id cards, and what we should all be asking

This is in response to January Girl who has asked me exactly what my objections to id cards are.

I consider my anonymity to be a right
An id card in itself is not a problem. A standard card that could be used to identify oneself is not a bad idea. I don't think it's necessary since I already have ways in which to identify myself, but I wouldn't have a problem with the government giving me a card with my name and address, and perhaps date of birth written on it. It could even carry a photo, I don't care. I would oppose it on principal because it's not needed and wouldn't solve any problems. There is also a cost associated with it that I, as a tax payer would end up carrying. I would also have a problem with being made to carry the card, or having to prodcue it on demand. This is because I consider my anonymity to be a right. If someone thinks I have done something wrong, it's up to that person to prove it. I should not have to identify myself or prove my innocence on demand to anyone, even a policeman.

It's not an id card scheme
The proposed id card scheme in the UK however is not merely an id card scheme. A database is proposed which would carry information about every card holder. The information in the database could be anything. Currently about 50 items of information are deemed essemtial for the card. No guarantee is given that this is the final list, that the current or future governents would not change it, or that information would not be added without the cardholder's knowledge. No guarantee has been given that the information stored will not be sold. In fact it has been suggested that certain organisations, we're not told who, would have access to the database, or areas of it, for a price.

Information is power
All this is scary in itself because information is power. As an example, the way things stand at present, it would seem to me that the database would hold information about my marriage to an Asian woman who currently does not hold a British passport. Assume for a moment that the British National Party managed to secure some parliamentary power. The BNP have had some by-election success in the North of the country in the last couple of years. I don't think it's being too paranoid to suggest they may get a few MPs before too long. Their last manifesto said that they wanted immigrants to be deported to their country of origin. That would be my wife. For that reason I will fight until my dying breath to keep information about my marriage out of their hands. This is only an example. This database could hold my criminal record, sexual preference, political affiliations, religious beliefs, this website address, the names of people I've slept with, my brother's criminal record, my health history, HIV status, employer history, tax history, in fact, just about anything. And there is no guarantee that any of it will be correct.

Who's ging to keep my data safe?
A database of this size and complexity is without parallel anywhere in the world. No-one has even come close to collating and managing 60,000,000 records of this complexity. It's not a static database, things will change, names, marital status, address etc. Managing this database is a huge task. The consequences of mismangement of the database would be enormous. All these details in one database would mean that, if compromised, a potentially disasterous situation could result. I don't trust this government at all. I certainly don't trust future goivernments. I don't think I would trust anyone with managing this database.

biometrics are not good or security
By far the most frightening element of this database however is the fact that they want to include biometric data. Now this is an apalling idea on so many levels that I could write a whole entry on this alone, but here are the basics. People have this idea in their head that biometric identity is fullproof. It is most certainly not. A fingerprint used to access a bank account is only secure as long as the finger is attached to the owner, a rubber finger copy doesn't exist, or the encryption isn't compromised. A pin number is completely safe until you tell someone. Remember, once a fingerprint system is compromised, that's it, you can't change your fingers like you can change a password. And in case you think I'm overreacting about fingers being chopped off to gain access, it's already happened.

In fact biometrics don't even work very well
And while we're on the subject of biometrics, have you actually wondered how effective biometrics are at identifying people? No biometric reader that I have ever seen has been anywhere near 100% accurate, and I have seen a few. Here's a little secret from the IT world, nearly all commecial fingerprint readers are set to grant access with far less than a 100% match. That is to say, all these people with car doors and laptops that grant access when the owner puts a finger on the pad, are likely to grant access to the wrong person from time to time. That's because false positives are less annoying to the owner (the one that paid the money) than false negatives. And fingerprint recognition is rather better than anything else we have. Facial recognition is near useless as a security measure. Remember also that your fingerprints are available everywhere to copy. And they can be copied.

Abuse of data has happened before
This really is going to sound like the rantings of a mad man, but read to the end of the paragraph before you brand me a fool. Hitler killed millions of Jewish people because it said "Jewish" on their id papers. Hitler could not have done that if he didn't know they were Jewish. I realise that Hitler was mad, that politicians like Hitler are thankfully very rare, and that it's not likely to happen again. However, Hitler was voted in democratically like Tony Blair was. Can you give me any firm reason to believe that a situation like Hitler coming to power could not happen again? If it did, I wouldn't want anyone having access to a database which had my details on it.

This kind of thing does not come cheap
The original price estimate for this card was I think somewhere around 70 pounds. The government's current estimate is just under 100 pounds. An independent body has disputed the cost estimate. The government has admitted that the cost it has calculated includes updating biometric data every ten years. It has been suggested that it needs to be done at least twice as often as that to keep it up to date. It also fails to take into account other updates and costs associated with people refusing to comply. In fact the worst case scenario puts the cost at 20 billion pounds. That's four times Britain's initial budget for the Iraq war and 23 times the cost of building the milenium dome. That comes out at around 300 pounds per person in case you're wondering. Now who do we believe, the governement (the one that invested 5 billion in the Iraq war for us) or the independent body ( the London School of Economics in case you're interested) that claims they can't do it for the quoted price?

The questions all British people should be asking
Is this an id card, an entitlement system, or simply an information collecting exercise?

Will people who cannot produce an id card (whether or not they are entitled to one) be refused treatment and die on the floor of the hospital? And if the answer to this question is 'no', how will it eliminate health service fraud as it is currently claimed?

Will people be refused other benefits if they are unable to produce a card (education, pension, unemployment)?

The Spanish already have id cards but there was still a huge terrorist bomb in Madrid recently. How will these cards combat terrorism? Bear in mind that the US has no plans to introduce id cards despite a high risk of terroist activity, neither does Australia, to name but two.

By the government's own admission, they have no idea how many illegal immigrants there are in Britain. How will id cards solve this problem as is currently claimed?

Will the cost be capped? If so, where will the money come from if (when) there is an overspend?

Will the tax office have access to this data? If so, can I expect a visit from them if something they read in the database makes them suspicious, even if they have no evidence that I have acted improperly in any way?

What happens if my id card is invalidated in some way, either intentionally or through some error? Might I lose my job because I can no longer pay tax and national insurance, will my driving licence still be valid? Will I still be entitled to medical care, education, and state benefits?

What happens if I discover that some information about me is incorrect? Do I have to prove that it is incorrect to have it changed? Could I find myself trying to prove that I am in fact someone that that the authorities believed was dead? Could I find myself atempting to prove that I have never lived at a particular address, committed a particular crime, owe tax or something else, perhaps 10 years or more previously?

