Failure of the media and ignorance or intelligence of fanatics...

As anyone who's watched the news these last weeks will know there's been a bit of storm regarding a speech that the Pope recently read at the University of Regensburg. Is curious to note that when I first heard reports of this speech I turned to two well know news sites, the BBC and Reuters. Both were quick to report the general condemnation of this speech from various Islamic leaders. I was very disappointed to see the BBC making much of the following quote:

"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The problem being a simple one, as it stands this is completely out of context and it is obvious to anyone who reads the full text of his speech that he does not state this as his view nor does he try to encourage others to do so. The full speech can be viewed here:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg_en.html

All this just goes to show how the media are manipulating stories to fuel fires that do not exist and goes to show how little faith we can have in our news agencies.

As always in these situations there was little suprise at the reaction of the more fanatical elements of Islam. There would never be any need to understand the full speech, after all a quotation had been used that they could use to their advantage. What is more shameful is the reaction from non-fanatical quarters of Islam. I can understand how British Muslims would be upset by all this as our media failed us all. It is more suprising to hear the various other leaders of Muslims states jump on the bandwaggon and show a complete lack of understanding of the speeach.

Of the three sections it seems ironic to see that the only ones that have indicated some level of intelligence in all this is the more extremist sections of Islam. They have been offered a route of attack and have made use of it. The media must be given full responsibility for this situation as they reported poorly on the subject. Given the current climate that we are all faced with it would be good for the media to engage some intelligence with the reporting that they do.....

Anonymity of cyberspace...

This isn't anything to do with data protection, rather more to do with not knowing who the heck you're writting to sometimes....

I've gotten quite used to posting on a forum with other like minded people. However, one thing that escapes me is knowing the sex of the people on the other end. It's only a problem because I tend to get quite vulgar when the subject goes down certain avenues and, generally, men are less easily offended. Well as you might have guessed I've been doing some serious apologising, as a friend once said, always remember this, "Engage brain, then speak (or in this case type)".

Please confirm your security details....

If the call I just took was legitimate then I've got to question the stupidity of the average high street bank.

Basically it goes like this:

Hello can I speak to Blah Blah
Speaking.
Can I confirm your security details then I can tell you what it's regarding.
You'll have to tell me what it is or I'm not telling you my details.
I appreciate that sir but under the data protection act I can not do this.
Well then send me a message to my account.

I checked ten minutes later, still no message.... This is not the first time I've had someone alledgedly from my bank call me and start by asking me to confirm who I am. Something smells a little fishy don't you think? I'm called on the contact number that I provide to them and the first thing they want to know is, who are you?

Erm, hello, how about YOU prove to me that you're who you say you are.....

So either someone has just been trying it on with me or there are some incredibly silly people in charge at one of our largest high street banks. I've worked in large well known organisations, I suspect the latter.....

Several hours later and still no message has been sent to my account. I suspect that (given the 0800 number being used when calling me) it may have been a legititmate call from my bank, but I also suspect that they're trying to get me to sign up for something.....

Ain't no schools on the M25...

Ah, the end of the summer holidays are upon us once more. Depending on your lifestyle this can mean a number of things. To families with kids it might mean less stress, drop the kid(s) at school and don't worry about them till it's time to pick them up at the end of the day. To a small, but significant group of people it means something esle. It means' that the rush hour hell begins once more....

I consider myself lucky, I'm in a position to drive to work, in doing this I save money on a weekly basis when compared to the costs of public transport (yes, yes, I'm well aware that there are several other costs in running a car but this ins't to debate them). One of the critical things that I save when driving to work is time. Now that you can't put a price on. Despite living within a couple of minutes walk of a tube station it takes on average 1hr 15mins to get to work by public trasnport. To get home takes nearer 2hrs (yes Transport for London explain THAT!). To drive in takes 45mins and to drive home nearer 1hr. That however is during the school term. I've just had the joy of summer commuting, the joy being that each leg of my journey becomes 15mins quicker when the kids are at school. The part that leaves me confused in all this is that most of my journey involves driving on dual carriageways. There are no schools to be seen. In fact the only schools I drive to I drive past when they're closed, hours before they open and hours after they close. So where the heck are all the other car drivers going????

Admittedly I've spent some thought on this, more because it's starting to bug me than because I want to try and solve this. The difference is so significant that I actually leave for work anything up to 45 minutes earlier when kids are going to school. I could understand it if the North Circular were lined with schools, however the summer holiday is the most significant period when this happens. Half terms, Easter and Christmas holidays are all happy days for your humble commuter.

So let's try and put some perspective on this. There must be (very roughly) twice as many vehicles on the road during term time. On the roads that I travel upon most, if not all, of the users take the form of commuters, van drivers (God bless 'em all) and truck drivers. None of whom could possibly be on the way to drop kids off (see the comment about there not being any on my way) and none of them could possibly be on the way to drop kids off. It's too darn early, and THERE AREN'T ANY SCHOOLS ON MY COMMUTE.....

89.9p what a bargain....

Well as any Brit can tell you these days the cost of petrol is quite high. It's not that suprising really and as the masses of cars, bikes, vans, trucks etc. will prove, it remains affordable.

It was curious to recall the petrol blockade of 2000 with a friend this week-end. Prices back then hit a high of around 85p a litre (source http://www.whatprice.co.uk/car/retailer-petrol-prices.php). How we have become conditioned to the recent high prices that paying 89.9p/l is now a bargain price! Don't worry this isn't a rant against high taxes and those greedy b'stards in power etc. They DO have a lot to answer for, but , as my recent investigations into car buying have confirmed, cars are luxury items and there are a lot of people out there driving something they can't afford.

So, how come a price of 89.9p/l is such a bargain? Well when the price has come down from (for me) 95.9p/l you start to get my point. Of course I know that this is only a temporary blip, current international affairs and ultimately the available reserves on the planet mean that the price can only increase.