It may not appear, at first glance, as if there's anything wrong - but this website is so, so broken that I am mortified. It's all through my own stupidity, naturally - I tried to upgrade the Movable Type software, and now it won't let me in. So there's no updating, other than through the "manual method" as I am right now. I'm very much hoping that this man may be able to sort it for me, but as he's got about 10 million more important things to do right now, it may take a little while! In the meantime, here is some music. Oh yes, and some pictures

The Butler Enquiry has been knocked into second place, as the recent ruling by Judge Fortunato's ruling in the US is obviously critically more important.

I thought that a school forcing a kid to cut his hair was ridiculous too; but then I saw a photo and changed my mind. This kid should be forced to have his hair cut, for his own sake.

Nonetheless, the ruling was that he should be allowed to keep his ridiculously offensive mullet.

Is it me, or have the headline writers missed a trick with this story?

In my last rant here, I noted how TV stations in the US used "opinion" pieces in the same way that newspapers do here. One of the joys of British Television has been the rule that governs impartiality.

Unfortunately, and due in no small part to pressure from Sky News (Murdoch Corp. UK's Fox News clone) the Office of Communications has capitulated, and allowed what can only lead to the further departure from actual news and the introduction of more owner-influenced political messages. This is not a good day.

**UPDATE** Robert Greenwald is about to bring out a movie he secretly filmed at Fox News which should be interesting, to say the least. Watch out for "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War On Journalism" - unlikely to get a cinema release, but should be around on DVD pretty soon.

While all the hoopla, claims and counterclaims surrounding Fahrenheit 911 continues, I find myself for once wondering whether this 90 minute broad brush 'Get Bush Out' enterlemic is really serving it's purpose; or whether the right-wing spin masters have already effectively done their job in discrediting it - even for me. It was interesting being in the States during it's first week in the cinema - and it gave me my first experience of the serious and worrying bias of the mainstream media in the US - particularly TV. There seemed to be a policy of lauding the film in movie and entertainment reviews, and knocking it down during the "serious" news programmes. I was particularly annoyed to see a one-hour show on a channel that I had always thought of as being relatively independent - MSNBC - devoted to the opinions of a right-wing former senator and a parade of guests shown through to pick holes in the movie. I saw similar sequences on CBS and CNN. But I'm not convinced of the effectiveness of the movie; I suspect it will further polarise opinion between those who want Bush and those that don't.

Far more effective as a representation of a particular issue that seems to have slipped from public interest is a play I saw in London on Thursday called "Guantanamo - Honour Bound To Defend Freedom". It's an incredibly well put together piece, which uses letters from three British captives, and interviews held with a significant relative of each back home, which outlines the events running up to each of their arrests. It is not over-emotive, but serves to highlight how arbitary the security activity to catch 'terror suspects' has been; and how quantity appears to outweigh quality in the 'war against terror'.

The play outlines international law; and then explains how three people came to be in Guantanamo. It does not claim atrocities without evidence; it does not make emotive claims about their treatment - but does make 2 significant points crystal clear. The first being that the inmates or their relatives have not been told, after two years, what they are supposed to have done. Those Brits released from Guantanamo still do not know what they are supposed to have done. The second point is that there is a network of Guantanamo's all around the world - prisons that we don't know about - with an estimated population of around 10,000. More worrying, and an issue that really needs dealing with, is that it includes 12 people held in the UK, in Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons. These people, on our soil, have not been charged but have been held for over two years. Britain is the only European country that derogates from the European Convention on Human Rights, as set out in the UK's "Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001".

This play is a must-see, in my opinion. Despite the subject matter, it's snappy, occasionally funny, and ultimately absolutely clear on what it set out to do; which is present the facts without hyperbole or spin. There's only 8 weeks of it's run left before it transfers to Broadway, but given that the theatre had a good number of spare seats on the night I went, you're likely to get in.

Links: Guantanamo Human Rights Commission; Tricycle Theatre Company, The New Ambassadors Theatre

As I drive around this town - because that's all you can do, drive - I keep hearing the words of 'Nutbush City Limits'. I can be certain that '25 is the speed limit', because I've seen the signs. That 'Motorcycle not allowed in it' can be open to some debate, as I don't remember having seen a motorcycle, but then I don't have any evidence to prove that there is some sort of local ordinance preventing them. Equally, there is no tangible proof I can provide to demonstrate that people 'have a picnic on Labour Day' or 'Go to town on Saturday'. What I am fairly sure of is that they 'go to church every Sunday' - perhaps not all of them, but certainly a voting majority.

On the page facing 'Hotel Safety' in the Guest Service Directory in my hotel room, and ahead of the page describing useful things like where the ice machine is, and exactly how not to use the Swimming Pool, is a page of 'Houses of Worship'. I wish I was here long enough to experience the 'St John Lutheran Church Missouri Synod', the 'Cross of Christ Nazarne' or indeed the 'St James Episcopal Church'. I thought an Episcope was something you used to sonically disperse gall-stones; maybe enough people around here have had the operation successfully to devote the full might of their religious fervour to giving thanks for the use of high-frequency sound in medical treatments. I'm particularly fascinated by the fact that there is both a 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' at 302 E Seymour, and a 'Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' at 9094 M-33 Highway. I suppose at some point in the past, a huge row broke out about the order in which the Saints were listed; the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints likes them listed alphabetically, whereas the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses some sort of Dewey decimal system whereby saints are listed in the order of the heroic deeds they performed. 302.542: Conversion; Corinthians (of); St Paul.

