This weekend sees the 70th anniversary of VJ Day, my Dad was out there when it was all going on. He was a prisoner and forced to work on the Death Railway, he and his mates were taken to Hellfire Pass (Google it and look at the result in images) my Dad was one of those that cut through the rock.

My Dad and his mates are all gone now, but I was lucky enough to have met some of his mates. But more importantly I was privileged enough to know my Dad, I had always been curious like any boy on what his Dad done in the war and when I was old enough my Dad told me. As I got older and more interested the stories got more horrific, he never spoke about it much but I feel I was the one in our family that he managed to share a bit more with.

On his deathbed he still told me he hated the Japanese people and unfortunately he took that with him, I feel proud that I was able to listen to my Dad but I never held the hatred that he had. So I would like to ask anyone who is reading this to take a couple of minutes this week and reflect on what people had to go through, not only my Dad and his mates, but also to the Japanese people who perished 70 years ago.

I know that both my Dad, his mates, and all the people from all nations that were touched by WWll would not be happy seeing what is going on today. We shouldn't still be killing each other, that was done 70 years ago so let's not let all those deaths go in vain.

Rest In Peace to the 1000s of those killed, and to those that had to live the rest of their lives full of hatred before dying.

Wikipedia: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

It was 4 years ago today that I lost my best friend, and although time does heal I still have sad moments. Odin was a Great Dane, he was only six weeks old when we got him and I remember bringing him home in a cardboard box. He settled in very quickly and it was as if he had been there all the time, he was a laid back dog even at a young age.

Odin 02 April 2001 - 26 June 2011

I always loved making things out of balloons for my nephews when they were kids, I got very good at making rabbits, parrots, dogs, flowers, etc. But I have to take my hat off to Japanese balloon artist Masayoshi Matsumoto for these fantastic pieces of balloon art.  











You can see more here: https://isopresso.tumblr.com/

We're going to have a go at some container gardening, do to health problems I wasn't able to get the garden ready on time for sticking the Veg in. But last year we managed to grow a few Carrots, Lettuce, Beetroot, and Leeks in an old Bath.



So this year we have searched out various containers for a trial run to see how well it goes, were playing it mostly by ear and trying it as we go.



Got a load of compost form our local déchetterie.



So here we go, if I remember I will post more images as things progress.  

I wonder how long it will be before this backfires

Prince Albert Police Service (Canada) have started an initiative that enables officers to reward youth for positive behaviour.


"Patrol members issue positive “tickets” to youth who are nominated or observed doing something to better the community or themselves by making healthy, positive choices in relation to their behaviour, decisions or actions. (e.g., shovelling a public sidewalk, picking up trash, observing school crossing rules, deterring crime, etc.) “Tickets” are actually coupons or gift certificates donated by local businesses that allow youth to redeem items or experiences like a Raiders game, movie at Galaxy Cinemas, Slurpee, Froster, French fries, hamburger or an ice cream cone."

Now let's look at the Fred way:

#1 Shovel up the leaves into a wheelbarrow and get your reward, then tip it back out so your buddy can have a go.

#2 Hide around the corner after leaving a can on the pavement, then when your buddy across the road gives you the nod you walk around the corner just in front of the police officer and pick up the can.

#3 Get twenty of your buddies to use the school crossing correctly, then you can all go to the Raiders Game together.

#4 Excuse me Mr Policeman I just found this broken padlock on the factory gates.

And finally: The kids grow up to adults, never get a job, and take the Police Force to court for making them fat with all the free junk food they kept giving them.

The Tour du Poitou-Charentes came past our house today, the pictures aren't great as I'm no photographer and they was going at a fair old lick.

There was lot's of other action going on before they arrived with loads of cars and vans coming by throwing goodies at us, we got Cookies, Hats, Pens Key Rings, all sorts of little trinkets.

They came by so fast though that is was over in a flash, hence I didn't get much chance of photos. But here you go, oh and Mark Cavendish won. "clap"

Here is a warning to any independent bloger in France who may want to give a personal view of a restaurant.  

Quote:

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A French judge has ruled against a blogger because her scathing restaurant review was too prominent in Google search results.

The judge ordered that the post's title be amended and told the blogger Caroline Doudet to pay damages.

Ms Doudet said the decision made it a crime to be highly ranked on search engines.

The restaurant owner said the article's prominence was unfairly hurting his business.

Ms Doudet was sued by the owner of Il Giardino restaurant in the Aquitaine region of southwestern France after she wrote a blogpost entitled "the place to avoid in Cap-Ferret: Il Giardino".

According to court documents, the review appeared fourth in the results of a Google search for the restaurant. The judge decided that the blog's title should be changed, so that the phrase: "the place to avoid" was less prominent in the results.

The judge sitting in Bordeaux also pointed out that the harm to the restaurant was exacerbated by the fact that Ms Doudet's fashion and literature blog "Cultur'elle" had around 3,000 followers, indicating she thought it was a significant number.

"This decision creates a new crime of 'being too highly ranked [on a search engine]', or of having too great an influence'," Ms Doudet told the BBC.

"What is perverse, is that we look for bloggers who are influential, but only if they are nice about people," she added.

The judge told Ms Doudet to amend the title of the blog and to pay €1,500 ($2,000; £1,200).

In her article, which has now been deleted, she complained of poor service and what she said was a poor attitude on the part of the owner during a visit in August 2013.

The owner took issue with the whole article. However, the judge limited her decision to its title.

The restaurateur did not respond to the BBC. But, according to the website Arret sur Internet, he said: "Maybe there were some errors in the service, that happens sometimes in the middle of August - I recognise that.

"But this article showed in the Google search results and did my business more and more harm, even though we have worked seven days a week for 15 years. I could not accept that.

"People can criticise, but there is a way of doing it - with respect. That was not the case here."

A French lawyer and blogger who writes under the pseudonym Maître Eolas, said: "It seems to me that the judge did not understand the technical issues." He added that, in French law, this type of decision would not create legal precedence.

Under French law, a judge can issue an emergency order to force a person to cease any activity they find to be harming the other party in the dispute.

The summary decision is intended to be an emergency measure to protect the person deemed to be a victim and can be overturned or upheld if the parties go to a full hearing.

In order to issue the order under French law, the judge has only to identify a wrong on the defendant's part, a negative effect on that of the appellant and a causal relationship between the two.

Ms Doudet said she did not believe she will appeal because she did "not want to relive weeks of anguish".

Ms Doudet added that, because the decision was taken at an emergency hearing, she did not have time to find legal representation, so had represented herself in court.

BBC