Arden Forester

Wimbledon is not just for tennis

2012-01-25T14:26:00.000Z

Glory days for Wimbledon

Once upon a time there was a football club in Wimbledon. Known as the Dons. They did very well and were on top of their game, literally. Then the money men moved in and moved the club all the way to Milton Keynes. Hardly South London. These people were of different clay, with their stone cows in their fields and a shopping centre for a town. But money talks and sometimes walks. The Football Association and the Football League, ever keen to advance the cause of cash in the game, just sat back. But the footballing folk of Wimbledon started up a new club. The Dons were like a phoenix. They had to call the new club AFC Wimbledon, but every one new it was Wimbledon starting again. The runaway club was calling itself MK Dons, but in reality was Milton Keynes, as very few Wimbledon folk travelled to this place for a game. And so AFC Wimbledon started in the lowly leagues and progressed up. Now they are one league behind their rival.

I mention this because football is in the news regarding Harry Redknapp and his tax affairs. Bungs may come and bungs may go, I do not know, but the story of Wimbledon is a nice one. The ordinary fans standing up to the money men and the financial flotsam and jetsam that permeates English football today.

Jamie Oliver's kitchen chef found dead

2012-01-24T12:12:00.000Z

Kevin Boyle found dead - RIP

I hesitated at first as to whether I should put Jamie Oliver's name in this post. After all it's nothing to do with him that one of his original TV apprentices has been found dead. The name Kevin Boyle means little to anyone apart from his family and circle of friends. That's the thing about names. Famous names mean something. Why else would Sainsbury's have used Jamie Oliver's name other than to cash in on it. So the news media uses a famous name to highlight the death of a chef. It has been said that Mr Boyle would be remembered for being an "exceptionally caring person who devoted himself to his friends". That sounds an excellent epitaph.

But we may never have known of Kevin Boyle if he had not been associated with Jamie Oliver. Now we do. Fame used to be fifteen minutes worth for the average person, according to Andy Warhol. With the internet it is fifteen minutes plus a slice of eternity.

Vince Cable sets a cat amongst some Tory pigeons

2012-01-24T10:23:00.000Z

Vince Cable spells out his proposals

As I put on this blog, I'm all in favour of free enterprise but against covert corporatism. Free enterprise is best served with less regulation, simple consumer and business legislation and an environment where start-up companies can succeed. In my opinion, corporatism is just what we see in the City of London. Spivs operating complicated and devious money making "vehicles" all to suck up to grateful bosses, most of whom are clueless as to where the money trail starts and ends.

So it comes as no surprise to hear that several Conservative MPs are upset by Business Secretary Vince Cable's proposals for tackling corporate greed and corruption. Personally, I don't see it as a proper position for any Conservative to take, giving tacit support to those who would use and abuse a company for personal gain. But Peter Bone, chirpy chap that he is, called the proposals "Liberal, left-wing claptrap". I hardly think giving shareholders a voice in their company, in a binding way over pay of executives, is that. And Philip Davies referred to them as "drivel". He said Vince Cable should "get off their backs and let them create some wealth". Are you for real, Mr.Davies? Some of these directors have not been creating wealth except for themselves. The absurdity of such cretinous remarks is that it rewards failure as much as success. That has been the downfall of British business. Not something you hear much of in Germany. We seem to be saddled with Fred Goodwins, not much better that legalised crooks.

The Institute of Directors, hardly a haven for militant socialists and lily-livered liberals, is supportive. Dr Roger Barker, of the IoD, comments, "A binding shareholder vote on executive remuneration policy will remind institutional investors of their key governance responsibilities. The government is also right to consider ways in which boards of directors can become more diverse - companies must incorporate views beyond those of current and former executives in the setting of CEO pay." Well said.

What we need is a root and branch cleaning up of the British corporate scene. Nobody is suggesting that those in charge should not be rewarded well. It's just that shareholders should be given more say over what goes on in their name. What's wrong with that? Hardly left-wing claptrap. I supposed Bone and Davies think all is neat and dandy with these corporate types. Nothing to change, just carry on chaps. Well, that's not my type of conservative thinking.

