Some of you will know that today commemorates the 200th anniversary of Admiral Lord Nelson's historic victory over the combined French and Spanish fleets at Cape Trafalgar, on the southern coast of Spain between Cadiz and Gibraltar.

Of course for us Brits, this fills us with a great sense of pride in the memory of the great man, a true British hero, whose monument Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square will no doubt attract tourists for decades to come.

I'd have loved to be in Portsmouth today, to be able to look over the solent and see the fleet review. A review that set me to thinking. No less than one hundred and sixty ships, military and civilian, tall ships and modern gathered together in a spectacle of of naval comradeship where the emphasis was not upon who defeated who, 200 years ago, but instead in common celebration of a global naval tradition.

And I wondered as I looked through the listings of the countries who had sent their ships to join in this all encompassing display if that perhaps Nelson's greatest triumph is to show that there can be found, common ground between peoples and cultures. Not just within the "Western World", but globally. I was astonished to see a a fleet containing so many who had been enemies, even in modern times and from such a wide variety of places. Arab states rubbing shoulders with Americans. India and Pakistan. Japan and Korea. Places who have had such troubles in our own lifetimes, South Africa, Romania, Serbia, Indonesia. Not today a show of naval power, but a show of like minded people displaying a common love of the sea.

In some ways it's such a small thing, a few ships gathered in the Solent for a festival of the ocean. In another way though, it shows that if we can just get past the bullshit, even for a little while, then remarkable things are possible.

The tight insular world of the individual is becoming more and more a global event. What with the advent of such computer programs, such as ICQ, MSN Messenger, Teamspeak, Skype and others, we no longer sit for hours in our living rooms reading the newpapers about things that might as well have happened last week. I.e. Old News. Even television today keeps us up-to-date and currant as does MSNBC News on the internet.

However, it is YOU, my friends that are the real key to my world-wide conciousness. If anyone had told me, 10 years ago, that I would have my finger on the pulse of the planet, I would have thought they were trying to snow me with science-fiction, and not fact!! With just a click of a button (or two!!) I can speak with England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and other parts unknown. Events like Julius told us of are living proof that it is we, one day at a time, one action at a time, one vote at a time, that will really make peace and harmony happen.

My only regret, is that I probably won't live long enough to see teleporters (and the world peace we'd like to see) become a fact of life. *sigh* I'd give anything to just *POOF* you guys over to a BBQ with us, this summer, and put faces to the names and voices I hear almost everyday. AH well, if any of yiu make it that far, remember me with fondness, will you? :shock: