Bill Gates of Microsoft infamy (Windows has not been the most reliable of operating systems and has caused me misery over the years) woke me up this morning.

I don't mean to suggest that, after a polite knock, he entered my bedroom with a cup of tea, toast and marmalade, and an ironed copy of 'The Times' (my mother used to start her day in roughly this manner at about 10.00am) - but merely that he was being interviewed on National Public Radio.

His point was simple. Microsoft cannot find enough qualified people to hire in the U.S. so is having to set up research establishments in India and China just to find talent - though they would, of course have made some investments in those countries anyway for straightforward commercial reasons.

His subtext was that U.S. high schools are awful academically (he did not go into their other deficiencies) and that this country is suffering from a severe educational crisis. Well, if the stability of American developed Windows over the years is anything to go by, Bill has already proved his point.

There is, in fact, wide agreement that the U.S. educational system is deeply flawed, but not only has very little been done about it (the less said about the 'No Child Left Behind Act' the better) , but the implications of high schools graduating seried ranks of inadequately educated students year after year, decade after decade - when other countries are achieving much higher standards - have not been adequately considered. On the other hand the 'dumbing down' of so many aspects of American life is self evident.

Consider what passes for news on TV; it is pre-digested, as if being fed to babies, and so short of foreign news, one has the impression here that much of the rest of the world does not exist.

Consider the competence - or lack of it - of our intelligence services. The total cost of our intelligence services is estimated to be around $40 billion and climbing but - to paraphrase Winston Churchill - never in the field of human conflict have so many spent so much to learn so little. If that does not worry you, reflect that it is your money that these inadequately educated bureaucrats are spending. If that reality does not hurt, it should.

I went to see Bill Gates in Dublin, Ireland, about ten years ago to watch him speak at the Windows 95 launch. He was on that day one of the worst speakers I have ever listened to. Nonethless, where U.S. education is concerned, I happen to think he is right. And more power to the man for trying to do something about it.


Victor.

Prince Rainier III of Monaco (the prince who married movie star, Grace Kelly) died recently. It left me with a strange feeling of loss because my parents used to vacation there every summer and not only did I go with them on a number of occasions, but I carried out my first writing assignment there. A less than sober friend of my mother - this was Dublin, Ireland after all - organized it not realizing I was only fifteen. The publication concerned was the 'Dublin Evening Mail' and it was then owned by 'The Irish Times' - a journal of some note which still prospers. The Mail has gone. I plead 'Not Guilty.'

It is great to be young and know nothing. Because I had no clue how a reporter went about his business, I interviewed the great and the not so good without fear or hesitation - and I loved Monaco. It is a miniature nation of less than a square mile in the South of France and much of it is called Monte Carlo, the name that it is arguably better known by.

One rose late, breakfasted off cafe au lait and croissants and then meandered down to 'Le Beach' which was, in fact, a pool and a tiny beach for the rich and the privileged (and those who could talk their way in). The pool was lined by seried ranks of truly beautiful looking women - all topless - which was tough for a fifteen year old.

As to the rest - adieu... But there was a lot to miss.

Victor.