Posted 3:53 AM by Paul
Good Day - Bad Night

Yesterday was Mother's Day so we all went for lunch at our favourite Chinese restaurant Mr. Kongs on Lisle Street, just off Leceister Square. Well worth a visit. I then took the kids to a playgorund whilst Heather had a quick look round the shops in Covent Garden.

I spent most of the night half awake. Worring about burglars (see earlier blog) and worrying about the kids ( war seeping into my subconsiousness). I even got up twice to check that they were alright and then let Bart in. Bart is one of our two cats.

Beautiful day outside. It is strange to think anyone is fighting anyone on a day like this.

Posted 1:04 PM by Paul
This is the Boer War with Smart Bombs.

I feel that I am living in a fragment of the 19th century which has somehow got lost in the early 21st.

Blair gives us speeches about how "they died for their country" which are straight out of Kipling. Government spokemen rage with righteous indigation about the illegal tactics of an enemy that refuses to stand and fight in the open so that we can pick them off from 1,000 miles away with satelite guided mega-bombs. Hostilities were commenced under the quaint delusion that we would progress down the Euphrates in our gunboats , the banks crowded with cheering barefoot Abus grateful for a loaf of bread and release from their mad dictator. All we want to do is help them by installing a White Christian Viceroy. How could they possibly object to that?

They tell us that they did not expect suicide bombers. Why? Don' t they read newspapers?

It is an awful mess.

Posted 4:40 PM by Paul
Media Wars

A missile hit another Iraq marketplace and it is said that 50 civilians are killed. The El Pais website shows a tragic photo of two little children laid out dead in a drawer in the town morgue. They are a little bit younger than Alice and Emily.

A couple of hours later a missile seems to fall on a shopping mall in Kuwait. The story is all over the news. CNN and Sky devote the fist 10 minutes with live updates to the incident. No one has been killed and damage does not appear to be extensive. Clearly the mall must have been empty. As if by magic a crowd appears chanting "Saddam your days are numbered". We are told that people stay up late in Kuwait. The missile hit at around 3.00 a.m. But if they stay out late why was the mall closed and no none hurt? The 50 dead in Baghdad is now old news and is glossed over in about 60 seconds on cable channels.

It is 7.00 p.m. on the East Coast of the USA and the story hits prime time news. It is 1.00 a.m in London, just in time to make the front pages of the newspapers. Late editions of The Mirror, The Independent and possibly the Guardian will lead with 50 dead in Baghdad story. The rest will lead with the "told you so Saddam never disarmed" story about the missile that smashed some glass in a Kuwaiti mall.

Or am I being cynical?

Posted 4:26 AM by Paul
Heather is getting away from the war by watching Angel on Sky. It is brilliant. The plot revolts around the paradox that if the sympathetic central character Angel, ever feels true happiness and love he will revert to being a Vampire. This creates the tension that the audience simultaneously does and does not want him to be happy. If only the Americans had stuck to making great films, inspirational music and TV, inventing things and creating brands and products. They would be cheered across the globe. Carried shoulder high wherever they went.

Which reminds me. Time to put on some Miles Davis

Posted 4:20 AM by Paul
So - another day and another volte face by the Government. We are now told that the conflict "could take longer than expected" and to prepare ourselves for difficult times ahead" The latter is code for our soldiers will die but it will be worth it if they save my political career. Various government spokemen and women are lying through their teeth claiming that they had never said it would be over quickly. This is despite constant claims by Blair and others that our troops would be met by cheering crowds happy to have escaped Saddam's jackboot. It brought to mind the bit in 1984 when Winston Smith hears the announcement that the chocolate ration had been raised to 25 grammes . Was he the only person who remembered that until last week the ration had been 30 grammes? Luckily I don't feel like that. You can feel that people simply discount much of what the Government is saying. They are reading between the lines like Soviet citizens used to do when they read Pravda. The Wages of Spin, and all that.

I got an e-mail last night from a friend who I meet up with every year in Pamplona. His name is Tom and he fought in the special forces in Vietnam. He is in his early 50s and knows enough about war to last 5 lifetimes. He's clearly worried that the tactics and strategy are all wrong. He thinks that it was now becoming a nationalistic conflict with Iraqis flooding across the border to help fight for their country. He restricted his comments to the practicals and not the poltics. He must be looking at the faces of some of the US boys and remembering some of his old friends who never came back. So in my typical know-all fashion I replied to Tom. I felt it was important to let him know what it felt like from this side of the pond. I hope I wasn't too pompous. This is what I wrote.


