The end of the beginning of the end

Handed my notice in at work today.

No surprise to anyone there, they've all known its been coming for a long while though. Still, really feels like change now. The end of an era.

Otherwise spent a night chilling out in front of the box nursing a bottle of wine.

Very muggy outside & in, god knows how I'm going to sleep tonight.

Methinks I should drink a little more.

Reminding myself of several people I know right now.

*hic*

And boy, you should've seen my typing before the spell-check.

Words as weapons

Another shocking case, but it really pisses me off when an entire institution gets branded as being Institutionally Racist.

In two little words all of the good work done by the vast majority of employees of that service is torn apart. You simply should not paint everyone with the same brush.

There seems to be a cycle in the media at the moment of going through all our major public services, and tearing them apart. No wonder morale suffers.

I have no qualms whatsoever with highlighting disturbing cases, we all need to learn from the mistakes of others. However those chairing enquiries, and those in the media, should learn that words themselves are as damaging as weapons, and should not be banded about lightly.

In motion

According to some police recruitment literature I was re-reading the other day:

"Over 100,000 people apply to join the police force each year, but only one in ten applicants who take the police recruitment process are selected first time."

Not to blow my own trumpet, but that statistic was a nice little ego-boost (not that I've ever really possessed one of any considerable size you'll be glad to know).

This boy done alright then.

Waiting for some starter packs plus my official contracts to come through, then I'll be able to hand my notice in at my current workplace.

Things are really moving now.

The view from the bar

...Following a Beckham special.

Well, we’re still grinding the results out against teams we would’ve have liked to think we could coast past.

All the criticism that’s being levelled at our performance though… Do people realise they were playing in 30deg heat out there? When, if ever, do any of our players usually operate in that? No wonder we’re looking tired at times.

Still, a win is a win.

We know we can play better than this.

C’mon England!

All systems go!

I have news.

At long last I can report that my Police career is less than a couple of months away.

Picked up a voicemail at work yesterday from the recruitment team, followed it up, and was delighted to discover that I’ve passed the final round of vetting, checks and things. Come August 7th I will be formally invited to begin training as a Police Constable.

One minor disappointment, but more than overshadowed by the sheer relief the long wait coming to an end, is that I’ve unfortunately got my second choice of posting. By that, I had previously been asked to rank three areas of the county by preference of where I would wish to serve.

All things considered though, and I did sleep on my decision, it’s no big worry anyway. I’m pretty sure I can cope anywhere (hell – my travelling experience tells me that). What’s more important is that my career and pay are about to take a quantum leap forward.

All this is a much needed breath of fresh air.

Regarding the football… Gutted we twice gave away the lead, but Owen’s agony and the 2nd half slip aside, this was a much improved performance. Cole played a blinder and Rooney’s showing signs of great improvement. If we can keep the momentum going we should be able to beat Ecuador. Again, we have the talent. More often than not, the belief seems to be lacking.

I can certainly identify with that at times.

Please forgive me if I act a little strange...

David Gray @ Hull Arena this evening.

Defintely recommended live. He still does the endearing / annoying head-nodding thing, but that aside a very good gig indeed!

Feline Face-off

Some random shots...

Pipe Dreams

...from this weekend.

Beverley Folk Festival

Snapshots indeed...

Armchair management

All this impatient criticism of the England team seems like a classic case of build ‘em up & knock ‘em down by the media.

Naturally the game was one of the main topics of conversation at work today.

Interestingly though, even one of my usually cynical colleagues pointed out that many-a-world-cup-winning team has made a slow start to the tournament – take Greece in Euro 2004 for instance.

Good point.

Okay so Argentina may have steamrollered Serbia & Montenegro, but have they peaked too soon?

If fate would have offered up two wins, a clean sheet and qualification for the last 16 before the tournament, any sane England fan would have taken it.

Of course there’s plenty of room for improvement, but this team could come to the boil at just the right time.

Rooney’s back, Lennon’s looking impressive and Gerrard scored a blinder.

The ingredients are there, we just need to cook things for a little bit longer.

Tempered with sadness

This is the bit where I usually blab on happily about the England game and stuff.

However, things like the World Cup got thrown sharply into focus this afternoon when a good friend (mentioned previously) miscarried her pregnancy.