Left to their own devices, the corporate world has massacred the pension funds, done deals with countries like China over jobs, and generally kept their own nests well feathered whilst asking for bailouts when they got things wrong. Free enterprise lives with businesses starting up and closing down. The taxpayer does not generally intervene. Banks and the moneychangers see themselves as different clay. That's why we are stuffed as a country paying down the national debt (well sort of!) whilst they carry on regardless.

Not my type of conservatism, Mr.Bone and Mr.Davies!

Jury gossip, Theodora Dallas, jailed for contempt of court

2012-01-23T21:57:00.000Z

Theodora Dallas reflects on contempt and its consequences

Following on from my last post the result of the contempt of court by juror Theodora Dallas is at least three months in jail. As Lord Sugar might have said "What was she thinking?". Apparently not a lot, as she claims her "grasp of English" is not always that good. But it was good enough for the University of Bedfordshire, which employed her as a lecturer. I doubt she told them that the job was all Greek to her.

Anyway, she's doing time for contempt. A salutory lesson to all those who may think a fair trial is one which they can influence.

Taking us for a ride

2012-01-23T12:37:00.001Z

Theodora Dallas looking suitably chastised

There seem to be any number of intelligent, well-paid people who, when confronted by mistakes or wrongdoing, decide they either did not know they were doing wrong or just feign forgetfulness. One such is a Greek woman who found herself on a jury. Dr. Theodora Dallas is obviously no thicko and must be quite bright to be a university lecturer in psychology. I assume she lectures in English and not Greek, seeing as this job is held in England. All jury members are advised by the judge not to consult or communicate with the outside world. Obviously if in doubt the maxim is "ASK". She gaily fingered her way across the internet to find lurid details about the accused in question. Found out he'd been convicted of rape and then shared this juicy detail with fellow jurors. Did she think this acceptable jury duty? She's now produced a waffling statement basically suggesting she was a total innocent in the whole thing. Thankfully three judges beg to differ and have found her in contempt of court.

In the "taking us for a ride" department the whole sorry saga of phone-hacking tops the pile I think. News International's rogue reporter has suddenly been joined by a huge group of phone-hacking hacks and Murdoch's seedy outfit is shovelling cash in the direction of wronged celebrities. More roller-coaster nonsense comes with the HS2 promotion. "It will create jobs" the pro campaigners shriek. Well I could stand in New Street shouting that I'll create jobs, but the words will be worthless. This is not about job creation, but about wealth creation for those promoting the 20-minute time-shaving high-velocity railroad. I really think that if it ever comes to pass, "businessmen" will be expected to knuckle down and do business on the HS2. No looking out of the window or having inane conversations on fiddly blackberries. If anyone is found not hard at it, it will be enforced ejection at Coventry. These business leaders need to put facts first and not waffling rhetoric. Answers are currently in the slow lane.

Tesco share dealings, Antony Worrall-Thompson's cheese heist and the daily round of nonsense about the euro all contribute to us being taking for a ride. Why people can't just admit mistakes or tell it as it is, I do not know. I thought the days of spin were over. I somehow think they are here to stay.

Newt Gingrich slips past Romney to win

2012-01-22T17:57:00.000Z

Newt Gingrich in ecstatic mood - he won!

Newt Gingrich has done what the money men of the Republican Party didn't want. He won the South Carolina primary. And he one big, not by a small margin. This sort of win makes the Wall Street crowd smart, their eyes filling with salty tears. Now I don't know if Newt is well named or not. The former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, keeps newts and no doubt a lot of them have slipped through his hands as he tends to them in their tanks. Newt Gingrich was supposed to be slippery and Mitt Romney tried to portray him as such. Slippery with the facts, slippery with his marriages and slippery in Congress. But Newt fought back. He courted Piers Morgan on CNN and Piers did Newt proud. He then lambasted CNN in that debate for trying to say he wanted an "open marriage". Far from being the fall guy, one bowed and cowed by the attacks on him, Newt came out looking like a tough guy capable of being a president. It was Mitt that looked slippery. Especially over those tax returns, which are now going to be published for detailed scrutiny.

So good on Newt for winning in South Carolina. I don't think it's going to change much, though. The only change Americans will get is if the vote in Ron Paul. Anything else is rather akin to the captain on the Costa Concordia. The US economy is still saddled with colossal debt. When Dr. Paul talked about this in the debate on Thursday, the other three just stared at him, particularly Romney. I think Mitt sees Ron Paul as an eccentric aside and just smiles in a bemused manner. Odd that he claims to be a corporate hotshot successfully managing businesses, yet when it comes to the opportunity to run the country his policies are the very same ones that have run up the trillion squillion dollar debt. But that's politics for you.