" The other thing that strikes me is the way that US/UK forces are strung out in what is effectively a long column with potentially hostile territory on either side. Again I am not a military tactician but I had always thought this was always very risky. High chances of concentrations of troops getting cut off. I can't see the Iraqis performing some kind of Stalingrad type encirclement breakthrough. however, I could see companies destroyed or captured in this way.

It is a big mistake to let a non-solider like Rummy plan a campaign and get carried away with all the new toys the marketing guys from the arms manufacturers have sold him. He clearly has an idea they can do the war on the cheap with fewer boots on the ground leaving them free for other operations in 2004/5. A kind of War-Lite. At least 10 countires have a vested interst in stringing out the conflict as long as possible, Russia and Iran included. Even 100 shoulder held missile launchers could cause problems.

The UK Minister of Defence is qualified for his job by being a former polytechnic lecturer.

Colin Powell's opposite number was the former head of the National Union of Students and a political research assistant. He has never had what you or I would call a proper job. Heaven help us.

My other take on this is that the US have not learnt the appalling lessons of Sept 11th....that no-tech zealots can inflict terrible damage on a hi-tech nation. The US can bomb Iraqi comms systems into oblivion but the guerilla war continues. Some of the Shiah who are fighting despite expectations they would rise up and join the US (Come on! these were same people who took the US Embassy hostages) actually welcome death. They all enjoy fighting. They do it for fun.

Politically I think that Bush has enormous slack. US citizens support their military in times of strife. It only becomes a problem if it screws the economy and runs on to 2004 (unlikely). Blair is totally exposed and could be thrown out. In the UK support is lukewarm because so many people across the poltical/social class spectrum voiced their opposition before war broke out. Oppostion comes from right and left. Even in military towns old soldiers are voicing their concerns. Not about Iraqi civilian casualties but about whether we should be "risking our boys". There was no such feeling about the Falklands or the first Gulf War. Support ran at around 90%. Now it is 54%.

It is also clear that a whole bunch of Labnour MPs voted with the Government for war and against the rebels (who now contain some leading moderate figures with Government experience) because they thought the war would be over in 10 days. Mass surrender, Sadams shot by his own people etc..

This is a mess and I cannot see a way out."

Posted 1:51 AM by Paul
Message to My Friend Chris

I send this over to my friend Chris today. He is a man in good postion to view the present situation having travelled in the USA and lived in France for years. Also his father was a POW in Italy and Germany during WWII. Apparently his dad was not too keen on the Italians. Also Chris is not a raving left wing nut-case like me who is moving further left as each day passes. Chris has stayed pretty much in the same place politically, culturally and ethically since the day I first met him outside a bar in Pamplona 24 years ago.


Dear Chris

The POW issue brings back memories of Vietnam for a a lot of yanks. How will they ever get them back? Also Cheney got out of the problems of status of the Guantanamo Bay guys by claiming they were not POWs but terrorists. What happens if Saddam does the same? The yanks blew up a bus of fleeing refugees yesterday so lots of Arabs will say "Well someone blowing up kids from an Apache helicopter is a terrorist. Hang 'em from a lampost."

The radio has just announced that foreign companies can now bid for work in rebuilding Iraq. The US Government is "waiving legislation" that means the USAID (government agency) can only give cash to US companies to do work. The big argument will also be about who pays. Bush wants the UN to stump up cash and then give it principally to US companies. Kofi Annan has already said that the duty of reconstruction is on the beligerents in the case of a war not sanctioned by the UN. BA has also just announced that it is bringing forward job cuts due to falling demand for flights. I have reacted to the war by posponing buying flights to New York with the kids and Heather. The economic impact of this will be far reaching.

I think they will find some nasty stuff in Iraq at some stage because if it doesn't exists they will plant it. Instinctively I feel that Robin Cook has got it right. Saddam has some stuff around but not in mass quantities and does not have reliable delivery systems. If he had a missile that could hit Tel Aviv I think he would have used it by now. Few people beleive that Saddam is even close to a nuclear bomb. Also it is very hard to take serious the argument that mustard gas (used in 1917) is a Weapon of Mass Destruction but cluster bombs and cruise missiles are not. But I could be wrong. He could have it all hidden Blofeldt style in a secret complex in a mountain staffed by flesh eating robots

If they only find a bit of stuff this will hit Blair more than Bush. US political opinion has moved on. UK political opinion has a longer memory and Blair has very much presetned this as his personal moral crusade. I suppose Blair (who is now called Tony Bush in some of the Canadian media) reckons that all this will be forgotten. Nobody remembers why we started fighting in WW1. I think he is wrong on that score

As for Chirac I don't think anyone suspects him of a moral stance just a more reasoned position. One French commentator summed up the view from the French when it said "..that the Presdient is acting from a point of principle cannot be entirely ruled out."