My first instinct was to drop everything and rush right round to see her, but realised that I shouldn’t crowd her at such a fragile time. Better to leave her in the comfort of her partner – she’ll see us when she’s ready.

Great to see England win this evening, and the Swedes do well of course (Heja Sverige!) - both leaving it late in their respective games.

But sad news regarding friends & family hits you like a sledgehammer of perspective.

My new system is up & running now with all the bugs ironed out. 1.8ghz processor, 896mb ram, DVD-Rom (in case that kind of stuff turns you on). Broadband should hopefully follow later in the season when I move.

In the meanwhile I should be back on MSN Messenger, and please direct E-Mails back at ing@terra.karoo.co.uk.

Normal service will resume shortly

Apologies for any of you trying to get hold of me on my usual email & msn address.

Still having some teething problems with my new, but otherwise sleek & sexy new system.

Surely it's just for effect?

One would hope.

Old news to any American liberals reading this no doubt, but my blood was positively boiling by the end of this article.

I would respond with equal vitriol in reply; but she clearly revels that.

Simply judge for yourself.

Just make sure you’re sitting comfortably...

Well, kinda'...

‘England labour to opening victory’ puts it just about right.

A superb start forcing an own goal in the third minute. Pressure throughout the first-half and a goalie-substitution should’ve really killed the Paraguayans off, but credit to them, they dug their heals in. Shame really that the second half was a rather limp England performance; pegged back in our own half and rarely making any meaningful forays out from there.

The England team sounded somewhat disappointed in the post-match interviews, Beckham especially summing up the mood; disapointed but emphasising that the 30deg heat really sapped them towards the end. The Paraguayans simply coped better in the sweltering conditions.

Historically England often to make slow starts to major tournaments, and the 14:00 kick-off on a scorching day clearly did us no favours. The next two matches kick-off at 17:00 and 20:00 (CET) respectively; doubtless in the cooler conditions you’ll see a more composed, clinical England performance.

I was rather lucky to see the match in fact, seeing that I was rota’d for this Saturday and swapping match-day with someone was practically impossible. I did however charm the boss into letting me put some extra-time in (ahem) and taking an extra-long lunch hour. Cometh the hour I promptly marched straight out of the shop, down the street and over to the nearest sports bar. Managed to squeeze in, grab a drink and find a corner with a decent view (not too hard with 15 plasma screens dotted around the walls). There’s something to be said for watching major games in bars – boy, the atmosphere!

Apologies to any ‘international’ fans I implored to see the match (you know who you are) who may have been a little underwhelmed. Stick with England, there’s a long way to go yet.

A win is a win...

But get your fingernails on standby.

And some point in this tournament, you will need them.

Can you kick it?

We have our critics, and by god we’re usually our own worst enemies, but there are some wonderful times to be in England.

The eve of an England World Cup match is one of them.

A good proportion of the population is positively buzzing in the days leading up to it.

Fridges are packed full of beer.

The scent of barbeques is carried on the breeze.

The sun always manages to hang around for longer than its alloted hour.

Flags flutter up and down the country

Long-dormant patriotism stirs again, an unashamed re-embracing of an oft tarnished national pride.

Streets miraculously empty just before kick-off.

(Take a walk through one of towns and cities at 13:55 tomorrow - it'll be like scene from the start of 28 Days Later)

Then up and down the country, for ninety minutes, millions people collectively endure the pain and the glory.

Twenty-two men, two sets of goalposts and a ball. It really is that simple.

The biggest party on earth has begun!

Necessary evil

According to the BBC

“Violence continued in Iraq on Thursday as 13 people were killed and 28 injured in a bomb at a Baghdad market, while an evening car bombing killed five, and injured at least 13, police said.”

The misery goes on, but another obstacle towards peace was hopefully removed today. Iraq certainly doesn’t need any further deaths, but it arguably needed this necessary evil. It certainly won’t end the insurgency or the sectarian violence, but his demise is another small and necessary step.

Some fifteen years ago Beruit was a by-word for civil war. Lebanon has come a long was since then.

"No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand." - J. Michael Straczynski

Reloaded

Quick practical note:

If anyone needs to reach me urgently please phone/text or email @ ingmar_c@hotmail.com for the next 2/3 days. My computer is being rebuilt & heavily upgraded by a local techie with a view to the imminent (and long overdue) jump to broadband.

