Japanese attempt to sabotage ban on whaling

Japan are planning to kill nearly 1000 whales this year. They are hosting a meeting in February and inviting various governments to make it appear that there is world-wide support for a lift on the whaling ban.

Denmark hold a swing vote on the issue. Under pressure they are likely to not attend the meeting in Tokyo. Write asking their officials not to attend here

Jobs

I need another new job... one day I will find one I can actually tolerate!

More on Iraq

OK, so some bright infiltrator has put camera-phone footage of the execution on the internet and it has created quite a stir. Also, Prime Minister Maliki has said he wants to step down. AND, the Baath party have posted Saddam's former deputy to lead the party.

What did I say? Eh? Civil war draws ever closer and we're caught in the middle. Well, I don't want to say it, it isn't entirely accurate, but there is a case for suggesting that it is actually our fault. Say what you like about Saddam's regime, the country was a heck of a lot more stable then. I suppose with all the infighting they're less likely to be amassing an arsenal with which to attack us... but come on, we all know how unlikely that was. Many of us were saying so before Tony took our troops marching in illegally.

On a slightly lighter note, I started my new job yesterday, training is easy. Blah.

"End of a dark chapter"

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki has said that the execution of Saddam Hussein "ends a dark chapter" in Iraq's history. Such a mind-numbingly, ignorant and down right false statement at such a time strikes me as further evidence of a puppet regime that has been erected by the US in Iraq.

People are still dying every day in Iraq as the country plummets ever more rapidly towards civil war. Shia and Sunni rivalry continues to build, areas of Baghdad, Basra and other major cities are growing into forts controlled by militarized civilians. Police forces go rogue, occupying forces are faced with daily attacks against them. It's a mess.

What did "we" really get with the execution of the former-dictator? What does it really mean? I'm inclined to think that a martyr for the Sunni minority has been created. The BBC quotes a "Security Advisor" saying that Saddam looked remorseless as he was led out to be executed. Is that really a surprise? Should we expect to see remorse from a man who all along undoubtedly believed he was doing the right thing?

One thing is for certain, this is in no way the end of trouble.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Woot woot! Title announced today! Release date please Jo?

Aaaaand.... rest.

So I have go quite a bit to say actually. I have just got back from a 10 day stint up in Yorkshire visiting my family pre-Christmas, as this year it's Andy's family's turn for Xmas proper.

Andy and I went up together on Friday 8th, the drive was alright. Saturday was particularly exciting as we met up with a dear old friend of mine who moved to the States six years ago who I haven't seen since but stayed in touch with via email. It was amazing to catch up and meet her baby girl!

Then on Sunday we had our annual Christmas walk at Howstein Gorge. We've been going there for like forty years or something, it's a multi-generational family get-together started by my grandparents at which we all gather to walk up a very steep hill and down again for a Christmas meal. When it first started they used to do a twenty mile trek across the moors, when I started going we did a couple of miles up the hill across fields and over stiles and all that, now it has degenerated into a half mile walk up the road! But the spirit remains and it's something I've always looked forward to all my life.

Except that over the last few years it has become something I do out of obligation I suppose, I don't really enjoy it as I am much more aware now of the stupid family politics and there is one particular family member who I have disliked for a good few years who I am happy to avoid. It irks that Andy gets on better with this side of my family than I do too.

Andy drove home on Monday and I stayed to catch up with friends, do some shopping and spend some time with my parents, who I don't see often these days. It was all good, especially spending the day shopping in Leeds with my girl Sarah! I got an all too short visit with my other best mate, Simon, hopefully we'll get a longer visit soon.

Then on Thursday I checked stuff online (email and the like) and found I had got my OU result for this year.... I'm pretty pleased, make that ecstatic! I was just waiting for the result of my 5000 word assignment, worth 50% of the total mark, with 82% for my coursework in the bag. Well I got 77% on the 5000 word-er! So I passed with flying colours! Yay me :D

Then the last weekend was dedicated to a trip up to Scotland to visit my eight year old niece, Maisie. I hadn't seen her since May and before that it had been a year and a half. She's such an amazing little girl, she blows my mind with how generous, intelligent and caring she is. And I discovered - much to Andy's joy - that I'm a pretty good cricket player when playing my mum, brother and Maisie! Seriously, I got a bigger reaction to this news than my OU result!