My take on this is that the issue is not Iraq at all. It is the larger geopolitical picture of how the rest of the world interacts with the one superpower. The present White House is ruled by a clique of people from a group called Project for a New American Century. They have a simple thesis. Cold War is over and we should use this opportunity to project US power as we see fit. It's pretty much a New Rome view of the world.

Blair takes the classic UK view which is that he can be the bridge between Europe and the USA and that the EU needs to be a friend and trusted allie of the USA. The Chirac/Scroeder view (which is in-line with the founding fathers of the EU) view is that Europe needs to be a strong counterpoint to the USA. This is the bottom line of the Euro. Create a single market bigger than the USA and create a currency that can withstand fluctuations in the dollar. It is a big project but it looks like the Euro is starting to rise and to be trusted by the markets despite the weakness of the German economy.

I think the European view is a mixture of short term expediency but also fundamantal differences in outlook. The UK view is based on the fanstasy that we can still be a kind of mini superpower and can really change the course of EU policy which was set in the late 50s and early 60s. We have still not got over losing the Empire. I think we will get crushed in the middle of the two blocs. A lot of French will now say "Look De Gaulle was right. The British will always choose the US over Europe in any disagreement." Don't be surpised if Russia is in the EU by 2030.

If Blair tries to take the UK into the Euro - Chirac will nail his balls to the negotiating table with a series of punitive conditions laid out in the Maastricht Treaty. Late comers to the party pay extra. It is there in balck and white Think of it as a kind of £5 before 10.00 p.m. £10.00 after club night. Chirac may just bring out the bouncers and say "Sorry Tony no trainers. Come back on student night"

Cheers

Paul

Posted 8:58 AM by Paul
Someone tried to break in and burgle our house last night. They threw a heavy object at the front window, broke the heavy glass and tried to force the handle. They gave up. Heather heard the noise first and I told her not to be silly and to turn over. It was a dream. When I am asleep I am totally useless. Well they did not steal anything but it has left me with a sense of unease about the safety of the kids. I don't give a toss about the possesions they might have taken. 10 great suits and a fantastic collection of books about dicators are my main possesions. But it got me thinking.

- One broken pane created a huge weight of glass all over our living room. Imagine what the afterblast of a cruise missile does to your home.
- Someone has tried to damage my home and put my kids at risk. I was seething with rage. If someone had killed them, say by accident with a cruise missile, I would spend the rest of my days seeking revenge.
- There is a probability that someone may try this caper again in the next few years. Based on the doctrine of pre-emptive war does this give me the right to go and kick the shit out of anyone I suspect of being a burgalar, providing they are smaller than me and don't have a gun?

Other than life is still sweet. The kids are on great form and the sun is shining. I had a pint of beer at 3.30 p.m. which is unusual for me as I try and restrict alcohol consumption till after 6.00 p.m. (unless I am in Spain) and we are just off to see Kate and Finbar for supper. My only prediction is that I will get drunk on red wine.

The leadership of the Labour Party make me feel physically sick.

Last night we watched the Oscars. It reminded me how great America was at marrying art and commerce.

Posted 2:37 PM by Paul
A Good Day for Us - If Not for the People of Baghdad

Emily was 6 today. She woke us at 6.45 and then went through to wake up Alice (who is 8) to open her presents. Heather as ever had done a brilliant job. Emily's presents were piled up on the table surrounded by baloons. Emily loves baloons. She put on her Snow White party dress and headband which held back her cascading curls. Obviously I am biased, but she is a beautiful child. Alice helped her open the presents and suggested games and things they could do during the day together. I watched for a while through half closed eyes and then slunk back to bed. I cooked a late breakfast of pancakes maple syrup and sausage around 10.30.

We had a party for 13 of her friends at a local children's play area. The weather was beautiful. Brilliant sunshine but a nip in the air. Just like the day she was born 6 years ago.