Will the elderly, the young, the disabled, the unemployed, and the poor be required to pay for id cards? If not, will that push up the price for the rest of us?

Has some contigency been built in for those people who will resist registration? Will a resistance to register increase the cost for everyone?

Is there a contingency in place for people unable to provide biometric data (people with no fingerprints, irises, facial abnormalities)?

What is the advantage of the new id card scheme over the existing social security number system regarding employment fraud? That is to say, if an employer is currently willing to employ someone that cannot produce a social security number, are they less likely to employ someone that cannot produce an id card?

Forecasts of doom

There are a few things I need to write about but I have to deal with a couple of notes first. This could drag on, sorry...

First, lets pick up a point made by Dickie yesterday. In response to my claim that ridiculous forecasts of doom serve no purpose, he said,

"we need people to make scary apocalyptic forcasts of these things in order for them to get peoples' attention, and thus be avoided. You only need to look to South Africa as an example of a country that ignored the AIDS warnings and is now paying the consequences".

Firstly, lets remember that South Africa is right in the center of the continenet where, as far as we know, AIDS made the jump to humans. It could therefore be argued that the disease was already far more prolific there than in the west by the time we realised there was a problem. Also remember that South Africa is surrounded by third world countries that didn't have the money to spend on awareness campaigns, there are high levels of illiteracy, which doesn't help when trying to teach people the dangers, and border controls are tricky in a land-locked country in the middle of Africa. Do you really think that telling everyone that they were all going to die in 10 years would have made a difference?

In Britain Mrs Thatcher launched the most effective AIDS awareness campaign the world had seen, before or since, and the British people should be glad that she did. She did not however make predictions that we would all die. The AIDS charities did. And, if memory serves, one major charity also got taken to caught for "exagerrating" claims about how the disease was spreading in the heterosexual comunity. The inference was that they did so to attract more charitable donations from the heterosexual community. And here is the point I am trying to make. It's in the interest of AIDS charities to exaggerate claims to increase their incomes. Likewise, it's in the interest of research scientists to tell politicians what they want to hear to keep the grant cheques rolling in. Tell me I'm wrong, go on, I dare you.

I'm going to split this entry in two because it's big, the next part deals with id cards, again.

apocalyptic forecasts

The Daily Mail is the latest publication to try and scare us with apocalyptic forecasts due to global warming. Apparently by 2205 Britain is likely to be a series of small islands rather than the big lump it is now. London will be pretty much submerged. I honestly started to read the artical that went with the graphic provided, but I noticed the disclaimer "assuming a rise in sea levels of 275 ft) and decided it really wasn't worth my time. 275 ft is 200 years is almost 1.5 ft a year. And that's if it starts tomorrow. You people are mad. Even if I was concerned about global warming, making patently idiotic predictions like that is just going to make me laugh at you. What are you trying to do here? Make me more environmentally sound with fairy stories. This makes me think of the AIDS predictions that were made in the 80s that were all wrong. Honestly, you must think your readers are all stupid. See for yourself here.

The id card reading just got through with a majority of 31. The Labour majority in the House stands at 67 at the moment. I'm sad that the bill got through, but I'm glad to see that it wasn't plain sailing. All the pundits are sasying that it will get mauled when it hits the Lords. Since there is very littel chance of the bill geting through in its current form, my worst fear is that this will get through but in a castrated form. I have a feeling that the only part the government really want is the biometric database, and it will therefore be the last part they let go of. It was very pleasing to see the Tories pledge to repeal the legislation if it made it on to the statute book.

A list of 49 items that are considered essential and which would liekly be held on the id card database has been released. The way I read it, the items listed are liekly to be included, but others may also be included in the database. I note that fingerprints are listed as is "other biometric information". Vague isn't it? I'm still studying the list, but as long as they want my fingerprints, I'm not going to carry one. Here's the list.

By strange coincidence, the man who was the voice of piglet has died, 24 hours after the man who was the voice of tigger. Funny old world isn't it?

Dickie, yes you are out of the loop. Go get the Sin City DVD, you can give it to me if you don't like it.

The one great thing I have to report today is that I have my clean criminal record certificate returned to me from England after it visiting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and then the Taiwan Representative Office for their respective authorisations. That document was issued in Devon, England, and I asked them to send it to me in Taiwan, but they wouldn't because I couldn't produce two forms of identification with my name and current address in English. So it was sent to my parents address in England instead, and they sent it to me. I then send it back to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London for their stamp. They sent it on to the Taiwan Representative Office, also in London for their stamp. They then sent it back to me again. How many hundreds of miles has this poxy document travelled? All this took around 2 months. It only remains valid for a visa application for three months. So, unless I get my application in pretty damn quick, all will have been in vain. We are due there on Friday. I'l keep you posted.

Pond scum

I forgot to mention yesterday that I saw Sin City this weekend. What an awesome film. I haven't seen any reviews, but I'm guessing that the usual critics are going to be at least a little negative about it. It's not particularly watchable and it is rather over directed. But it's so imaginative. I've never seen a film that succeeds so well in converting the comic book genre to film. I'm afraid my mind always strays to The Hulk when I think of comics turned into films, and what a disaster that was.

Also, I love films that have intricate plots, and Sin City does. Not only that, it's a plot that works and makes you think. It is a ridiculous story, and it's incredibly blood-thirsty, but I've been thinking about it since I saw it. I'm already thinking about watching it again to get the plot straight in my head. Go and watch it people, but don't eat first, and don't take your girlfrind if you're planning to ask her to marry you or do something roamntic afterwards. In fact it might be a good idea to go without the girlfriend. I woldn't call it a chick flick.

I've been listening to the Any Questions programme on Radio 4 today and the subject of David Bunkett came up. Now I hate Blunkett with a passion of which most people can only dream. I hadn't realised until I heard the radio programe that Blunkett, who was forced to resign in disgrace over his abuse of power involving his married mistress, took a large serverance payment when he left. This severance payment is apparently available to all cabinet ministers who return to the back bench for whatever reason. But this isn't a normal case. Blunkett didn't lose his cabinet role for any reason other than the fact that he abused his position of power. If he hadn't left he would have been sacked. Not only that, he was returned to the cabinet just a few months later. Which all goes to reinforce my view that this administration is the most corrupt in living memory. And Blunkett is still pond scum.

