BLOG POSTS

Lord Horatio Nelson must be turning in his grave. What has happened to the Royal Navy? Allowing a couple of Iranian gunboats to seize eight sailors and seven Royal Marines, in an almost copycat version of the 2004 debacle, is surely inexcusable.

Presumably the officers of HMS Cornwall, a Type 22 frigate, had become a trifle blase in the hot, Gulf sun and considered something so simple as keeping a look out, unnecessary?

HMS Cornwall is base to CTF 158 – that is, Coalition Task Force 158 – whose mandate is:

“………to set conditions for security in the North Arabian Gulf (NAG) in order to facilitate Iraqi economic development and transition to independent protection of Iraqi territorial waters and critical energy infrastructure.”

According to the Royal Navy:

“The task force maintains a 24 hour surface picture, monitoring in excess of 200 transiting vessels at any time tracking any vessel approaching designated warning areas before following a pre-planned set of responses as part of the OPLAT protection mission.”

Despite a Lynx helicopter in the air, it seems the “24 hour surface picture” was sadly lacking in detail, totally devoid in fact of the Iranian gun boats rapidly closing on the naval detail as they went about their work.

The Captain of HMS Cornwall is Commander Jeremy Woods.

“You’re doin’ a heckuva job, Woodsie,” should, perhaps, be Tony Blair’s response.

In Admiral Lord Nelson’s day the Royal Navy was the finest in the world. Today, it seems a couple of Iranian gunboats have the edge.

Filed under: Changing times

Sparrow Chat has been memed by “Not Your Mama” over at “Coyote Angry”, and awarded the dubious title of a “Thinking Blogger”.

We (the ‘royal’ first person seems appropriate in the circumstances) are indeed honored to be even considered, and especially so given the high regard in which “Not Your Mama” is held by ourselves and others in the blogging fraternity.

It behooves us to name five other blogs of similar merit, and while our recommendations may or may not please other readers, there are some that come instantly to mind. Unfortunately, “Not Your Mama” – being the instigator – cannot be where we would otherwise have placed her, and so we hereby appoint to the Order of Thinking Bloggers the following “Knights of the Internet”.

Kneel before us:

Sir Al Devito of “Vineyard Views” – for a blog par excellance; a mine of thought-provoking comment from a Martha’s Vineyard viewpoint. The “Vineyard” has always been one of my favorite browses.

Already a Dame of the Blogosphere, Peacechick Mary at “Knock Knock” surely must be winner of the “Thinking For Peace” award. I doubt anyone has thought so long and hard, or written quite so ably on that subject.

For sheer cussed diverseness, “Flimsy Sanity” gets our award. One never knows what wondrous gem she will winkle out next and present for our delectation, in a never ending procession of fabulously interesting posts.

While we like to keep our selections to the ‘amateur’, one blog that could not possibly be overlooked for the “Thinkers” award is Monbiot.com. As a British investigative journalist, George Monbiot is second to none and he is the master of scrupulous research in exposing the wrongs of governments and corporations.

The last choice was the most difficult. As this award is presented to “Thinking Bloggers”, rather than the many good, honest reporters around, we have decided to present our final award to Mike at “From Chaos to Order”. Mike is a young classical musician and an accomplished photographer. He describes himself as a “philosophical analyst”; “an introvert with extroverted ideas”; “a Filipino”, and “an American”. But more than all these, Mike is a thinker. He thinks about his life and what is happening around him, not in a selfish – or even self-centered – way, but with a philosophical approach that few young people bother to attempt.

The list could go on almost ad infinitum. Alas, the restriction was five.

Filed under: Difficult decisions

First of all let me say I’m totally sympathetic to the predicament of the Edward’s family. Cancer, particularly cancer on the come-back, is a diagnosis no-one wants to hear.

At that point my empathy runs out.

It’s nothing personal. I happen to believe that, had circumstances been different, John Edwards may have made a reasonable president. The problem is that now he won’t.

Americans have this awful habit of rallying round the underdog, the guy in trouble through no fault of his own, the family that has to bear what all families dread bearing. It’s part of American nature, and in some circumstances it’s to be applauded, but this is not one of them.

What is at stake here is the US presidency. No man can be expected to give his all when his wife is dying before his eyes. The presidency demands his all. Particularly now, after eight years of an incompetent in the job. Whoever wins the top prize in 2008 will have his work cut out sorting the mess left behind by the previous incumbent. It requires a degree of focus most of us would jib at; even those of us free of family problems.

However much John Edwards wanted to win the presidency; however much his wife wanted him to be there, the fact remains he cannot do the job when a part of him is preoccupied with his wife’s condition.

It’s not just America at stake here. The whole world relies on the US president to lead and guide it through a political maze of international dilemmas and crises. The present one has failed miserably, creating far more catastrophes than were ever resolved. To render palatable the resultant poisonous stew of international relations will take a very extra-ordinary human being.

Through absolutely no fault of her own, Elizabeth Edwards – because of her cancer – effectively prevents John Edwards from ever being that extra-ordinary.

Filed under: Hand of fate