Banking Collapse and the theft of peoples Pensions

One of the rules of thumb that I have always used when it comes to financial products is simply; if I can not understand how the growth is achieved or how the product works I personally will not touch it. As simply as an observer, I have never had the money to seriously invest, over the years every time there has been a scandal, a failure or a fraud it has been with devilishly complex vehicles that very few, if any understood. Often in fact it was the lack of understanding, of how the product worked or the risk, that brought an end to these schemes.

When the banking crisis hit, there was one major question in the back of my mind, about where all this money went. I can understand the loss in value of real assets like property, particularly commercial property as that fell in value by forty and fifty percent. Therefore the loans against these were greater than the asset value. Therefore the banks needed to make provision for some of those loans not being repaid.

That was all straight forward but add to this the “Fake” assets of security bonds. Even these as explained via the media had some sense to them. However as these were vehicles for getting loans off the books there was something suspicious about them in my mind. Put simply what was a loan and a liability by financial wizardry designed by Harry Potter, this became an Asset.

Now when I studied accounting and business at university, that was false accounting. Am I glad that I did not go into accounting as it is just far to racy and exciting if they can do that. But do it they did and on a grand scale. As the other fact that emerged when the media were full of stories about the Inter-Bank lending rates, was that transactions for the year prior to the collapse were six times the entire global economy. At the time this was being explained away by some cleaver mathematics, but while the explanations may have fooled most people, to me even with the clever maths, as the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of all the countries in the world added together is a measure of the money and capital flowing across the planet. Therefore it should be impossible for transactions to exceed twice the global GDP. This can be explained as each transaction gets counted twice, once at the sending bank, and once at the receiving bank.

This posed a serious question about what the banks were doing. The Bank Bonds of slices of other peoples debt were devised purely to get Liabilities off of the Banks Books and fool the regulator. Once one bank does this then all follow. They have to follow as the Banks are in a club and they all follow the same rules. Not our rules, theirs!

This allowed the banks to lend out more and more money. But where was that money being generated? One of the major sources was the pension funds and insurance monies. This is where the hidden scandal of the banking collapse lays as over the next twenty years when people come to retire and claim their pension, they will discover that the pension pot is empty.

When AIG were bailed out by the US taxpayers, it was simply that to grow the business AIG had failed to keep in reserve enough cash to match its insured liabilities. What they had done was to buy the junk bank bonds. This had added money to the dividends but done nothing for the long term viability of the business. This is exactly the same situation the pension funds are now in. The cash that should be there to pay out the pensions has been replaced by Junk Bank Bonds.

Putting aside for a moment the junk bank bonds, there was serious failings by the regulators in not controlling the market. When house prices were spiralling out of control and beyond any logic, had the regulators stopped the banks lending 125% mortgages and making loans of up to eight and even ten times peoples earning it would have stopped the house prices going out of control and lessened the effects of the banking crash.

But to even have suggested long before the banking crash, that house prices were out of control was to create derision and abuse. I was told that I was just jealous and that I did not understand the housing market. But it was because I did understand that I was looking the gift horse that was laying the golden egg in the mouth, and could see the inevitable collapse of the property markets.

The crash was inevitable, not just in the housing market but in this structured credit, as simply the banks with these Junk Bonds they had devised was the equivalent of a massive pyramid scam. In the US you call it a ponzi scheme. By taking these liabilities of the books and turning them into assets was no different to what Enron did.

The ponzi scheme aspect is where this appeared to have created transactions that were six times the global GDP. The bonus culture is where some of that missing money went, but most of it just never existed in the first place as was only by cooking the books that the banks made it look as though they had the money in the first place.

While I don't think that the banks set out to defraud, that is exactly what they did. This happened simply because they thought they were more clever than us mere mortals. Governments failed to stop any of it as while it looked like it was working and they were getting their taxes, they did not even look to carefully at what the banks were doing. Even the Bankers themselves did not understand what they were doing as the products and trades were so complex that no one, and I mean NO ONE, ever understood what was happening. But like all Pyramid scams eventually the flow of money in to pay out ends.

This scam relied on asset bubbles and as long as new ones can be created, The Dot com Bubble, The Housing bubble, Securitised Finance, Commodities and food, Oil, it can continue almost unnoticed. The effect though has and will leave at least eighty percent of the people of the planet poorer and without a pension.

Even now, the people who are retiring soon, are looking at their pension pot and have seen it fall over the last year. The assumption is that this is about the fall in share values. But as pension funds are required by law to maintain a mix of assets, the biggest hole is the result of the Banks Junk Bonds that these funds were persuaded to buy as being as good as gilts (Government Bonds). Effectively this is stolen money as because these Securitised Assets were an elaborate Ponzi Scheme, then the banks, that's all the Banks, are guilty of fraud.

It has taken me well over a year to work this all out, and it is complex. But once all the convoluted pieces of this jigsaw are fitted together, the Securitised Assets scheme comes out as a fraud. It hid liabilities off the books, it created money out of nowhere just by creative accounting, and no one, the regulators, governments, central banks ever thought to question how the banks were getting returns of forty percent on assets when interest rates were so low?

When the Banking Crisis first started, I reluctantly thought that saving the economy by saving the banks was the correct thing to do. That was based upon what we were being told then. However as more of the fact have slowly leaked out, then quite simply it has been completely the wrong thing to do.

The big question that puzzled me was what triggered the banks to stop lending to each other? Various explanations have been hypothesised in the media, the real reason was that the banks knew full well that the Securitised Assets scheme was going to fail and that because of their false accounting they knew they were in the upper reaches of a very polluted stream without any means propulsion. (Translation Up Shit Creek without a Paddle).

End of The Season

For the last couple of years I have been a volunteer watching the nest site of a rare raptor. Last year I got a slap on the wrist for talking about it here, that was from other volunteers, but I do have permission now. In fact I had it last year but some folks think that these things have to be kept more secret than MPs Expanses. Thus these other volunteers told me off.

Well this season has been another successful season with chicks hatched reared and fledged. Yesterday was a debriefing with the big boss. There had been no problems with the birds apart from a few dog walkers that had to be either discouraged from walking in the vulnerable areas or that needed to be advised to keep their dog on a lead. Though there had been volunteer problems. On two occasions I had been left with no relief. As I have to rely on public transport, that meant that to get home I had to then walk a fair distance to catch a train to then get the bus home.

It seems that for a couple of the volunteers me not driving or having a car caused them a problem, well in there mind it did. Apart from one occasion when the bus was late, I never missed the slots I was allocated. So I don't see what the problem is or should be, the Big Boss agreed. Anyway peace was declared, helped by me taking along the cup cakes I baked the other day. I personally feel privileged about being able to be involved in this type of project and I get to see birds that I would not normally be able to get close to. And I may well be able to do it again next year, if the birds nest again.

However, while talking to the big boss, I was made an offer, would I write an article for a magazine regarding this type of volunteering with the aim of recruiting more volunteers. The Big Boss had read this nonsense here. So I will be trying to do just that. Also there is the possibility, but just the possibility, that I could be asked to write more articles too. Well I will not be making a fortune but it will be better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.