Back on March 22nd 1997 Heather went into labour just before 7.00 a.m, gave birth just after 9 a.m. and was home with Emily in her arms by 6.30 p.m. I floated down the hospital corridor to the pay phone ( we could not afford a mobile back then) to tell the world she had arrived. So very happy.

The US and UK navies and airforces continue their huge unopposed aerial bombardment of Baghdad. Much has been made of the sophisticated weaponry which is minimising casualties. I suppose this is a blessing. But the reality of the situation was brought home on BBC radio when the reporter mentioned visiting a local hospital where a 5 year old girl had just been told she would never walk again due to the spinal injuries caused by the bombing.

Our taxes did that to her.

Posted 8:02 AM by Paul
Revenge of the Robots

War broke out yesterday. Or more accurrately the USA, UK and Australia invaded a country that they had been forcing to disarm for the last 12 years. Very brave.

Bush went on TV. Usual stuff. Very wierd. Narrow lips. Glazed slitty eyes. Cod Churchillian speech. How could it get any worse? It did. When I got back from the pub with my elder brother Dave we wateched Blair's "Address to the Nation". Truly horrific. In the first few seconds he envoked God and the Flag. The last refuge of the scoundrel. He knew that we were all "sending our prayers.." to the British Forces. Tough if you are an aetheist or Muslim. He is still not getting it. We wish the troops well as individuals and our hearts go out to their families at home. It is just that we don't think we should be there at all.

Blair also looked a bit deranged. Hair greying at the temples. Eyes wild and, according to my sister in law Sue, he is now dying his hair brown on top. Next day I rang my wife Heather (I am away on business) to ask if she had seen the awful display of realpolitik and sanctimonious deceipt. She hadn't. Sensibly she had been watching a new episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She has her priorities right. It's the last season and the script is more credible that a UK Government communique. She then made a suggestion to explain Blair's behaviour.

" Perhaps the White House have replaced him by a flesh eating robot."

That's it!!! The real Tony is bound and gagged in a basement hundreds of feet below the Pentagon.

It's Emily's birthday tomorrow. She is 6. I wonder if she will remember any of this in the way that I have the vaguest recollection of the Cuban Missile Crisis? I wonder how many beautiful 6 year old girls just like Emily in Iraq will die because of this awful war?

Posted 3:21 AM by Paul
Politicans and Drugs

Am I the only person out there who thinks that Bush looked sedated when he made his announcement that the only way that war would be called off was if Saddam and his boys packed the Winabago and went on vacation?

I mean, Bush was positively animatronic. I got more of a human vibe from the figures in Pirates of the Carribean and Small Small World. But it's nothing new I suppose.

Reputable historians now claim that Nixon was completely out of his box for the whole of 1973. Hitler was heavily drugged for the last year of his life. I suppose it helped block out the thunder of Soviet artilllery. Goering was a morphine addict and spent time a sanitorium in the early 1930s. Churchill quaffed vintage champagne (half bottle with every lunch - quick siesta and then a whiskey reviver) whilst saving Western civilisation. A mild form of Stalinist terror was when Uncle Joe would call members of his cabinet in the early hours for a war planning and heavy vodka session which would last till dawn. He would then arrange to meet them all a few hours later.

Maybe someone should give Blair an E.

Posted 2:56 PM by Paul
The 6th Formers Have Taken Over the Asylum

Watching the grand standing and the cheap party jibes in the final debate on the invasion of Iraq reminded me that so many politicians are no more than super annuated 6th Form debating champions.

Iraqi families are about to be blown to dust. Young boys from Darlington will perish in the desert crying out for their mother - and what is the UK Foreign Secretary doing? Making cheap jibes about the Liberal Democrat member for Chipping Sodbury. My head is spinning. I feel nauseous. The triviality and vanity of much of the House of Commons is simply grotesque.

But I don't have an answer for what might replace this souless chirade of 650 people from a small European nation struggling to come to terms with the fact that they don't really count that much anymore.

Posted 4:14 PM by Paul
Labour Party Rocked By Double Resignation.

So, I did it today. I resigned from the Labour Party after 24 years of not particularly distiguished service. OK I was a councillor for 4 years and helped run Red Wedge the Labour Party youth and music campaign. I did my bit - but if truth be known I have not lifted a finger beyond writing a few cheques for about 4 years. But it was a wrench all the same. I used to be a believer and although I was never a Blair fan I did think he was better than living in perpetual opposition shouting at the TV.

Now my ex-party is in government and I am - shouting at the TV.

