Afghan President, Hamed Kharzai has praised the bravery of the Afghan people for turning out in such large numbers to vote in the elections, despite serious threats from the Taliban. Like what was witnessed recently in Iran, it is always something of an eye-opener to see how earnest and eager people can be make their votes count, especially in societies where democracy isn’t a given; societies where freedom is not taken for granted. It is particularly interesting when contrasted with some of the remarkably low turnouts in British elections over the passed few years, due to a society that broadly doesn’t see any need worry about its freedoms and liberties anymore and is more engaged by football, reality talent shows, and celebrity gossip.

[As a side note; we really shouldn't get too comfortable with our freedoms and liberties as a given, as there's every likelihood that more and more of them will be curtailed over time. Imagine if in twenty or thirty years time, countries like Afghanistan and Iran are living in perfectly liberal, enlightened conditions, and we in Britain, Europe or America have regressed the other way. Just a thought.]

Yet the functioning of democracy in Afghanistan is, in some ways, at present, an almost empty vase, in a country where women are broadly still treated like third-class citizens; where, in fact, an actual law has been passed allowing men to ’starve their wives’ if they refuse to have sex. Where a reputed eight out of ten women still suffer regular violence, and where eighty percent of women are illiterate, having been long excluded from educational opportunities. A country that is still being undermined by the Taliban, and which still has – even outside of the Taliban – tribal, sexist, and unmodern attitudes.

Invading Afghanistan wasn’t a solution to anything; merely a starting point – at best. At worst, an endless and costly exercise in futility, though optimism would be the most honourable course now. But Afghanistan, even more so than Iraq (which was at least a fairly modernised country before 2003), is going to take a long time to evolve beyond its old-world culture. Whether that means foreign troops should be there for a long time too is another matter, but such deep-rooted and long-lasting attitudes and dynamics can’t be neutralised by military activity, nor even by democracy, as evidenced.

The MoD this week has released a multitude of its previously classified files on UFOs; with a plethora of reported sightings and close encounters. For anyone who’s got the time or the patience, they should make for a fascinating read. It still baffles me that anyone in this day and age (and there are lots of you) can still honestly refute or laugh at the existence of Unidentified Flying Objects. With all the incidents reported, all the multiple sightings, all the photographic evidence, from Britain and all over the world, to still cling to this inane scepticism that so many people have (especially in the mainstream) seems like the height of blindness. If you don’t have enough interest to read through documents and case reports, then all you have to do is go to Google images and type in UFOs or flying saucers. The truth is out there…

Incidentally, this passed Wednesday night, I saw, from my kitchen, FOUR bright orangey objects in the distance, moving in a strange formation. I watched them for about five minutes, moving around the same approximate area. They didn’t move like any standard plane or helicopter, and there was no noise. They had the visage of stars (including a kind of twinkling), but their orangeness negates that explanation. I couldn’t tell what their distance was; they were either very high up and therefore extemely bright and large, or lower down but not as big. I have NO idea what they were.

Brace yourselves; that terrifyingly talentless torture of tedius television trauma known as ‘The X-Factor’ is back this weekend. Prepare yourselves for more third, fouth and fifth-rate impersonations, karaoke auditions and heart-rending sob stories. Apparently, however, this year the producers have undertaken new screening processes to keep out unstable, overly needy types. Which, in essence, will remove the only vaguely entertaining aspect of the show.

If only I were a bear, I could just hibernate until Christmas.

Speaking of furry creatures [what a masterful segway], there are reportedly 5, 000 rats being born in London every every minute. And most of them, incidentally, are on my street. These filthy, pestilent, disgusting creatures have to be kept in check, or we’ll end up with the Plague again; and wouldn’t that be really embarassing for one of the greatest cities in the world? So, some tips for neutralising the rat problem in a humane manner; (1) Draw up signs, saying ‘No Rats’, or signs with a picture of a rat with red line through it, (2) Turn the rats gay so that they won’t breed anymore; an admittedly slower process, which involves playing 24-hour Pet Shop Boys, Elton John and Westlife music into the sewers, (3) Breed loads more foxes to patrol the streets and scare the rats off.

There’ll be more foxes, that means. But everyone loves foxes, right? Right?