The id card bill returns to the House of Commons today and I think it will be trashed by just about everyone. I was thinking yesterday, maybe the government never thought that they could get the entire bill through. Maybe they never expected to. Maybe they created this ridiculously over-ambitious bill in the hopes that they can cut a deal and just get the bits they really want through. I'm guessign that would be a fingerprint database. They've made a mess of it anyway. No-one wants any of it right now. 86% of respondants to a survey on the BBC website said they did not support id cards. I can't believe the number of clowns out there claiming that they have nothing to hide. I suppose these people would publish their complete medicial, or criminal records, along with an address and telephone number on a public web page would they?

There's been a bit of a blow to the file sharing industry. A US court has ruled that the software companies that produce the software that allows sharing can be held responsible for copyright violations. That's like holding me responsible for a murder because I designed a baseball bat that someone used as a weapon. I think this will be overturned. Funny how Sony worked so hard in the 70s to fight against the legal opposition to the Betamax standard isn't it.

And in other news today, the former mistress of Picasso has managed to make over a million quid selling sketches by him. Seems somewhat mercinary to me. Wouldn't it have been great to offer them as a lottery prize. The voice of Tigger, Paul Winchell, has died aged 82. And here's some trivia for you, he was also the voice of Gargamel in the Smurfs. A sad loss. And it seems that Tom Cruise's outburst, which I mentioned yesterday, has caused something of a backlash from the qualifies pychiatrists of the world, read about it here.

Rocks and trains

We travelled up to the North Coast this weekend to look at the strange rock formations. I took some pictures and even got around to putting them in the gallery. I also put up the pictures I took when we went hill climbing with Andy and Vivian.



Pretty isn't it?

Apparently the strange rock formations happen because the rocks there are a combination of soft sand stone and harder rock. Thus wear is uneven, so it looks like the surface of Mars or something. One of the even looks like a head.

The dragons aunt from America and her husband came to Taiwan. They are retired but have been living and working in US for many years. He is a restauranteur and produced a damn fine dinner yesterday.

In other news. I'm pleased to report that my parents have purchased a new PC and after a short phone call with me yesterday evening, they are now all back on line again.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow because the second reading of the id card proposal is scheduled in the House of Commons. The government is clearly running scared, arranging it for a day when many MPs will be unable to attend and amid claims that the estimate they have come up with of the cost is way short of the mark. This morning I am also reading that the government is denying that information gathered as a result of the id card prgramme will be available for purchase to help bring down the cost. More acurately, they say that the claim is "without foundation", which doesn't actually mean it's not true does it? They are however admitting that they plan to let banks check data in the database for a fee. Sorry, but I'm not quite sure what the difference is between "selling the data" and "letting the bank check the data for a fee". Click.

Tom Cruise is a prick, it's official. He's been spouting his Scientologist garbage about anti-depressant drugs all over the place. His argument would appear to be, "Psychiatry is a pseudo science", "You don't know the history of psychiatry. I do", and "you have to evaluate and read the research papers on how they came up with these theories. That's what I've done". And my argument is, "you're a third rate actor with a big mouth", and "There are plenty of people in this world more qualified than you who think anti depressants help people, they're called doctors". Who does he think he is? Honestly, I could throw a bread roll from any street corner in the US and hit about five Tom Cruises. You're not special Tom.

OK, and on to something different. Dickie wants a decscription of my journey to work with links. Not sure whether this was his idea of a joke of not, or why he would want this, but I thought of a way to do it, so here goes...

Usually I get a lift to Muzha station and travel all the way along the Muzha line to Zhong Shan Junior High School station. There I catch a bus to work in Neihu. When I can't get a lift to Muzha station I have to walk to QiZhang station, go to Taipei main station, change to the Bannan line, go to Xung Xiao Fuxing station, change to the Muzha line, go to Zhong Shan staion and get on the bus to work. In case you're interested, I live in the bottom right hand corner of the QiZhang map. I work in Neihu, which is east of Zhong Shan Junior High School station. The entire metro map can be viewed here.

This paragraph was made possible by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation.

Phut!

Friday lunchtime:

I think that today's most interesting news item is concerns the Co-Op bank's decision to exclude the Christian Voice from holding an account with them. For those who don't know, the Christian voice is an ultra conservative and politically active UK organisation. For the most part they have remained a fairly obscure crack-pot covern, but they did gain some column inches recently when they attemted to prevent the BBC from showing the Jerry Springer musical. Thankfully they failed in their bid, but bully-boy tactics from them did succeed in persuading a cancer charity to reject a sizable donation from the procedes of the musical.

The Co-Op bsnk has stated that the views of Christian Voice, particularly regarding homosexuality, were incompatible with their own policies. I take my hat off to the Co-Op on this one. CV are claiming that they are being discriminated against on the grounds of religious orientation. This from an organisation that claims to be against political correctness and openly discriminates against gays, atheists, divorcees, people who want to watch the Jerry Springer musical, people suffering from cancer, people who have abortions, people who have fertility treatment, people who let terminally ill patients die with dignity, people who masturbate, and oh, just about anyone who isn't a bible thumping fundamentalist.

Saturday morning:

Our ADSL died last nght so that's why this never got finished or posted. I appear to have fixed it now, but I confess, I have no idea what I am doing. There are four LAN ports on the back of the modem and I moved the cable from 2 to 1. It now appears to be working. I guess we can assume that we blew a port up. Anyway, I'm not tempting fate by messing with it again.

Long way round

I had to come to work the long way this morning. It's a long story, but here goes. The lift that takes cars to the basement parking area of our building broke down last night. My father in law couldn't get his gar out, so he borrowed the dragon's motorbike. This morning, although the lift was working again, the motorbike wasn't there and I had no way to get to Muzha station. Instead I had to walk to Zhi Chung station, go to Taipei main station, change to the Bannan line, go to Xung Xiao Fuxing station, change to the Muzha line, go to Zhong Shan staion and get on the bus to work. Now that sounds really complicated, but actually, it's really easy and only took me about 1 hour, about the same as usual. I arrived early.

There's a story on the BBC news site today about an ice cream salesman who has run into problems with the Assets Recovery Agency in Northern Ireland. The agency claims his lifestyle could not possibly be sustained by the income from his fairly modest ice cream business and they have seized his assets including houses worth 1.5 million pounds. It is alleged that he has been selling smuggled tobabcco. The story is not very interesting. Though I have to comment that, if guitly, it's a victimless crime. I would also love to know how the hell the Asset Recovery Agency has access to the sort of information that led them to this conclusion. However, the most entertaining element of this story is the headline, "Ice cream man has assets frozen". I was almost afraid to read the story in case it lost it's apppeal.