Ron Paul for South Carolina today

2012-01-20T17:01:00.001Z

Ron Paul greeted by the South Carolina CNN audience

The BBC is a bit mean on reporting Ron Paul, although Mark Mardell is one scribe fascinated by Dr.Paul's support. Like the US media, the BBC seem engrossed by Newt Gingrich's ex-wife and her tales of whatever. Whilst I don't support Newt in this race, he spoke exceedingly well in slapping down the CNN chap. Let's hear about politics not bedroom stuff.

This Republican race is now really a four-horse one. Each candidate has a good opportunity of doing well but my hope is that Dr.Paul will edge ahead of the pack and take the lead. Anyway, this compilation of Ron Paul's contribution in the South Carolina primary debate shows just how good he is, why he would be a great president and why I urge

SOUTH CAROLINA TO VOTE RON PAUL TODAY!

Rick Perry quits White House race

2012-01-19T18:18:00.000Z

Rick Perry bows to the inevitable

Rick Perry has soared like an eagle in this Republican race for the White House and then come crashing down like Icarus. Perry literally waxed and waned as he tried to hold his campaign together. So he bows out today, apparently knowing when it's time to make a strategic retreat. He never came across as a credible candidate to me. Not much added up and his policies were slightly weird. He now backs Newt Gingrich against the dreaded Romney.

Now Newt has his problems too. By the time Saturday comes, there will be no end of closet doors banged wide open. His ex-wife is acting as chief door banger on one closet. She claims he wanted an open marriage. Really? It's this sort of tripe that is supposed to put people off voting for him, when in actual fact they've only got to look at his political theories to know that they will only be getting the same old stuff. The only one to take on Mitt Romney and drill down through his rhetoric is Ron Paul. Dr.Paul should leave Mitt wide-mouthed with his lack of answers to pertinent questions. And Mitt Romney is having to deal with his money issues. Tax and his understanding of it is one.

I enjoy the primary season, but this one has certainly exposed the skeletons and given them more hope of an active life than ever before. I just wonder if politicians ever learn, or is it always going to me like this? Anyway, one more down. It's a bit like ten green bottles.

Costa Concordia counts the cost of corporate greed

2012-01-17T12:54:00.000Z

Costa Concordia lies stricken against submerged rocks

Much is being said about the miraculous survival of the passengers from the cruise ship Costa Concordia. Very commendable work by the Italian Coastguard and the people of Giglio Island when the ship hit the rocks around the island. 29 people are still missing. This has been something of a statement about human nature, to say the least. Many passengers did not panic, but bravely helped others. Some of the crew selfishly looked to save themselves first. That is how it is. What I find disturbing however is the attitude of the company. They were quick off the mark to blame the captain, just as airlines are quick to blame pilots. Corporate antennae always buzz and twitch with a "blame others first" attitude. Probably the lawyers are advising that this is best course of action.

Costa Concordia's owners, Costa Cruises, are obviously keen to minimise damage to their lucrative business. Around 2 million Britons want to go cruising, so with all the others in the world also desiring cruise holidays, this is big business. Costa's Chief Executive Officer Pier Luigi Foschi said at a press conference that captain Francesco Schettino changed a pre-programmed route to make a manoeuvre that was "unauthorised, unapproved and unknown to Costa".

"The captain has the authority to take the decisions on board. In this case, the captain decided to change the route and he went into waters that he did not know in advance," Mr Foschi said. So he's first in with the "blame the captain" routine. Yet the smartly-dressed Mr Foschi failed to say that his corporate website was still taking bookings for the sunken ship and its future cruises. Shame on you, Mr Foschi. You can't even get that right. Greed is the order of the day. Simon Calder, the travel editor of the Independent, went online and bought a ticket for a cruise on the Costa Concordia. This was revealed last night on Channel 5 news. Should a company be shamed into putting lives first before making sales?

