Prisoner abuse in Basra

BBC Coverage

This is very sad. Everyone was upset by the atrocities at Abu Ghraib but we somehow all hoped and believed that British soldiers would not do this kind of thing. Now we know that they did. General Mike Jackson has pointed out that 65,000 men and women have served in Iraq since the start of the war and that only 3 are believed to have committed this kind of act. This may be true, but I find myself wondering: if some people have behaved like this, could there be more?

Auschwitz is in the news at the moment because of the anniversary of the discovery of its horrors. I have always felt that the British people could never have allowed, or condoned, the kind of horror that took place there. Now I find that people acting in my name and funded by my taxes have behaved in a bestial manner. Maybe we're no different to any other country and that is a shame.

BBC SPORT | Cricket | Hero Hoggard crushes South Africa

BBC SPORT | Cricket | Hero Hoggard crushes South Africa

This is what we like to see!

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Titan probe yields fresh images

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Titan probe yields fresh images

I think this is one of the most incredible achievements in my lifetime. It's particularly gratifying that European science has played such a key part in it.

Tital is bigger than either Pluto or Mercury. It it was a planet, it would be the next biggest after Mars. Presumably, it is bigger than our Moon? Anybody know?

Huygens down!

The BBC is reporting that the European Space Agency probe Huygens is on the surface of Titan. This is one of the most exciting moments in space research in my life. I can't wait to hear some results and am desperately hoping we don't have a repeat of the Beagle disaster.

BBC coverage

And, from CNN:

Grinning scientists watching from the ESA operations center in Germany said the first obstacle -- a tricky atmospheric entry -- had been a great engineering feat. Time will tell if all of Huygens' precious data will reach their destination.
"So far so good," said David Southwood, director of science for ESA. "The signal has been solid for a long time."

"WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS TRUE EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT PROVE IT?"

Edge: "'WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS TRUE EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT PROVE IT?'"

This fascinating question has been posed by the Edge Foundation, a philosophical meeting place on line. I had not heard of it before this morning, but the BBC picked it up and ran an interesting item on both the question and the various responses to it.

Jerry Springer - The Opera

I watched the first half hour of the TV broadcast last night but got too bored to continue. So I never saw the part about Jesus being gay. However, if 45,000 people called the BBC to complain that the show was blasphemous, what on earth is going to happen when the show transfers to Broadway? Britain is not, frankly, a very religious country, but the Americans take their christianity seriously.

Ironically, the only reason I watched even 30 minutes of this third-rate stuff is that I wanted to see what the protesters were protesting about. Otherwise, I would never have known it was on.

BBC NEWS | UK | UK public pledges soar to £100m

BBC NEWS UK UK public pledges soar to £100m

...and Australia has pledged a billion A$. The world-wide response to this is just incredible.

Two daughters in France

Both our daughters are in France on Skiing trips at the same time. Ellen is here and Emily is here.

New Year's Eve

Swynford Paddocks

Last night we danced the night away at the Swynford Paddocks hotel in the gloriously named village of Six Mile Bottom.

Music was provided by the Masqueraders and the hotel did a splendid job of catering for us all. We are considering getting a party together for next year and taking over a whole table.

Interestingly, the hotel was once the home of Augusta Byron, the poet's sister with whom he is alleged to have had an incestuous affair.