caldrail

Once a week during training, and continuing during regular garrison unless excused duty. Vindolanda has a record of a considerable number of non-active troops at a particular moment.

The TA? They're too busy plugging the gaps left by deployment overseas.

Erm... No. DS is banned from Rushey Platt as a social undesirable. Even we have our limits!

Swindon to Newcastle is about six hours by train. Time to settle into the seat, relax, let the train take the strain. I watched the towns and countryside roll by. It was all going too well. The stop at Sheffield Station was a long one. The minutes ticked by and there was no sign of movement. Platform staff who usually shepherded the trains away were curiously absent. Please don't tell me another strike is in progress... Then the tannoy bleeped into life to make a passenger announcement. "If I could have your attention please," The Train Manager said, "I'm afraid there will be a delay before we can depart for Doncaster, as the track is broken." Broken? You broke the track? What did you do? Drop it? In situations like this all you can do is grin and bear it. Oh hang, the tannoy is bleeping again... "I apologise for the delay in services, but we're waiting for the track to be repaired. There will be a delay of at least another half an hour." Ok, I'll try to grin. I look around for something to occupy myself with and quietly lift a newspaper from the opposite seats. There's a story about scientists finding another planet thousands of light years away. I've decided to name it Sheffield. Hang on, the tannoy is bleeping... "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. Since the delays to services will probably be at least two hours, we're going to divert to another route. We will not therefore be calling at Doncaster so any passengers who wish to get off at Doncaster should leave the train to await further assistance." Nobody moved. Perhaps Doncaster isn't a popular stop? Or does no-one wish to admit they live there? We will never know. At last! The train edges forward out of Sheffield and my journey continues. About five minutes later the Train Manager enters the carriage. "Can I have your attention please? Is there anyone in here who is travelling to Doncaster? Only we're not stopping there... Ok." I settle back to enjoy the rest of my journey to Newcastle, and ten minutes later, the tannoy bleeps again... "Ladies and gentlemen, our next stop is Doncaster..." Douglas Adams Moment of the Week There's a cut on my left knee. According to Douglas Adams, the sci-fi/comedy author, this sort of thing happens all the time. But in case you're worried, I can assure you I return from Newcastle unscathed. Don't know what happened to the whale...

I read this mornings local paper with a smirk. It appears that a local club (the Lava Lounge) hasn't got a music license so under british law it cannot provide music for its customers without incurring a large fine - and they already have to pay more than

Armed officers? Not many. Such men are armed after selection tests and specialised training, we don't arm policemen as a matter of course in Britain. If the policemen fires his weapon for any reason and a death or injury results, there's a good chance the officer concerned will be subject to an enquiry and possible prosecution depending on circumstance. The media jump on any story of trigger happy policemen in this country and the authorities don't want an image of gun totin' marshals wandering around the capital. They're also concerned about an arms race between police and criminals although since the ban on handgun ownership the numbers of illegal weapons in circulation has rocketed.

But thats just it! We're NOT putting it right at all! Its all eco-propaganda designed to bring the modern west into line. Its turned into an industry in its own right, and is also exploited by those who want to influence our lives. Global warming is a natural phenomenon - there's been a gradual and ragged climb in temperatures for thousands of years - it was going to happen anyway.

Yes, and no doubt got fat on roman 'burgers, shooting his troupe of actors with an arrow in despair at their rubbish performance.... Whilst an exasperated lictor tells the senators that Elivisus has left the building...

Our contribution is outweighed by the methane produced by herbivorous animals. Methane is a far worse greenhouse gas than CO2, whose absorbtion is part of the normal eco-chemical cycle on earth. The oceans are scrubbing CO2 all the time, its part of earths checks and balances, as well as supplying it. CO2 is given off by earths fauna. If you want to reduce our contribution, then you need to reduce human population. That would solve a lot of ecological concerns, given that the need to create new land for agriculture or profit is reducing forestation and thus reducing the CO2 absorbtion. Its less of a case of what we're producing, more of what we're sticking spanners in. Are you going to dictate what lifestyle I should lead? The increased conformity and overcontrol by authority is a growing trend in Britain, where the ecological problem is less pronounced than some other nations. The third world nations who are destroying their forests aren't going to change their lifestyle - surely thats a more important issue? And how much reduction of the worlds CO2 has this resulted in? Not being funny, but the religious overtones of ecological movements gets on my wick. Even if you total everybodies elses efforts it doesn't amount to a huge volume compared to that obtained naturally. The earths climate changes, it is changing, there's stuff all you can do to stop it, so just deal with it. Survival of the fittest still applies to our own species however grandiose our self-opinion might be. Plenty of succesful species have hit the dust because the world has changed under their noses. Truth is, human beings really can't control their enviroment but they can control us, so they will increasingly regarding these eco concerns. The real issues are that - 1 - There's too many human beings 2 - We're too dependent on our nests/infrastructure

