The Lincoln Lawyer

I have just finished reading 'The Lincoln Lawyer' written by Michael Connelly. Rather than explaining the plot of the book here, click on the title for the full synopsis from the author.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. It is a easy read; a gripping tale with unexpected diversions around the central court trial; that reached a suspense conclusion that brought the tale to a satisfactory end.

Trial of Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón is a 'blow to human rights', says Amnesty

Hugo Relva, Legal Adviser at Amnesty International, who is in Madrid to observe the trial of pioneering investigative Judge Baltasar Garzón , said: "It seems the search for truth, justice and reparation for past crimes,...committed during the civil war and Franco’s rule,....under international law in Spain is being held hostage to this trial based on outrageous charges".

Read more about the forthcoming trial here:AIUK : Spain: Trial of judge is a 'blow to human rights', says Amnesty and http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/spain-trial-judge-baltasar-garz-n-blow-human-rights-2012-01-20

The day I became an Executioner!

On the 40th anniversary of the execution, by firing squad, of Pedro Martínez Expósito, who had been judged guilty of the murder of two women, Vicente Torres describes, in an article in the El Pais newspaper, the day and his feelings when ordered to be a member of the military execution squad.


It is a moving article describing his feelings about his involuntary involvement and the action on the dreadful day. He says of the event "Did something change within us? Were we marked for life because of this? I suppose so; we certainly could not remain indifferent to it........I am neither ashamed nor proud of it, but I am hurt by it”.


He makes the further point of the event during Franco's dictatorship of Spain: "I was not about to help "do justice." If anything, I felt I was going to add yet one more injustice to the list. I have always considered Expósito's execution to be a crime, a public assassination that did not compensate for his crimes. I also thought the execution had a strong political component".


A very moving story about a barbaric act. One cannot ignore the fact that Pedro Martínez Expósito had ended the lives of two people and that justice had to be carried out for this crime. But vengeful and political based retribution is not justice. But that is what one saw from the Fascist, Roman Catholic Church supported, military government of Franco.


Vicente's thoughts can be read here:   The day I became an executioner · ELPAÍS.com in English

Cheapest Petrol & Diesel prices in Spain

Where is the cheapest fuel for your car in your area of Spain?

The link to the Webpage of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Turism will give you the answer.

Click on it and try looking in your area. Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo - Precios Carburantes

We Don't Want a Global Superpower EU, Mr President Schulz

God is not Great.

I have just finished reading Christopher Hitchens' book entitled 'God is not Great' (this link is to a chapter by chapter summary).

I have found it a very interesting but difficult book to read. Difficult in that the quality of writing highlighted my inadequacies in both English language and literature. This is a consequence of the failings of myself and the state secondary modern education schooling system at the time and not of the writer. There was a constant need for me to consult the dictionary to gain the full benefit of content. It is a good job that the Kindle for PC programme, via which I read the book, includes an easily accessed source of word clarification.

The reading of this book has not brought about a life changing belief but has added clarification to my long held rejection of the validity and belief in a religious faith. To use a quote of Christopher Hitchens when referring to himself and like thinkers, myself included, “Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason.”

It is a book that has a meaningful message for both, those who don't believe in the unproven, and those who believe in the unbelievable, and unsubstantiated. It is worth the time and effort to read it. Perhaps more than once to fully comprehend the full thesis put forward by 'Hitch'.

I think now is the time for me to read his autobiography 'Hitch – 22'.

Cognitive skills and memory loss of the elderly.

There are two interesting recent articles on the ScienceDaily website in relation to the cognitive skills of, and causes of memory loss in, the elderly. I prefer the term 'more mature' as it doesn't make me feel so old.

The first entitled 'Elderly can be as fast as young in some brain tasks, study shows' highlights research that has found that both children and the elderly have slower response times when they have to make quick decisions in some settings. But the research suggests that much of that slower response is a conscious choice to emphasize accuracy over speed. In fact, healthy older people can be trained to respond faster in some decision-making tasks without hurting their accuracy -- meaning their cognitive skills in this area aren't so different from younger adults.

The second entitled 'New clues as to why some older people may be losing their memory'  refers to new research that  links 'silent strokes,' or small spots of dead brain cells, found in about one out of four older adults to memory loss in the elderly.

I've decided that if I am slower answering a question than would be expected it is because I will have made the conscious choice to emphasize accuracy over speed; or will it be that I've forgotten the question. What if I can't remember what I've decided?

Journey across the Millau Viaduct

Our return route from England to Spain through France on this trip was via the E11/A75 which took us over the impressive Millau Viaduct on the 28th December 2011.

This was not the first occasion that we have travelled over it, but because we were ahead of schedule we had time to stop and take some photographs of this piece of magnificent engineering.

We stopped at the 'Aire du Viaduc de Millau' situated on the north side of the viaduct and climbed the footpath to the viewpoint.

As an experiment we decided to take a video of our drive over the bridge not expecting it to work-out, but here it is.



Edit 06.01.2012: The Baluarte bridge on the Mazatlan-Durango highway in Northern Mexico, standing at 403 metres has now been confirmed as the world's highest cable-stayed bridge, surpassing the Millau Viaduct.

Time for a change? Overhauling the calendar

It seems a coincidence that on the day that Samoa changes its relative position to the international dateline and loses December 30th 2011, missing it out altogether, that I read the article in the ScienceDaily ' Time for a change? Overhauling the calendar'. According to two calendar reform advocates, time can stand still, or at least look the same from year to year.

Using computer programs and mathematical formulas, Richard Conn Henry, an astrophysicist in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and Steve H. Hanke, an applied economist in the Whiting School of Engineering, have created a new calendar in which each new 12-month period is identical to the one which came before, and remains that way from one year to the next in perpetuity.

There certainly seem to be substantial benefits if their calendar was accepted. Will it ever happen?

Read the full article here:...Time for a change? Overhauling the calendar

"Wherever You Are" by the Military Wives Choir