Monday I came home on the train. By a freak of good timing I was travelling first class for dirt cheap, which was nice. Free orange juice and biscuits, more room etc. But no luggage space so my extra room was taken up by my bags of Xmas presents!

It's good to be home and chilling out for a bit before heading over to Essex on Sunday for Xmas with the in-laws :-/

All my OU course materials for next year have arrived, some of which arrived before I went away and I got a start on that course already. Reading through some of the notes for the assessment of my European Politics course has got me pretty nervous. It certainly looks demanding with a 5000 word assignment in August followed by a project in September. That's alongside the 4000 word assignment and exam for the other course! I am going to be a busy bee.

I also have a full time job lined up from Jan 2nd so I am refusing to start OU work until after Xmas now, getting a serious pit stop in before I have to crack on. Besides, I need my set books before I can go any further and I'm expecting to unwrap them on Xmas day ;-p

The 5000 word essay for European Politics requires lots of independent study, outside the course materials that they send you, so I plan to be hitting the library after work every day for most of June-August.

I made a pact with Sarah about next year. We shook on it, so I have to go through with it now... 2007 will be the year I change my life. I don't make New Year's Resolutions, I never stick to them. This is different, this is an inner revolution.

First and foremost I am going to keep up the hard work with the OU. Two firsts in a row, on a roll.

Second, and very importantly, I am going to keep my job. Seriously, I have walked out of so many awful jobs before, I know this one is going to be awful in advance, but it is decent money, decent hours and easy. So I am going to stick at it while I concentrate on getting good marks so that we don't have to worry about money, I do not need that distraction.

Thirdly, I am going to sort our house out! We have so much crap around this place, I am going to flog and bin our junk, sort out a decent filing system for paperwork (bills etc.), get some more storage so we can finish unpacking - oh yes, for those who haven't seen our office, we still have crates and boxes that haven't been touched after living here for well over four years! We have actually acquired more stuff to unpack as we have gradually brought old crap from our parents' houses over the years despite having nowhere to put any of it. I am going to finish decorating the house, make sure we get the kitchen we ordered and sort the living room out with a new suite and hopefully a shiny LCD HD-readyTV if all goes well financially - which it will, see number 2.

Fourthly, I am going to shift the weight I have been lugging around for years. I did actually manage to lose it once, last year as some of you will remember, I looked fantastic for a couple of months in the summer of 2005 after losing a stone and a half between January and June. Then in September I started working at RSA (eeeeeeeeeevil) and put two thirds of it back on in the space of two months. Argh! Well, it's going again, and a little more as I didn't quite meet my target last time. My new job has a subsidised gym, so no excuses!

Finally, Andy and I are going to start dancing lessons. Somehow I will fit this in! We've both been quite inspired by Strictly Come Dancing (hey, at least I don't watch X Factor!) and I can see it being great for us to do something like this together. We get to learn a new skill, spend time together and get exercise all in one go :-)

Now then, I know it seems like I'm taking a lot on. But the thing about me is that I do tend to do better under pressure and as a teenager I was exceptionally busy, I had something on every weeknight and Saturdays, Sundays too during panto season! If I set myself these goals and make a commitment to myself (not to mention the all important hand shake) I will achieve everything I set out to do. As long as I timetable things properly it will all be doable.

So, if you don't see much of me next year, you know in advance why!

ID Cards - The Latest

OK, so now the government has admitted that the new database to store all this personal data was an expensive and insecure idea. Now they want to spread the data over three existing systems, making it even less secure and still a painfully disturbing scheme in terms of civil liberties. They want to "check everyone in and check everyone out" of the country and are still claiming that this will somehow prevent terrorism, although refraining from saying how. John Reid even admitted that ID cards will not prevent people having fake identities.

Argh!

Read the full story here and sign the No2ID petition here.