in the afternoon and evening. The drop in energy consumption would trim carbon dioxide emissions by 170,000 tonnes, the equivalent of reducing the emissions of 70,000 people to zero for a year”

I think the vast majority of people would appreciate the extra daylight hours at the end of the day. I know I would and we can save lives and help the planet at the same time. Seems like common sense to me. So we won’t do that then will we? As a Private Members Bill this measure is likely to fall unless it receives government support.

Leeds - up or down?

Will Leeds survive in the Championship or are they destined for the drop?

Dennis Wise has made five signings in the transfer window so far and the squad is now on a winter training camp in Cyprus ahead of next Tuesdays critical game away to Hull.

The five signings (so far) are :

Tresor Kandol (£0.2m) Striker
Tore Andre Flo (free) - Striker
Robbie Elliott (free) Defender
Miguel Armando Sa (loan) Defender
Alan Thompson (loan) Central Midfield

of which I would say at least three (Flo, Elliott and Thompson) are known quantities who ought to be capable of delivering the goods.

Dennis was quoted as saying "this camp is to sort things out for the rest of the season. We are getting the players together to concentrate on the task ahead.
We knew we were signing new players - and we knew we needed the new players to get to know the rest of the squad as soon as possible. This was the last opportunity to get all the lads together and make sure we know what is coming.
Given that comment one might think that no more players will be arriving during the final week of the transfer window but rumour has it that Wise is still looking for a central defender, a goal keeper and a right sided midfielder!

The sixty four billion dollar question is will this squad be good enough to survive given their current position in the league?

Three of the new signings at least should be good additions to the squad. Time will tell whether or not Wise can add further quality. In any case the critical thing will be whether or not the new players can bed in well with their team mates and if so how quickly can they do that. On the basis of the performance against West Brom there are some positive signs with both Flo and Thompson getting on the score sheet. With or without further additions this squad will be stronger going into the final 18 games of the season.

So how many points do we need to survive?

According to assistant manager Gus Poyet we need nine wins. Those wins would give us 27 points to add to the current 24 giving 51 points. I went back over the last ten seasons and the highest points required to be assured of safety was 52 so that is the figure I am going to work with for now and this averages out at 1.55 points per game.

To achieve that hit rate Leeds would need to perform at about the same rate as Cardiff or Sunderland have so far and they lie in seventh and sixth respectively. On that basis alone it looks a big ask. However, there is one small glimmer of hope. Six of those games are against teams in the bottom eight - win all of those and we are in with a shout. Realistically it is that or hope that this is one of those seasons where 41 or 42 points is enough.

The true cost of delivering aid

About eighteen months ago I remember being scandalised by the suggestion that Oxfam should pay tax to the Sri Lankan government to enable them to get 25 four wheel drive vehicles released from the docks in Columbo to assist with Oxfams aid relief effort following the tsunami. In the end it transpired that Oxfam had to pay the Sri Lankan government $1m in import duty for the vehicles used in the tsunami reconstruction.

Now a similar scenario is unfolding in Aceh in Indonesia. The Indonesian government is imposing a tax on the use of millions of dollars of aid contributions. The government is claiming that NGOs need to pay a 10% value added tax on donations used to pay sub contractors for reconstruction and other relief effort. USAID has received a tax bill for $10m for a project where it is rebuilding the highway down the western coast of Aceh. Another American NGO has received a 10% tax bill on a $1.5m project to build a school in Aceh and the project is now under threat due to a shortfall in funds.

Where is the incentive for NGOs to step in and help if when disaster strike the governments of those countries affected turn round and bite the hand that feeds them. The NGOs will of course do their best help when these disasters strike regardless of the politics or the attempt to tax their aid but what about those who fund the NGOs. They will not continually dip into their pockets to provide funds that just disappear into the national coffers of the affected nations without ever going near those the money was intended to help. If the UN wants to do something useful how about getting all nations to agree not to tax those who come to help them when they are afflicted by some disaster.