Dr Tony Wright, Labour MP made a most interesting point in Prime Minister's question time this week. Apparently 3 billion people in the world today have an income of less then $2 per day. Each cow in Europe is given $2.50 in subsidies paid for by European tax payers. And Chirac says that the CAP is not negotiable. I seldom find myself in any sort of agreement with any member of the Labour party, but I have to hand it to Dr Wright, that was a worthy observation.

I was only really listening to PM's questions because I had heard that Dawn Primarola, one time (and possibly still?) MP for my old home town of Swindon, was given a hard time via the PM. Dawn is now the paymaster general, and as such finds herself responsible, in no small way, for the absolutely disasterous tax credit system. Dawn and Tony were both givena sound thrashing by Michael Howard and Dawn was esentially accused of lying to the house.

While I'm having a political day, Geoff Hoon, ex defence secretary and current Leader of the House, has been accused of trying to avoid embarrassing debate on the frightening ID card scheme by scheduling the first vote for Tuesday, a day when many MPS will be attending events to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar. It has been suggested that the debate will be a half hearted effort since many will be absent and that media coverage of the Trafalgar celebrations will overshadow anything the government would rather not see go too public. Given this governemnt's record for taking advantage of big events, including the death of the Princess of Wales, to bury bad news, I would agree that it's probably the case. But it's good to see them running scared.

OK, bed time.

Romantic notion

Still feeling gripey about work, but I'm not going to dwell upon it. Tomorrow we have teppenyaki lunch arranged. Now that can't be bad can it.

I understand the thinking behind the British governments proposed new "incitement to religious hatred" law. I cannot however understand why they need to specifically target racial hatred. If I shout hateful abuse at someone because they are black or Jewish, is that worse than shouting hateful abouse at someone because they're physically or menatlly disabled? Does a physical attack motivated by racism need to be treated any differently to an attack motivated by some other kind of hate? I would say no. An attack is an attack isn't it? And, though I've not read the proposals yet, I do know that we already have specific laws that deal with matters of racism. The whole thing just smells of bureaucracy to me. The governement was threatened by a revolt from it's own back benches. The revolt didn't come, but there is still the House of Lords.

James said that I should construct an official DongXi Shit List and I'm thinking about it. I could flash it up and include a game to shoot people or throw poo at them or something. The idea is coming to me slowly.

A new style space ship designed to sail on solar winds has been launched using Russian technology and appears to have run into trouble. The idea is that the craft is driven by solar particals caught in a huge sail. But it seems as though the rocket that was supposed to take it to an orbit 500 miles above earth may have misfired and no-one knows exactly where it is. It was to unfurl it's sails and orbit the earth taking pictures. I think I read that it would accelerate for a while before leaving orbit.

It's a romantic notion, solar sailing, and that alone is enough for me to want it to work. It seems a long shot though and I can't justify the therory in my head properly. I hope they find it anyway. Click and click.

Apparrently the British royal family cost us about 37 million pounds per year. That's about 61p per person. That doesn't include security costs. My guess is that security would easily double the figure. Alan Reid, keeper of the privy purse claims they are good value. Well he would wouldn't he, seeing as they pay him and he gets his 61p back. I personally think that the embarrassment they cause the British public with their increasingly bizarre lifestyles costs us far more than the money value. Click.

Gripes and Complaints

I'm not sure what I'm going to write about yet but this could be a list of gripes and complaints so you don't have to read on if you don't want...

I work for a scumbag. He awards bonuses and then never pays them. I'm sorely tempted to stick one on the tosser. Nasty little weasle. He owes me a bonus from March, and he still owes me for dinner at the Westin Taipei. Like an idiot I actually paid for that myself thinking that the penny pinching bastard would reimburse me as promised. I'll get even. What gets me is the philosophy. I mean, does he expect me to work hard now that I know his promises are lies? Bollocks to that, I'm working to rule until further notice.

I've come to the conclusion that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is a most unpleasant man. I used to think he was OK, despite the fact that my views on Christianity are miles from his. I realised after a while that he was not as clever as I thought he was. Now I think he is undeserving of respect from anyone. He has described web based media as, "paranoid fantasy, self-indulgent nonsense and dangerous bigotry". OK, I understand what you mean, but it's not all like that is it. That's like saying "all Muslims are terrorists". Very ill considered choice of words at best. He goes on to describe the atmosphere on the internet as a "free-for-all" that was “close to that of unpoliced conversation”. Now that sent shivers down my spine.

What is he trying to say here? Is it the fact that anything written on the internet can be accessed by anyone? Is it a censorship issue? Is it the fact that, as an internet user I can write anything that comes into my head? A free speech issue? Is it the fact that it's very difficult to control? An authoritarian issue? I honestly don't understand what could have provoked such a ridiculous comment. But I can only assume that Rowan Williams is either:

a: Pro censorship
b: Against free speech
c: A control freak

Whichever it is, he gets a place on the DongXi shit-list and the June award for the most undiplomatic ranting in public. The phrase "unpoliced conversation" in that context is one of the most chilling things I have heard from a figure in authority in my life. It's like something from 1984. And Williams, if by any strange coincidence you do happen to read this, you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. Click here for the story.

Indian Birthday

Went to a traditional Indian birthday party on Saturday. It was good. I felt outnumbered. There were three white people there, including me, perhaps 10 Taiwanese, and an uncountable number of Indian people. I think every Indian in Taipei was at that restaurant on Saturday night. They know how to enjoy themselves. The food was good and the beer was cold. Actually ordering a drink was a bot like Russian roulette. James claimed the bar man was either deaf or simply had a sense of humour. There was a distinct difference between what was ordered and what was received. I think it added to the experience. Dinna really screwed things up by asking for a white russian. God knows what she got, but it wasn't white.

Sunday morning I awoke with dinosaur breath, but happy.

We drove up to the north coast yesterday. Originally the plan was to visit a traditional fishing village. The drive was long but we did reach said village after a couple of stops on the way at places of interest. I took a couple of pictures which I will post at some point I expect. At the fishing village place we visited a temple. It was one of the more scary Buddhist temples I've scene. Huge gargoyle things everywhere. I always feel very out of place visiting temples. Though I always find them interesting, I'm always scared of making some hideous faux pas. I really don't know what I'm doing. They're always very relaxed plaes in my experience however, and the keepers of the temples seem to like explaining things to the confused looking white guy.

The temple at the fishing village was some long way outside Taipei and the people far less cosmopolitan. I don't think I saw any other white people there. We wandered round the fish market and watched deals being struck and a man very skillfully carving up a huge fish. We also bought some raw tuna which, although sounds quite foul, is really good with a little soy sauce and wasabe. Outside Taipei I tend to get stared at. It used to bother me, but I otice it far less now.

I used to be something of a fan of formular one motor racing, but I got very bored with it when the FIA suddenly seemed to start making the most ridiculous rule changes. I got more disenchanted when the FIA started, in my view, blatently favouring Michael Schumacher. One memorable GP saw Schumacher winning from the pit lane, another time it appeared that his car was illegally equipped with automatic launch facility, but he was not penalised beccause he "wasn't using it". Another time there was controversy over some aerodynamics on his car that was glossed over. The long and the short, it wasn't a race anymore, it was more like a procession, so I stopped watching. I do however still read the news sometimes and it appears that this weekend saw one of the most farcical GPs I can remember.

It would seem that a problem with Michelin tyres emerged during practice. All but 6 cars were using the problem tyres. Michelin offered to help with the problem and fly in new tyres, do some testing. The FIA said that they couldn't because it was against new rules. Michelin advised drivers not to race until the problem could be replicated. The drivers all said they would only race if a chicane could be placed at the problem spot. All the drivers agreeed (except Michael Schumacher's team) but it made no difference because the FIA wouldn't authorise the change anyway. So the race went ahead with 6 cars. Schumacher won, the track was pelted with missiles and many fans went home early. What the hell are the FIA doing? I wonder what their ruling would have been if Schumacher had been on the suspect tyres and was threatening to pull out. It amazes me that anyone watches the tripe anymore. It's a joke.

Tom Cruise became the victim of a prank at the premiere of War of the Worlds when someone squirted him with water from a trick microphone. He didn't take it very well and lost his rag a bit. I can't decide who's side I'm on here, genereally I would say that if you assault a celebrity you deserve everything you get. I think that's my stance here. I'm with Tom.

Apparently it's OK to make reference to things religious in British non religious weddings now. When we were married last year, we were specifically told that it was completly out of the question to have any religious music or readings that made reference to God, Angels, Jesus, Mary, heaven etc. I didn't care, but it struck me as mad. Apparently there is no rule preventing one from referencing Islamic teaching in a religious service. Anyway, now it's all benn changed and you can walk in to the sound of Ave Maria if you want.

Today was a ramble wasn't it.

Rip-Off

My iPOD was shuffling songs on my way to work this morning. As I walked from the subway to the bus stop it was playing "Slow boat to China". As I approached the office it was David Bowie's "China Girl". The irony didn't really hit me until half way through the Bowie track. A white man in Taiwan listening to two other white guys singing about China. Yeah, well I guess you had to be there.

That humungous spider that I mentioned a while back turned up again last night. I was asked to dispense with it, but I wasn't quick enough. While looking for a suitable weapon, it scampered off and is still in residence somewhere. I dont' really want to kill it. It's not a humanitarian thing. It's just too big to kill. It would make a horrible mess I'm sure. The wasps haven't come back I'm pleased to say.

There is much squabbling in Europe over budget and constitution at the moment. They've decided to extend he deadline for ratifying the constitution "beyond November 2006" whatever that means. It won't make any difference however. The problem has nothing to do with timescales, it's a rotten piece of legislation. All the time in the world won't change that. Currently Britain is public enemy no. 1 in Europe because we won;t give up our rebate. I can't help smiling about it.

I just watched Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn. Somehow I have managed to miss this film my entire life. It was pointed out to me by the dragon that it is remarkably similar to Nottinghill. Perhaps more corectly, Notting hill is remarkably similar to Roman Holiday. I would have missed this, but have look, she's right. Nottinghill is a rip off.

The Sun should be detonated

My head aches and I'm having a bad day workwise. Really can't be bothered to go into specifics.

The Sun Newspaper, never out of the top three most disgusting tabloid rags in the world, has been patting itself on the back for managing to get a fake bomb into Sandhurst Military College. That's where Prince Harry is studying how to kill people, in case you wondered. As usual the fake bomb was in fact a couple of wires, a battery, and a clock. It never fails to amaze me that journalists think of this sort of thing as such a major achievement. Anyone could have done it you idiots. Read the story here.

Let's put this in perspective. I'll use short words so that even Sun readers/journalists can understand. The only way to protect someone, or some place completely is to take away all access to that person or place. In short, if you want to be sure that no-one unauthorised gets into Sandhurst, you have to block all openings big enough to admit a human being with concrete, and then stand a 24 hour armed guard every 2m around the perimeter to prevent someone making their own door with a sledgehammer. If you put Prince Harry inside, you could be fairly sure he would be safe. Of course, it would still be vulnerable to air strikes, nuclear attack etc. My guess is that, even if those measures were implemented at Sandhurst, some idiot from the Sun would be trying to chloroform all the guards and blow a hole in the wall, all to "expose, for the public interest, gaps in security", as was the case this time of course.

You knobheads have to realise that it's all about striking a balance between the need to protect something/someone, and providing access to that something/someone. Pulling stunts like this doesn't prove that security is bad. And it's not even good journalism. Go and do something worthwhile! We're all bored with seeing you smuggle fake bombs onto the chunnel trains, aeroplanes, etc. I wish someone would smuggle a real bomb into the Sun office and detonate it.

Japan and France want to build the next supersomic passenger plane. I think we've been hearing about Japanese aspirations in this direction for some time. I still don't remember any Japanese designed aircraft however. I want to have a go ont he new Airbus A380. It's been delayed 6 months however. I think the first flights won't be until end of 2006.

Aircraft Carrier

As I mentioned yesterday, Microsoft has caved in to Chinese pressure and banned certain things from being posted on the Chinese MSN site. Over and above the fact that I'm appalled by the fact that Microsoft has felt it necessary to do this, I have to ask the question, why? Was the Chinese government threatening to block MS sites in China? I can't see that they would do that. The sites are required for software releases, patches etc. And what if they did manage to block MS sites in China? Would it really matter that much to Microsoft? Are they that worried about the China market? I supopse they could be, but they have such a hold on the PC market, I can't see that there could be anything to replace it. The whole thing smells bad to me. Click.

Michael Jackson is apparently going to change his lifestyle and not sleep with children anymore. Well that's good to hear isn't it. Some estimates are putting the cost of the trial at $5 million. That's just MJ's bill and he doesn't get any state help. There is also a bill for the tax payer of course.