I was trying to draft this out, this afternoon when I spotted a sparrow that was clearly newly fledged. It was landing on the feeder but was still begging food from the male. As this was sustained I grabbed the Video camera. But the birds had moved off the feeder. So I set the camera on the tripod behind me, ready should the birds return. They did but as I leaned back my pony tail got caught in the clips on the tripod. Well it saved me getting my hair cut! Once I had untangled myself, I had missed filming the behaviour. I don't know that I will get another chance this season, but I am pleased that the sparrows have been able to raise so many broods this year. Especially as they have been added to the RSPB list as a species of concern, as numbers have fallen by seventy percent.

Just to show that I have not forgotten the Red Kites, today while returning from a shopping trip, I was sitting on the bus when through the wind shield, as the bus drove up the hill, I spotted a Red Kite that was all but hovering near the end of my street. Just two beats of its wings and it was gone. I did go looking for it as soon as I dropped the shopping off, but I could not see the bird again. I was tempted to go searching but as I had not unpacked the shopping, and there was Ice Cream in there, I know that if I went looking I would have a shopping bag saturated in melted Ice cream. So as dedicated as I can be, the food has to come first.

In some respects, I am glad that the nest watching is over for this season as it frees me to do other things. I have many hours of video that I need to edit for one thing, and I have many other bits of wildlife watching that I want to catch up on. I may even be able to catch up on some sleep too.

Food Security

A parliamentary select committee has been looking at food security and has come up with some surprising nay baffling conclusion. Primarily they have concluded that Britain should not and does not need to endeavour to grow the majority of its own food. The basis for this is that if Britain had a major crop failure we can just buy the commodity from another country either in Europe or from other parts of the world.

Now while this approach in general does work and has served the country well in the past, as part of this examination of food security was prompted by global shortages less than two years ago, the conclusion that we stay with the status quo is perplexing. So far three of the years this century, the effects of climate change has impacted yields on grain crops. Once via a heatwave and drought and twice by excessive rain fall and flooding. These were not just localised events that impacted one country, but the whole continent. In Europe the drought that reduced the wheat yield by forty percent was across the whole of Europe. Equally the in the US and Canada yields were down too.

Therefore this approach that we can just buy what we need presupposes that there will be stocks and yield available.

As happened eighteen months ago, nations will hold onto their stocks of grains and other foods to ensure their people are fed. History tells us that a hungry and desperate population can overthrow the leadership of a nation. And governments know this and will endeavour to retain scarce food resources in the country. Did our MPs not see the news reports about food riots across the globe?

I realise that no one can know for sure what or when the effects of a changing climate will be. Not to the extent that anyone can say that we have to do this or that, to alleviate the effects. But the effects that weather is having here in Britain and across Europe shows that we need to start shaping agriculture so that we are better able to cope should there be more crop failures or poor yields. So far we have not had sequential years where the weather has created poor yields year on year. But three poor years out of eight should have had the select committee sitting up and taking notice.

When the Potato famine occurred in Ireland, there was not a shortage of food. The poor in Ireland were reliant upon subsistence farming, they grew potatoes as it produced a good crop on a small piece of land. When blight destroyed the crop it was lack of money that caused people to starve to death. Simply they could not afford to buy the corn to make bread.

What the MPs are failing to understand is that lesson from history. There is the assumption that because we can now buy what we want now, we always will be able to. Add into the equalisation the power of the supermarkets. Since the start of the recession the major supermarkets have been deluding the public that they are engaged in a price war and are cutting prices to the public. Well they are not cutting their profits, nor is the food free. They would not give away the tons of food they throw away each and every day to the poor and hungry here.

This whole report has been influenced by what big business wants and not the wider needs of society. There will always be trade across borders, and in good times when you have a surplice that can benefit everyone. But the need for all nations to feed their population first has to be the centre of agricultural and food policies. If we leave it to the market, as we have done, then we have the situation where fifty percent of the food grown is thrown away, as happens now. And the poor gets offered, marketed and fed, the type of junk food that adds costs to the health system and has added to the obesity problem.

The effects of climate change are real and impacting the food system already. Not just weather effects, but health problems like Blue Tongue are directly related to the changing climate. The nation needs to grow more of its own food. This report by the select committee has totally failed to even understand the problems, so how can these MPs even think ahead to see the solutions.

A Mystery Solved

I have had a perplexing mystery that has concerned me. My yard has a brick wall around it and the gate is full hight and has a bolt on the inside. Therefore I was finding it concerning that occasionally I would find the gate open in the morning. While it is bolted, pressing against it can cause the bolt to slip.

As this could enable a burglar access, it crossed my mind that it could be a two legged rat (Human) who was doing this. It only ever happened when I was in bed, and while I am often up into the small hours after being out watching nocturnal wildlife, not avoiding sunlight and turning into a bat, I have been looking out to see if I could spot what or who was doing this.

Further while I put out cat food to attract mammals into the yard, they can access under the gap. As it is I seem to be feeding the local cats more than the wildlife. Well last night I had need to fetch my glasses, that I need for reading from my office, and I noticed the gate was being pressed. So ensuring I was out of view, I watched. I could not see who or what was doing this. I was more than ready to call the police if it was a Two Legged Rat, but I needed a description. Well here it is Red Coat, long Brush and pointed snout. The Cunning dog fox had learnt that by pressing on the gate in the right spot it could force the gate open.

As I had been concerned that it was a human that had been doing this I did not want to set up a camera as it would have gone. But had I done so, that would have been a great sequence. I may try to do that now, but as he only comes once in every couple of weeks, I may have to be patient.

With that mystery solved, I can start to think about putting up the moth trap that I put together. I did not want to use it if I was likely to have it stolen. I have designed a set up so that none of my neighbours are disturbed by the UV light and when I tested it it worked a treat. Also when I have been writing up my nature notes at night, I will frequently see moths that are attracted to the lights in my office. So you can expect me to bore you with some moth pictures soon. That's if it stops raining long enough to allow the moths to fly.

Going off a a tangent a bit, last week I went to a pond where the wildlife is not thriving. Earlier in year I had gone there to try and observe Frogs, Toads and Newts, but the spawn never really materialised in the profusion that had apparently been the case previously. The suspected problem was some form of pollution so I met with someone who lives near there and we took samples. I had obtained some chemical sampling containers so that I could capture insects for identification and to photograph and film last year, so I had these sterile ones that were perfect for this. Also, while previously the concerned locals had taken samples before, they went missing so this time each sample was divided between four. One for the Environment Agency, one for the National Rivers Authority, One for the water company and one as a reference sample that is to be held by a solicitor. Sometimes it is exasperating just what measures you have to go though to stop pollution and ensure that vested interests don't cover it up.

Following collecting the samples and washing my hands, I noticed that I had spots where my skin was flaking off. Not great big chunks but little patches. Something I would normally have ignored, but it looks as though something is in the environment. Then thinking about this, I realised that the material of my old Camouflage strides was rotting and that had started when I had last been there in February and March. It will be intriguing to see the results of the tests.

However, it was the fact that we had to also record the exact grid reference point of where each sample was taken that was most changing. Not for the first time I have thought about how using GPS would make this so much easier. Well on Saturday when I went into the city, I made enquires about the equipment I would need and the cost. I had a very clear set of needs, and was not willing to have a salesman point me at just what he wanted to sell. While I did not buy the equipment, I can see many advantages of using GPS for much of what I do.

It would make relocating a nest easier, or if I am following the tracks of a Deer, I could transfer the data to the computer to work out the likely spots where they are feeding and drinking. Further if I were wanting or needing to carry out a comprehensive survey of an area it would be an aid to this too.

