The Mobile Phone - Curse or Blessing?

Unless you are in the middle of the Sahara Desert in Africa, you cannot fail to see a mobile phone, and even there you can't be sure you won't come across one. Maybe wandering Bedouin's or Tuaregs use them to keep in touch with Wall Street.

It is without doubt everybody's favorite gadget, and judging by the explosion of sales across the world since they were hatched, you would think everyone on the planet has one, not true of course, but there is time yet.

In years to come expectant mothers may have a mobile implanted into their womb so they can talk to their unborn child!

Ring Ring! Mother: "Yes dear?" Baby: "Hi Mum, can you tell me what my name is going to be?" Mother: "Oh dear, your father and I haven't decided yet." Baby: "Well you had better decide soon Mum because I'm coming out in two weeks. I rather fancy Charlie." Mother: "That sounds nice dear. Your Father and I will talk about it. Now please hang up because our phone bill is too high already this month." Baby: "OK! But Mum, please don't have curry for dinner tonight it gives you gas and I can't sleep." Mother: "Alright dear I won't. Bye." .

Who knows what the future holds.

The majority of people today feel they have lost a limb when they don't have their phone with them, but it can lead to some irritating and often dangerous traits.

Under irritating I would class people who do not switch off their phones when at the cinema, a concert, or in a restaurant. Not only do some have the most annoying ringtones, but when they answer the call they want the whole room to hear their conversation.

"Oi! Shut up over there, I'm trying to charm this young lady into my bed!!!"

The second category i.e. dangerous, is the most common; driving while phoning or texting.

Everywhere you look on the roads today a huge percentage of drivers use the phone while driving. It is against the law, but most people ignore the fact.

Recently a young mother and her small child were killed in England by a driver who was speeding while talking to someone on the mobile phone. He was caught and appropriately punished, but it doesn't do a lot for the bereaved family and the fact that the mother and child will never know what life had in store for them.

In another case, a Polish lorry driver was convicted after causing an accident on an English motorway while texting. This time a whole family died.

Yesterday I was returning from having my car serviced, and got stuck behind this idiot in the outside lane of a four-lane motorway busy chatting on the phone. He was totally unaware of his surroundings and the line of cars piled up behind him. It is this kind of irresponsible behavior that causes accidents, not that it seemed to bother him.

It is well known there are many 'hands-free' kits on the market which can fit all vehicles, but because they cost money, and more importantly, there is no incentive, they stay on the shelf in the store.

It would require a change in all countries existing laws to ensure everyone used 'hands-free'.

I am not an electronics expert, but I do believe every vehicle could be fitted with a jammer or noise generator that operates as long as it is in motion, and thereby preventing the use of a mobile phone while driving. The range of such a signal can easily be restricted to, for example, two metres which would probably be sufficient. If a vehicle has a built-in hands-free system this would of course not be required. I just cannot believe that someone hasn't thought of this before.

At least in Europe, every vehicle on the road must have a regular check for road worthiness, and this would be a good time to check each vehicle to see it complies with the law, and the unit is functioning correctly.

I cannot believe that such a small gadget would be expensive to make considering the production levels required, and car manufacturers could be made to fit them to every new car.

To me, this appears a fairly simple solution which would be 100% effective, but it needs the will, and cooperation to put it in place.

In the meantime, people will die or be maimed by the irresponsible.

May your battery never die!

Roy.

Time for an update: Thanks to my anonymous commentator, I realise that this piece may seem as though I am dead set against mobile phones. Far from it. I know I commented too much on the negative aspects of the mobile, but as was pointed out to me, they can sometimes be a life saver - literally. They do have their good side too, and I also never leave the house without mine.

I think my main concern when writing was the use of mobiles by drivers, and the road safety aspects. Be that as it may, apart from the every day chat, there are circumstances when having a mobile with you (with a fully charged battery of course) can not only be a comfort, but a necessity should you get into trouble. Like all technology. it has its uses.

May your signal be strong when you need it most!

Roy

United Nations - The Paper Tiger

For a whole week, the United Nations Security Council has been debating what to do about North Korea's latest missile test, carried out under the guise of a 'satellite' launch. The end result is that North Korea will be 'chastised' for 'breaking the rules'.

The five permanent members, plus Japan, have haggled for an entire week just to produce a memorandum that will be laughed at by North Korea. What do we pay these people for? It's too ridiculous for words!("Hold out your hand Kim Jung Il. I am going to rap you on the knuckles with this piece of paper. But don't worry, I'll do it softly so you won't feel a thing!".)