It has been said that this ship sailed past the island before in this manner. Apparently it was so that the lights of the ship could be seen by the islanders. Some sort of spectacle it would appear. Corporate bosses are in the spotlight now, only because they seem to put the survival of their company before all else when tragedy, disaster or negative revenue streams befall them. I really do hope that the boss of Costa Cruises is not hiding something. Truth will out and people now want facts not spin and subterfuge.

'Startled and fearful' woman executed in the United States

2012-01-16T16:36:00.000Z

Death reported as a matter of fact in a matter of fact way

"Vengeance is not Mine" in the United States. Most Americans, it would seem, happily go along with a kind of an eye for an eye mentality when it comes to justice. Restorative and correctional are words either misused or abused. Interesting that the Republican Party candidates are now debating penal policies rather than just baying at the moon and exciting folk about death on gurneys.

Another woman has just been executed. Gone where nobody cares. America is a religious country but not necessarily a Christian one. Dominical commandments are conveniently forgotten when it comes to the big business that is the prison service of America. Just keeping one inmate on death row costs a fortune. Everyone is in the grip of greed and personal advancement. It is a spectacle of the worst sort.

Why the United States thinks this is a civilised system I have no clue. Maria Glod of the Washington Post was one of the press reporters who witnessed the death yesterday of Teresa Lewis. She was the first woman to be executed in the US for five years and in Virginia since 1912. Ms Glod appeared before cameras as if she were commenting on Antony Worrall Thompson's edam seizure at Tesco. That's how the death of nondescripts is accepted. Who cares? Death is death. It's a punishment and something to be feared. Ms Lewis is elsewhere now, but are the prison authorities, the politicians and the voting public any closer to the God they claim is saving America from the world?

Every little helps in Tesco share dealings

2012-01-14T10:50:00.000Z

Tesco share dealing - a case of perception over reality

Tesco is one of Britain's most successful companies. Started by a very enterprising man, Jack Cohen. He might have been a good fit as an early Apprentice boss if the show had been on when he was around. I well remember him discussing, quite openly, his tricks of the trade. " I stack salad cream in the baskets at the end of the rows, then stick some more in the shelves. Both lots, same price. You know, the basket ones go much quicker. People see it as a bargain in a basket, see." I put that down to good marketing. No wonder Tesco did well.

Perception is a much stronger thing that fact. My perception of Jack Cohen was based on those little nuggets. I never met him or knew much about him. But he came across on the television as a canny operator trying to give his customers what they wanted, whilst always growing the business successfully. Today's Tesco bosses are a different breed. Not much is known of them and they appear camera shy. The exact opposite is the case with Justin King at Sainsbury's. He pops up telling all and sundry about his company, in a way that engages the viewer. He's appeared on Question Time and done other TV stuff. He could have a TV career after Sainsbury's, I imagine.

Today we hear that Tesco is defending a sale of shares by its chief operating officer, Bob Robbins. Bob has done nothing wrong, but perception is all that really matters here. Did it not cross his mind to think that by selling shares just before the sales results were announced things would look bad? Even if he had not been privy to "insider" information, surely he must have had an inkling that Christmas was a bit of a turkey as far as sales were concerned? This is where the modern day director lives in a world apart. Perception is what gives the gossips ammunition. Chatting down the pub, in the office, between friends. Bob Robbins can't be a fool or he would not be chief operating officer. Maybe for his own good he needs a quick lesson in perception.

Ron Paul finishes a good second in New Hampshire

2012-01-11T12:03:00.000Z

Ron Paul delights his supporters in New Hampshire

Ron Paul is now the one to take on Mitt Romney's vague conservative thinking. Where Romney speaks in vacuous terms about the deficit, about jobs and about his own career, Ron Paul speaks from the heart over things he truly believes in. Surely Americans are electing a president in this process and not a kind-hearted preacher man. Mitt Romney has only said he believes in his faith, family and in his career. The rest is somewhere in the clouds. However some 40% of New Hampshire voters in this primary joined him in those clouds. What for they have only themselves to ask.

Now coming second is not winning, I know, but Ron Paul is doing far better than the establishment would like. They have to report him now. They have to sit up and think. But you can bet your bottom dollar they won't squeak about where their trillions actually went. Or why they wanted trillions of fake money in the first place.

Mark Mardell on his BBC blog says - "Iowa's second favourite son, Rick Santorum, did badly here.