Hopefully my PC should return operating like something akin to Skynet, although I’ll try my best not to start a Third World War.

06/06/06

Which even if you're an American still looks the same way! How wonderful is that?

So.. Well... We're still here?

*drums fingers*

No devil-child that I can see.

Although David Cameron did give an extended interview on Breakfast News this morning, now I come to think of it.

Apparently hardcore Nostradamus-types have the apocalypse worked out as being somewhere past the year 3000. Nothing special happened in 1999 either, so it seems no end-of-the-world fireworks in out lifetime.

Ah well.

Since the appocalypse has been postponed then, I may as well go and make a cup of tea.

The people's game

There can hardly be a better send off to the World Cup than a resounding win.

Nay, an annihilation in fact.

Granted the calibre of opposition (Jamaica) was hardly the best in world, but if we can demolish their neighbours from Trinidad & Tobago with similar ease...

Then we're in for quite a summer.

Interesting that directly after the football the BBC coverage switched to the Epsom Derby. So we cut from the passion and cacophony of Old Trafford to the rather exclusive surroundings of Epsom racecourse. Suddenly the commentary is all breeding, appearances and stakes; the colourful football shirts replaced by ridiculous hats and firmly buttoned suits (despite the gorgeous baking weather). A clearer illustration, if ever it was needed, that football is most certainly the people's game.

The War? The Conflict? The Occupation? The Rebuilding?

What are we supposed to call it these days?

I've deliberately steered clear of commenting on the Iraq war on this blog.

I promised myself.

I have a brother in the forces for godsakes, I feel uncomfortable debating the merits, or lack thereof, of theatre in which he will likely be called to serve in again. Soon.

But this time, I can't bite my tounge. I'm just writing what's in my mind, right now, whatever the flow.

Watching the evening news, as I dutifully do, I was shocked to hear reports of further allegations of civilian deaths at aparently at the hands of coalition troops.

Thing is - I tend to be a bloody optimist.

"Yes, interesting choice of words" I here you say.

But hear me out.

I take an awful lot of flack sometimes for being an optimist in some situations, but stupid and downright blinded that I may sometimes be, I dare to hope for the best in humanity. That for every Hitler there's a Ghandi; for every Mugabe, a Mandela.

But with regard to Iraq, every time I literally think it can't get any worse over there, it does. Optimisim was sadly taken hostage a long while back.

Abu Ghraib...

Then Haditha.

Today; a pregnant woman in labour was shot at a roadblock because her panicking husband drove too quickly into the wrong lane at a checkpoint.

Why do some elements on both sides of this war seem intent on tearing Iraq apart; brutalising and humiliating it's people?

Insurgents know they can't fight the American military machine mano et mano, so the resort to the supremely cowardly tactic of roadside bombs. They blow up mosques in the sick hope that Iraqi's will turn on each other, and attack the very institutions that aim to rebuild the country.

Meanwhile, young shell-shocked coalition troops, stunned by the deaths of their colleagues, hail bullets in a fit of rage catching families (allegedly, deliberately) in the crossfire. Generals cannot understand why Iraqi's aren't pacified when tanks rumble past their children on a daily basis.

Whatever the views on the Iraq war, all sides simply have to make Iraq work now or else we all loose.

Those who think our troops should come home tomorrow should ponder what state Iraq would be in the following day. Civil War? Islamic fundamentalist revolution?

However, those who favour the continued occupation / nation-building (call it what you will), must also accept that the coalition cannot do it alone. Foremost they need the Iraqi's themselves, and secondly they need to understand them. This means not only giving ethical training to troops, but engaging closer with the Iraqi community. Showing trust, not eternal suspicion whenever oportunities present themselves, whatever the risks.

There's several metaphorical wars raging in Iraq right now.

We cannot loose the battle for hearts and minds.

An interesting point was raised at the end of the television report. It went something like this:

"The war with which Iraq is most likened is that in Vietnam, but there is a crucial difference. Towards the end of that conflict the American public supported neither the war, nor the troops fighting it. Crucially, there is not the same parallel in Iraq. Support for the war is at an all time low, but support for the troops serving in Iraq remains solid. However, should inquires report unlawful killings in Haditha, and now Ishaqi, public opinion may turn yet against them. What then?"