I have always maintained the U.N. is nothing more than a 'Paper Tiger' with no real power over the nations of the world, and once again I feel vindicated.

Can anyone give me an example of even one single conflict that the U.N. has successfully managed to end, permanently?

Once again, Russia and China spoiled efforts to get a meaningful response to the missile launch to the extent that the word 'Missile' doesn't even appear in the document.

According to Susan E. Rice, the American Ambassador to the U.N. "The Council wishes to send a clear message to the North Koreans", but from what I can see, the only message they sent is 'We, the United Nations are a joke!'

It is bad enough that North Korea, Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons, and we all know that Iran is busy developing one under the guise of generating electricity.

Who will be next, Osama Bin Laden? Oops! Silly me! He doesn't need to produce his own, Iran will give him as many as he needs!

You can just imagine the conversation; "Good morning Osama. Peace be upon you Brother. How many do you need today?" Osama replies, "let me see, one for New York, one for Washington, one for Los Angeles, one for London and one for Berlin. That should do it for today, so total five please"

The world is indeed becoming a dangerous place to live, and when 'Rogue States' like North Korea and Iran start to develop nuclear weapons we are all in grave danger.

The sad thing is, the U.N. does have the power to stop these things happening, if only all the world's nations could agree. Unfortunately, they're all human, and the council is made up of politicians. Each country has it's own agenda, so the chances of them ever agreeing totally on anything is zero.

I think it was Isaac Assimov the science-fiction writer, who once said; "The only thing that will ever unite mankind is an invasion from outer space". Now that is a statement I fully agree with!

May Heaven help us all! In my view, all nations should agree to totally isolate any country that does not operate under the rules of proper human behavior.

If every nation agreed that such a country be cut off from the rest of the world, even by its neighbours, things would change rapidly. Sounds tough, but as an example, you can't fight a war without a steady supply of guns and ammo!

So where does today's decision leave us? Personally, I would say; "Up the creek without a paddle" because the current U.N. action is not going to impress Pyong Yang sufficiently to ensure a change in policy, and there is still the Iran question.

The United Nations seems just as powerless to change Iran's ambitions as it does North Korea's. Once these two countries get away with it who will be next?

May your radiation levels always be within limits.

Roy.

Obama - Messiah?

I watched in fascination yesterday as Barack Obama held an obviously unscripted question and answer period with some students in Strasbourg. At the end of it, the first thing that sprang to mind was 'Here is another JFK!'

He is clearly a man of vision who's main priority is to fix the world's problems as best he can. As President of the United States he is certainly in a position to do that. His fresh approach to the world's problems is something we have all needed for a long time.

For too long we have been stuck with the 'Rule of the Gun' instead of diplomacy, and the art of talking between nations with differences has been lost. It is widely recognised that George Bush was one of the worst presidents America has ever had, and thank goodness his time is over. Maybe it was the advisors he gathered around him, maybe it was the man himself, but either way, his approach to world problems and their solutions left a lot to be desired.

It is important for Obama to change the world's perception of the United States as a 'shoot first, ask questions later' society. This I think he can do, and has in fact begun.

His idea of talking to countries like Iran and North Korea show that he is a long way ahead of the game, more than Bush ever was. If the United Nations was more than a 'Paper Tiger', isolating these nations might have worked, but as it is, it hasn't.

Therefore, a new approach is needed to bring these countries in line with the rest of the world, and in my opinion, Obama seems to be the man to do it.

We must however be careful! Everyone is expecting so much from this one man that he is bound to fail some, and I sincerely hope he will not be pilloried for it.

I have read some of the reactions to his speech in front of the students of Strasbourg, and I must say that the sheer arrogance of some Americans who commented on his speech is horrifying.

No-one, to my knowledge, actually mentioned the word traitor, but he was roundly, and viciously attacked for admitting that America sometimes got it wrong, and that mistakes have been made by American Governments.

Even his innocent remark that America was founded by Europeans, which is true, came in for an attack of arrogance. He was castigated left and right for 'Sucking up to the Europeans', which to me is deplorable. By their words, these people have made it clear they have absolutely no idea of what this man is about, and what he is trying to achieve.

If this sort of unfounded criticism by people who think America is 'God's gift to the World' spreads among the American people then he has no chance, because if they do not understand what he is trying to achieve, no-one will!

Wake up People! Neither you, nor your country are God's gift to the planet. You live here by the grace of God just like the rest of us!

Barack Obama is not a Messiah, he is just a man with a vision as was John F. Kennedy. He aspires to great deeds, and the world and the American people in particular, must give him time to achieve his goals.