I'm watching the news this morning and one of the featured stories is about knife crime. One more young man of 19 has been stabbed to death in London recently. The family have organised a protest march to demand action from politicians. The brother of the latest victim is interviewed in the studio. Now I've no doubt whatsoever that this family have suffered a grievous loss, yet there was something artificial about that interview. It's hard to put your finger on it. The modern media are very slick - this particular channel has won an award for news reporting - but the answers the brother gave was somehow a little too obvious. Naturally he called for harsher sentencing. Thats an instinctive feeling from those who have lost loved ones so I do understand and sympathise. Thing is, the young man claims that these harsher sentences will make knife-wielders think twice, that it would provide a deterrent to such behaviour if thugs realise they will be punished for using knifes in this way. He's wrong. They won't. The deterrent only works if the thug thinks about the consequences of his actions. Thugs are not known for thinking, and young men commit these stabbings in the heat of the moment or because they believe they won't get caught regardless of the potential punishment. Realising that their peers are armed they seek protection. Since the 'herd' is helpless against a sharp blade they begin to carry knives too. Therefore the real definition of superiority amongst them becomes the willingness to use them instead of just threatening to. Knife culture is the bare bones of a 'warrior' culture in our midst and is therefore based on personal bravado. These people seek self-respect, a sense of self-worth, from the carrying of weapons and the willingness to use them. Further, they want the dread and fear that most people naturally feel if confronted. Young men are naturally competitive. It's part of our animal behviour in that young males jostle for dominance, to settle disputes, for mating rights, all sorts of instinctive reasons. It's the feeling that 'I'm dangerous now everyone respects me' that needs to be addressed. With every generation you need to recreate civilisation. Without that it becomes a primeval jungle in our own back yard. Inevitably film and tv will carry some blame with copy-cat behaviour cited as a cause for the killings. That isn't quite correct. Young people adopt the manners and actions of the screen in the absence of real examples. Without a firm constructive social background young men will turn to their own instincts and make connections from their own primal instincts to the portrayal of heroic violence that would otherwise merely entertain. So what solution is there? There needs to be a path for these young men to find self-worth in a more positive way, to work off their competitive instincts without resorting to uncontrolled violence. We also need to convince these young men that carrying knives is not a symbol of manhood. Street credibility needs to be exchanged for social responsibility. I wonder if the protest march is going to aim for that, or is it a veiled demand for revenge? A desire for justice? The government have already stated that action on knife-crime will be taken. Which path will they take? Is there a real desire by our politicans to solve these issues or will they adopt a short-term initiative to survive the bad press? The labour government came to power announcing they were going to tackle the root issues of crime. Ok, here's your chance. Embarrasement of the Week Our new border control agency has been set up to prevent illegal immigration and has issued dire warnings to employers that hiring such people will incur heavy penalties. Suprise, suprise, the border agency have discovered that they employed an ilegal immigrant as a cleaner. Whoops. Flog yourselves gentlemen. Nice and hard. No slacking at the back.

I've seen reports that the last ice age ended abruptly, possibly in as little time as within a quarter century. Temperatures rose dramatically by 7 degrees in a few years at one point, triggering an accelerated melt that flooded Doggerland (the 'North Sea' Plains). Evidence of human withdrawal from rising sea levels has been found in the english channel. It may well have had some impact, but the CO2 given off by volcanic activity still outweighs our contribution by a long way. Currently volcanic activity is mild compared to the huge events that have scarred the planet. At least twice the earths crust has literally cracked, once in Siberia, the other in India, both forming chains of hills from the lava that spewed out. Its anybodies guess how much CO2 was given back then. Also, the sun increases in temperature by 5% every billion years due to the increase in heavier elements after the fusion process. That means the sun is currently 25% hotter than when the earth started. Maybe not significant on our scale, but even more evidence that climate will change constantly.

Well it is Northumberland isn't it? Might be worth bringing survival equipment and an SAS guidebook to making pizzas from cement and bricks. Or maybe just some suncream? Decisions.. decisions....

