News Archives: October 2003

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Illness will not stop me...

Though it might slow me down. Claire and I are both suffering from a stinking cold - runny nose, sore throat, difficult to breath, headaches, the lot. We are, however, soldiering on as best we can. Finally got some updates done to the Tradetalk site, and Claire is busy laying out the Fundraiser as I type. I've spent much of today slaving over the latest Online Opinion column. Walking the Path to Peace addresses the disaster that occurred yesterday in the Northern Ireland peace process. Mainly, this one is an attack on David Trimble, whose last minute u turn is quite unforgivable. It's very difficult to project a balanced outlook within a thousand words. In truth, I have no sympathy for the extremists on either side. Note to self - must write critical article about Republicans.

Tonight, I'm revising the Huraya Practice article I wrote some time back. HeroQuest has come along and changed all the terminology, so I need to work some of that into the piece.

Posted by graham @ 05:23 pm

Monday, October 20, 2003

Hectic Weekend

The last few days have been hectic. I've gained a temporary housemate - a friend stuck between flats due to a cock up on when contracts began and ended. Another person in the house means a few compromises, and a little bit of uncertainty all round. Not sure yet how much we'll get on each others nerves - given he's only here for three weeks, hopefully not too much. Having someone else here reminds me how much I like having everything round the house just so, and therefore how difficult I can be to live with.

More work, but also more fun, was Saturday. My slightly infamous Hero Wars game was getting a bit much for me. So, we're trying the idea of running on a Saturday once a month, rather than every Thursday. The sessions are longer (about nine hours this time) so the actual gaming time is probably not much different. Saturday was the first try at the new schedule. So far, I'm pretty happy. In the afternoon, I ran Maran's Mirror by Bryan Thexton. Its a lovely little scenario, nicely balanced in that the more powerful and over-confident the party, the more likely they are to cock it up totally. We almost did, realising what was going on just before it was too late. After stopping for pizza, we continued with the first part of a road trip. Some time back, in another campaign (RQ that time) a troll was born from a trollkin mother. The baby has all sorts of prophecies tied to her, and some (game) years back, ended up being protected by the characters in my current game. Now aged nine, she needs to return home for some ceremony, which the players don't yet understand. The trip has been further complicated by the first signs of consequences following their earlier involvement in raising a dragon. They ended up stuck in a time-space loop, seemingly caused by a powerful dragonewt. At least, so the players believe - the truth is somewhat more complex...

All of which left me too tired to achieve much on Sunday, beyond some minor house repairs and dealing with the huge stack of washing up.

Posted by graham @ 10:04 pm

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Latest Online Opinion Columns

Two new Online Opinion columns today. Who Cares Whether Bush Said 'Imminent'? deals with the, too me, nearly inexplicable passion with which the pro- and anti-war lobbies in America are debating whether Bush described Hussein as an "imminent threat" or not. To me, this shows the extent to which Bush's supporters have dominated American politics. This argument gives them the easy answers (he never used the word "imminent") leaving their opponents to make detailed arguments to show that when he said X that's what he meant. Given the things he did say for which he can be attacked (like "Hussein has WMD") the fact that this argument is happening at all pretty much tells me that Bush is safe for his second term.

The second column deals with the fairly obvious topic of The Quiet Man Implodes. Not only has the past couple of weeks shown just how close Iain Duncan Smith is to self-destructing, but it gives a pretty fair indication of why the Tories ain't going to get elected any time soon.

I'm actually a bit disappointed with both of these - neither is amongst my finest work, and they took far too long to write. Still, at least this week's thousand words is up, and more or less on time.

Posted by graham @ 06:29 pm

Sunday, October 12, 2003

Old Photos

We spent a fairly large chunk of yesterday looking at my Grandad's old slides. He was a very keen photographer, which means that we have a collection of photos that provides a pretty good record of his life. In addition to the three thousand or so slides I have, there's the photos that Mum currently has. We barely scratched the surface, and will probably view some more today. There's something very comforting about knowing that a person may be gone, but will always be remembered.