If he does, the world will be a better place in which to live.

May we all live in peace.

Roy.

Britain's New Anthem

I received a very funny video in my mail today. Where it comes from I have no idea, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the British BNP Party is behind it. Considering the situation in the U.K. these days it could well become the nations new national anthem.

If it wasn't so true it would be really funny. Enjoy!

As the saying goes: "Many a true word spoken in jest".

Keep the faith.

Roy

Malware - The Curse of Criminal Fingers

According to the latest reports, there was a huge rise in malware during 2007. Malware, or malicious computer programmes, have been around for a long time, but security companies suggest there was a 500% increase in the number of varients of malicious programmes over the previous year. Who can guess what 2008 will bring. Criminals make 'variants' of malware to try and bypass anti-virus programmes.

AV Test, a software security testing organization, said they had seen 5.49 million unique samples of malicious software in 2007 which is five times more than the 972,606 it saw in 2006. Another firm called Panda Software said the rise represented a 'malware epidemic'.

These programmes are not quite what you and I would call virus's, trojans or spyware and the like, they are used for criminal purposes, and are far more dangerous. Criminals use them to gain access to computers to steal data, financial and personal information, or to access a bank for example, with the intent to steal money. There are also of course the hackers, whose main aim is just to cause mischief.

It is necessary therefore to have a good antivirus programme installed, but according to today's information, the 'epidemic' was caused by criminals who were trying to redesign their software so that it would not be picked up by antivirus programmes. Oops! Food for thought!

What I find so disgusting about the whole affair is how seldom they are caught, and when they are, they get hired by some software company instead of going to jail. These people are without doubt the 'Super-geeks' of the computer world, but dammit, they commit crimes and make the lives of ordinary people miserable. For that they should be punished - severly!

It would seem the law makers only want to punish these people if they break into government computers. What about the rest of us?

There is currently a computer hacker in the U.K. awaiting extradition to the USA for breaking into, among others, US Defence Department computers. He is doing everything he can to avoid the extradition, even going to the Court of Human Rights in The Hague. I hope they turn him down. If convicted in the States he faces 25 years behind bars. But there again, it was government computer systems he hacked into.

If you or I end up being hacked or get a virus, we spend a lot of time getting our computer cleaned up and Windows reloaded, and who knows what data we have lost, and what it has all cost, but no-one gets 'done' for it.

I think I have a solution however. If these people are caught the law should consider amputating their fingers. Have you ever tried typing with your nose or tongue?

May your Windows always be clean!

Roy.

Free Download???

Don't you just hate the duplicity of websites on the Internet. When trolling through them you often come across 'Free Download' with the promise to 'fix your computer problems'.

Guessing what was coming, I went to one that would keep all my drivers up to date. It may do, but free? Not likely. I won't mention the company name, they might sue me!

The promise was there to scan my computer and tell me if any of my drivers are out of date, and the 'free' programme would fix them. So off I go, download the small programme and complete a scan. Fine! Then I am informed that a number of my drivers are not up to date, a fact that could cause me problems. OK fine! Then comes the crunch!

To fix these problems I need to buy the programme!!

I know, they are not blatently lying, because you can download the scan programme for free, but to get it to go past the scan phase you must buy it.

I think it is morally incorrect to inform people they have problems with their computer, with the implication that it can be fixed for free, and then later you must buy the product to fix the problems they found.

I have to say that this company's products are good, I have used them before, but it doesn't sweeten the pill of current marketing practices.

It is sad that today you cannot trust all you see. The methods employed by some people to sell you a product have become so devious, a simple person can easily get hooked into buying something they don't really need. It is a sad statement of our times that in general, people will stoop to any level to get money out of you. They promise you the earth, but in effect it is, to a certain extent, a scam.

There are perhaps hundreds of products on the Internet like this one. I have certainly come across a few. It comes down to one thing. If it says 'Free', you should start thinking of how much it will cost, and alarm bells should immediately start ringing in your head.

Happy surfing!

Roy.

Religious Rights.

Should open-air cremations be allowed in Britain? Some followers of the Hindu religion are pressing for the open-air burning of bodies in accordance with their faith, which is illegal in the United Kingdom.

According to Hindu religious beliefs, the body should be burnt in the open air, allowing the soul freedom to leave the body and be reincarnated. This 4,000 year-old practice is normal in South Asia, but in Britain is banned by the 1930 Cremation Act which restricts the burning of bodies to crematoriums.