Technically, we're entering an interglacial thats expected by some experts to last 50,000 years, allowing for smaller glaciations and stadials in between. As I've mentioned before, Britain had warm periods during the ice ages and in at least one we had a climate similar to modern africa. In fact, the climatic changes occuring over prehistory are extraodinary, and there have been levels of CO2 present in the atmosphere well in excess of anything China is responsible for. Have a browse through prehistorical climate inormation on Wkipedia. Its very illuminating.

A documentary about Hadrians Wall, shown a few days ago, looked at a 'solid' boot found at Vindolanda.

The roman soldiers wore caligae, a hob nailed boot, not sandals, although I appreciate the visual difference isn't obvious. I did read somewhere that caligae without slots (and hence very un-sandal like) were also used in northern climes but I'm going to check that out.

Aww not again... The guy downstairs has fired up his expensive state-of-the-art hi-fi and the carpet is vibrating. At least he's not pushing the volume as high as he had. Trouble is, whilst I can't hear the music as such, the bass frequencies travel up through the floor and its literally going right through me. I don't feel like another confrontation, so I need something to take my mind off it. Its not as if I can read a book.in these circumstances. Walking out the door and socialising is only a short term solution and it has to be said - it can get a little expensive. A loud heavy metal CD? There would be a certain justice to that! But I'm not in a musical mood. Aha! A driving game on the good ol' PC! Which one? Most are fantasy visualisations of the sort of street racing we lads always wanted to get away with when we were young, assuming we could afford the ridiculously customised vehicles for real. Those arcade games are fun for five minutes but there's no real depth or finesse to it. That dramatic oversteer and power slide is pre-programmed and flatters you. What about an F1 Grand Prix game? Sigh... Modern racing cars in the virtual world are too fast and mechanistic. You end up driving like a robot and whilst you want to be Michael Schumacher, you just know the driving experience is going to be the same whether the driving aids are on or not. So whats left? I pull out the CD for an older game simulating the 1967 season Grand Prix. No wings or aerodynamic widgets, no ultra-wide tyres, no safety cells, no race telemetry, no chicanes or run-off areas. Now we're talking. The sound is brilliant through the speakers. A heavy roar with a shrill scream as you rev the nuts off a highly tuned engine whose management system is connected to your right ankle. Driviing is a different experience to most games. The handling is absolutely knife-edge. This program doesn't suffer fools behind the joystick and bites hard at the slightest sign of carelessness. There's no grip at all. Every time you enter a corner your heart is in your mouth as you realise you're turning way faster than the laws of physics allow and the only thing keeping you alive is your ability to handle this snarling beast. Its tremendous sweaty fun, and the strange thing is, you do feel a sense of achievement when you power through the bend and clip the apex in exactly the right place. It makes you think. The drivers of an older generation were risking far more. Those fragile works of art propelled at speeds their brakes couldn't handle were not afflicted by the ever-present current obsession with safety. They would be judged dangerous by modern sensibilities. Is this why I feel drawn to them? They have an aura of their own. Its not just the appearance. The very presence of these cars is way beyond anything last years F1 cars can manage. Sure, they're probably awful cars to drive by today's standards, but its you driving it - not a microchip. Or is there more to it? Electronics, speed cameras, rules and safety legislation have made our lives more predictable for sure. Its certainly kept some people alive, but I can't help feeling that something important has been lost in the process. Fiscal Decision of the Week I remember when Labour got into power. Most people were glad to see the back of conservative government and Tony Blair was all smiles and vision. They were going to put aside 'old' labour and strive for 'Cool Britannia' - whatever that was supposed to be. Gordon Brown was considered a careful custodian of the economy. Back then, I said he wasn't. You wait - Never mind the promises, it'll be the same old Labour - He'll raise taxes and shove the economy down the toilet. I remember a few sneers and chuckles. Who's laughing now?

I think that puts Swindon Library to shame! Although the new site is nearly ready now (its a new permanent building on the site where the old temporary building was... Hope that didn't confuse you) so perhaps we might get a dozen or more new books?