Instead in second place, Ron Paul. The Texas Congressman may be the most interesting phenomenon of this campaign, and his gleeful, impish speech extolling liberty and castigating government was a thing of freewheeling beauty in a world where so much is pre-planned, plotted and rehearsed.

Path to victory? I am not going to write him off. Perhaps the Republican right will come together behind him in future contests. But I suspect he is too strong meat, too consistently libertarian for many conservatives. He won't go quietly, however."

No he won't go quietly. But actually I think strong meat is just what many Americans want just now. They've had it with chopped liver and sub standard ground beef. Ron Paul is really the only man standing fit for proper conservatives to rally round.

Here's a video of him. I can't find anything but good in what he says. A speech of freewheeling beauty in a world where so much is pre-planned, plotted and rehearsed indeed!

Gisela Stuart and her high speed jobs!

2012-01-10T20:07:00.002Z

Cautious start to HS2 high speed dating

I've just seen Gisela Stuart on Midlands Today. She was wearing a "YES" badge, presumably in support of HS2. She said that "we desperately need jobs in Birmingham" (which is very true), then went on to say that a high speed link with Manchester would enable the jobless to go looking for jobs elsewhere by using the high speed train connection! Is she on something? It's speed of sorts! This is where these people lose the plot as far as I am concerned. Don't go looking for jobs in Brum, get the HS2 and find one elsewhere. A highly expensive way to solve unemployment!

I have a suggestion for Gisela. I think the jobless could spend time with the speed hungry business leaders and discuss job opportunities as they whish past Stafford or wherever. Or the other way, 49 minutes down to London would be ample time for a job offer. Speed job hunting on high speed trains. I'm all for it. And why not speed dating, too. Lonely hearts from all over the country flitting from carriage to carriage. Must be a market there.

Gisela said "we have to create jobs" as if this is the magic formula. She is a bit like her sister German, Angela Merkel. When the fancy takes them, they come up with fantastical fancies that nobody can comprehend. Apart from job hunting, what other virtues does the HS2 hold out for us? More ideas, Gisela?

High speed rail - low speed information!

2012-01-10T18:12:00.000Z

Justine Greening poses by a high speed train

Justine Greening is the new Transport Secretary and she's not much better than Hammond was when it comes to explaining just what this Brum to the Smoke train thing is supposed to be all about. Currently she's waffling on about investment, getting about more quickly and other nebulous bits of gossip. What she does not say is whether it is all worth it in the true sense of "worth it". I suspect this is just a sop to keep the construction industry happy. If it is, why doesn't she just say so. We are told business people want to be wizzed up and down this line in 49 minutes so they can somehow do better what they are failing to do now. I assume they are relying on a completely breakdown free, strike free train service? A train every four minutes, apparently. Will there be such a demand for swapping time in these two cities? Does Ms Greening know? And if she does have facts that say each train will be filled with eager travellers, what of the slow coaches on the existing tracks? What is their fate to be on track that is not worth upgrading? Will Watford still be a good place for signalling failure? The rail industry is right now under-invested and managing on a wing and a prayer mentality. I went down to London on Virgin Trains on Christmas Eve, hoping that by paying a bit extra the service would be impeccable. No such luck. Delays due to signalling. Coming back after Christmas, a similar event befell us. So do I hope for better things? Yes I do. But I doubt the thought of going to London in 49 minutes is going to assuage me at the moment.

I saw a chap on the television, a director of Manchester Airport. He thought the high speed thing essential for Manchester. Why exactly? I can't think his airport is going to benefit. Is he hoping for Londoners to be whisked up there so they can fly off to places they never thought Heathrow catered for? Or is he wanting to send some of his lot down south? He never said WHY it would be good, just that he wanted it. Business leaders are talking with forked tongues. That they've got something of interest in the project is not doubted. It's just that the rest of us haven't been let in on the plot.

Saving on flying is one reason the Daily Mail came up with. However, no planes fly between Birmingham and London except for executive jets. It will be years before the planes between Manchester and London get competition from the high speed trains. Will the planes go the same way as SeaFrance ferries? Lose some jobs at the airport, gain them on the trains. Swings and roundabouts.