We knock them, they knock us.

The issue of Britain and Europe comes down, it seems to me, to two distinct philosophies. And to quote another tyrannical politician, "you're either with us or against us". The Tories and Labour have failed to engage support for their position over Europe because - well, no-one knows what it really is. For all Blair's wishy-washy words over inclusion, and Howard's flimsy words surrounding exclusion, those with a strong opinion one way or another have to show it by voting for the parties that have been definitive. In fact, Labour have probably maintained their pro-european voters; with the exception of those who are tired of all the waiting around. In that respect, the Liberal Democrats and their vociferously pro-european stance have increased their share of the Euro-vote, if only a little.

But the philosophies run deeper than 'in or out'. To me, it's a fundamental belief. When Britain is successful, being part of Europe represents an altruism, a support for those countries less prosperous than us, and a belief that by pulling together we can all benefit; and for Britain that works both ways - for richer, for poorer.

The anti-EU brigade are adopting a very high risk approach. It's ironic that the 'Independence' vote grows when Britain is fiscally secure, but dissipates when we are doing less well. When (and I say when, rather than if) our financial situation becomes less successful, we suddenly find ourselves alone, and in a very difficult situation. Sure, right now, we can reap the benefits of our success and keep it to ourselves. But a more financially successful USA, China, India and Japan will make life very hard for Europe, let alone a small isolated island in the North Atlantic.

But the 'lets look after ourselves' brigade could perversely be heralding the end of what they are so vociferously (and successfully) fighting to protect; Britain's ability to remain as a strong force in the world.

It's time for a pro-European coalition; for Labour/Lib Dem/Green/Plaid Cymru/SNP to get together and persuade Britain of the benefits of effective European integration; where our voice is heard and our influence felt. In an extraordinarily mixed metaphor, while we're sitting on the fence we're drifting further away from Europe. So much so that it's to the benefit of the anti-Europe passionata.

We need to pull ourselves back in, and we need to do it now.

I'd never made the connection before. Grandad died on D-Day, a year ago tomorrow. The connection is not particularly strong with Grandad; while the British and American forces were swarming across the Channel in thousands of boats towards the beaches of Northern France, my Grandfather was living in malnourished and filthy conditions in a prisoner of war camp in Innsbruck in Austria. He mentions nothing of D-Day in his diary; it's unlikely that any news of the landings reached them; but the stories of the evacuation at Dunkirk several years earlier are described in minute detail, as if they were as fresh in his mind when he wrote them down 50 years later as they would have been days afterwards.

The realisation that an event such as this becomes something that completely defines you as a person is something that was lost in the years immediately following the second world war. There were literally millions of similar stories, experiences; triumph, heartbreak and loss. But because of the sheer volume of them; the vast majority were lost in the crowd, and as usual our attention was focussed on the stories from the men at the top; the "important" men who directed the killing from the comfort of their cabins and offices.

It struck me this morning, when I watched the flotilla of cruisers, ferries and warships leaving Portsmouth Harbour for Normandy in a tiny scale reconstruction of the events of 60 years ago, that these voices are now so few and far between. My family is lucky to have a detailed account of my Grandfather's war years; a legacy that I firmly intend to ensure is kept, maintained, and passed down to my children and grandchildren. I fear for the way that we learn our history these days; history, like politics and promotion, is spun to suit the prevailing thought and political correctness of the time. I hope that we will not lose the official records, ensuring that our knowledge of these momentous events is kept true for a long time to come.

I'm not a in any way a supporter of war. I rue the day that gunpowder was ever discovered; and the inevitable inventions that followed. I hope that Blair and Bush will have sleepless nights as they grow old; thinking of the very real and present threat that the Second World War defended, and comparing it with the pathetic excuses they gave for sending so many young people to die in Iraq. There was a threat to the Iraqi people; and that has been dealt with; and now it is still our responsibility to rebuild that country, as it was in Iraq. But there was no threat to us; our premise for war was built on a lie. If Bush and Blair had been honest, and given the reason for war as ousting an evil dictator who killed millions of his own people, then they would have had significant support. However, that would not have been honest. We were there in a defensive position; but defending our interests, rather than our lives. Whatever the political shenanigans and self-interests that were served during World War Two, there was a life-threatening reason for us to be committing everything we had. The desperation we reached in selling our country down the river to fund our defence is an indication of the absolute criticality of what we were doing.

However, watching the D-Day rememberance is a perfect way to remember my Grandfather, and what he went through for me, with no knowledge or certainty; only hope; that one day I would be born and it would all be worth it. I believe, I think, I'm sure, that if I'd have asked him that question a year ago today, his answer would have been yes.