I resigned over the Iraq war. I ahve a gut opposition to being a member of a party that accepted dropping uranium tipped bombs on civilians as a legitimate political tool. So I cancelled my standing order and then rang the Labour Party membership hotline to tell them I was doing it. The website read like a Tony Blair fanzine and I waited for several minutes whilst anodine music played and a soothing voice suggested I get a Labour Party credit card and help transform Britain (but into what? I asked myself) I got through finally to a young bloke who informed me that they could not accept resignations over the phone and then asked me why I was resigning:

"Err It's pretty obvious isn't it. Iraq."

He reponded. "I don't want to be challenging but can I press you on a few points. How would YOU suggest that we disarm Iraq?"

There followed a bizarre interchange where we harangued each other and he quoted UN resolutions off pat going back to 1990. He said that they would not bomb innocent civilians and that it "is a just war". He pleaded agressively with me "as a fellow party member" to tell me why I would not listen to him. I had heard enough. They are just not listening to anyone outside the Politburo and the comfort zone of aparatchiks. My last words before saying "Look it's over I am getting off the phone" were "This is why you are losing people. You are just talking at them. Loads of spin and not much else"

Hardly Thomas Jefferson.

The young man was a believer of the one true faith. But he got 0/10 for customer care.

So that was it. I hung up and sent a confirmation e-mail asking them to delete me from thier databases. I was shaking. Annoyed and deeply dismayed. I felt grubby. I suppose it had meant more to me that I had realised. Then it hit me. I hadn't been a a member of a political party at all for at least then last 5 years. I had been an unwitting member of a fan club who even had the temerity to harangue me when I cancelled my subscription because the product was not up to scratch and the brand values had been devalued.

I had a chicken sandwich and went for a swim. I am alright now.

Then I thought about my friend Carol, an American in Paris who feels so ashamed of her Government. But she can't stop being American whereas I can stop being a member of the Labour Party.

Oh yes and Robin Cook resigned form the Government today giving one of the most moving and eloquent speeches heard within those walls for a generation. Some MPs stood and applauded him. Nobody could remember if that had ever happened before.

There are still some people with intelligence and courage out there. Saying it in a way that we never could. It makes millions of us minnows feel that we are not just ranting in the dark. Shouting at the TV.

Posted 2:21 AM by Paul
Spanish Government Tops Lists for Risk Free Politics

Many column inches have been written about how France's policy is all about self-interest. Oil interests...contracts in Baghdad etc. Accusing a politican of in self interest is a novel criticism.

Lets's not be naive. Bush campaigned in 2000 on an end to racial profiling for Arab Americans, a better deal for Hispanics and a new black friendly Republican Party. Racial profiling was extended, Hispanic Americans went their executions on flimsy evidence at an increased rate and black Floridians were robbed of their vote in their tens of thousands. So lets not be the pot who calls the kettle black. Chirac is a slippery character but that does not stop him being right some of the time.

But the the Spanish government takes the biscuit. Jose Maria Aznar has been implacable in his support for the Bush administration since Day One. He appears next to Bush at the Azores summit, making statements on an equal footing with Blair who has 30,000 troops in the Gulf and Bush who has 250,000. Despite mass demonstrations across Spain and plunging poll ratings he stands firm. A true allie in the hour of need.

So how many troops has the Spanish Government committed to the forthcoming conflict?

None.

That's it. Not one.

So if the body count rises, but the allies (that's the UK and the USA) prevail he wins both ways.

Very clever.

Posted 1:58 PM by Paul
Just A Feeling of Sadness

So, that's it then. Blair flies out to the Azores for a photo-op with Bush and Aznar to declare war on Iraqi civilians and blame it all on the French.

We went to a St. Patricks Day Party tonight. A couple of Irish friends were moving house. It was a lovely night and Finbar sang Danny Boy. Watching the kids play, I imagined what I would be thinking if I were an opponent of Saddam in Baghdad tonight instead of an opponent of Blair in London.

I felt helpless and sick in my stomach that I was a part of all this. I had been complicit. Member of the Labour Party. Ex-Labour councillor. Actively canvassed for a Labour Government in 97. I made donations to Tony Blair's campaign funds. I am part of the problem. English. If an Iraqi hit back at me. How could I blame them?

But if I were an Iraqi dissident I would be looking at my kids and wondering if they would be alive tomorrow morning. Not indulging in self pity.

It is a moment of real shame for the UK.

