[stop press] olives perhaps too ripe too early

You can see how large these are, if you look closely.

I believe it’s a measure of a man that he can write pieces like the one below as a counterpoint to the cut and thrust of politics: Our olives are getting depressingly ripe and, just as last year, the mill isn't open yet so they are beginning to drop to the ground. However, that may be next week’s photo because I have something more interesting [to us olive fanciers at any rate] this week. Last week, while on the Ile de Porquerolles, I saw some interesting olive trees which seem to be growing olives that are far larger than normal. This image is … interesting because of their far more spherical shape than the average olive. [That was Porky-rolls, to the uninitiated.] L’Ombre de l’Olivier, may a bumper crop fill your casks this and every year.

[tory heaven] happy bournemouth

Hope the six hour accreditation queues didn’t inconvenience you too much, lads and lasses. Not a great day to run a review of 18 Doughty Street with everyone at the seaside either but hope you’re getting in a lot of healthy air whilst you’re there. As for the David Cameron speech, well, OK. Would have liked to have seen a bit more oomph but I suppose the mood was 'steady-as-she-goes' from the responsible party-in-waiting. Seriously, does it matter - is anyone in Britain going to vote Labour now?

[harper’s blockade] liberals still scratching their heads

Discovered an excellent rightish Canadian site: Halls of Macadamia. If you want Canadian comment: The Liberals are trying to find out how Prime Minister Stephen Harper is making all these decisions without polling the matter beforehand. "There's gotta be some secret", Lib operators are saying. "Does he have a thousand citizens locked up and instantly available to answer his diabolical questions? Is he flipping a loonie? When told that Harper was simply making decisions based on principle, bewildered Libs were seen huddling and muttering in Ottawa nightspots ... trying to crack the code behind this mysterious concept. Principle? They’d heard the word somewhere before. It’s an entertaining read.

[gruzia] ulterior motives behind this whole biz

Gen Andrei Popov said "We are ready to thwart any possible attempts to penetrate our facilities using all means, including shoot to kill." Moscow has recalled its ambassador, evacuated its citizens and denounced Georgia as a "bandit" state. Ties had already been strained over Georgia's bid to join Nato and Vladimir Putin said Sunday, in his first public comment on the crisis, that the Georgian leadership had been encouraged by unidentified foreign sponsors. Precisely - just look at the logic. Georgia is clearly seeking foreign capital and the 4th player is just sitting there, all too willing to hand it out - bundles of it, in exchange for the soul of a nation.

[austria] centre-left win, immigration more important than business

Caneletto’s painting also here

Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's campaign emphasis on staying the course on business-friendly tax cuts and playing up his image as a safe pair of hands stumbled on discontent over widening income gaps and Muslim immigration. "People in Austria believe that we are a rich and wealthy country, but not everything is distributed evenly," Social Democrat leader Alfred Gusenbauer said on Austrian TV. "And therefore people want a correction." So the Social Democrats gained 35.7 per cent and are now the government. Schuessel himself seems to have ended his career after a particularly dirty campaign from both sides. Interesting how immigration is the main agenda in so many countries just now, particularly that of Muslims and interesting about Austria’s 20th century history. The business implications are also significant.

[shinawatra] surprising gaff led to removal

Easy with hindsight and yet Peter Kneisel’s piece in the Boston Globe is interesting. Entitled Never leave Home in the Autumn, he says it was a surprising oversight by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that led to his overthrow. He had used his fortune to consolidate power, but neglected to firm up his popularity as he fiddled with the military promotion lists, which are always leaked in September and published in October. Generals get restless in October, particularly if their careers are at risk. Ranking coups was a popular sport at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in the 1970s. Around an Indian buffet laid on by the Oriental Hotel, journalists, spies, diplomats, and expatriates would compare the latest coup with the one from the previous October. Oct. 14th, 1973 is remembered as the “Day of Great Sorrow”, when 41 people died. Shinawatra must have been supremely arrogant or supremely stupid or both.

[double standards] over congressman mark foley

This is pathetic. US society openly promotes and protects same-sex relationships these days, then turns around and castigates participants. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, should pull her head in, stop making political capital out of it and ensure there are no witch hunts or show trials from her side of politics. The man himself had to be either a fool, brazen or both so everyone just let the investigation quietly run its course. This is a personal matter, not political, that’s all.

[monday] just an extension of the weekend

Monday, the best of days, brisk, productive and rewarding, once again to meet colleagues from last week for a laugh and a drink, then morning tea, short of 11 o’clock, then the first pleasant extended lunch of the week. Too much to do? Yes but we'll do it, calmly and effectively - the flurry of hard work and so soon the evening, ignoring the commuter crush and looking forward to a convivial hour with friends after dealing with the children and the morrow or else a good film before retiring. So quickly it passed and so suddenly we’re catapulted into Tuesday and then the mid-week breather. Thursday and Friday then press more closely and the joy of the weekend break beckons. Have a great Monday, maligned day of pleasure. I shall, as the sun has just broken out from behind the clouds and filled the living room with light.

[fatah & hamas] now they’re killing each other

Al Jazeerah reports that a Palestinian government compound has been stormed by supporters of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank after at least four people died and at least 50 people were injured in similar clashes in gun battles between rival Fatah and Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip. The police loyal to Abbas blocked Gaza's roads with burning tyres and demanded overdue salaries. In Gaza City, Hamas loyalists took to the roof of the agriculture ministry and fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at the presidential guard, killing one. Islam Shawhan, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, explained: "We are going to beat with iron fists all those elements who are trying to sabotage the election process of our people, those who are trying to destroy our public properties and close the streets." I have absolutely no words to add to this report.

[manifesto] #### insert the name of your own nation

####’s ethnic diversity is one of the enduring strengths of our nation. Yet our celebration of diversity must not be at the expense of the common values that bind us together as one people – respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual, a commitment to the rule of law, the equality of men and women and a spirit of egalitarianism that embraces tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need … a sense of shared values is our social cement. [Yet now] we are dealing with a group of fanatics who have no tolerance, who will not be happy unless they have brought down our way of life and imposed their own. That's the dimension of the struggle. And don't, you know, misunderstand what their goal is - the destruction of our kind of society. [John Howard but it could easily have been Stephen Harper or others]