While I am far from being technophobic, nor do I rush out to buy the latest gadget or gizmo's. I need to find a real need for it, but in this case I think I can justify the cost, about two hundred and fifty pounds (four hundred dollars). The only difficulty is I just don't have that sort of money at the moment, hey I don't have any money at the moment. But if I can persuade the local cats not to keep eating the food I put out for the wildlife, I could save up for one.

While on the topic of GPS, it did occur to me that had the Apollo missions had GPS then the firsts words would have been “You have reached your destination”

Sit back and Eat Cake

Today I was able to do some of the baking that I had planned for yesterday. When I last did this one, I had made some notes as I was trying to create a vegan version. My ex had been Vegan, so I was trying to make a variation that she could eat. However, I also vaguely remembered that even without trying to make it vegan, the recipe as written did not fully work, or that I had thought of ways of making it better. After I made the Raspberry Buns, I remembered what I was going to do. They were still great but I think I can make this one better.

As I keep a well stocked store cupboard, when I got the Raspberries, I knew that I had most of the rest of the ingredients in already. The only thing I lacked was some Baking Powder. On Friday I had already been to Consett as I had been there to get a bus to another location as I was helping with a problem pond. It had been on that journey back that I had got the raspberries. As I had been given a lift back I had not seen the rising river level. So going back over the bridge I saw the growing effect of four inches of rain. Coming back, in that hour and half, the river had risen a good foot.

Therefore I did not do the baking on Friday, but went to look at the situation down in the next village. Well as my previous posts record there was flooding and I ended up having no power on Saturday too. However, what I have not said previously was that right from the moment I first moved to the village, I made sure I built up food stocks so that I could cope with any weather difficulties. At the time I was ridiculed for doing this. But as I was waiting for the cakes to cool, one of the villagers came knocking, did I have such and such they could borrow. With her two kids in tow, she told me that because of the power loss yesterday she had not been able to go shopping.

With the fresh baking smells emerging, I had to ask if the sprogs wanted a cake each. Well after two each, their mother tells me that they don't eat fruit of any kind or in any form. I was left speechless, as I am taciturn person she did not notice. However, at least I got a confirmation that the recipe worked.

I am frequently perplexed by the attitudes of some of the folks in this village. I only need to go to any one of the other villages around and people are far more positive. While I realise that the power going off was inconvenient, and had it gone on I would have been less sanguine, but I am sure that it was restored as quickly as it safely could be. But the reactions I have heard would have you thinking it was off for days.

Well I am just happy to sit back and eat cake.

A Loss of Power

I had to change my plans for today as I awoke to find the power off. Now I know that I have a friend in America and god only needs to sneeze for her to loose supply for days, while here it normally is back on in hours. But there was a chance that today was going to be different as a loss of power due to flooding can last a day or two.

When I first moved here I made provision for this eventuality by getting a camping stove so I could cook and make hot drinks at least. I have had to use it too, and today I realised that I had no spare gas. I only had the canister that was in use, so as I had no idea how long the outage could last, I decided I should get some spares.

Therefore, instead of cooking today as I had planned, I headed into Newcastle instead. With no power, I could not have done the baking I was planning to do anyway. I had checked by phone with the distribution company that they could not give a time when the power would be restored before going though. Thus I decided to make a day of it.

The first thing I did was get a coffee and a good one it was too, and some lunch in the city. While that was a bit of an indulgence, I was in a relaxed mood. I went to a small independent outdoor suppliers and got the gas canisters that I needed as well as a new pair of camouflage trousers. One of the pairs that I have that are supposed to be indestructible are so worn that they are falling apart. At least with a new pair I can sit and sew patches and repairs on the old ones when there is nothing on television. As that's nearly every night that will probably be done by next week.

I indulged myself with looking in some of the bookshops, I could happily live in a library and I have to restrain myself as I could spend the cats food budget and mine on books. There were a couple that I made a mental note of and may return if I find that I have some spare cash.

Now I am not a great one for wandering around the shops, nor do I think that shopping should be the national sport, but wanted to get a feel for what the retail environment felt like now we are embedded in this recession. As I have said here before, here in Britain much of the economic vibrancy that was here was an illusion as it was only funded by people borrowing ever greater sums of money. While not as busy as it was when the credit cards were being flashed at anything with a price tag, economic life is actually still going on. Personally I think the main difference is that the shops that you could never understand how anyone would waste their money in them have gone. Many of these were hardly making money in the good times, and probably were only existing by the owners taking out ever increasing bank loans.

Equally there were and are shops where the products were of good quality but were extortionate priced. Many of these shops are still there, but devoid of customers. Even with many of the items half price they are just at the level of the department stores. The shops that are surviving and appear to doing quite well are the ones that were reasonable in the first place. Therefore I think that the contraction in Credit has only helped clear out much of the dross from the high street.

As I did not know how long I was going to be out, I took the camera and took a few shots of the buildings in Newcastle, between the heavy rain showers. It has some fine architecture. The parts that I dislike are the 60s bits where they attempted to ruin the city with concrete.

Eventually I headed back home and the power had been restored and I was able to get the washing up done. It had been more than fourteen hours without power, and while I had planned for this happening at times, I was not even in the door when I had folks complaining that the power had been out. Well I am sorry that they were effected, but I have greater sympathy for the hundreds of people who had to leave their homes as a result of the floods. Yes the loss of power was an inconvenience but it restored quickly. Some people just don't know how well off they are.

Flooding Risk at Blackhall Mill

It was bizarre as only last night I was worrying about the heavy rain that arrived in the small hours of the morning. Equally, it was only last Sunday that I was talking to a chap from the Environment agency about the flooding last September. So I find it ironic that I should be talking about there being an imminent risk of flooding at Blackhall Mill, again.

Back just in February or March, the Meteorological Office were predicting or forecasting a Barbecue Summer. I find it difficult to understand how scientists who are well versed in the weather can yet again fail to take the effects of a changing climate into account. While the weather conditions for the past century would have given rise to a great Summer, with a changing climate the increased magnitude of rain was predictable. It has been this way for at least ten years now, but the establishment still don't want to admit or fully acknowledge the reality of Global Warming.

I am beginning to think that the government are playing down the reality of climate change. If the authorities were to admit that we are seeing the effects now and that the weather patterns of heavy rain and associated flooding are now our normal weather, it will have a serious impact on the economy.

Before the banking collapse when there was a flooding event, the serious media, would talk about up to one third of the housing stock in Britain being at risk of flooding. Therefore if the government were to acknowledge that the weather pattern of the past ten to fifteen years is now normal it would not be long before people started to realise that they were living in an area where the impacts of climate change will exist for years to come. The government acknowledging this will also mean that the general public will start to realise that the forecasts of sea level rise look as though they have been played down. Add this realisation into the equation and at least a quarter of the housing stock becomes unsellable.

Before the Banking collapse, I was predicting a sudden economic slowdown. As simply as soon as sea levels start to rise, or the effects of a changing climate start to be felt via a major flooding event, then there would not be the cash available to meet all the insurance claims. While I could foresee the inevitable crash in the property market, and was predicting it, the banking collapse is just a small precursor to what the economic effects of the changing climate will bring. I say will as the longer we are misled by the government, the greater and deeper the economic brakes will be forced upon us.