Thoughts on the situation in Thailand

Having returned a couple of days ago I thought I would put down a few thoughts on the current situation in Thailand. I have visited Thailand several times over the last few years and my views are also informed by the conversations and experiences with admittedly a very small number of Thais. I also read the Bangkok Post and The Nation every day in Thailand and attempt to keep up with life in Thailand via their web sites. My comments cover three areas - Tourism, The Economy and Politics.

Tourism :

The hotel we stayed in was as busy as I have ever seen it which would indicate that things are going ok. However, out and about on Koh Samui I would say there were less tourists around. Nathon and various sites such as Big Buddha were a bit quieter but most noticeable was the much lower number of tourists in Chaweng the islands main nightlife spot.

There was no indication that anyone was worried about the bombs in Bangkok although we were not staying in Bangkok. The other surprise was the complete lack of armed police or military at Bangkok airport even on 3rd January immediately following the bombs.

Economy :

If the rate of new building is anything to go by then the economy is doing well. In fact as far as Koh Samui is concerned I would say they are in danger of killing off the tourist trade by over development if they do not slow the madcap pace of development.

On a national level it is clear that some of the early pronouncements by the military appointed government have not helped. The stock market has suffered and there were clear indications in the newspapers that investors from other Asian countries were having clear second thoughts about making investments in Thailand if there is no clear guarantee that they will have control of their investment and be able to get money out when they want to.

The government seems to be following a protectionist and inward looking economic policy partly as a result of the kings announcements about Thailand needing to be more self sufficient.

The net result is likely to be a slow down in the economic growth rates which Thailand has experienced in recent years. Once people realise this it will add to the problems which are staking up for the government.

Politics :

This is where the issues, dilemmas and potential future problems lies for Thailand. When the tanks rolled onto the streets of Bangkok in September there were some well wishers to greet them. Of course not everyone felt the same. Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies were certainly not happy and neither were the mostly rural poor who had supported his government and the policies which benefited them. Everyone waited to see what would happen. The king gave his tacit support to the coup and the leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said the armed forces would restore stability, establish a new constitution and hold elections by October 2007. They also promised to adopt a different approach to the political violence in the south.

However, since that time little has gone right for the military junta. International condemnation, an ex Prime Minister who has continued his world tour and continues to meet with governments and put his case to the international media, poor economic decisions, a falling stock market, bombs in Bangkok and continuing violence in the south.

The government now has a drafting assembly in place for the new constitution which is due in about six months' time. But even this process is causing problems with rows about the make up of the committee and concerns over how much influence the military junta will have over the new constitution.

Thaksin Shinawatra is a real thorn in the side of the new government and I expect this to continue. He will continue to travel and will continue to speak to the media. The new government has certainly given him plenty to talk about. This in turn is creating further problems for the new government in its relationships with other countries and its appearance on the world stage as it starts to crack down on the Thai media when it attempt to report Thaksins comments.

The new government has attempted to tackle the violence in the south but the bombings and drive by shootings continue on and almost daily basis. Then the bombers struck on new years eve in Bangkok. It might have been Muslim insurgents from the south but the general consensus seems be that they would not have attacked in such a way in Bangkok. The current government has made much play of elements that want to destabilise the situation. A taxi driver I talked to was convinced that Thaksin Shinawatra had paid 1.5 billion baht to supportive elements within Thailand to organise the bombings.

So what does the future hold. There are rumours of further coups which is perhaps not surprising in a country which although relatively stable in recent years has had 17 years coups in the last 60 years. Not all of these rumours centre around Thaksin Shinawatra.

It is entirely possible that the coup will be launched by the existing Council for National Security (who initiated the initial coup) or by another faction from within the armed forces. In either case the government will change again and then I expect there to be a much stronger crack down on the media and what they are allowed to report.

There is an outside possibility that a coup could be led by elements within the military that are supportive of Thaksin Shinawatra and that he could return (although he has stated that he wants to give up politics).