Posted 2:42 PM by Paul
UK Government Joins USA in Political Lunatic Asylum

Now just to prove that madness is spreading the UK Government has decided to issue an ultimatum to Baghdad which goes something like this:

Dear Saddam

We will get really mad and invade if:

- You don't admit you have been a very naughty boy and agree to come up to Head Master Blair's study for a good ticking off.
- You don't go on TV and admit IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL that you have not done as you are told
- Write out 1,000 times "I must not only partially obey UN resolutions" - unlike my school mates in the China, Isreal, N.Korea and India who basically don't give a toss about the school rules.

The UK Government are even referring to this bizarre methodology as "bench marking"! It's like a bad training course for a vacuum cleaner sales force. What are they going to do if Saddam agrees? Split up into break out sessions after coffeee and compare notes on PowerPoint. Lord preserve us.

Earlier today I was getting smug - indulging in what an old friend (born NYC, Grew up Cal. Fought Iwo, Lived in Paris, Died in Ireland) called "the conceit of the English". Now I am cured. Today's events have conclusively proved that when it comes to bullshit we are still world champs.

P. S Dear Tony We really don't matter. We are there to clean up after the parade. Stop pretending we are major league. It is really embarassing.

Posted 4:15 AM by Paul
It's Official - USA Has a Completely Mad Moment

Every country has a period of its history when it goes a bit crazy. The UK had the Death of Diana. Part of the USA at least is going insane with hatred not against Saddam but against Chirac. You would have thought the French had burnt down the White House. Oh no, that was us. An American friend send me the attached news bulletin from AP. At first I thought it was a spoof. But it's not. It is a real slice of American life March 2003. I'm sure our friends will get better soon.

WASHINGTON (March 11) - House cafeterias will be serving fries with a side order of patriotism Tuesday with a decision by GOP lawmakers to replace the ``French'' cuisine with ``freedom fries.''

``This action today is a small but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France,'' said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Administration Committee.

Ney, whose panel oversees House operations, ordered the House Administrative officer to change the menus in House office building cafeterias to read ``freedom fries'' and ``freedom toast.''

The House action follows moves by several restaurants around the country to remove ``French'' fries from their menus to protest French opposition to U.S. military action in Iraq.

Also leading the anti-French campaign was Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., who noted in a letter to colleagues that Cubbie's restaurant in Beaufort, N.C., in his district, was now serving ``freedom fries.''

``Watching France's self-serving politics of passive aggression in this effort has discouraged me more than I can say,'' Jones said.

Members of Congress have been sharply critical of France for threatening to veto a new U.N. resolution holding Iraq in violation of disarmament agreements and paving the way for a military strike against the Saddam Hussein government.

Another Republican, Jim Saxton of New Jersey, has introduced several bills to ban Pentagon participation in this year's Paris Air Show and to make sure that France does not participate in any reconstruction projects in Iraq.

Posted 2:17 AM by Paul
Quote of the Day

"Members of the cabinet are being asked to carry their own cross to the crucifixion".

A caller to Radio 5 Live

I am certainly taking my bet off Gordon Brown as the next Labour PM. He's a busted flush.

If the war goes well Blair is President for Life.

If the war goes badly Brown will be roasted for financing a debacle of our own making when he should have been fixing the railways and providing decent health care.

If it wasn't so serious it would be funny

Posted 2:10 AM by Paul
Quote of the Week

BBC News have clearly been give access to some US servicemen and women in the build up to war. Presumably to show that moral is high amongst "the allies". One young reservist responded to the inevitable question about if the thought of going into battle worried him with the following words.

" Well Sir, obviously there are always concerns but I am hoping that it will turn out to be a positive experience."

Postive experience? It's a war not an MBA course.

It all adds to the strange atmosphere of unreality.

Posted 3:57 PM by Paul
Clare Short threatened to resign from the Government today if Blair went ahead with bombing Iraq without UN authority or any plan to re-construct the country after they had blown it to bits [ last bit is my words]. Good on her. She sounded like the whole thing was tearing her apart. She would be better off out of it.

It's a relief that there are some good people left in politics. I get so used to second guessing the intentions of anyone in power that it is uplifting to hear someone telling it from the heart. The Government will have a go at her tomorrow in some kind of obscene whispering campaign to the press. Emotional, pressure of work, not up to the job etc. but I still think that most people would like to have politicians who are demonstrably human. Blair's moral absoutism is a bit scary.

There's something happening out there. The loyal animals are starting to rebel down on the farm.

