AN OUTSIDE VIEW

A friend of mine has been campaigning this weekend for two anti-abortion groups. One of the groups has an in-your-face approach using gory photographs and takes the view that abortion should be illegal under all circumstances. The other group takes a softer line, arguing that because abortion is so widely regarded as acceptable, the best that can be done is to minimise the numbers by persuasion and some tightening of the rules. My friend expressed misgivings about the first group, but another friend argued for the hard line approach when there were proposals recently for a tightening of legislation in the UK. He argued that the amendments should not be supported because this implied support for abortion. One can see the point in all this, and the opposition always use difficult cases - rape, incest and conditions threatening to the life of the mother - to further the argument for liberal abortion laws. There is another issue as well, which is that Christians then get accused of be...

Increasingly, the post Vatican II changes are being re-evaluated. Innovations like communion in both kinds, the Blessed host received in the hands whilst standing, from lay ministers, removal of communion rails, are being recognised for what they are - a deliberate de-sacralising. The process is reinforced by the use of the vernacular, something which many of the other world religions have carefully avoided by reserving an ancient classical language such as Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit or Pali, for liturgical use. This is sound practice, not least because vernacular languages are politically loaded. The English language and the way it is used is closely tied to the class system and Britain's colonial legacy. One does not need to look any further than across the Channel to Belgium to see how divisive language can be. Then there is the influence of the Novus Ordo on the music. In the EF, hopefully, at least the Introit will be sung to the tune of the day, and the other seasons have the...

  Leitz brought out the collapsible Elmar f/3.5 lens in the 1920s. It was then upgraded to an f/2.8 version in the 1950s and made available in both screw-fit and bayonet fit for the Leica M. The top picture is taken with a lens at f/5.6 setting, made in the late 1950s and is the very centre of the image. The lens was redesigned and  revived for a while in the 1990s and continued in production until 2002. The earlier version is chromed brass with a 15 blade diaphragm giving a perfectly circular aperture. The newer version is black aluminium with a 6 blade diaphragm giving a hexagonal aperture. The only difference seems to be that the newer lens has better contrast, presumably due to a reduction in stray light inside the lens, which makes the older example seem soft. But as for the definition, there is no perceptible difference. The newer one suits the black M9 better, whereas the old one looks best on its chrome M2. The comparison below is of a shot of part of the test ...

Locos are now around £3 million. IEP cars are around £2.8 million. Hauled vehicles are around £1 million if you need new ones, and around £300k for a thorough refurbishment of an old vehicle such as a mark 3, which will run for another 20 years at least. The differentials do not stop with the initial costs. Several power cars are inevitably going to cost more to maintain than one locomotive. If the country end of a route is much less busy than the London end, then either the train is overcrowded at the London and or it is under-utilised at the country end. If the line is not electrified throughout, either there is diesel running under the wires - undesirable but not a catastrophe, or a change of traction. Either there is dead diesel traction on the electrified route, or dead electric traction on the non-electrified route. The neat solution to the problem is to electrify out from London to the end of the busy section, split the train and push/pull enough of the vehicles to sati...

Vadstena klosterkyrka , a photo by Elmar Eye on Flickr. We had a weekend at Vadstena, which was looking stunning with all the trees in autumn gold. It was attended by groups from choirs from Catholic churches all over Sweden, with a programme directed by the diocesan musical director, Ulf Samuelsson. We stayed at the STF hostel at Omberg, where forests of giant ancient oaks and beeches were also at their autumn best. The music, however, got off to a difficult start, with a rehearsal in the vast cavernous interior of Vadstena abbey church, a fourteenth century building with a reverberation time of around ten seconds, as well as some particular resonances. Making matters worse was a organ that sounded as if it was out of tune in the bottom register - low frequency discords being amongst the most unpleasant sounds possible. That the music was evidently not selected with regard to the special characteristics of the building quickly became apparent. With normal-paced music, muc...

As is well known, some Jewish communities in Sweden have been at the receiving end of a wave of antisemitism, including violent incidents. This is not coming from native Swedes but from Muslim immigrants from the middle east, or from their children. An article in Svenska Dagblad yesterday set out to explain why knowledge of the holocaust is irrelevant to the perpetrators. The author, Helena Mechlaoui, argues that those responsible have themselves suffered from the actions of the Israel and the US, and feel that their sufferings are being ignored whilst attention is still being given to those of the Jews more than half a century ago. She appears to justfy the hostile actions on the grounds that Jews generally support the actions of the Israeli government, which is possibly true. From this she draws the conclusion that Sweden's Jews deserve what they get: bullying in schools, street attacks and vandalism of synagogues and other Jewish communal buildings. She then goes to point o...