Tony Blair says there is deadlock between himself and Black Jacques Chirac over our EU budget rebate. I can't see what the problem is here. We were awarded a rebate because we were paying too much, and every year Europe (read France) tries to stop it. Here's a good idea, let's just back out of Europe and not give the blood sucking bastards anything. We already contribute a cart load more than France. In fact, only Germany gives more. And where is this money going? I'll tell you. Mostly the common agricultural policy which the French won't discuss despite the fact that it's ruining farming just about everywhere. What are they even talking about? A debate like this should take 2 minutes and should run along the lines of. "Votre rebate est too grande", "We'll discuss the rebate if you discuss CAP". "Non!", "OK, Au revoir!"

Michael Howard says Blair has been out manoeuvered as the focus of debate has switched from EU constitution to UK rebate. I think Blair did it on purpose, preferring to face deadlock on the rebate issue than a knock down drag out fight over the constitution. I think Europe is drowning in its own juices.

Here's a story that caught my eye. A US highschool student has been charged with battery after vomiting over a Spanish teacher. The student claims it was an accident. Prosecutors and witnesses claim it was intentional. The student has since been expelled though it's not made clear whether the expulsion was in connection with the vomiting incident or not. Hell of a way to piss your Spanish teacher off if you ask me.

I'm an occasional reader of The Sneeze website and I particularly like the Steve don't eat it section. You should all definitely go and read the prison wine entry. I'm really tempted to give it a go.

Nearly killed myself trying to lift a huge server this afternoon. It's built like an aircraft carrier and I have to have the manual ready next week. It has twin motherboards, each with quad processors, and it supports up to 128 GB of memory. Is there anything in the universe that requires that much desk top computing power?

Fairies

So, MJ is innocent, or at least, they don't think he's guilty of the charges brought by the aviso family. Odd, very odd. Was I really obsessed? I was interested. I can't find myself caring one way or the other about the verdict.

Regarding agnostisism/atheism. I don't believe in fairies, I have n reason to believe fairies exist. Until such time as there is some evidence presented, I remain unconvinced of their existance. If the evidence is presented, I am prepared to re-evaluate my position. I feel the same way about God. I call that atheism because I currently don't believe a God exists. In my view an agnostic is someone that believes in something, but isn't sure what.

I have other things to write but no time. Microsoft is censoring it's Chinese users, I'll rant about that tomorrow. James had to run off to Hong Kong, so god luck to you buddy.

Welcome to my world

This weekend I went to the Museum of International Religion. It was good, though rather too spiritual for my liking. I know that sounds strange, but I'd like to see just a little pure logic allowed into these places. It's just a minor gripe, it was interesting. The most interesting thing about the visit however, was the effect it had on the dragon. She entered a lapsed bhuddist/agnostic, two hours later she emerged into the rain a confirmed atheist. I'm sure this was not the aim of the curators.

She came out muttering something about "people's imagination". She mutters a lot in a variety of languages and I have learnt to let much of it wash over me, but this was clearly of some significance. "It's just people explaining things with nothing more than their imagination isn't it", she said. I agreed. "There's no more reason to believe Christianity than Islam or Hindu religions is there?" I agreed. She smiled, she looked happy. I welcomed her to the word of the atheist. I pointed out that I had been telling her much the same thing for many years. My sister in law also came with us. The visit had a less dramatic effect on her. But she still had a question, "What was all that about the turtle?"

As an aside here, my boss at work on Firday asked me what I believed in and I told him nothing. He claims to be agnostic and he thinks that it's the only logcal path. I thought about this quite a bit. I can't think of a single good reason to believe there is a supernatural deity. I don't discount the possibility, but my general feeling is that there doesn't have to be, and if there is, it would probably generate as many questions as it answered. For me, that is basically not believing in God. I'm willing to be persuaded on that one though.

The rain yesterday was torrential and there was no chance of running, so I didn't. We made biscuits instead. One could argue that biscuits have completely the opposite effect of exercise I suppose.

There were some huge, and I'm talking gigantic, wasps making a nest on our balcony this weekend. The balcony's made a lot of news lately hasn't it. Anyway, my father-in-law tried to poke it down with a stick. Apparently these bastards are nasty if they sting you, and he got stung. His eye swelled up quite a bit, but it went down by the afternoon, so that was pretty lucky. I think he was just half stung. I felt guilty. I told him about the nest and hid behind the screen as he poked it. I'm currently inventing a wasp nest disposal tool.

I finally managed to get hold of a copy of Nine Songs this weekend. I heard about this film months ago, can't remember where. It's a British film by Micheal Winterbottom and it generated some controversy because it was supposed to be pretty explicit. It's touted as an art film though, so I wanted to see it. Well I did, and it's porn. That's not to say I have a problem with porn as such, and as porn goes, Nine Songs is very watchable, it is however nothing without the sex. This leaves me in something of a quandry. Before I watched it, I mentioned it to my sister in law. She's a film buff, watches a lot of the European art house movies, and she said she wanted to borrow it. I said yes, thinking it was just a bit erotic .Not sure I really want to kend it to her now. It is worth watching if you're open minded and like the erotic, but don't expect much plot.

Yes a sink

I'm having one of those days where everything just seems to conspire to bugger things up for me. I couldn't find my keys this morning. I'm sure I dropped them on the subway last night. I remember hearing something drop but then forgetting about it because I couldn't see anything on the floor. I just got a call from the dragon asking me how I feel because she's fairly sure the zhong si (Chinese style lunch) I ate 30 minutes ago had oyster in it. I am hugely allergic to shell fish.

In answer to the Mr Cat6 question, yes we do have a sink on our balcony. We also have a washing machine. Balconies here are not for sunning oneself. A balcony is a practical area of many homes here, usually adjoining the kitchen. They often have bars on to keep out unwanted people. They are invariably used for drying clothes, storing mops and buckets, that kind of thing. Isaw a squirrel hopping about just outside our balcony this morning. I didn't think they had squirrels here, but they do apparently.

The above was written yesterday (Friday). It is now Saturday morning and I have found my keys on the bedroom floor under the chair. Don't know how they got there.

We are forcast heavy rain today, but right now it's hot and humid.No-one is ready to go out and play though, I'm the only morning person round here, and I suspect we will all end up attempting to do something in inclement conditions this afternoon. It'sa holiday weekend, dargonboat festival. I even got a little red envelope bonus from big boss yesterday. No doubt that will be subtracted from the next pay cheque.