Today, The High Court in London is hearing the case of Davender Ghai, a seventy-year-old Hindu. Mr. Ghai has received the backing of the influential UK Hindu Council Organisation and some Hindu temples in the U.K. He is requesting a Judicial Review of the 1930's Law on religious grounds, and in part, on the 1998 Human Rights Act which covers the freedom to practice religious beliefs. In 2006, Mr Ghai was lucky to escape prosecution when he cremated the body of a 31-year-old Sikh man at a secret location in Northumberland. The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue the case against him.

Not all Hindu's agree with Mr. Ghai's assessment however. Jay Lakhani, a member of the Hindu Academy educational body is quoted as saying: "Hindu scriptures should be interpreted judiciously and teaching does allow interpretation in a modern way." He went on further to say: he "could not understand why UK Hindus would want to dispose of bodies in an "antiquated" manner".

While I have great respect for Mr. Ghai and his religious beliefs, I really cannot agree with his proposition. There has to be a limit on the rights of an individual who, of his own free will, is living in someone else's country. There are too many people playing the human rights card these days just to get what they want, and they are usually a minority.

It has always been my firm belief that if you are, what amounts to a guest in someone else's land, you should adapt as far as possible to the laws and traditions of that land. I say this as someone who has lived outside the U.K. since 1972 when I first moved to Holland. I am now a 'Gentleman of Leisure' in Spain. However, I have never asked for anything from either host country, I have always paid my way, and done my best to integrate into that country's culture.

In Spain and many other Catholic countries, it is customary at Easter for processions carrying images of the Virgin Mary and Christ on the Cross to be held in every city, town and village. Imagine trying to do that in a Muslim country like Iran for example (worst case I know)! You would start a riot and be stoned all the way. Such countries do not allow any religious beliefs other than their own. I am almost afraid the Church of England will be disbanded because we might upset the immigrants!

The British have for decades been pampering the minority immigrant population, and in the process have lost their own national identity. I take my hat off to Boris Johnson the Mayor of London who said it is time we English started celebrating St. George's Day, he is after all our Patron Saint. The Irish, Scottish and Welsh do, but for forty years the English haven't because we are afraid to upset some minority groups. What rubbish!

It is time the British learned they are not a multi-cultural society, they are a society of British with a large immigrant population. That is the way every other nation on earth thinks of itself, why not us?

For example, an end must be made to schools struggling to teach classes in foreign languages because they have immigrant pupils. These children will grow up as citizens of Britain, and as such their first language must be English.

An end must also be made trying to make our country fit the ideals and beliefs of immigrants lest we offend them. In my opinion, if you can't fit in, you know where the door is!

Thank God we still have free speech, or is that next on the agenda!!

May your beliefs always be yours.

Roy.

I Thought The U.N. Was Unbiased!

Oh how naive I am! I have just read a report on the BBC from U.N. investigators under the leadership of Sri Lankan lawyer Radhika Coomaraswamy, and to be honest, I am amazed at the one-sided blame-laying she and her team have indulged in.

Before I go any further, let me state quite clearly, I am not on anybodies side and I do not support the actions of one group against another. Having made that clear I will continue.

According to Ms Coomarathingy, on the 15th of January Israeli soldiers used an 11 year-old boy as a human shield by forcing him to walk down streets ahead of them 'for several hours'. This is one of 'hundreds' of such cases reported by her and the U.N. team for the protection of children.

Her report also includes soldiers shooting Palestinian children, and women, bulldozing a house with a woman and child inside, and shelling a building they had ordered civilians to enter. These, she said were just 'a few of the incidents' that had been 'verified' by U.N. officials in the Gaza Strip.

I guess they must have been talking to Hamas fighters, and civilians with a Hamas gun up their backside to get stories like this. The Hamas propaganda machine is very efficient in such situations.

Worthy of note, is the total lack of commentary on war crimes by Hamas, like using human shields, or shooting from homes, except to say it is 'under investigation', which means nothing will ever come of it because it's an everyday occurrence, and anyway, they are such poor defenceless people.

Israeli Ambassador Aharon Leshno Yaar told the U.N's 47-nation Human Rights Council, it was "unable or perhaps unwilling to address attacks against its civilians by Palestinian militants". He further added, "The report claims to examine Israel's actions while it wilfully ignores and downplays the terrorist and other threats we face". He should have added their methods!

An Israeli Military Spokesman dismissed the claims as "inaccurate and politically motivated". It is obvious that excesses have occurred, and the Israeli Military have confessed this and are dealing with it, but that too is the nature of war. It happened in the Second World War with Allied troops also. In war, none of us are 'clean'.