Latest setup - old and new , a photo by Elmar Eye on Flickr. Leica M9 with early 1960 Elmar. I am going to use this for a while and see how it works. The ergonomics of this old lens is better than the 1990s version of the Elmar. I particularly like the focussing button which locks in the infinity position. I got it a few years ago but only used it for a little while with film as I thought the definition was soft, but will give it another go with the digital camera. Nice to have this backwards compatibility.

Catholic Pentecostalism, otherwise known as the charismatic renewal movement, is characterised by a particular style of worship which has much in common with Protestant Pentecostal practice. I do not want to talk about it except to say this. The Catholic church is, and always has been, a Pentecostal church. And traditional Catholic worship is Pentecostal. This is particularly so when Latin is used and sung to Gregorian chant melodies. The fact that the Latin words are not immediately understandable means that one has no option but to let go and accept the sound. And the sounds of Latin are very particular, with pure open vowels alternating with simple consonants, and almost entirely lacking in the compound vowel sounds found in the Germanic languages or the complex consonts that characterise the Slavonic languages. Latin vocals are produced by opening the mouth and throat and letting the sound emerge on the breath. Thus it becomes a form of speaking in tongues. Gregorian chant mak...

Yesterday was the feast of St Teresa of Avila, for which should be sung the Introit Dilexisti Iustitiam above. It was a big occasion, marking the formal inauguration of the Year of Faith. Bishop Anders, gave, as always, a clear and inspiring sermon. The event was well supported by clergy, many of whom had travelled a considerable distance to attend, the servers, as always, performed well, and the church was packed. The liturgy, unfortunately, was a bit of a let down, beginning with the resolutely Protestant hymn "Tell out my soul" This should not be happening as there are good choirs available locally, in addition to the one attached to the church, plus two first rate organists. Catholic faith is not promoted by dull liturgies with Protestant tunes. Obviously changes need to be made sensitively, not in a rush and with the reasons being explained. But there is a need to get more momentum behind the "Reform of the Reform". If it is not, people will eventuall...

Vasagatan och cyklister , a photo by Elmar Eye on Flickr. The lime trees in Vasagatan are being removed because some of them are in poor condition. They will be replaced by a named variety of ornamental maple whose leaves turn red in the autumn. Some of the new chosen type were planted a few years ago and can be seen in the background on the right. Unfortunately it is going to be at least ten years before they get to a significant size. I would also question the wisdom of planting an entire avenue with a single variety of tree, or even a single species. The English landscape was once famous for its elms, Ulmus procera. Within a decade they had vanished, victims of Dutch elm disease. The trees were in fact a clone, and as soon as some disease came along,  they were all equally vulnerable and they all succumbed. Itr was only a matter of time. Formal avenues always present a problem from this point of view because the sense of formality is lost if the trees are not all the sam...

There is an old saying that hard cases make bad law. One of the arguments used against the abolition of slavery was that elderly widows depended on them. Elderly widows are wheeled out whenever the issue of land value taxation is raised - the example given is of the 95 year old woman whose husband bought a 2-up-2-down slum terrace house in 1946 for £100 with his demob money and now the site it is standing on is worth a million. Under a system of land value taxation she would be subject to a heavy tax even though she has only her meagre pension to live on and the house itself is falling down, has no bathroom and only an outside toilet. Campaigners for tougher abortion laws face the same kind of thing. Opponents ask, "What about women who have become pregnant as a result of rape?" Or "What about pregnancies where tests have shown that the baby, if born, would be seriously disabled and a burden on the parents?" Those who are campaigning for changes like this are ...

I will not comment on the WCML fiasco except to say that it points up the need to look at the way the IEP contract was awarded. The original specification for the IEP was not met by any of the submissions from the competing tenders. The final specification for the trains that have been ordered is significantly different from that in the original tender. The train manufacturing companies could reasonably argue that they never had the opportunity to bid on the basis of the final specification. Whether they would be within their rights to ask for a judicial review is a matter for the lawyers, but given that IEP is extraordinarily bad money, as was point out by Foster, suggests that the taxpayers would have an interest in the outcome.

Proposed layouts for the IEP trains . It's sardine tins for the standard class but hey, who cares, they're just oiks.

Oxford- Virgin Voyager , originally uploaded by Henry░Law . Voyagers are a high speed diesel electric multiple unit train built by Bombardier and introduced in 2001 for Virgin Cross Country services. There are two varieties of Voyagers, class 220 and class 221, the latter having tilt capability. A further class of similar trains were built for the Midland main line and are called Meridians, designated class 222. As originally built the class 220 units were four car and the class 221 made up into four and five car sets. The trains were originally intended for a high-intensity service centred around a hub at Birmingham New Street. This was known as Operation Princess but it proved unworkable, led to severe overcrowding on some sections, and was abandoned after a few months. After that, the Voyagers ran in pairs over the busier sections of route - an uneconomic arrangement as two sets of train crew are needed. It is also unlikely that this type of train would have been considered if the ...