Salve, O Excuse me, but I can't follow the argumentation: If he wanted to rename the city and build some huge`palaces, then he required to set Rome on fire? That makes no sense to me. Land clearance. Nero needed to remain popular so evicting lots of people from their homes and businesses (including the wealthy senatorial properties whose ownsers were an impediment to Nero's magnificence). Makes perfect sense to me, given that Nero's ego was no longer under any restraint whatsoever. He had this image of how things were to be and expected his minions to simply make it happen. Nero did not see hadrians works, they came later. I strongly suggest that had Nero seen such works were possible, he would have ordered bigger ones, and in any case, his redevelopment was grander than what had been there before. Quite. Given the 100' high bronze statue Nero had made of himself, one has to conclude who the main beneficiary of this proganda was intended to be. They didn't have to. Nero had already made the space

Noisy pensioners... Noisy youths... Noisy kids... Could it get any worse? Well yes, actually. Now we have noisy strikers. Council workers are on strike for two days to get bigger pay rises than oil tanker drivers, and so the libraries are shut. They're all lined up outside council premises with printed placards (I wonder how much that cost?) declaring their strike action and calling for public support. They haven't got mine at all. So its off to the local internet cafe and spend a few quid. The cheapest is a place out in one of Swindons immigrant areas, so the moslem chants and sermons are played out loud. I guess its because its not my culture and not something I'm used to, but that wailing (the sort you get from minarets in foreign countries) is so irritating. There's a older woman who's just come in. She pushes and thumps things down with all the grace of an inebriated elephant. She's not satisfied with the position of the computor screen, and so attempts to rip it off its mountings. Three times. Take it easy girl... talking about taking it easy, the proprietor is having an argument with an african girl. Its quite a ding-dong, the pair of them pointing, gesturing, and spitting out random syllables at frantic speed. I'd like to give you a blow by blow account but I haven't a clue what its all about.... Neither does she apparently... Speed Camera News of the Week Swindon Council is considering withdrawing from the Wiltshire Speed Camera Partnership. Why? Because they object to fines going to the Treasury as profit. At last! Somebody with enough commonsense to see the whole thing was a rip-off by a government so deep in debt they tax anything that moves.

Ask Britain for theirs.

Yep - I know exactly what you mean. The jobseeker agency seem to be absolutely determined to push me into part-time labouring.

Then we agree to differ, since you prefer the wider meaning.

The british and canadians weren't entirely ignored. The script contained at least one disparaging comment. The only really problematic thing about that film is that is was telling an american story about retrieving an american from the combat zone. It was not an account of D-Day.

As far as I'm aware, the surviving gladii are not in particularly good condition. Whether eastern metallurgy is better during that period I can't say, although I suspect thats likely the case. However, you should remember that where these weapons are found has a large part to play in their condition. Were these chinese swords found in a location that would naturally tend to prolong their survival? Roman swords are usually grave goods or discarded weapons, and thus suffer the usual penalties. Also, it depends on the quality of the blade in question. Was it a mass produced sword for the grunts, or a lovingly crafted superior example for an important person?

That is an Oxymoron. Peaceful conquest (ie, by bullying) is still conquest. Quite, but diplomacy and deceipt? We're arguing about your definition of conquest, which for the record I regard as military action for the purpose of hostile occupation. That said, the english language contains a lot of variable meaning and conquest can be applied to any situation where an objective is met. If you really want to. That has been widely discussed in another thread. No evidence has been so far presented of anything remotely like that currently happening. Check it out. No evidence? Have you watched the tv news or read the papers lately? Its happening. Right now. There are european politicians who want ther stake in a european empire and thy're just not going to let the european public stop them. Its only a matter of time if we all shake our heads or stick them in the sand. Sorry, but I do feel very strongly on this issue. Social Darwinism? Anyway, that analogy is fallacious; the "maturing" of a state (Imperial or not), whatever you may mean, is not biological. Do you need a definition of the word 'analogy'? In any case, you seem to forget the universe functions the way it does because of its fundamental structure. This means that biology will tend to follow certain paths because of the chemistry that underpins it. Since behaviour is part of biology, it too is influenced by the form and enviroment. Since history is the study of the results of human behaviour, we are necessarily studying an analogous subject - although without reference to the medium which produces it - which to my mind is wrong. You can study a subject in isolation and become very knowledgable - but if you don't place that study in context, do you really understand it? A roman pot is found, and someone dates it to a certain period. But what is that pot doing there? What else is there to complete the picture of events at that time in that place, and how does that fit events in the roman world as a whole? This is why context is so important in archaeology. Without it, a great deal of information may be ignored. Therefore, its necessary to place history in context. You can study biology as a life science, as its traditionally taught, or as an extension of the universe and its fundamental rules. Remember - everything is relative. Your source on this one? Certainly not Christian or Jewish; I don't think even our Roman Quisling "Titus Flavius" Josephus had ever stated something like that. BTW, Persian socio-economical system would have been considered "semi-feudal" at best. Its strongly hinted at in one of the osprey titles - "Enemies of Rome - Persia" or something similar. But I accept I know almost diddly-squat about the persians beyond that.