I'm not against this project as such. I'm just against the weasel words and the bold-faced corruption of it all. If the construction industry wants work, let them renovate houses, or the cracked motorways, or the disused factory sites around the country. Better still, do something about the existing rail network. As it stands, tickets have just gone up to pay for "investment". I imagine a ticket for a 49-minute speedy train journey will be either a massive cost, or a subsidised one, reflecting nothing of the true cost. We need Ms Greening to give us ANSWERS not platitudes.

First off, how will this all help Birmingham? Are we to be visited by eager business folk, all keen to get out of London to do some kind of Dick Whittington in reverse? Who knows? None of do at the moment! Answers, Ms Greening, PLEASE!!!!

Michele Bachmann bows out with Obama bashing speech

2012-01-04T18:32:00.000Z

Michele Bachmann goes on about "socialism" as she bows out of the race to be president. She also has a thing about Benjamin Franklin. I just think he might have found her a bit too flaky for his liking. As with many men of his age he was able to be many things, politician the least of them. Education was something then, when Congress had "minds" capable of discussing the great issues of the day. Would Benjamin Franklin be in favour of a Federal Reserve Bank that reserves little and squanders much? A dollar bill in his day was something of value and worth.

Ms Bachmann has said virtually zilch on how to get America out of the quagmire it is in. She speaks well about patriotism, and I don't deride her for that. But love of country is only good if it is part of helping that country. I'm sure the good folk of Iowa are as patriotic as the next, but they are not fools and they want the finances to be balanced and true. Attacking Obama may be good for her and her followers but it is only that. She has no special answer to the medical mess where some have much and many just get by hoping they don't get anything too disastrous.

Rick Santorum blurted out that he heard Margaret Thatcher say the National Health Service of Britain was a calamitous mistake and a drain on resources. He is using her as his standard bearer. When asked directly when and where she said this, or if she ever did, he went coy and rushed off. Is Rick turning out to be a false prophet?

Americans need more that scary talk, disingenuous waffle. They want the truth. Ron Paul is that guy. No bull in Iowa from Ron! Michele Bachmann has been voted of the bus. The coach trip continues.

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Mitt Romney wins by 8 votes in Iowa caucuses

2012-01-04T11:12:00.002Z

Mitt Romney waves at those eight voters in the hall

Winston Churchill once said that one only needed one extra vote to win. Winning is all that counts on election night. Mitt Romney managed to get eight more Republican Iowans on his side than Rick Santorum did. And winning means people talk more about the winner when they realise who won. Mitt Romney travels to New Hampshire in much the same way as a contestant on Celebrity Coach Trip. "Ooh, Mitt, you won! And eight votes in it. You devil, you. Hey, listen up, everyone. Mitt won his election!"

However, he got only a quarter of the vote, which can also be read that three-quarters rejected him. 122,255 eager voters braved the elements to cast votes for delegates who are not mandated to vote in the convention for their man. Mitt might have a load flip-floppers do deal with now. He got 30,015 closely followed by Rick Santorum's pack of 30,007. Nail-bitingly close. Ron Paul's vote was 26,219 which was a respectable 21% in a such a tight contest.

Full result was -

Mitt Romney 30,015 votes (25%)
Rick Santorum 30,007 votes (25%)
Ron Paul 26,219 votes (21%)
Newt Gingrich 16,251 votes (13%)
Rick Perry 12,604 votes (10%)
Michele Bachmann 6,073 votes (5%)
Jon Huntsman 745 votes (1%)

The Iowa vote may be a case of the bottom candidate bows out, but I think that if they all stick around we may get a few surprises on the campaign trail with regard to results. However, Mitt Romney won and he deserves to smile a bit. He must have felt a bit like a pork butcher at a bar mitzvah by going to Iowa. Must have been those sausages he had on offer.

John Terry lookalike on Indian cigarette packet

2012-01-03T20:06:00.000Z

John Terry's imperfect Indian doppleganger!

A man said to resemble John Terry, the loudmouth ball kicker, has appeared on cigarette packets in India. The photo is so grainy it could be that of any one of a million men in the world, from about six different races. However, John Terry's "people" were quick off the mark to say that "their man" had had his image besmirched by nicotine purveyors in India. The ad agency in reply claims the image is "artistic imagination". Not quite, but it could be construed as confusing. Anyone from Charles Atlas to the local milkman on a saucy calendar.