The first stage in my attempt to get my website filtered out by the Great Firewall of China has come into play. One reader of my drivel who is unable to use links to the BBC website included in this ramblings so often asked me to e-mail one of the pages to her. Instead I mirrored it on DongXi and she can now read it. I also added the page that claimed the Chinese authorities were insisting that blogs were registered. And that got an interestign response. Aparently the BBC may have exagerrated the story. It doesn't seem as though Chinese bloggers are overly worried anyway.

The Michael Jackson jury has ended a week of deliberation without coming to a decision.

I sort of want to got to Tokyo next week and see the prototype robot expedition, but I'm not sure if it's really a major enough exhibition to warrant the cost.

Rioting in the streets

The good news for today is that my internet feed now works at home. So I once again have a fat pipe. It's always good to have a fat pipe.

The bad news today is that China is clamping down on personal web pages and even blogs. All Chinese will, from the end of June, have to register their blogs with the government or fall foul of the law. It would also seem that early applications to register are being refused. Click.

I'm torn. On one hand I want to create a site that is so anti China that I get filtered out by the Great Firewall. On the other hand, I want to produce a site just this side of aceptable to China and publish posts from Chinese people who can't have their own site. I image though that the second scenario couldn't happen without the first. I think I would feel a certain sense of achievement if China filtrered me out. I'm thinking about this. I'll keep you posted.

We're still waiting on the MJ case. I guess that means the jury are undecided and it could fall either way.

I know I've mentioned the proposed new car tracking scheme every day this week so far, but I have to mention it again today. Here's a quote from the BBC website again:

"Motorists' groups have reacted angrily to the proposals, although a Mori survey suggests that only 16% of drivers would refuse to have tracking devices fitted in their cars to allow the introduction of road-charging."

NOw I've already accused the BBC of bias on this one, but look at that statement, "only 16%". Are you mad?! That's about 1 in 6 people. Or to put it another way, 5 milion cars. That my friends is not an insignificant resistance, that's a bleeding rebellion! And quite right too. There should be rioting on the streets.

Virtually

We should get the internet problem sorted out today at home. I'm going to kill someone if we don't. Not sure who, could be just some unlucky stranger walking past at the wrong time.

I got my commute to work totally wrong today. The dragon had an appointment at the hospital for a medical. She has to give some blood, so she couldn't give me a lift to the usual station. I therefore had to travel from Chi Chung station instead of Muzha. I miscalcualted the time completely and arrived about 30 minutes early. I resoved to do some work but instead I am still writing this almost 40 minutes later. I've also checked all my mail accounts, scanned the news sites quickly, and discussed the Sound of Music with Sumedha who also turned up mysteriously early.

The Taiwan parliament set up in 1949 by Chiang Kai Shek is to be dissolved this week. I know this sounds boring and it probably is for people outside Taiwan, but actually it's very significant. The parliament was set up when Chiang was first driven here after the Chinese civil war, when he still had dreams of leading China. He of course failed in his quest, loosing out to Mao. The parliament is however the last political link with the Chinese mainland, and although it has not had any real power for many years, China will not be happy to see it go. The BBC website explains it all very well. Click.

There was a huge spider on the balcony yesterday. It was maybe 10cm across. The dragon wouldn't go on the balcony and I had to deal with it. I tried to catch it in the fish net, but it ran off under the sink. I was going to just pick it up and lob it into the widerness, but it occured to me that it might be poisonous, so I opted not to. I suppose I should make an effort to learn about the wildlife here. There was a snake on that balcony once. I couldn't recognise a poisonous snake if my life depended on it.

The more I think about the incredibly stupid pay as you go road scheme proposed by the British governement, the more I find it astounding. It occurs to me that they simply want to find ways of taxing the driver without having to tax fossil fuel. That way they can continue to collect the revenue as other forms of transport are phased in.

There is an incredible news story on the BBC website today about an on-line game fan who stabbed a fellow game and killed him becsue he sold his virtual sword. Can you believe that? Read about it here. I know one shouldn't laugh, but the quote from the story that I think is most telling is, "My son was only 26 when he died. He was sleeping when Qiu broke into his home. He was barely able to put his pants on before Qiu stabbed him".

And on that note I will leave you until tomorrow.

Bad Day

Yesterday turned into a bad day. We have an internet problem at home. It's becuause we have two users and only a 256K ADSL line. It may be configured badly, but when one of us uses it, the other gets really slow service. The long and the short, I said I'd buy another line. We're only going to be there for 6 months but I need internet to keep in touch with family. Yesterday the internet company came round and told us we couldn't have any more ervices because there are already 3 phone lines and one internet service. He then proceded to bugger up the one internet line that did work and then pissed off, upsetting me, the dragon, and the dragon's cousin in the process. So currently I have no internet at home. And this morning I had no internet when I arrived at work. I know I should be able to live without it, but it's really like having my arm cut off or something. Anyway, everyone was in a foul mood yesterday because of this.

I got a couple of comments about the pay-as-you-go road pricing scheme. Both in the same vain, which eith erindicates that everyone reading my blog is either a sreaming libertarian, or that the government in Britain is suffering from some reality problem. I know where I'd put my bet. The BBC "Have your say" page threw open the question of whether it was a good idea and it was almost universally panned, click. The media however appear to be giving the subject a very positive spin. Surely this should be laughed at from day one? We shall see.

OK, no time for anymore.

Road Tax

The government is proposing a new plan to collect road tax revenue. They plan to make drivers pay as they go. I read this yesterday on the BBC website. I don't have a problem with the concept. It's an idea that has been kicked around for years. It's good for the average driver because it means that the people who do millions of miles a year pay more. It would also mean that people who bring cars from the continent would be liable. Currently they are exempt from purchasing road tax. Successive governments have talked about this but always failed to implement anything. One of the reasons is that drivers currently generate considereably more tax revenue than is spent on roads, and governements are reluctant to meddle with a good earner.

This new proposed scheme differs from all previous ideas quite significantly however. Up until now the idea has been to scrap the licence duty payable on each vehicle, and simply increase the price of fuel to cover the cost. This new scheme intends to install a satellite tracking device in every car and monitor where they have been. They can then be billed for the milage. It is proposed that rural areas get charged a very low rate (2p per mile), while urban rates could be as high as GBP 1.34.

Is anybody else thinking sledgehammers and nuts here? Lets assume the cost for setting up the system comes out at 200 pounds per vehicle. I think that's a fairly low estimate considering development costs and then the hardware involved. There would also be an ongoing administrative cost of course, but let's ignore that for now. Where is this money going to come from? Is each driver going to have to pay this cost personally?