The final potential fly in the ointment may be Thailands King Bhumibol Adulyadej who has been on the throne for 60 years. He is now 79 years old and any decline in his health might lead to further problems. It was probable that his tacit support for the military coup prevented blood shed on the streets of Bangkok back in September

Military send confused signals over Thaksins return

The Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has said that Thaksin Shinawatra could return to Thailand. He went on to say it depended on whether Mr Thaksin would like to return or not and if he wanted to then the government would talk about his movements. If an agreement was reached between the Council for National Security and Mr Thaksin's family then he could come back.

Meanwhile Thaksins media comments continue to be blocked. According to the Bangkok Post Thailands main pay TV provider has said it will block an interview with deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra that CNN plans to run this evening because of a request from the Council for National Security.

The government is also implying that a deal for his return must include an agreement as to what political role he will play after his return to Thailand

Leeds crash and Reading march on

A good start for new signing Tore Andre Flo as he headed Leeds in front after only three minutes. But from then on it all went downhill as West Brom equalised after in the seventh minute and them promptly went on to lead 3-1. One consolation was that another new signing Alan Thompson got one back to make it 3-2 but the result effectively leaves Leeds at least seven points adrift of safety. Dennis Wise was also sent to the stands after pushing West Brom striker Diomansy Kamara.

Meanwhile Reading marched on at the Madejski Stadium with a 3-1 win over Sheffield United taking them up into seventh place in the Premiership on 34 points. It was a well deserved win despite being without Kitson (who injured himself in the warm up), Doyle and Shorey. Shane Long scored his first ever goal in the Premiership and De La Cruz (who I have previously had a very poor opinion of) worked a great second.

Then came a five minute session of complete and utter madness. Gillespie who had just been brought on smashed Hunt in the face and after a fair amount of pushing and shoving and following a consultation between Halsey and the linesman he was shown a red card. As he was walking off he went to punch Hunt again - I hope the FA take action for what would also have been a straight red if such a thing was allowed. It then all kicks off between the benches as Warnock provokes Wally Downes and both are sent to the stands.

After that the rest of the game seemed mild by comparison. Reading added a third through Hunt and Sheffield pulled one back to make it 3-1 and there was no doubt that the better team had sealed all three points.

New blogger

Back from Thailand (sadly) and recovering from jetlag I decided to finally take the plunge and convert from the old blogger to the new blogger. I was expecting the process to be very slow and was worried that there might be some unexpected glitches once the blog reloaded. But no the conversion process took a few minutes and as far as I can tell the blog looks just as it was before unless anyone else can spot any problems. Still contemplating a possible move to wordpress although I shall see how how the new blogger goes first.

Thailand warns Japan

Not content with having fallen out with the government in Singapore the Thai government has turned its attentions to Japan. The row with Singapore continues as the military junta announced that they have switched their mobile phone supplier from Singaporean controlled Advanced Info Service to other firms. They also threatened to exercise their power to revoke the licences of Singaporean owned telecom and satellite operators if they were found to be wiretapping communications channels and sending sensitive information back to Singapore.

The government has turned its attention to Japan as Thaksin Shinawatra was due to arrive in Tokyo last night. The Japanese ambassador to Thailand was quoted as stating that he acknowledged the signals over the ''Thaksin issue''. Thaksin Shinawatra is due to deliver a speech after receiving an honorary degree in political science from Tokyo University. Attention is also focused on rumours that he has agreed to talk to NHK Television whilst in Japan.

Late night food - photos only

Thailand - problems continue to mount

Not surprisingly after the furore in the last couple of days with regard to Thaksin Shinawatras visit to Singapore but according to the Bangkok Post the Singapore government has stated that the diplomatic row between the two cuntries has added to the business uncertainty already created when Thailand proposed changes to the foreign ownership laws. The government went on to state that Singapore investors were looking to their options and were delaying plans for investment because they believed that there is uncertainty in Thailand that would hurt the Thai economy.