Posted 6:30 AM by Paul
Are We the New Canadians?

It is dificult to get off the subject isn't it . The forthcoming - nuthin' gonna stop it war on Iraq. Newspapers are basically saying that it would be "inconcievable" and "humiliating" for the UK to pull back now. If I were a reservist who had hitherto thought that the most dangerous thing I was going to do was run around Salisbury Plain, I would find it pleasingly conceivable. At a pinch I could also live with the Prime Minister losing face amongst his friends at dinner parties. Apparently UK troops have been lined up for the all important task of taking Basra. Ah Basra. That's the same Basra that 200,000 fanatical Shias failed to take in the Iran - Iraq war. Oh dear. Lets hope Tony and George have a cunning plan.

But where will our American allies be whilst this is going on? Taking Baghdad? Or still bombing from a safe distance of 50,000 feet. Only time will tell. Cynics might worry that US generals will let their infantry sit back a while and let men whose widows do not have a vote in the US Presidential Election (bit like a black Floridian with a parking ticket) do the dying. If they follow this course they will copying tried and tested British tactics.

Looking back at the history of the First and Second World War we thoughtfully saved some of the most difficult operations for the Aussies, the Indians and of course the Canadians. I hope Basra is not another Dieppe Raid.

Posted 4:19 PM by Paul
My Dad and the Empire State

My father died 35 years ago today aged 57 of pulmonary disease. This was brought about by a mixture of smoking, poor working conditions and hereditary factors. His own father - who he hardly knew - died at 29 of pneumonia. Like his father before him, Dad worked in a low-ceilinged factory making chisels by hand. Victorian conditions in 1960s Sheffield. I always dreamed that we would all go on holiday abroad when he was better and had enough money. I had a trip to Belgium planned in my head, but we never made it. He left us just before 4.00 a.m. on March 4th 1968.

So now every time I take the girls to Spain or Disneyland Paris I think of him. He would have been pleased that I had made the trip with my own children that he could not make with his. It reminds me of how precious time is.

This year we are going to Canada to see Heather's sister and we will be stopping over for a couple of days in New York. I will take the girls up the Empire State to admire the view of the Great City and think of the day I showed Dad my calculation showing how many inches tall the buidling was. He was pleased with me. For us the Empire State was the centre of the modern world. Strange to think that Dad knew nothing of the Twin Towers. They were built after he died.

Posted 3:49 PM by Paul
Turkey Votes for an Early Christmas? Possibly not

A great deal of surprise in the UK press today about Turkey's refusal - for now - to allow US troops on to the their soil. It came as a great shock. Much has been made of fears of instability and pressure from the Muslim Street affecting the stance of the Government in Ankara. But is there another reason?

France has a vote on whether or not Turkey joins the EU. The USA does not.

Posted 7:48 AM by Paul
Oops...but it's war anyway

Look. I may have got this totally wrong. After all I am just a 47 year old retired political activist and father of two whose only source of information is that filtered and spun to me via the BBC, the Internet, Sky News and the UK media. I am probably wrong but it seems to me that the US / UK strategy on Iraq was based on the following three suppositions.

1. Iraq would make no serious effort to disarm
2. The Turks would welcome US troops immediately in return for aid
3. The French and the Russians would hum and haw for a couple of weeks but would then fall into line

Then the way would be open for war with a rubber stamp from the UN with some of the allies meeting part of the cost as we were happy to do in the Gulf War.

So, it looks like Three Strikes and you're not out for George and Tony. Because it's war anyway, as an ex-USAF officer told me it would be 9 months ago. Her analysis was simple. You don't bring all of this equipment into theatre unless you are going to use it. She said no more. The entire Iraqi High Command could dance naked and sing the entire songbook of Hair and it would not make any difference. The missiles are flying. Hallelujah!

So if I believed in God I would join the millions who are praying that it will all be over quickly. But I don't. So I will have a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit instead.

Posted 2:00 PM by Paul
Have McDonalds Always Been This Bad?

Today the kids asked me if we could go to McDonalds after swimming. "No chance!" I replied. The kids were not impressed. They wanted to know why I was so against Ronald and his pal the Hamburglar.

"Because their food does not taste of anything" was my answer. Anyone expecting to read a diatribe about cruelty to animals, the destruction of the enviroment or worker exploitation will be disapointed. My opposition to them is entirely on culinary and not on ethical grounds. I just just don't like their food. The exception to this is the Sausage Egg McMuffin and the hash browns which I always think has an appealing back taste of cod. After 10.30 a.m. you will not catch me hanging out with Ronald and the guys.

