Loads of gear migrating from Gfd to Leantown. I am listening to two bits of it just now. The Yamaha 3 speaker computer soundsystem playing the Shortsories at half speed but constant pitch. � some very tempting timbres.

Lots of news posted on www.kwase-kwase.org - an attempt to maintain balance eg

- the new Republican Senate leader is putting his principles into practice by organising more AIDS relief funding for Africa

- cultural critique of the forces supporting the growth of fascism in the UK

- a good piece on the strength of Blair�s hand with Bush. The White House will know that their political weakness domestically over the lack of international support is growing (well they will if the read the KK News section!). It follows that their only overseas ally � who is seen in the US as going out on a limb domestically to maintain his support � has disproportionate leverage in the White House. (Where does he rank on the Condoleeza scale?)

If you want to stay on top of a confusing world www.kwase-kwaza.org has to be on your list of favourites.

I didn�t put up a another interesting piece from the Observer which assesses the fallout from Clarke�s win over the Treasury last week on higher education. Clarke looks both powerful and intelligent. Brown looks weak and interfering! When you couple that with Clarke�s enormous budgets and the importance of skills to delivering Brown�s national productivity objectives � CC has rocketed to a dominant position very quickly after getting his first cabinet job. If he is intelligent and a street fighter than that is a powerful conbination in politics.

Talking of bruisers I was reading some Martin Buber last night � reminding myself that A Sharon doesn�t reperesent the pinnacle of the Jewish moral refelective tradition.

Jake and I did our first geomantic walk of the year.

Two things which could be on Robin�s radar � a review in NYRB of a new history of the early troubadours in Acquitaine and Poetic Truth by Robert Skelton who taught creative writing in Victoria BC � maybe she knows him already?