When the knife is in don't forget to twist it ....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/us/20spill.html?th&emc=th

Restaurent with a movable view

Visiting the States I lived for a week with food from Subway and it kind of put me off since, that was five years ago. Today I read about one for construction workers on the 'twintowers' replacement building, there are about 1000 of them and for those at the top, currently 27 floors up, it can take more than an hours lenchbreak to ride the 'elevators' down and back up to the job. So to have a restaurent and all mod-cons where you work is great, waterless toilets instead of buckets etc.. No more eating lunch out on the beam, as famous photos record.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/nyregion/17subshop.html?th&emc=th

Stealing water from our rivers ... a warning.

As farmers try to be more productive, as in Canterbury, and want to take more water, either for free or at an expense [ as I just heard somebody ranting at on Morning Report] there is a warning coming from Iraq.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/science/earth/13shatt.html?th&emc=th
Here the reduction in flow of the river is permitting salt water to encrouch up the river from the sea and also the flushing effect is greatly reduced leading to pollution. Perhaps we are just too clever us humans and one eyed in our endeavours.

Save by de-recognise?

By de-recognising governments that are victimising their populations in Africa and elsewhere for the sole benefit of their rulers it is suggested they will become unstable and fall to the masses who them elect/create a truely democratic government working for the people rather than rulers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/opinion/12englebert.html?th&emc=th

Afghanistan

A quote from Bob Herbert in the NYT ...
The U.S. doesn’t win wars anymore. We just funnel the stressed and underpaid troops in and out of the combat zones, while all the while showering taxpayer billions on the contractors and giant corporations that view the horrors of war as a heaven-sent bonanza. BP, as we’ve been told repeatedly recently, is one of the largest suppliers of fuel to the wartime U.S. military.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/opinion/12herbert.html?th&emc=th

Which could be titled "The lost war" just like first the British in the 1800's and the Russians in the 1900's, so the combined forces in 2100.

A Rabbi's Quote

Roger Cohen in the NYT gives us thia quote by the Rabbi at his daughter's Bat Mitzi.

The notion here is that the word of God is fire, redoubled fire if you like, and that if you get too far from it you freeze, but if you draw too near to it you burn. “The word of God can actually destroy you if you get too close,” Bachman suggested.

So evident with the religious hard liners who compose a major part of the Israeli IDF and results is appawling mistakes like the recent killings on board the relief ship. Also how baren life would be without the guidence of religion in our lives. The two extremes Rabbi Bachman talks about.

The speed limit tolerance experiment at QBWE

I suspect that the ’success’ of this experiment [ Only two deaths instead of in double figures] will lead to a permanent reduction in the maximum ‘over the posted’ limit. That doesn’t unduely bother me because it takes some time for my car to warm up and ‘want’ to go faster than 100K … usually it is happy at 90K on short trips. I watch my mirror to let others risking demerits and their licences get past quickly, particularly when I am towing.

But what I do think is missing from the current police position is tolerance for those overtaking. It makes a lot of sense to permit 110<130 to get the vehicle back into its proper lane quicker. So many times we read the complaint about the slow driver who speeds up at passing lanes and stops the driver obeying the limit from overtaking. A first stage could be to permit a higher limit at passing lanes, then if that doesn't adversely affect the road toll [I'm sure it won't], maybe extend it to the rest of the roads.[On that I'm ambivilant]

The comment about increased police presence suggests to me that the low toll would have been achieved by that and not the reduction of tolerance from 110 to 105. Attention to driving rather than speed being the important factor. Or maybe it was a sense of resignation "Its going to take longer so what the hell. Let's be courtious" I stayed home and only made town trips over the QBWE.

Though I have proved to my own satisfaction when towing a trailer compared to without over a distance of around 200K that being limited to 90k with the trailer made the journey not that much longer, fifteen minutes on maybe three hours or so. One needs to ease off from 90K much less than when doing 100K.

It is experience like that that make me a more relaxed driver, and maybe becuase I'm getting older every day. What does get my goat are these idiots who tailgate [ME!] as if they are at Bathgate or Nascar and the ridiculous amount they use their brakes.

Raindrops

There is something about rain and raindrops which attracts photographers I'm sure as I have seen quite a few over the years and taken my share. Here I used ny editing ability to combine a close shot of the drops on the car's windscreen and the another of the view through the window when the drops were out of focus.