River Cam in autumn

Most visitors have gone. The Cam is quieter again. In the summertime the river (just outside Kings College) would be crowded with foreigners on punts enjoying the place.

Cambridge in autumn

Oscar Pistorius verdict

5 years in gaol, but he is eligible for parole in just 10 months. Not being party to all the evidence, I have no idea if this is fair or not.

South Africa is violent country and he probably had to react in great haste. In the calm of the day and thousands of miles away it is too easy to say, "he should not have shot through the bathroom door", but I don't know how I would have reacted in a similar situation.

Sounds to me like he was lucky to get such a lenient sentence.

Sepura shares slide

Shares in my old company Sepura - I retired 6.5 years ago - have, like many FTSE shares - fallen by about 10% in recent weeks. It remains to be seen if these will fall further or stage a recovery.

Cold war?

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29686756 .

It sounds like the stuff of spy novels from many years ago, but the Swedish military may indeed be hunting a Russian sub in the waters not far from Stockholm. Neutral Sweden? Why? It beggars belief that the Russians would want to bother with Sweden.

If they do this with Sweden, you can only imagine the spying going on between the Russians and the USA for example.

Russia - the cold war ended a nearly a quarter of a century back! This is the 21st century, remember? Major nations try to behave like adults nowadays. It saddens me to think some major world players still play war games. I expect the USA and the UK are just as bad.

Well done Nigeria

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29685127 .

With no new cases in 6 weeks, Nigeria has declared itself Ebola free. Of course just one plane carrying an infected person could change that, but they do seem to be taking the risks very seriously. We just need to contain this Ebola outbreak before it spreads far and wide and becomes unstoppable.

Mr Barroso's speech today

So the outgoing EC president, Mr Jose Barroso, thinks we will make an "historic mistake" if we leave the EC.  He may be right, but staying within the EC at any cost to the UK is not an option, The UK is keen on a single common market - a level playing field - but seeks ultimate control over its own borders and laws. These are aspirations shared by many EC countries. They are reasonable wishes for our parliament to reign supreme in the UK.

Personally I hope we don't leave the EC, but that the EC will change somewhat.  If the EC does not change we may have no choice but to leave them to it.  I cannot imagine the EC not changing. Were we to leave, I bet we won't be the last.  I cannot see it being a disaster for the UK. Other countries manage. The benefits of membership have to outweigh the downsides.

By the way I am not a UKIP supporter. I am very much a floating voter and have no idea who I shall be voting for in the UK General Election next spring. It will be a difficult decision.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29684585 .

Free movement of people within the EU?

Basically I am in favour of the EC as a free trade group, but I struggle to understand why we can't, as a nation, decide who is allowed to live and work on our tiny, already overcrowded, little island. On this I am fully with David Cameron.  Also I am a believer in the ultimate power of our parliament and not a bunch of bureaucrats in Europe.

It seems to me that in many ways we would be better out than in, unless the EU ideal is more forward looking. We need the EU to understand it is a top-heavy bureaucracy some way from how it was when we first joined. Yes, if we leave there will be downsides, but I expect we will not be the last to leave, if indeed we do vote to leave.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29680059 .