Farewell and Abuses of Power

First off, after Jordi handed in his Diplomarbeit on Tuesday, this morning saw (speaking theoretically - nobody was up at this time anyway) him leave off for Valencia (or was it Austria...?) in his fully-laden car. Around about now he should be crossing the border into Spain. We wish him all the best in his future occupation (anyone interested in golf course apartments?).

Yesterday saw Olga get a year older. Not that you would notice it (phew, that addition saved my bacon). Celebrations were held at Quartier Mayence (although the promised dancing on tables didn't happen...). So in case you forgot, you could still get away with wishing her a belated happy birthday today.

Talking about birthdays, both Nick from home, and Julio from Malaga had their's last week, so here's wishing them all the best.

Now onto the news.
After the revelation that a train driver of Japan's Bullet Train fell asleep whilst travelling at 300 km an hour, a pilot of said country decided that he could beat that, and did so twice whilst piloting a 767 Jumbo. Makes you just feel really safe whilst up in the sky, doesn't it.

Talking about planes, on my way back from Stansted on Wednesday I had an interesting flight. Firstly, due to the fog at the aiport, we were delayed on the runway 40 minutes, constantly starting and stopping the engines. Then when we finally got into the air we had so many bumps that the seatbelt sign only went off for 5 minutes in total. Apart from that, lightning hitting the wing outside my window just made me feel all relaxed when we landed. No really.

Anyone thinking that Berlusconi already has too much power in his country must be really sweating now that a new media law allowing him to control more of the media himself has just been passed. Will this (did someone say dictatorship?) ever end?

Shocking news, as photos have been released of US soldiers abusing their prisoners in Iraq, stripping them naked and wiring their genitals up to an electricity supply. If this is what they are trying to show the inhabitants of the country they have to look forward to with the new regime, no wonder they are having problems controlling the place.
A couple of things are to note here. Firstly, that the soldiers have apparently been asking their superiors for rules and regulations regarding PoWs, but have so far been denied them. So we're getting men who are trained to kill to look after the needs of prisoners - first mistake. Secondly, that even if they didn't have rules of the Geneva Convention to hand, surely they must have realised that torturing the prisoners and videoing it as well wouldn't be anywhere on that list. I'm only guessing, but wouldn't a bit of good old Common Sense be required here. Please, just a bit. Maybe we should start writing a list of things that are generally considered bad to do to people in your trust, and send it to the troops. Even better, considering they are representing a good upstanding god-fearing nation, maybe the Ten Commandments would be appropriate.

Now we all know that in England talking about one's feelings is not the done thing. We seem to get embarrassed, go red in the face, and try to change the subject. However, a new law coming into force this week stops children from being able to kiss. Gone are those days of snogging behind the bike sheds, fumblings at the school disco, and spin-the-bottle then.

As of midnight tonight, the European Union becomes 10 countries larger. Well, to be precise, nine-and-a-half. As Cyprus is half Greek, half Turkish, only the former half becomes a part of the EU. That will give customs controllers a headache then, stopping free trade between two parts of the same country.

Well, that's about it for now, time to relax again.

Stay Cool