Even worse news for the government (although hardly surprising) was the announcement that Thailand joined Congo as the two newly not-free countries this year in a major survey of global freedom which was released today.

Freedom in the World 2007 is a survey of worldwide political rights and civil liberties done in New York. It found that 45 countries are not free, representing 23 percent of the world's inhabitants. About one-half of those living in Not Free conditions inhabit one country: China.

According to the survey, the number of countries judged by Freedom in the World as free in 2006 stood at 90, representing 47 percent of the global population. Fifty-eight countries qualified as partly free, with 30 percent of the world's population. Sadly Thailand moved from partly free to not free.

Nathon Harbour - Pictures only

Thaksin - it all kicks off

The furore surrounding former (or current depending on how you look at it) Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been brewing here in Thailand for the last week or so but today it seems to have really gone into overdrive.

Over the last week or so the government has removed his diplomatic passport and attempted to clamp down on the media and prevent them from reporting his or his spokesmans comments. The media held meetings about this clamp down and certainly as far as I could see the print media at least had decided to ignore the clamp down.

Then Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Singapore and did two things.

Firstly he gave a live interview to CNN. That intervies has yet to be shown on TV in Thailand and General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, chief of the Council for National Security has admitted that the interview with the deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on CNN was blocked from airing, but only by cooperation and appropriate judgment of cable TV operator UBC. Yeah right.

Secondly he held a meeting with the Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar. Thaksin Shinawatra and Singaporean officals insist that this was purely a private meeting as the two are old friends. The Thai military junta is absolutely furious about this meeting. The government has called in the Singaporean Ambassador and has cancelled the visit of Singapore's foreign minister due later this month.

The government is clearly getting jittery about Thaksin Shinawatras movements and statements to the international media and has even gone as far as to go on record to say so. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said 'the movements of the ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra caused him to worry. We do not keep an eye on anything in particular but the movements result in political problems within the country, especially the recent one where he went to see the Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister.'

Meanwhile the political temperature on other fronts within Thailand is also rising as court cases against Thai Rak Thai and two other political parties arising from the abortive elections last year get under way and concerns continue to be expressed about the make up of the group charged with drafting the new constitution.

Nathon Markets - Pictures only

Three deaths in the south

This story appears to have been picked up by the BBC but does not as yet appear on the websites of either The Nation or The Bangkok Post.

Apparently Islamic militants have killed three people in southern Thailand.

A man and wife were found dead at the entrance of a rubber plantation in Yala province - the man had been shot and then decapitated. The third person was killed in a separate attack by a gunman on a motorcycle.

This probably does not fit too well with the statement today by the Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont that he believed the bloody violence in Thailand's restive southern provinces will ease in the near future.

Pots, Kettles, Black

Those are the thoughts that came to mind when I saw this piece entitled Thailand calls for action on Burma on the Bangkok Post website.

The Thai government believes it is in a position to criticise what is going on in other countries. Specifically it is critical of Burmas actions against pro democracy activists and it is critical of the lack of action by the United Nations when a proposed resolution against the Burmese actions was not passed.

How the government of Thailand comes to believe that it has any moral position to adopt on matters such as these I am at a loss to understand. This government came to power by way of a military coup itself less than four months ago. Indeed it did so whilst the legally elected Prime Minister of Thailand was at the United Nations. Only three days ago the same government clamped down on the legally elected Prime Minister of Thailand by removing his diplomatic passport and forbidding the media in Thailand from reporting the comments of Thaksin Shinawatra or his lawyer. It is interesting to note that it is already clear that the media have already shown that they have no intention of obeying this order.

As it happens I am no supporter of the Burmese regime - but the fact remains that Thai government has no credibility in its attempt to divert attention away its own lack of democracy.

Water Buffalo at Play - Pictures only

Visit to Big Buddha - Pictures Only

Clamp down on Thaksin Shinawatra

The government of Thailand has acted to clamp down on the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The government has revoked the diplomatic passports of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Potjaman. I guess this was not too unexpected and had indeed been mooted some time ago. The government has also issued a statement ordering Thai embassies and consulates abroad to stop welcoming Mr Thaksin.

Perhaps more seriously for the cause of democracy in Thailand the government has now forbidden the media in Thailand from reporting the comments of Thaksin Shinawatra or his lawyer. Interestingly the fact that they have been banned from reporting his comments is not mentioned on Thai websites and is only mentioned in the BBC Report here. The BBC go on to say that the Thai media have been holding crisis meetings to decide how they should respond.

Thai company law and the hitchikers guide to the galaxy

I don't know whether those who are responsible for drafting Thailands Foreign Business Law are aware of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but if this article in this mornings edition of The Nation is anything to go by they might want to take a look.

The bit that caught my eye read as follows :

The Foreign Business Law covers three lists of business sectors - deemed critical to national security - subject to the degree of protection. The most protective category is Annex 1, followed by Annex 2 and Annex 3.

Industries listed in Annex 1 include rice farming, forestry, agriculture and protected professions such as hairdressing.

Well obviously hairdressers would be critical to national security!

Thai stockmarket gets jitters again.

The Thai government has approved plans to tighten rules regulating foreign businesses. The Cabinet has agreed in principle to changes in the Foreign Business Act. The market is concerned that the new rules will force foreign firms to reduce their Thai holdings. The market is still very nervous following last month's stock market crash sparked by the governments decision to limit the amount of money that could be withdrawn by investors and the bombs in Bangkok at New Year. Rumours of a further coup will not have helped either. According to The Nation here foreign ownership in Thai businesses will be limited to about 50% and according to the Bangkok Post website the stock market shed 2.69 per cent today.

Storms in Gulf of Thailand

Well I am sure that this photo will cheer up those of you who were jealous of our trip to Thailand.

Apparently the official Thai News Agency warned holidaymakers of waves up to three metres high pounding coastal areas on the Gulf of Thailand. Well they were right. This picture should show blue skies and a totally calm flat sea. The edges of a tropical storm blew through yesterday (I have never seen so much rain) and this is the aftermath I guess. Still at least the temperature is 79F

Thai Rak Thai wants investigation into new Prime Minister

According to the internet site for The Nation the Thai Rak Thai Partys legal advisor has today called on the Assets Examination Committee to investigate allegations that the current Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont illegally occupies forest reserve.

The party is asking why the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Kasem Sanidwong na Ayudhaya failed to release results of a ministry investigation after the New Year as promised.

Thai Rak Thai is alleging that the Nakhon Ratchasima forest where Surayud's mountain retreat was built is a reserve. Dwellings are prohibited and they cite two Cabinet resolutions stating so.

Their legal advisor Kamol Bandaipet concluded by saying 'The AEC should investigate this. Forestry officials are normally afraid of governments installed by coups'.

This is the soap opera that is Thai politics.

Political emergency continues in Thailand

Some interesting snippets from the english language press here in Thailand today.

The Council for National Security (CNS) issued a circular to ministries, courts and state enterprises yesterday urging officials to watch out for strangers or unidentified objects left abandoned in buildings and public places. This struck me as a little odd and somewhat slow off the mark given that the bombs went off on 31st December and 1st January.

The Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said the public should prepare for more political violence after the New Year bomb blasts in the capital. He went on to say that he believed the country would see political turmoil for the next two months.

More than one paper carries rumours of a possible counter coup. Apparently off the record comments from active and retired Army officers indicate there is a real rivalry brewing inside the military. The rumour is that a rival military clique may dethrone the CNS in order to revive the Thaksin Shinawatra regime. The other possibility is a repeat coup where the CNS would realign its power to overcome problems and resolve the power struggle for control of the Army.