What bothers me more than the ridiculouos complexity and cost of the scheme is the fact that it's just another attempt, like the id card scheme, of keeping tabs on everybody. What is this government obsession with creating an Orwellian state? I bet this plan won't even get off the ground, but it worries me that the goverenment think it has a chance.

Thanks to Mr CatV for the heads up on this. I had already seen it by the time I read the note, but it's a sign that people are recognising my objection to authoritarian principals.

Jack Straw is expected to tell MPs today that the plan for a UK referendum in the Spring will be shelved. Well that's a huge surprise to everyone isn't it. They're still trying to tell us that there could be a referendum in the future of course. I'm quite pleased at how many MPs are declaring the EU constitution dead. I had an idea that the constitution would probably go ahead in some disguised form. It still might. But I tihnk it's encouraging to see even Ken Clarke seemingly resigned to the fact that it's just not going to happen. Or he might just be relieved, as is Mr Blair no doubt, that a UK referendum doesn't now have to go ahead.

I ran three km at the weekend. It gets a little further each time. I did stop after two km though. It's kind of embarrassing to actually feel good about running such a piffling distance. I used to be able to run 10 km. What happened to me? Actually I know what happened to me, beer and tobacco, driving licence. It should be easy to get back where I was. I drink very little these days, haven't smoked in about 3 years, and I don't drive in the city because I don't have a licence here. Must be some other factor I'm missing.

Flies

I managed to make it all the way to work and sit down at my desk before I realised that my fly was unzipped this morning. It's always a bad day when that happens. An omen if ever I saw one.

Went to Computex yesterday. It wasn't as crowded as I remeber in previous years. Maybe the biggest computer trade show in Asia is becoming less important as time goes on. It wasn't much fun anyway. We walked miles around the maze of stands, pushed our business cards at potential customers and generally touted our services as technical writers. Someone else's turn to go today.

I forgot to mention our trip to the Westin Hotel Taipei on Tuesday. We dined at the East-West buffet. It was most excellent and despite the fact that I don't eat crab due to a shell fish allergy, there was lots of good food to choose from. It tasted slightly better because it was free, paid for by the boss for my outstanding performance last month.

Contact was made to England last night using Skype. They don't deserve any customers because their payment system and support service suck, but it the product works well. My parents can now call us in Taipei with a London number. How cool is that?

I've just been listening to a political debate on UK radio about the Europe issue. A panel of politicians is put in front of an audiance of the general public. The programme is called "Any Questions". Predictably, the first question from the audience was something like, "now that the French voted No, what does it mean for the future of Europe, Tony Blair, do we need a referendum?"

All the invited panel of politicians said that it was unfortunate that the French voted not to adopt the treaty. Some claimed that the problem was the treaty itself and not Europe as an entity. One even claimed that we should all be in favour of European union because he was over 60 years old and Europe had been peaceful for all that time. Perhaps he has forgoten about that small issue with the former Yugoslavia a few years ago. Or the fact that Europe has really only been in its present form for the last decade of that 60 years. There were also the usual arguments about needing to be a stronger force in the world to compete with the US and the emerging powers like China.

But they all missed the point completely. There is no benefit to giving Europe as a whole, any political power. In nearly every European country, handing power to a central government would represent a huge step backwards in terms of democracy. People can see a central European government, whom they did not elect, telling them how many hours they are allowed to work each week. Why is that better than their own governments, whom they did elect, telling them? I can see the benefit of dropping European trade barriers. I can even see that a common currency would be beneficial in some ways. Only thr politicians benefit from centralised government.

Think about what you've done!

Well I never amde it to the trade show yesterday. I'm going today instead. This means that today also I am pushed for time.

We had a big earthquake last night. Reports differ as to the magnitude, but it was between 5.4 and 6.0. It was one of those shakey ones that makes everything rattle. No damage though, at least not in our household.

Big news on the Skype front people. I know you're not interested, but indulge me. I have actually managed to buy a British phone number. I'd have given up a long time ago and gone to another vendor if I could have found one. Vonage seems to be the in-vogue choice, but they don't cover Taiwan so that was out. I therefore persisted with Skype and their retarded payment system. The trick is to bypass their security by purchasing Skype vouchers from a thrid party in Hong Kong. It's actually slightly cheaper, I think because of tax, and the big advantage is, they will take your money. You then just give your voucher to Skype and they give you the service. All is well. I still want to kill someone at Skype, and it rather irks me that I have to give them my money at all, but what can you do? If a suitable alternative comes along, I'll switch without a second thought.

The Dutch have voted No in the Europe referendum. Yuo heard it here first. I told you last week if you remember. I wonder what Blair will say now. He's still kicking about the possibility of a referendum in Britain despite the fact that there is more chance of the Loch Ness Monster being sighted in the Thames estury.

Apparently Steven Spielberg has been voted best director of all time by Empire readers. I have therefore resolved never to buy Empire magazine in my life or be seen reading it. It's clearly only read by idiots. I'm not saying Spielberg hasn't made some memorable films. And, despite the fact that he hasn't made anyting I like since Dual, I will say that one or two of his pieces have shown some quality. But best director of all time!?? That's like saying The Sun is the best quality newspaper in the world. What were you thinking people? Go back and watch ET. Then think about what you've done.

Concentrate

OK, I don't think this will be a very long entry as I'm short on time, so I'll concentrate on the days most important issues. Apparently G-strings could be causing health problems. According to the BBC website they can "damage the skin and cause infections". This is the result of German research. Just as an aside here. did some student/researcher in Berlin University suddenly apply for funding to research g-strings? Was it an April fols joke? How the hel did that cnversation go?

Anyway, it seems that this research has drawn comments from eminent gynaecologists around the world. Dr Thomas Gent of the Association of Gynaecologists advised women to wear bigger pants. What's the matter with you man? Mr Nick Panay, consultant gynaecologist at the Queen Charlotte's Hospital, in London said, "I'm sure properly fitting underwear is no problem, whether they are briefs or a G-string". Now there's a sensible comment. I say take the Germaine Greer approach and dispense with underwear completely. Click.

Deep Troat has been exposed. That sounds dirty doesn't it. I confess that being a little too young and not American means I know littel about Watergate but the media seems excited. Click.

I'm going to try and take advantge of my bonus tonight and have free dinner at the Taipei Westin. More news onthat tomorow.

Oh and one other thing, SKYPE SUCKS LIKE A CHEAP WHORE!!!!!!