All Muslim terror groups like Hamas know full well that in any conflict, the press love to report in full on civilian casualties, and have made good use of this fact.

Perhaps this will help clear it up for you, published with the kind permission of Osama Bin Laden:

Excerpt from a terrorist training manual: "Wow Achmed! Don't forget, if the cursed Israeli's shoot in your direction, grab the nearest child or woman! Also, don't forget to go into the nearest family home if they start shelling you. That way you will be safe, well maybe not, but we will have great propaganda stories to tell the world press and the U.N. OK?" If it wasn't so serious it would be funny!

Hamas have been using these tactics for years, and yet not one word of condemnation has been seen in the press or from the U.N., not even for the rocket attacks on southern Israel.

I do not condone it, and I do not agree with it, but the thing that sticks in my craw is all the blame is being put on the Israeli's, while groups like Hamas are all lily white.

In my view, if you cannot report these things totally impartially, you can better keep your mouth shut and stay at home. You certainly have no business in this business!

May your dreams be untroubled.

Roy.

Justice Be Damned!

It has been revealed today that Josef Fritzl will serve his sentence in what amounts to a five star hotel. He was jailed for 'life' last week for murder, rape, enslavement, coercion and incest after locking his daughter in his cellar for 24 years, and fathering seven children by her, six of whom survived. Fritzl now gets to choose from three prisons under Austrian law.

His lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, says he will choose Garsten which is a former Benedictine convent converted into a prison. The facility has a gym equipped to the standard of any commercial venue, a choir. and one of the the largest prison libraries in the country. His hobby is reading.

The facility is set in woodland at the foot of the Alps and gives him the opposite of what he gave his daughter and her offspring, fresh air and light.

Although sentenced to 'Life', he will be eligible for parole after only fifteen years, living in conditions that many old age pensioners would give five years of their lives for. Whilst 'inside' he will be given the opportunity to follow many hobbies including tennis, art classes and darts. In fact, he will be living in conditions far superior than those of most working-class families today.

The one overbearing question that comes to mind is: Why? Whatever happened to Justice and the rule of punishment for a crime committed. In the last thirty years, Justice has become so soft that some criminals deliberately commit another crime just to get back 'inside'.

I remember well in the 1960's when Wakefield Prison in England was first opened. After seeing it on the TV News I and my collegues were disgusted, because the prisoners were housed in better conditions than we were in the RAF. In the Forces we were still living twelve to a room with a personal space the size of the bed plus a bit. These prisoners even had curtains on the windows so they would not feel bad if they saw the bars.

Now, in most 'civilised' countries, prisons are more like a five star hotel with everything provided for free, well except to the tax payer of course. Gone for good are the days when a criminal was punished for his crime, now many live in better conditions than they ever did 'outside'.

The 'Do-Goody Brigade' was of the opinion that prisoners should be treated as poor misguided people that need comfort and reassurance with large dollops of luxury to get them back 'on the right track'. Cobblers!!!!

More than half of criminals released early from jail for 'good behavior' go on to re- offend within weeks if not days.

In my opinion, it is time to bring back the 'Cat' for minor offenders, especially those under legal age, and for the rest, the good old chain-gang. There is so much good work these people can be doing for the country instead of working out in the gym, playing pool, reading books and generally lounging about at tax payers expense.

Should the Justice System ever get back to reality and make prison a place to be feared, I am sure people who have been 'inside' will not want to return. Once we resume making the punishment fit the crime the sooner we see a drop in murder, violence, robbery and crime in general.

For someone as heinous as Fritzl to be given such a punishment for his terrible crimes is downright immoral. It is disgusting and depraved. It is doubtful that his daughter, who is now 42, and her six children will ever be able to live a normal life, considering the horrible mental scars they must carry with them.

Referring to my previous Post dated March 15, It would appear that if you defend yourself or your property, or are maimed mentally and/or physically, you get a harsher sentence than the criminal who perpetrated the crime in the first place. Madness!

May your days be untroubled, and your nights serene.

Roy.

A Second Blog - Not For the Faint-Hearted

Today I decided to share the first of my short stories! Wow! Whether it is any good is for you the reader to say. It is about 24 A4 pages, and will take an average time of maybe 10 minutes to read.

It is a hobby I took up after I retired, and gives me pleasure. I hope you have the same reading it.

Please feel free to praise or criticise, I have a thick skin. Criticism will be taken on board, and used to enhance any future efforts on my part.

I hope you enjoy it.

Roy.

The following link will take you there: http://floroy1942a.blogspot.com/

Alternatively, there is a link under 'My Profile'.