Rabbit Thought of the Day

Only a few minutes and I can head home, the roads are clear and every thing is looking good out there. It’s been quite a busy day and have achieved loads so I’ll be heading home a happy bunny.

An air strike by the US has killed 11 Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistan Government has condemned the incident which it called unprovoked and cowardly and under mined the basis of security cooperation.

Typical isn’t it, I have my external hard drive with me, it contains all my photographs. I was going to upload some today and post some in the photography group. But guess what I have left at home, yes you’ve got it, my USB lead, bloody typical, what a numpty I am

You wander around the roads of Britain and we are dismayed to see abandoned cars dumped on out streets, but here is one story that beats them all.

Vietnamese authorities say they are mystified as to who owns a Boeing 727 which has been abandoned at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport. The plane was flown in from Siem Reap in neighbouring Cambodia in late 2007 and has been unclaimed ever since. An airport official told the BBC that they believe the owners could be an airline based in Cambodia. The official said that if it remains unclaimed, the plane will have to be sent for scrap.

The plane has a Cambodian flag on its fuselage and is emblazoned with the name Air Dream, but the authorities say they have no information about the airline. Earlier, one security official at Noi Bai airport told the BBC's Vietnamese Service that the plane belongs to bankrupt budget Cambodian airline Royal Khmer, but this is not certain.

Permission was originally given for the plane to remain at the airport while essential maintenance was carried out but these repairs have not been done.

Online newspaper VietnamNet reported that the owners could be unable or unwilling to pay the required airport parking fees.

Reported on the BBC Website

A drugs trial has been abandoned in Australia after several jurors admitted they had spent much of their time playing Sudoku in the courtroom.

Judge Peter Zahra aborted proceedings after the jury forewoman admitted she and four others had been playing the popular puzzles to fight off boredom.

The problem was discovered when some of the jurors were observed writing notes vertically rather than horizontally.

Sudoku involves completing a grid of numbers in the correct sequence.

The three-month trial had cost taxpayers more than A$1m (US$945,000) and the two accused men faced possible life sentences.

One of the jurors explained that the puzzle had helped keep her "mind busy" as she listened to repeated testimonies from the witness box.

"Some of the evidence is rather drawn out, and I find it difficult to maintain my attention the whole time," the juror told the Australian Associated Press.

Lawyers had presumed the scribbling they could see jurors doing was note-taking.

"We actually all thought they were quite a diligent jury," lawyer Robyn Hakelis told ABC local radio.

"The judge had made many comments about what a good jury they were how they were taking copious amounts of notes."

There is no legal action that can be taken against jurors for doing puzzles during a trial, so they will face no penalty for their behaviour.

A fresh trial is expected to begin in a few weeks, once a new jury has been called.

Melting sea ice and overfishing have triggered a dangerously rapid decline in penguin populations on the Antarctic Peninsula – a direct result of global warming, warns a new report from the WWF.

The gentoo, chinstrap and adélie – along with the emperor, the largest penguin species in the world – are now struggling to survive as melting sea ice destroys nesting sites and reduces vital food sources, such as krill.

Warmer temperatures are forcing penguins to raise their young on increasingly thinner and more precarious ice floes, while stronger winds mean many eggs and chicks are being blown away from their parents before they are able to survive on their own.

I have seen these in the wild a magnificent bird, truly wonderful to watch.

It seems high fuel prices are succeeding where eco campaigners have failed and people are turning their backs on thirsty SUVs. With petrol today at an average of 116.7p per litre and diesel at 130.1p per litre it's not hard to see why drivers of thirsty vehicles are being hit where it hurts.

According to SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) figures 4x4 sales are down by 18.3% compared with this time last year, Land Rover alone recording a drop in sales of a third compared with May 2007. Against this backdrop a 120% rise in sales in the mini segment comes as no surprise.

It's not just high fuel prices hitting the sales of extravagant cars though. Falling house prices, an ever increasing cost of living and general economic gloom mean people are looking to save money any way they can. Against this backdrop the overall drop in sales of 3.5% over last May doesn't actually look too bad.

In this climate the spotlight inevitably falls on firms like Land Rover, whose exclusively 4x4-led product line up is sometimes viewed as a barometer for SUV sales as a whole. "No doubt, the US and UK will be extremely tough this year," a spokesperson told us, "but they will remain number one and number two markets."

The high diesel price is an extra burden for SUV drivers, many of whom chose diesel engines in an effort to keep running costs within reasonable bounds. But even with the difference between petrol and diesel increasing from 9.3p per litre to 11.6p per litre the SMMT says diesel's overall market share is still climbing.

Anecdotal evidence from the trade suggests the drop-off in SUV sales is more dramatic than the figures suggest too. But does this mark the end of the 4x4 era? We'll see about that but drivers are clearly thinking more carefully about running costs than ever before.

A 4x4 is an essential vehicle if you are a farmer or live the wilds of Scotland, Wales or the Lake District and North Yorkshire, but do you really need 4x4 if you live in Chelsea or other urban areas, no of course not, it a status symbol some are now probably struggling with the increases in fuel prices, road tax and the general increase in the cost of living. Well to those who are struggling I have just one word for you ‘TOUGH’ serves you right, buy a sensible car you morons!

Welcome to Wednesday, we are half way through the working week already. It will soon be the weekend. This weekend will be a busy one we have family coming for weekend; they arrive on Friday morning and are leaving on Sunday afternoon.  

It’s nice to see family, but I am always glad when they have gone (that doesn’t sound very nice does it). I don’t mean that nastily, it just that I feel cramped in my own home. Am not putting this very well so I’ll stop there.

MP’s are set to vote on extending terror detention from 28 days to 42 days. It wasn’t that long ago when they tired to extend detention to 90 days (I think, it might even have 96 not sure now) they were defeated then and today vote will be very close. The Conservatives and Lib Dems are against the proposal as are 30 or so Labour MP’s.

The argument is that because of the complexity of investigating computer files, other documentation it is necessary to have this time limit. It has been reported that any suspect arrested and later cleared could receive £3000 for every day he his detained after the 28 days.

I can’t understand the logic behind the Government plan, surely any subject arrested will have been watched for weeks if not months before hand and the police should have sufficient evidence before these people are arrested.

The security services are distancing themselves and have stated this is a police matter and not one for MI5. Civil liabilities groups are up in arms about this and state that that this goes against human rights. Personally I don’t think that 42 days is necessary. A system was tried like this once in Northern Ireland at that time it was called Internment and it didn’t work.

Terrorism needs to be stopped, but I don’t think detention for 42 without charge will bring this about, Good intelligence and detective work will produce better results than detention is it because our security services and police are not up to the task that they require extended detention, for those who think are security service are good you have been watching too many James Bond films, just look at the intelligence they gave out before the second Gulf War.