the bitter taste of their own medicine...

how ironic is this report? maybe they'll make the next step and connect their feelings of pain and dislocation with what the palestinians are going through, and shock, horror perhaps empathise with the palestinians?

"Tens of thousands of Israeli settlers have turned out in the Gaza Strip to protest against plans to evacuate settlements from the territory.

Members of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud party are due to vote on Sunday on his evacuation plan. The plan, which calls for the removal of all settlements in the Gaza Strip and some in the West Bank, has already been endorsed by US President George W Bush. It is also widely supported by the Israel public as a whole.

Others said it was unfair to uproot people from their homes. "Imagine living in a place your entire life and then being asked to leave," a man told the BBC. "I mean, it is our land, it hurts, it hurts."

People in a Palestinian area looked out of their windows as the marchers passed by."

then again, when this settler's reflection is so true, maybe that is wishful thinking:

"The problem is the Arabs see the whole of Israel as the biggest settlement of all."

how very sad to think of israelis tearing down each others homes. it's so messy, what kind of 'road map' can cope? and especially when bush and kerry are more interested in courting votes in their wonderful democratic way than watching what they say for fear of the wider effects...

first time i've fasted in a long while - can't say it's like riding a bike. read bill bright's advice on how to fast, as we have a link on our website to this. i suppose it's sensible to have these guidelines, discharge our responsibility to help people fast 'properly'. still, i have mixed feelings about it. i don't think i'm taking an overly puritan attitude to fasting (and of course, no-one would ever want to be 'religious' about fasting!), but isn't it a wee bit odd to fill your stomach with psyllium bulk if you're feeling excessively hungry? i am, however, sipping some fruit squash today.

went to see barenaked ladies last night at colston hall - they were excellent. had very sore knees though, from standing up (okay, kinda jigging a wee bit during the more up-tempo numbers i confess) for so long.

went to cardiff this morning with work; our train was early so we had time to grab a coffee and take in the sights as we made our way to the meeting. i must say i quite liked the atmosphere of the centre, and will probably take my wife there at some point. we actually had quite a bit of time to kill after the meeting and popped into a hiking shop that we had spotted earlier; tent shopping may be slightly cheaper in cardiff, and my wife will be interested in that (as well as the museums and other nice buildings of course).

the next installment of 'buy the best' is definitely for the boys out there, plus my wife who regularly reminds me that her moniker of 'Rally-Rowe' was not idly given.

got $1m to spare? have a look at this:



it's the bugatti 'Veyron', the first passenger car to have an engine which produces 1,000+ hp. having said that you only need $1m to buy it, it's worth remembering besides the insurance and servicing costs, that the W-16 cylinder, 8 litre engine will consume approximately 5 litres of fuel a minute. That's about £4 a minute in fuel costs...