At the moment people are being deluded by government policy that is implying that we can mitigate the effects, particularly of flooding and sea level rise. Repeatedly people are refurbishing and repairing after flood damage. There have been people featured on television that have been flooded twice or three times in recent years. Equally millions has been spent trying to protect buildings from flooding. I fully realise that people want to protect their homes, their businesses, but in less than five years we could be seeing a visible rise in sea levels. Even if this is less than a foot, add a foot to the peek flood levels and the hundreds of millions spent on flood defences are breached.

Therefore what may need to start happening is a managed retreat. That may mean having to abandon some homes. But as so many of the new homes have been built near rivers and in flood planes. Further, many older houses are being pulled down. This has happened in my village. Just when we need more social housing, these were council houses, and the government are saying they are going to build twenty thousand more homes to meet the need for social housing.

This lack of homes is part of why the government is happy to perpetuate the illusion that there is nothing that needs to be done and that we can just live through these flood events. The other reason appears to be that in spite of talking about tackling climate change, there is little real evidence that the government believes that global warming exists.

While there has been a lot of talk about renewable energy, and projects like wind turbines are being built, this is much more about North Sea Oil and gas running out and economics than dealing with carbon dioxide pollution. When Gas was first discovered in the North Sea, there was reserves that could have lasted for one hundred and fifty years. So what did we do, we burnt it to generate cheap electricity. In fifteen years we diminished that reserve to less than twenty years. Equally, the oil that was latter found is now past the peek of production. While the oil is not going to run out just yet, when it does that will mean that Britain will need to spend at least seven hundred billion pounds on imported oil, at today's prices.

The clearest sign that the British government is not taking Climate Change seriously is the building of new Coal fired power stations. Its okay they say as they will be retro fitted with carbon capture and storage. That's if the technology is ever invented.

The fact that governments lie to the people is not new, but misleading the public on a matter as serious as this will cause untold misery for a substantial part of the population. Climate change is happening, and while flooding occurred long before global warming, the pattern of an altered climate and weather patterns is now clear. Only by telling the public the truth can people start making changes and plans for this.

While my immediate thoughts are with the people at risk of flooding, there needs to be a wider debate about retreating from the parts of the land that are already effected by flooding and will be impacted by rising sea levels. Even the most conservative estimates are that sea levels will rise by three feet or more by 2100. This we will see the effects of in less than five years. Possibly two or three years, as the melting of the Sea Ice and land locked ice sheets has not stopped by the politicians ignoring them.

The trouble is just as it took the collapse of the banks to shock people into realising that we were over borrowing on the financial account, it will take a major climate change impact like a sudden rise in sea levels to realise we are over borrowed on the environmental account too.

The Derwent under the Bridge at Blackhall Mill

The turbulence of the river at the bridge piers

The floating debris is building up

The rate of flow is shown her by the wash around this tree that normally sits on the south bank

The Fire Brigade are on site monitoring the situation.

The Derwent has not yet reached the tops of the banks, but this is low tide.

The river in full spate

As it was just five days ago

Animal Rights and Green Philosophy

The image here shows a tree that was recently cut down. It sits in a field that I call the Goat Field, and last Autumn/Winter it shed a major branch. Fortunately this landed in the field and not the road. It had previously done just that a number of years ago. Therefore it had to have some work done to it. While I personally would have preferred to have seen it saved, the reality is that if the smallholder had tried to keep the tree alive and it ended up causing an injury or accident, there would have been someone demanding that something is done. Normally that means someone must be to blame. Therefore in conservation terms, an oak tree that is an important habitat is lost so that the land owner can avoid being sued at some latter date.

As my personal default position is that a tree should be saved unless there are overwhelming reasons to cut it down, I feel in this case the smallholder made the right choice. Respecting the environmental needs balanced with the needs of the community. He waited until nesting birds had fledged and left the other tree in place. Therefore was only dealing with the problem oak and not declaring war on trees.

The difficulty is that far to often people are not prepared to look at issues in less than a monochrome manner. Far to many people see an issue is either Right or Wrong depending upon their view point. With this tree I have heard comments from people who were for the tree being felled and those that wanted to save it. Probably in equal measure.

However it was a rather harsh criticism of a fellow Blogger who had taken her children to a Circus that has prompted this posting. As there was a lack of respect regarding her judgement.

While I do at times think of myself as a Green Philosopher, I know that sounds pretentious, I do feel that only by getting people to think more carefully about Environmental issues and man's (the species not the gender) place in that environment can we hope to find ways of solving some of the problems and resolving the conflicts. At the centre of all of my reasoning is respect. If respect were at the centre of all that we do, then most of the problems we have and face just would not exist.

As I have said here before, I was a vegetarian for twenty five years. Not because I felt that it was wrong to eat animals, but because Agriculture and the Food industry had developed practices that I strongly disapproved of. However often when I met other fellow vegetarians I was made to feel less worthy as my personal decision was not based on the higher moral ground of their decision, that they felt it was simply wrong to eat animals. It is also interesting to note that many of these people stopped being vegetarian, long before I did, when they met a partner that was an eater of meat. However, while I know that is a cheap shot, hay I am a miser that makes Scrooge look generous, people that stand on that High Moral Ground and cast their stones, normally have feet of clay. Had these people had more respect for other views they could have discovered that they could have stopped being vegetarian with dignity by avoiding the meat that comes from factory farming, and the very abuses they had wanted to avoid perpetrating.

For me it was the fact that farming had changed so that there are now sources of meat that is not abusive. These farmers will only continue rearing them and provide the greater welfare systems if people buy the food they produce. Therefore, by respecting these farmers who respect their animals, eating meat becomes respectful.

In the green movement in general there are many committed folks who often let themselves down by failing to show respect. To give an example; most people in towns and cities do not need to drive a four by four, it is a status symbol. I don't drive and I don't have any need for a phallic replacement, I make women happy by giving them a laugh at how small I am. I heard of an incident where a professional man in Newcastle had his car vandalised by “Green Activists”. This meant that he was not able to respond to a call out. As an equine vet, he needed the off road abilities of the car to get to his patients. Had the so called “Green Activists” tried to engage in a debate rather than take direct action they would have discovered that he had a genuine need for a 4x4. The person that told me the story confirmed that the injured horse was fine, but no thanks to the idiots who damaged his car. I dare say that they would have been mortified if they had realised that they placed an animal in danger via their actions, but often it is this blinkered view that prevents some people thinking about the consequences of their actions.

The other side of that coin is that if people who drive were prepared to drive a smaller less polluting car then a major chunk of climate change could be resolved straight away. Most people in towns and cities just don't need a car at all. But as with so many of the problems in society it comes down to the selfish disrespectful actions of people impacting upon others. If everyone who really did not need a car gave the car up, we would resolve much of the air pollution problems that effect all urban areas. The number of parents that I have spoken to who have children with asthma who drive everywhere never ceases to amaze me. Suggesting that they give up their car could help their children and into the sand the heads go. To me that looks like a lack of respect for their children.

It is when we explore the area of animal rights that matters really become extreme. I have known animal rights activists who are so warped in their thinking that they tried to keep a pet cat on a vegetarian diet. As should have been predicted the cat became very ill. It was when the cat was gravely ill that I became acquainted with this small group, as I was asked to look after the cat. I took one look at the food that they left me to feed the cat and went out and bought some tinned tuna, remember this was twenty years ago, and by the time they collected the cat three days latter it was back running around and while not yet fit and well, much improved. They did their nut that I had fed the cat flesh of any sort. I also discovered that the reason why they had wanted me to look after the cat was because an RSPCA inspector was trying to take the cat from them for cruelty. The cat did survive and was re homed by the RSPCA. However, I don't know if these foolish extremists ever realised the harm they and suffering they caused. Trying to make an animal act against its nature and needs is an act of cruelty.

To me this type of dogma is identical to religious extremism. The I am Right and you are wrong brigade, of what ever flavour. People who demand respect for animals while thinking they are justified in harming or terrorising other humans are have the same twisted logic of the puerile fools that think blowing themselves up in the name of their god, automatically loose the right to have respect. While I am not religious myself, personally I can picture the scene, the martyr stands before their god, expecting to be let into paradise: and God says; what kind of fool are you? I never asked you to kill in my name! There are in Britain people who use terrorism to further their ideas of what animal rights is.

Equally with Animal Rights extremists, they claim to care about all life, but is releasing mink from fur farms going to help wildlife or the environment? Of course not, as Mink are not native to Britain they caused devastation to native mammals and created huge imbalances that are only now twenty odd years latter correcting themselves mainly via the efforts of many conservation bodies.

Even looking at attitudes today, many people will harp on about animal rights when in Britain there are still people who do not fully have their human rights. While I do believe that respect for humans and other animals go hand in hand, far to often people chose to campaign on single issue while ignoring the much wider picture of abuse, injustice and lack of respect.

Having been involved most of my adult life in trying to help improve the environment, I have seen, meet and worked with, some very committed people. However, I have also seen many people who talk about what they think needs to be done, but live lives that contribute to the problem. Be that driving a car that they don't need. Or campaign about Air travel at Heathrow Airport, but must have their two weeks overseas, reached by air travel. Or people that say they want Farming to be Organic but will buy cheap imports from the supermarket. I am fully aware that folks can only do what they can, within their budget and income level, there are far to many who belong to the do as I say brigade and not the do as I do platoon.

With true green thinking, all the solutions require respect. By this I mean that if you think about what you do effects others and the environment then there are many activities and actions that would not happen. As simply the disrespect of so much human activity seriously impacts others and it is simply ignored by the majority. An example of this is the over fishing that goes on. If the fishermen had respect for their sons who will not have jobs or work the raping of the seas would not happen. True green thinking, green philosophy, applies to all aspects of life but especially economics. At the moment there is far to much economic emphasis on growth and accumulating wealth. That whole system nearly brought the worlds economies down when the banks collapsed.

The problem often is that there are some idealists out there who look at just a slice of the pie of problems that we on our home planet face. Animal rights people have this blinkered view that humans can stop utilising animals. For the last ten thousand years we have shared our lives with animals. Dogs as companions and tools, we have many breeds that helped us hunt and helped us keep livestock. For food, not just eating them, but cows, sheep and goats for milk too. But their manure to fertilise the soils that grow crops. To create a green future we need to use more of the manure to maintain soil fertility and stop using chemical fertilisers.

There is abuse in the present Industrial Agricultural system, but only by supporting the farmers that use high welfare systems will the abusive systems become redundant. It is about respecting the farmers that respect their animals.

As I have said I have met with may people who claim to be Environmentalists or Green, but often they are just drop outs from society. They want to sit on the sidelines and complain, when offered a chance to do anything practical, be that helping to clean up litter or something else that is practical and they shy away from the hard work.

A good example of this is the people that attend Glastonbury. Most would claim to be environmentalists, or at least care about the environment, yet the volume of rubbish that they leave behind is astonishing. If they had true respect for the environment then there would be none. I am not criticising the Festival, it is the thoughtlessness that I am criticising.

For the Environment to really become central to all our thinking, people need to broaden their thinking and stop being selfish. Selfishness is just another way of saying disrespectful. As my regular reader may have realised, respect is at the centre of most of my posts. While I don't have the answer to all of the problems we face, if we all make respect for others and the environment part of our daily lives, I am sure that the majority of them would disappear.

Respect also has to include self respect, and while we all hold a myriad of views, attacking someone for not sharing your views shows that you lack that self respect. There is no problem with critiquing someone or something, but offering someone a reason why you feel that something is wrong is far more constructive than just attacking what someone does. That way you may help adjust misguided thinking. That way there really is the potential for us all to help and support others so we can shape the future to be a better one.

How do Birds Identify their own Species?

On television just over a month ago, there was a series that charted the migration of the human animal out of Africa where human evolved. Over the five hour long episodes the programme showed via the archaeology and genetics how human populations expanded across the globe. Even covering new research that shows that humans were in the Americas before the Clovis peoples.

It was a very entertaining series and well worth watching. However, it was a comment regarding the discovery and colonisation by Europeans, of the Americas, that stuck in my mind. That when the Europeans found the Americas they failed to recognise of fellow man as human. As part of my ethnic heritage is Scottish my skin colour is more blue than white, its cold up in Scotland, genetically I am only white as in the northern regions that are Europe we evolved to be paler skinned so we could absorb more sunlight to create vitamin D. We are ultimately all from black Africans.

This is where I can not understand racist thinking or logic. Even when I was a child I could not understand how in History people could fail to see other races as being our fellow humans. It must have been cultural conditioning that twisted the logic. I have often wondered what the world would be like if we had seen other races as our fellow man.

Before I go on, much of the science I already knew, I had discovered the most of this from the magazine Science, the journal of the Triples AS ( The American Association for the Advancement of Science). I have often thought that with my interests and social skills I could join the cast of “Big Bang Theory”

But being serious, it must have been cultural evolution that stopped fellow humans seeing shared humanity. However, this posting is not about racism, but about how other species recognise each other. While personally I can not understand how people can fail to see other humans, the fact that we did, does raise some interesting questions.

As humans can misidentify different birds that are similar, the question is do birds have difficulty identifying each other?

Well the answer is no. Birds of the same species can not only identify their own species, but individual birds. Across the world Birders call small brown birds LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) as at a distance several different species will look the same. It can be subtle differences in plumage, or the shape of the bill, or colour of the legs that enable us humans to tell the difference. Also we can use the songs and calls of the birds to tell the difference between species. As do the birds. The problem though for human birders is that unless you know the call or song even that can mean that we can fail to identify the bird unless you can see the bird and the song is a standard song. I personally have been confused by a Willow warbler that I saw in a different region of the UK. It was not until later that I discovered that some birds have a regional accent. So it is not only difficult understanding human accents but the birds too.

However, this regional accent appears to be a factor in species diversion, and was why some early reintroduction programmes failed. As simply the introduced birds were not mating with any residents. As simply the song sounded different.

Sound though is not the only way that birds recognise each other, as birds use sight as well. Birds have eyesight that is twenty times sharper than humans have. Just think of a hawk that can spot a mammal from altitude. Additionally birds vision extends into the ultraviolet spectrum. Here in Britain on TV when I was a child, there was a picture of a Blue Tit taken in UV light. As the Blue Tit has a blue crest, hence the name, in UV that crest was like a beacon, and was obviously playing a major part in sexual selection. I seem to remember other birds were shown too, and even in the LBJs detail that was unseen in visible light was revealed. However it was the Blue tit that stuck in my mind as the intensity of the blue varied from bird to bird in UV, but in normal light they looked the same.

While I know that I relatively sharp eyed, I know the daughter of one of my readers, well my only reader, has the eyes of a Golden Eagle and I keep on asking if I could borrow her as a wildlife spotter, but to no avail. So I guess I will have to do my own spotting and misidentification.

Badger Watching in the Rain

Last night, in spite of the rain, I took the two young women into the woods to see the Badgers. In one respect I was not looking forward to it, as far to often I have had problems with other people at viewing points who are either over excited and disturb the wildlife or get impatient when nothing appears soon enough. However with the folks that are in the right frame of mind, and willing to accept that sightings may be brief or not happen at all, then it can be magical.

It started out well as they were dressed appropriately, and had forsworn make up. The odour from this can alert mammals to a human presence. Taking just binoculars and torches, we were ready to go. The young women's farther gave us a lift to an access point, and reminded them to ring him if they needed a lift. That had me worried as a ringing mobile can spook the Badgers. However they understood that the phones needed to be switched off.

It was still light when we got to the Sett, because of wind direction I had needed to lead them around so that we could approach from the far side. It added about three quarters of an hour to the journey, but also meant that the badgers were likely to be ready to emerge when we got there. We had barely settled ourselves when the Brock emerged. He sniffed the air and retreated. Were we discovered? The women were pleased and were carrying smiles.

After only four or five minutes he came out leading one of the sows. Then another Badger emerged, I think it was a young male but I have not yet learnt to identify them all. For the next ten minutes or so they scratched themselves, one rolling on its back to scratch its tummy, that was the young male. The Brock headed off possibly to feed or to use the latrine. That left the Sow and the young Male who started a game of rough and tumble.

I looked across at the women, who were clearly delighted at all this, and I was pleased that they remained quiet and relatively motionless. We could also see the snout of another Badger sniffing the air, but for what ever reason it did not seem to want to come out. Eventually the two that were out went off to forage, the wet weather had ensured that the worms were close to the surface and as they went on their way, so the were stopping to feed every half minute or so.

By this time we had been there for almost an hour and the light was fading fast, I whispered across do you want to stay? It was like I had two nodding dogs with me. I am glad they wanted to stay as the young sow that had been sniffing the air finally came out, leading three cubs. They are by now nearly half the size of the adult females. I suspect that it was the scent of the playful male that was putting her off emerging. I was watching her and one of the cubs, when one of the others tumbled down the slope and came to a stop five or six feet from one of the women. We were all laying on our bellies and I could see this made her nervous, I thought she was going to push herself off the ground. She did not as the cub bounded up the slop to do it again. The second cub with her saw this and decided to follow crashing into the first. So the sliding game was swiftly followed by chase and try and bite the tail. After three or four minutes of this the clan moved off and out of sight. We could hear them for a good ten minutes though.

the rain had become heaver but we all stayed in position and waited for over an hour. By then I said that it was time we moved, there was little chance of seeing more come out, and while we could have waited for the Badgers to return, that could be in several hours time and we were soaking wet. The women were careful about moving quietly and I was pleased there was no disturbance as we left. I asked if the could see the path, the rain had made it visible in the moonlight so the torches were not needed, I prefer not to use a torch, but I was also concerned about the young women's safety. As we walked along the path though one of the young women finally burst out asking can we talk now! It was like having a couple of excited kids with me who could not stop talking. I told them that I think I should have brought along Ear defenders.

They called their Farther, and we had a lift back. We needed to put bags on the seats as we were all soaked, and my cheeks were smothered with kisses before I could get into the car. This amused the girls farther. It could have made my cat jealous though had she been there. One of them told her farther about the ear defenders comment, and I was told I was lucky as I did not have to put up with their music.

As it was late they all came into mine for a coffee and to dry off. The father and I were banned from the bathroom for nearly an hour. But I was able to get into my own bedroom to get out of my wet clothing. When the girls excitement died down, my cat thought she was in seventh heaven as she was getting lots of fussing. Along with the coffee I handed out slices of the tart I had baked the other day, I don't have any left. Even though these women are young adults, and not kids, it was a relief when I was able to hand them back. They were more exhausting than a long wildlife vigil or a hike across country.

It was a great nights viewing and was really pleased that the badgers had come out and were there for sustained periods too. As it gave them a chance to really see the Badgers close up and behaving naturally. I was pleased to see all this too as it all adds to my knowledge of this clan.

I have been asked if I will take them again, and I am willing, but only if they book decent weather next time. But I think that it is just the parents trying to get rid of them for a while.

Bird on a Wire

I was sitting at the computer, I was watching some video that I had downloaded for research, when I noticed a small brown bird that came into the yard. As I have a fairly regular stream of Sparrows visiting the feeders I initially thought it was just a sparrow. I leaned forward to see where it had landed when another bird, slightly larger flew past the window like a bullet. While I could not be sure the second bird looked like a small bird of prey.

I tried to look for this second bird but it was out of my line of sight. From the size, all I could imagine the bird to be was a Merlin. While there was one that I spotted last year in the general area, I would have been surprised to see it over the village. From the brief sighting I thought it to small to be a Kestrel, and the wings looked a dark grey.

All this is happening in seconds in my head as I am also looking to see if I can spot the first bird. In my prize collection of weeds, I can see a small bird and all I can really see is a crest. The bird hiding in the yard is a Skylark. It is hiding in the undergrowth and not feeding, and I realise that it was the way that it dropped into the yard that caught my attention.

I went to get the video and the still camera, and waited to see if I could catch sight of the Lark. I think it had flown off while I was going for the camera as I could not see it at all. So I headed downstairs to look in the yard. The back door is stiff and sticks and as I opened it the Skylark took to the air and was gone in a flash. It was so well hidden that I could not see it.

The Skylark I am sure about, the Merlin I am less sure but the flight, as brief as I saw, was just like the pursuit flight I have seen described in the field guides.

I made myself a coffee and while I was sitting at the computer and not fully concentrating on the video I was supposed to be watching, the Merlin alighted on the telephone wire. I did not have time to get a picture as it just quickly scanned the yard and flew off. Two sightings in one day of a rarely seen raptor has made my day. The only problem is it has had the song “Bird on a Wire” going through my brain ever since.

I did finally watch the programme and follow it without gazing out of the window, it failed to add to my sum of knowledge. In fact it left me feeling jaded as it was billed as being new knowledge, all the details I already knew and have been talking about here for the last two years. However, while it was a programme that I could have watched on TV had I not been busy, I am increasingly finding that the television that most interests me is on the digital channels. But without the computer I would not ever get to see them. I am still not prepared to pay to upgrade my TV or get a set top box, and no way will I be getting a satellite dish. I suspect that when the analogue signal is finally switched off, I will have no more Idiot Box to worry about.

Birds, Goats and Tarts

While there are many serious issues that I could talk about, today I want to talk about Tarts.

If I were to talk about some of the issues that have been in the news lately or even some of the environmental threats that are emerging locally, this would be a depressing place to visit. While I am not afraid to cover serious matters topics, I would rather celebrate the natural world here and ignore the bad news for a while. Not least because every time I hear the news I am left feeling depressed. Even what starts out sounding like good news, when I have looked behind the headlines to the details, all I see is the same old politico games being played.

So for a while I am just going to ignore the rest of the world for a while. I would rather talk of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that was drumming on the metal ring of a telegraph pole. I have seen this sort of behaviour on film before, but seeing it as I went to the bus stop here in the village was remarkable. Or the delight at realising while awaiting another bus I am seeing Sparrowhawks fledging from a nest that I did not realise was there. I had seen a Sparrowhawk about, but he or she never went directly to the nest, therefore it was all but impossible to discover. Or my early morning stroll down past the river, to look at the now vacated hawks nest and seeing a Kingfisher sitting perched by the river. It may have been hunting for fish previously, but after being able to watch tor twenty seconds or so, it flew downstream. Even though I have seen them before, I always think they should look larger. A real jewel of the river, that is always a delight to see.

These are a few of the delights that I have seen that helps make life worth all the effort, over the past few days. There are very few days that I do not see something natural that adds to my day. These are not always anything rare, in fact they are often common creatures that give the most pleasure. As people see them all the time, they barely notice the subtleties of behaviour that they exhibit. Like a newly fledged jackdaw begging for food from one of its parents.

While all of these things I would like to have filmed, often these sighting were brief or at to greater distance or when I just did not have a camera ready and to hand. Even so they are filmed by my soul.

However, today when going down to get the bus today I spotted the goats in what I call the Goat field doing what goats do, eating.






I was heading into town to get some ingredients to do some more cooking done and to film this for the cooking videos. Over the next week or so I will be concentrating on doing these. And I hope that I will have the next one ready to post soon. But as I had some gooseberries that I wanted to bake into a tart, I needed to get that done. Even if I say it myself I am good at making pastry, but I was really nervous about doing this on film. As trying to film any cooking, any error that are made really stand out. Therefore, I was convinced that it was going to go wrong, so I was extra careful and it really worked well. But, as I was trying to roll out the pastry and line the flan tin the tape ran out. So I repeated part of the process, I hope that folks will not be able to see the join.

I was very pleased with the tart, and I had a slice with Ice cream for desert tonight. One of the benefits of doing these films is that I am eating quite well, and my menu is expanding too. I am looking at the foods that are in season much more than I would normally, and this is also helping me save money too.



The only difficulty I have is my fridge and freezer are now full. Either I need to eat more, that will add to my middle age spread. Invite friends around, tried that and folks think my cooking is to exotic. Or get a larger fridge, I need a larger house for that. Well at least I will not starve, not for a while anyway.

Other Images at the Fair

This is a long shot showing the wonderful setting of the Fair by the river

These are the Russian singers that gave the Fair its International Flavour

Here is the chef cremating the burgers, whoops sorry that should read cooking the burgers.

Blackhall Mill Summer Fair

Yesterday, Saturday, I went to the Blackhall Mill Fair. Except that I had the wrong date and it was being held on Sunday. There are moment when I really feel like Homer. Not all was lost as I got some interesting shots of the river. Also there was a nice old chap, originally from Scotland who was asking about fishing in the river. I was able to show him a couple of good spots. While I don't fish myself, I have a reasonable understanding of the ecology to predict where the trout will be. Also I like talking to fishermen (and women) as they often know the river environment better than most naturalists and professionals.

Having not missed the Fair, I decided to go and get some shopping at my favourite market in Newcastle. Thus saving me a job on Monday. This is rare to get ahead as normally I have a backlog of tasks to do. I was pleased to be able to get some locally produced butter, and it was thirty pence cheaper than the supermarket. I also stocked up on cheese. While not planned that way, I had bought only Welsh Cheese, the lead to me joking that I will end up with a funny accent. Realising that to the people of the North East I already have a funny accent, I added well different from my funny accent. I just seem to be a master at digging myself into deep holes.

However, today I still wanted to get down to the Blackhall Mill Fair. I had heard that the Woodlands that border that village and where some of the Badgers are, is up for sale. There is a strong community association there and they are looking to see what can be done to protect the wood. I wanted to offer my assistance. I don't know if I can offer anything new, but even so another voice added can not do any harm.

This is the first time that I have been to the Fair at the Mill, last year I had already promised to assist with something else. Therefore I was not able to visit. But I was pleased with what I saw here. It is clear that there is a strong community in the village, and the fair was busy. There was plenty of activities for the children and young people, including learning circus skills.

Once I made contact with the local community association and left my details so that they can contact me and I got the details I need to contact them, I had a wander around. One of the first places I stopped at was the Environment Agency stall. Last year, as I reported here, the village suffered from flooding and while talking about that event, I mentioned that I had filmed it. The gentleman from the EA said that he had seen the film and he thought it was good. After checking with his psychiatrist that he was sane, I accepted the complement. But it still feels strange to have people tell me that they have seen my stuff on You Tube and other places. While I know that in part this is intended as a campaigning Web Log, it still surprises me when I encounter people who are influenced by it.

There was another group that are looking to oppose open cast mining in the area, and I exchanged information with the chap running that stand. I need to look further into this before I can comment on this, but I can see the potential damage that could cause. I sometimes wonder if we as humans will ever learn? Having just cleaned up the environment from one form of heavy industry we develop others that cause even more damage. However, there are many people that are passionate about the environment and who want to protect it, so who knows at the very least the worst damage could be avoided.

As for the Fair, I found it entertaining and fun place to visit. One highlight was some visiting Russian students that were here on an exchange with a local school. While on three of the singing group were at the fair, this international element added to the feeling of sharing that there is in the community. As Blackhall Mill is a smaller village than Chopwell, it was very well attended, and there must have been most if not all the residents there. I personally don't understand why Chopwell does not have its own Fair. No I am not volunteering for that either. Well I was like a kid in a sweet shop and stuffed myself on Coffee and Cake, An Organic Burger from the Barbecue, and an Ice Cream. All I can say is that it is a good job that it is only once a year or I will end up getting fat. What's that I hear you shout, getting? Okay Getting fatter.

The Gateshead Garden Festival Legacy

Way back in the 1980s here in Britain there were riots in the poorest and most deprived areas. The then governments solution was to hold a series of Garden Festivals. Now it is all to easy to be facetious especially when talking about the Margaret Thatcher administration, but why should I work hard defending a government that wrote off whole communities, and dismissed the whole industrial base of the nation as being irrelevant.

So holding these Garden festivals as a way of placating the anger that communities felt as a result of the policies was daft if the reasons for doing them was to create employment opportunities. On that score the failed. However, it did have the beneficial effect of getting contaminated industrial land cleaned up. While the Millennium dome was much ridiculed, the real reason for carrying out that project was to clean up that industrial site, so lessons from the Garden Festivals was learnt by future administrations.

Here in Gateshead there was one of the Garden Festivals, and I watched as the former gas works was transformed. I actually missed the festival as I was working away from the area. After the festival almost all the reclaimed land was sold off to developers and houses and apartments were built. Not for social need but upmarket flats that further displaced the disaffected.

Especially as in the original proposals there was a pledge, a promise, that small industrial units were supposed to be built as well as the festival providing training in new skills, the way the site was redeveloped did upset many people. As none of the training happened nor was there any legacy of jobs. There is not even a park left for the people.

As my ex wife and I lived next to the site of the Garden Festival I got to know it well. It was a comment that I overheard on the bus that prompted me to go and look at what remained of the site. While most of the land was sold to developers, the guts, tidal streams that were used as sewers, remained in council ownership. These were planted with reeds so that the reeds could aid the cleaning of these effluent channels. I am pleased to say that it looks as though it has worked.

The last time I inspected them about ten years ago, there was still an odour and an oily film on the water. Now however, the odour was absent today and the water looked clean. Moreover, there were Reed Warblers that I heard in the reed banks. In the mud there appeared to be small mammal tracks, previously it had been to polluted even for rats.