But was it always like this? It could just be the onset of middle age, but I seem to remember that when I first sampled a Big Mac in 1976 it tasted like a hamburger. You looked forward to going to McDonalds because it seemed like a piece of Americana transported as if my magic to suburban London. Eating at McDonalds was a treat and, strange as this might seem to an American, quite exotic. It awakened dreams of an optimistic America - land of large portions and friendly staff. To the English eating public it all seemed a refreshing change. The uniformed staff said hello and children were not only tolerated but actively welcomed. This was in stark contrast to English restaurants of the time where children we treated like an affliction rather than with affection. You would get a better reception from the staff if you arrived with an incontinent hunting dog than with a sleeping two year old child in a buggy.

There were of course the classic English transport cafes, often known with good reason as "The Greasy Spoon". A good place on a Saturday morning to get over a Friday night hangover with a plate of bacon, eggs, sausage, tomatoes and fried bread, but not a place for the family. Unless of course you had a gas mask. There were two sections to these cafes. One where smoking was allowed and the other where it was compulsory. McDonalds was a breath of fresh air.

Of course as an English Lefty I went through the obligatory phase of railing against the Golden Arches as "an example of American cultural imperialism ....yah de yah de yah" But the woman who later became my wife destroyed my argument by the simple application of intelligence. She reminded me that pre-McDonalds all we had in the UK were Wimpy Bars, an ersatz chain of dreary diners where waitresses served up lukewarm meals including one called the "Bender Grill" which always made us snigger. Americans not familiar with UK slang should note that "Bender" is a derogatory term for homosexual this side of the Atlantic. My wife also wisely pointed out that one reason that McDonalds did so well was that English customer care was so very bad. Complain in McDonalds and you would get a fresh burger and a balloon. Complain in an English resutauant and you would be threatened with arrest. I even tried the argument familar to all American Liberal Boulevardiers "McDonalds on the Champs D'Elysess. That is too much !!!!". My wife replied that this was welcome addition to the street scene, as it meant that the price of a cup of coffee had now fallen by 400% in Paris, unless of course I had turned into a right-wing snob over night and wanted to save Paris for the super-rich. A few years later we took my mother to the City of Light for her 70th birthday. Where did we take her to use the bathroom and grab a warming cup of coffee and a donut after seeing the Arc De Triomphe ? McDonalds of course. I was wrong. Heather was right.

Some years later I became a Labour councillor in West London and did some research on low wages. I confidently expected McDonalds to come out bottom of the league on the local high street. It came out half way. They paid above the level of what later became the minimum wage. A chain of pseudo French restaurants owned by the an English management team actually paid their waiters £12 plus a meal for an 8 and a half hour shift - less than half McDonalds wage levels. I was told they could earn more because of tips, but on a wet Tuesday in February there would be no tips because there were no customers. So McDonalds stayed firmly off my list of US bad guys.

But now they seem to be in trouble. They have posted their first loss in the UK and restaurants are closing around the world partly due to an anti-American back lash, and partly because other companies are offering us tastier fast food. So what should they do now? They have tried the go-local route with special McDishes designed to fit in with local culture and custom. But that does not really cut any ice, because their brand is de-valued due to association with all the negative aspects of America. They cannot shake that off by offering up a Halal Lamb McSomosa. Nope, it's time to return unapologetically to their roots. Re-style the entire global enterprise as an authentic 1950s American diner selling real meat and fresh produce. Throw away the powdered egg substitute and use stuff that has recently come out of a chickens rear end.

But how to avoid the negative connotations of America - now that George W is massing his armies in the Gulf? Easy. Use images of all the great progressive creative Americans in company marketing materials and products. I can see it now:

The FDR New Deal Steak Sandwich
The JFK Boston Breakfast Burger
The Warhol Banana Milk Shake
The Jackson Pollack Double Strength Filter Coffee - for getting over the hangover
The Woody Guthry Cheese Omlette.
The Dr. Martin Luther King Chicken Dinner
The Joe Hill "Don't Get Mad Get Organised" Family Dinner. 2 kids and 2 adults eat for $30.
The Ramones Punk Rock Fast Burger - Served to you hot inside 1-2-3-4 minutes or your money back
The J.K Galbraith Economy Lunch
The Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze Ice Cream Experience

Oh and get a liquor license.

Eat well.