On a totally unrelated note, Sacriston Barrow began slowly, but we have an interesting mix of characters, and the plot will pick up next week. I know - Claire has told me how the next session starts.

Posted by graham @ 08:55 am

Thursday, October 9, 2003

Catching Up

A lack of posts recently, mainly due to over-tiredness on my part. You can tell I've not been well - I didn't even make the pub last night.

I am managing to summon a certain enthusiasm for tonight. For the first time in years, I'm going to get to play in a rpg campaign! Entitled "Sacriston Barrow" the game begins as the story of a normal Yorkshire village, but the plot could end up going, well, anywhere. We'll see. There's going to be a supporting web site which will contain no hint of the game. Wonder how many people we'll confuse?

The other major happening of note was yesterday's Online Opinion column. Bush's Grand Middle East Adventure examines some of the coarser personality flaws displayed by Bush and his administration, and shows how these are responsible for the disasters currently enveloping four countries in the middle east. Since I wrote it, Bush has strongly hinted that he is ready to go to war with Syria at Israel's say so. That's bad news - not only for Syria, but also for Israel. Israel committed an act of war against Syria (I have no idea if the Israeli action was justified - not having access to the intelligence). Syria would retaliate in kind, but they know America would then come in on the Israeli side. By threatening to attack Syria anyway, America reduces the impact of that deterent, greatly increasing the risk of an Arabic attack on Israel. Yet another example of the dumb diplomacy of Dubya.

Posted by graham @ 05:20 pm

Friday, October 3, 2003

Blair Continues to Lie about Iraq

An extra Online Opinion column this week. Blair's speech to the Labour Party Conference had a couple of subtle lies in it about Iraq. Read the column for more details.

Posted by graham @ 05:21 pm

Wednesday, October 1, 2003

Blair's Speech

There are two points that strike me about the current Labour conference. First is Blair's speech - especially his implication that he had doubts about the intelligence on Iraq. Before the invasion, he admitted to no doubts. Indeed, he claimed the intelligence was compelling (something that he now seems to admit was a lie). He attacked those of us who questioned the rationale for war. Now, he is claiming that it was a difficult decision that on balance he thinks was probably right, but he understands if we don't agree. Sorry, that wasn't the line before the war. That wasn't the line that was feed to the House during the debate. Blair's speech is an admission that his evidence was never as compelling as he claimed, and that makes him a liar. His vague waffle about terrorists, dictators and WMDs is another lie now. There is no evidence that Hussein was supporting terrorists - quite the opposite in fact. There is lots of evidence that terrorists are receiving support from, for example, within Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. But we are taking no action at all to contain the threat from within these countries. Why?

The second point that strikes me, and this is slightly more general, is that people talk of the alternative to Blair being another decade or more of Tory rule. It isn't. The benefits that New Labour has brought (and for all their faults, there are many) would be equally valid under Gordon Brown. And Brown is a man unstained by the invasion of Iraq. A man who does not share Blair's unhealthy, even dangerous, obsession with Hussein.

Tony Blair has lied to the country, has lied to his party, and has lied to Parliament. He has dragged us into an unnecessary war whilst ignoring the true dangers of the modern world. His resignation is the only honourable course open to him. A swift hand over of power to Gordon Brown would even be in the best interests of the Labour party.

How about it, Tone?

Posted by graham @ 05:30 pm

Generosity

Just in case anyone is feeling generous out there, I've added a page to Online Opinion that details ways of showing your appreciation for the site. Most of them are (perhaps surprisingly!) free. A kind word or two may not pay the bills, but it does help to make the effort I put in seem worthwhile. Most of the comments on that page apply equally to the other projects I'm involved in.

Posted by graham @ 05:14 pm

Call For A Fair Tax System

The latest Online Opinion column is now up. Towards a Fair Taxation System looks at the fall out from the Liberal Democrats tentative suggestion of replacing the Council Tax with an income tax, the difference between fair and regressive tax, and makes some basic suggestions as to why we will not see such a system appear in the near future.

Posted by graham @ 08:42 am

[Archive Index]