Seeing hands of Koh Samui

This is a picture of Mr Noi. We discovered him on our last visit to Koh Samui and what this guy does not know about back problems and how to massage them back to good health is not worth knowing.

He had a piece written about him in The Nation about four years ago. He was rendered almost blind by illness as a teenager, but far from being disheartened by it Noi has been kneading the tension out of tourists muscles for many many years. You can always find him in the same place beneath a shady tree outside the Imperial Boathouse Hotel on Koh Samuis Choeng Mon Beach.

By coincidence (well perhaps not) this is where we are staying and Mr Noi will be working his magic on my back for which i will be very grateful.

Noi says he learned the secrets of the craft from other locals who ply the sands offering visitors an invigorating rub. He learned how to search out the aches, stretch stiff limbs and press just the right points on the body with his strong fingers and palms. Now in his late 30s, Noi considers this the ideal job. He gets to meet new people all the time (his remaining eyesight allows him to remember faces much of the time) and help customers escape the stress of their rigours back home.

Thailand a struggle between the old and new powers

This is how the bombings in Bangkok are characterised in this mornings edition of The Nation. I cannot find a link to the internet version of the article on their site but they seem confident that elements supportive of the old regime are crossing swords with the new regime. When the military coup took place and the interim government was installed the new regime initially decided not to drive the remnants of the old regime into a corner. However, in recent weeks the Assets Examination Committee has been moving at a much faster pace in its investigations into the Shinawatra family stock transactions. The National Security Council has also beefed up its investigations of corruption scandals linked to the construction of the new Suvarnabhumi Airport which is alleged to throw into the net dozens of politicians and officials from the old regime. The Nation says that in their opinion men in uniform (either police or military) are the only people who would have had the capability to produce and plant eight bombs in Bangkok.

We are now happily in Koh Samui having passed through Suvarnabhumi Airport and been most impressed by it despite all the rumoured problems. I appear to have picked up some form of bug in transit and have yet to find an internet cafe where I can upload photos but if and when I do then expect to see photos of Koh Samui

My asian country

According to Blog Thing is not Thailand but Cambodia!

You Should Travel to Cambodia

While you might not go all Angelina Jolie and adopt a baby... You can still appreciate Cambodia's rich history and deserted beaches.

What Asian Country Should You Visit?

Sorry to disappoint the folks at Blog Thing but I am off to Thailand anyway. - bombs or no bombs. I will try to blog and upload some photos whilst out there but that will be dependent on having the time and getting the technology to work!

Two games six points

What a start to the New Year. Lets hope that the rest of the year carries on like this.

First of all Leeds managed to kick the year off with a 2-1 win over Coventry - well deserved as far as I can see from the highlights and they managed to hit the crossbar twice as well. Rumour in the transfer market is that Robbie Elliott and Matt Heath are to sign until the end of the season.

Meanwhile Reading absolutely crushed West Ham 6-0 at the Madejski Stadium. There is a report from the BBC here which I felt did not do full justice to the huge chasm between the two teams yesterday. The one from the Guardian here is much better. Two quotes below sum up the situation perfectly.

• Reading were excellent, ending a six-match run without a win, but if they stay in the Premiership for the next century they will never have as easy a game as this. West Ham were pathetic, four goals down by half-time and lucky not to take an even bigger pasting.
• Curbishley said today, Reading had everything we didn't: enthusiasm, pace, shape, aggression and, above all, hunger. They want to be in the Premiership, they want to drive a Bentley.

Bombs blast Bangkok

It appears that a series of eight bombs have rocked Bangkok in the run up to New Year. Six blast rocked the capital early in the evening as people started to gather for the New Years Eve celebrations. Celebrations were cancelled and police attempted to persuade tourists and revellers to leave the area. However, it appears that a further two bombs detonated at or around Midnight. There are various options as to who might be behind these attacks - muslim extremist from the south, foreign groups and opponents of the military government. The front runner at present appears to be the opponents of the current military government although of course this allows the government to tighten security.