Image via Wikipedia

History has a habit of repeating itself and I can’t help but remember how it was in 1982 when the last Argentine threat to the Falkland Islands materialised.

We faced a Defence Review, or certainly serious discussions about the role of the Royal Navy in particular, and we had a Prime Minister who was definitely  ”under pressure” in terms of relationship with the country.

There can be little doubt that the 1982 invasion of the Falklands by Argentina helped transform the popularity of Margaret Thatcher and it also saved efforts to cut the Navy. Please let us not see a repeat of either again this year.

“You’ve got to have surprise, and it’s binary: you’ve either surprised your enemy or he knows you’re coming. You can’t have a little bit of surprise.”

That was a key message during my early training in the Army: so why oh why have we heard all this week about the impending massive assault by Allied troops in Afghanistan? Surely the Taleban read the Telegraph and watch News 24 and might just have got an inkling we were on our way.

The world of war fighting has changed. Gen McCrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan has recognised that to win in Afghanistan it is probably better not to fight as that endangers innocent by-standers. Instead we are seeing a war that is being fought to win the ground and then through having enough local troops to stay on that ground, win the hearts and minds of the population.

The warnings of the build up to the attacks were, in my opinion, an attempt to avoid any fighting, they were designed to encourage the Taleban, or some of them anyway, to withdraw. This avoided civilian casualties as the territory was won, but it will also have given two critical additional benefits.

First: the Taleban were forced to move. This is disruptive and whilst in itself not critical will have lead to the second benefit which was opportunity for ambush of withdrawing enemy. It would be very surprising if there were no attacks on withdrawing fighters as they sought refuge elsewhere. Don’t however expect to hear much about these operations as they would have been conducted by elements of the military who don’t want to be in the papers.

In this new era of war fighting, it is clear that the old rules don’t apply It is to McCrystal’s credit that he sees the value of peaceful operations in order to generate peace in the long term. The locals are more likely to talk to you if you’ve not been shooting at them.

Image via Wikipedia

I stayed in a nice hotel in Swansea last night, city centre, 4 star, amazing old building done up to a very high standard etc etc. But when  you get into the experience it’s not all that it might be.

Yes of course; it looked great. But it was the small things that were irritating: the nice bathroom that had a modern toilet that was so low that my arthritic hips made it very difficult to get up and down on it. Looked pretty though.

A modern shower unit that could not be turned on without me getting soaked with cold water first, because the controls were in the wrong place.

A luxury double bed, made of two singles joined together with a dip in the centre so that I slept rolling down a hill.

The heating system was probably the best that money could buy – but I couldn’t work out how to use the controls. So we were cold. And when we did turn it on it laucnhed some jet engines that could have woken the dead.

So on the surface and onf first impression, it was great – indeed good enough to get its tourism awards. But would I really want to stay there again? No. Sorry, but the focus on modern minimalism at the expense of true utility and comfort showed that the designers were more taken with form rather than function. That for me is the wrong focus.

Some years ago it was illegal to broadcast Gerry Adams speeches on the TV or radio, as he spouted his version of the truth of life in Northern Ireland. So voice over artists were used instead to speak his words. This generated an uplift in the number of people who heard his message as they were now interested in the way the broadcasters were getting around the ban. Read more »

Image via Wikipedia

I’m a bit of a philistine when it comes to the arts, never quite “getting it” when it comes to telling a story through song. But last night I went to see Les Miserables in the Wales Millennium Centre and it was truly fantastic.

Story telling through song is a bit beyond me, but some of the well known numbers were beautifully delivered and quite moving. But I was blown away by the lighting and scenery. They were fantastic, the only word I can use for them, truly fantastic.

The overall effect was also pretty amazing as I spotted many people wiping away tears at the end of the performance, and I was one of them. I might be a philistine but I know when I’ve seen something good.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The New Year’s Honours List raised the bi-annual moaning and groaning about how passé the whole idea of honours really is. I just don’t get this argument!

In recent years the notion of Celebrity has grown ridiculously and we’ve now got people who are famous for being famous, with that fame often gained through eating grubs in the outback of Australia for so-called reality TV.

Yet when some people who have made great efforts over many years are formally “recognised” there is a ground swell of moaning about the anachronism that is being extended. Utter tosh.

Many people honoured in the New Year’s list have given a life-time of effort. Of course there are some whose presence is questionable, and indeed there are the ongoing absentees who raise more confusion (think Brucie) but we must remember that at least those who were honoured were nominated by someone who could see that they’d done more than perform for a reality show.

Image via Wikipedia

You can try as hard as you like to find a comment on this blog about Nick Clegg, but I don’t think you will – until today. The change of heart is because he’s said something I really believe in.

In his New Year Message he says:

If we as Leaders want people to turn out to vote at all at the next General Election, we have got to show people our convictions, not just dividing lines, our beliefs, not just soundbites.

This is so true, it is pretty difficult to really understand what the leaderships individually stand for, indeed it’s sometimes hard to see any difference between parties. And for as long as political policy is based on knocking down the opposition then we will never rise to a higher plane.

So here’s my message to the leaders: stop spouting at every opportunity when you see a camera or microphone, instead develop a conviction that you can articulate and convince us is right. I and many others want to be encouraged, enlightened and even lead by someone with a sense of vision and the ability to deliver it.

Then some of us might vote FOR you as opposed to not vote at all.

Image via Wikipedia

Earlier this year I passed comment on how good a service I’d had from Linksys (see here) but maybe I spoke too soon. The gist of it was that they gave me great service for a router that was about 5 years old.

Today I had the same problem once again and rang the same number once again. Today it was different, no longer were they able to support me unless I paid a small charge: All they wanted was £25.

Since when did £25 make a small charge?

I declined, reckoning that a replacement for the failing equipment wouldn’t cost too much more than the £25 “small charge”.  So off to PC World and 30 minutes later I was now the owner of a new router.

There was a choice in the shop: Belkin or Linksys. Similar in price, similar in capability. Guess which I bought.

Image via Wikipedia

I was on train to London yesterday and did something very different.

I said hello to someone. Well actually I said hello and commented on the title of a book that the young lady at my table was reading.

It was an introduction to International Relations, and for the next 2 hours we discussed the middle east, global warming, Copenhagen, education standards and the value of internationl travel.

What a joy. The journey flashed by and for the first time in a long time I felt that the time on the train had not been completely wasted.

I’ll remember the value of “Hello” from  now on.

I was dragged into the middle of Cardiff’s shopping centre last night for the first time in many months. Like many men of my age, I hate shopping, especially the way that some people do it. For me it’s all about knowing what you want and going out to buy it at around 9.30 on a Tuesday morning when there are no crowds.

And that’s how it was last night – NO CROWDS. In fact it was almost no shoppers. As we wandered around the new developments in The Hayes and the Cafe Quarter the thing that was obviously missing was Shoppers. I spoke to one tailor who has sold me clothes in the past. He reported that this is the worst year he has ever had and that on some days he does not get 4 customers into his shop.

But 50 yards away, millions of pounds have been spent on building more shops, and the fit-outs continue on many “labels”  that already exist in department stores in Cardiff. How will these new shops survive?

The other thing that worried me was the number of new Jewellers in town, including probably the most expensive high street label: Cartier. Why are there at least 5 new jewellers shops opening in Cardiff now?

To have so many new shops, so few shoppers and a glut of new jewellers selling frippery make me worry about the security of business in Cardiff. Additionally, as the centre shifts towards the Hayes and the shopping magnet that is John Lewis, what will happen to the other end of Queen Street and the Capitol Centre in particular. Surely that too is facing even more challenging times.