On Kinder, so long as you keep near the edge you can usually tell where you are. The moor has an other-worldly feel in the fog, with a peace that is difficult to find in an over-stimulated city. A little disconcerting, but you can always follow a stream back to the path. Still, there was something reassuring about finding Kinder Low.

Having woken early on Saturday morning I decided I needed to be up a hill. Even with a stop in Manchester to pick up a tent, I'd made it by 3pm. In this weather the only real option is to wear shorts and embrace the elements. Once you've stepped in a few puddles you can wade through the streams... I was glad of the warm shower when I got down though!

"...Those they may not at the moment harm, they corrupt. Usually all it takes is money, for they have so much that no one feels any moral hesitancy about taking it. Their targets become rich, and where's the harm in that?"
"And if money doesn't do the trick..."

• Bored with the Internet
• a softer world
  

The Independent on a Europol terrorism report (pdf):

The report also warned that British foreign policy presented critical dangers for all Europe: "The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have a large impact on the security environment of the EU."
...
A Home Office spokesman confirmed that most of the Europol findings tallied with official figures, and underlined the Government's consistent warnings about the scale of the terror threat facing the nation. But he insisted that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan had no bearing on the level of the security threat in the UK or in the rest of Europe.

It just beggars belief. Have they forgotten the boys from Bradford Yorkshire who blew themselves up on the Tube? Globalisation is much more than a purely economic phenomenon.

Lets see what a Freedom of Information request can show.

You might have thought all those reviews would bring about a new era of evidence based policy making. Marking, if you like, a clear change of direction from the policy based evidence making of the Blair years. Sadly you would be mistaken. Whether it's 42 days internment without trial, or the classification of cannabis, Gordon seems determined to press on in spite of the views from the DPP and former Attorney General that 28 days is quite enough, or despite the panel of experts report. He must be seen to be Tough. And Tough Men Ignore the Evidence.

But the stupid vote is large and important block, so not to be outdone the Tories are urging a reduction in the term limit for abortions from 24 weeks to 20 weeks, as survival rates for early births are rising. The evidence flatly contradicts this assertion.

A Young Conservative at university once told me he read the Guardian to find out what those in power were thinking. I sometimes wonder if he wouldn't have been better off reading the Mail.