So while the legacy was supposed to be jobs, I am happy that the Garden Festival here has gave the environment a chance to clean up.

The chance remark I over heard was about an owl being spotted near the guts, so I knew that something had changed for the better.

A Free Press?

I have been very critical of the media here before and I really dislike the way that much of the media has focused on the cult of celebrity. To my mind it is unlike the distraction tricks of magicians. Get the public, the people looking the other way so that in the background what we should all be watching happens in the shadows. Equally, if the media makes the real news sound boring and irrelevant then the media can then control major aspects of life. Here in Britain that includes Economics and Europe; where the media has largely made the EU and the Euro really deceive issues. Also issues like prejudice; where the media will focus on supposed injustices where immigrants, immigration are overseas workers are all “lumped together” as the them that are harming our country. All aimed at dividing society and distracting attention away from what is really happening.

The revelation that News International had systematically been “Illegally” hacking into the voice mail accounts of many politicians, Actors, Models, or anyone who is in the public eye looking for “Sex Stories” was not that surprising. Even on the day the story was published by the Guardian, the rest of the Media seemed to be covering and playing this down. Even the BBC seemed to be doing this, as the revelations relate to a conviction that took place two and half years ago when a Private investigator and the Royal Correspondent for a News International excuse for a news paper were convicted. However, the Editor of the comic at the time is now the Spin Doctor for the opposition conservative party. Thus the majority of the media were treating it as a political story.

Finally though the serious journalists realised that this was not just about a political target, but widespread and systematic criminal activity by a major Multi-national company; News International. It is interesting to note that News International has in a carefully worded statement has refuted this. But on BBC news programmes they have shown interviews with the private investigators involved. Therefore News International kept the criminal activity at arms length, so that they could create the plausible deniability.

News International is not just a British Company as it owns a major chunk of the international press and major networks in the US. While I feel that the free press is a little safer over in the US than it is here, it was interesting to see Rupert Murdock refusing to answer any questions on this issue on Fox News, his own channel and the reporter supinely aqueous. However, while there is more independence in the media in the US, I just wonder if Watergate would ever have happened if News International had been the big player then?

And this is the real story here. For many years Rupert Murdock has been allowed to build a major media empire that has exerted real influence across the world. He and his company has stopped any sort of control of his newspapers activities as even a whiff of legislation and he via his papers pulls out the dirt on the politicians who are having affairs and makes it look like legislation is being proposed to hide wrong doing. There is plenty of wrong doing going on in politicos too, but the media, particularly News International, loves a juicy sex scandal. So the real High Crimes and Misdemeanour's get ignored.

A free press is vital to democracy as power corrupts. That is why it is so wrong that so much media power is held in the hands of one man and one family. As all that power stops the press from being free. With all that media within his control Rupert Murdock influences politics and policy across the world.

Here in Britain the News International media has effectively closed down any meaningful debate about the European Union and the Single Currency. Yet had that debate been allowed to take place ten years ago, and Britain joined the Euro, it is unlikely that the British Government would have been able to mortgage the country to the hilt nor would we have suffered the same level of impacts upon the economy from the banking collapse. As news International plays the currency markets with its earnings spread across the globe, it is not surprising that the company did not want to loose that stream of revenue.

However, it is when it comes to issues like climate change and the relationship with the Oil companies and the Car companies that is the real scandal. News International have deliberately lied, via its many outlets about climate change. From denial and claiming its a conspiracy to distorting the facts of the science. What I have never understood abut the conspiracy claim is who is supposed to benefit? I can see the rape and pillage mentality of multi-national business would suffer, but the rest of the people benefit from dealing with Climate change. So if there is any conspiracy, it comes from multi-national businesses like News International.

I have never understood this cult of celebrity personally, there are actors and musicians that I admire, for there work, but I really don't give a flying short term relationship about who someone is sleeping with. While this sort of detail may obsess some, it is not in the public interest. It may be interesting to the public but if an actor appears on screen, that does not give us the right to know how often they fart.

If people were only provided with real news, then perhaps the newspapers would not be facing such a slump in readership and revenues. I personally don't buy a newspaper everyday simply because they are so full of trash about actors in soap operas, or what was happening in some reality TV show. Perhaps the media should understand that newspapers should contain news.

There have been suggestions that many of the celebrities that have been targeted by News International may join forces in a “group action” and sue. I really hope that they do as that way the press will be held to account.

There may be occasions when the press needs to bend the law for the greater good of humanity, but trying to find out if a C list star is shagging another does not help inform and improve the world.

East Coast Mainline

As I don't drive a car, I do drive people mad, so I have been a life long user of Trains. Even when it was nationalised and the service was poor, I loved the experience most of the time. Even when I had to commute to work by train, my experience was never as bad as others seem to have.

When the rail network was privatised, I could see improvements, and now the service is actually very good, with new trains, better facilities and a reliable timetable. I don't want to give the impression that everything is rosy as the cost of rail travel has become horrendous. However, I feel that the railways has become a service that has become far to easy to criticise. Often I find that it is the people who do not use the trains that are the loudest critics.

Unlike other forms of transport, it is possible to meet and talk to people who have been doing wonderful things. As an example I met a woman who had just returned from working as volunteer in Africa. Also occasionally it would be possible to meet people across the social class. The best example of this I was on a train talking to a young woman when one of her parents neighbours came along the carriage and stopped to talk to her. The fact that this neighbour was also the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, Nigel Lawson just made the situation rather surreal. As the Chancellor seemed to think that this young woman and I were Boyfriend and Girlfriend, I have often wondered if that encounter ever caused a comical misunderstanding.

Therefore I do try and keep alert to any news regarding the railway. Yet the announcement that the government is taking over The East Coast Mainline, my main link to the capital, as the franchise operator was not making enough money and wanted to renegotiate the fees paid to the treasury.

Since the collapse of the Banks, every industry or area of commerce has assumed that the Government will bail them out. But as the Railways cost the Tax payer three times more than the network did when it was owned by the nation, reducing the one point four billion pounds fee to the government would have been a travesty of justice. As simply the company, National Express, was in effect asking the taxpayer to subsidies its profits.

Based on the information we were given at the time, on the whole I did think that the Banking system had to be saved. However now the fall facts have slowly emerged, my opinion has changed, and would have been different then had all the facts been made public then. But that leaves us the British taxpayers and the country as a whole with some serious nation debt problems. Therefore, no business can or should expect the Government to bail it out.

With the massive subsidies that the train companies have received and are receiving, they have become lazy and are relying on these subsidies to boost profits. The East Coast Mainline was and remains the most profitable part of the network, and always was a licence to print money. As the company was only expecting one percent growth year on year rather than the ten percent they had forecast, they no longer liked the deal they had agreed. Remember that they would still have made a profit and that one percent return on five billions is still fifty million pounds over five years.

Personally I think that the Government should keep the East Coast Mainline in public hands as that could be used as a bench mark that shows how much the privatised train companies are ripping off the taxpayers, and over charging the passengers. The railways are important and the need to have lower carbon footprints from transport, the trains will play an important role in the future too.

The government does not do business and commerce well, if they did the dogs dinner that is privatisation of the rail network would not have occurred. However, in this case it should retain this line, run it profitably and be even tougher with the other companies when their franchises come up for renewal. This will drive down costs, and with reduced fares expand passenger numbers.

If only I had the chance of meeting the Chancellor of the Exchequer now...