I suspect that this has nothing to do with John Terry as such. More a knee-jerk reaction to see if big rupees are on offer as "compensation". I would have thought the "people" would have thought a bit better. When the Indians get full wind of who this grey gremlin is supposed to represent, a sub-continental wave of mutterings will make anything Terry said on the football field seem like a hoarse whisper.

Ron Paul riding high in Iowa

2012-01-03T12:07:00.001Z

Ron Paul being snapped in Iowa by adoring paparazzi

The BBC has woken up in 2012 to the political reality that Ron Paul could be president of the United States. They usually skipped past him in their reports of the GOP presidential race to concentrate on airheads like Palin and Bachmann or smooth talkers like Mitt Romney. Now they have to wake up and literally inhale the coffee!

Ron Paul is making strides where the others took steps and he keeps to his line. Big government spending just keeps the gravy train going. Congress has been like a giant fat queen bee being pampered by the taxpaying workers. Also, those in power have been printing money like it was a Chinese tea towel factory. All cheap and cheerful but bound to end in tears.

Here's what the BBC's Brian Wheeler says whilst he scribbles from Des Moines. "Ron Paul inspires the kind of devotion in his followers that most modern politicians can only dream of. Yet he is seen by many mainstream Republicans as, at best, a deeply misguided figure, "a good protest vote" as rival candidate Newt Gingrich described him recently. At worst, the 76-year-old Texas congressman is viewed as a dangerous radical who would isolate America in the world and wreck the fragile economic recovery at home."

If Ron Paul is a good protest vote then Newt Gingrinch is a wasted vote. Newt knows how to scrape the pork barrel clean and then fill it again with dodgy scraps and fatty bits. He's in a world of his own. Ron Paul would isolate America from the rest of the world? Ron Paul has NEVER said that! Digging around in Iraq for WMD and oil contracts written on rice paper is not his idea of a proper foreign policy. Dubya did just that and look where that got us. 2012 and Iraq is into car bombings and civic corruption on a growing scale.

The whole western world needs to be rid of the gamblers and the chancers that have somehow got themselves into political power and a new lot of positive leaders without spin and subterfuge as top motives. Ron Paul wants jobs based on real creative need, healthcare provided by caring organisations not state institutions and a foreign policy that extends the hand of friendship rather than hostility. Who could gainsay that? No president would compromise the security of the nation deliberately, but some have done it through sheer ignorance. I favour a president who will bring America back from trillion dollar debt and nebulous wars based on the actions of comic strip heroes.

Republicans in Iowa - Ron Paul is your man!

Happy and Joyful Christmas

2011-12-23T23:43:00.000Z

I'm off with the family to France to spend the festive season there with other members of our family. 2012 is likely to be a roller-coaster year. I am hopeful yet not so. But I do feel that a positive outlook will defeat any dispair. So I trust I'm going to put hope at the forefront of each day.

Happy Christmas and let's hope for prosperous New Year.

Who is Lord Grand Thumb?

2011-12-22T11:38:00.002Z

Lord Grand Thumb thumbing a lift!

Downton Abbey is a huge hit for ITV. And well deserved it is too. They need hits to keep the coffers full. With upstart competition all around them, the licence to print money now in antique condition, they need to keep sales up. Even the BBC flag it up and promote the series. But there are some niggling little points about it. Julian Fellowes says he knows a thing or two about grand houses but why are there mistakes when apparently painstaking research is done? My biggest gripe is the way the Earl is referred to as "Lord Grand Thumb". Nobody would ever call him such. It would be pronounced Grant-um. My hunch is that the production company have allowed themselves to be smothered by modern vernacular. Also maybe the American audience may be something to do with it?

I know such trifles pale by comparison with other far more pressing matters of today. But niggles are niggles, aren't they?

Piers Morgan and the bog-standard tool

2011-12-21T17:47:00.000Z

"Yes, No, Maybe"

Yesterday Piers Morgan gave a bravuro performance at the Leveson Inquiry about his knowledge of phone hacking. He made Humpty Dumpty look like an amateur. His memory was varied and definitely lacking in detail, but he managed to make his evidence sound convincing to himself. Today up pops another ex-Daily Mirror hack who says phone hacking appeared to be a "bog-standard journalistic tool" for gathering information. If it was that standard one would have thought Piers would have been aware of it. I would.

I like watching Piers Morgan on TV. He's re-invented himself as a word waffler supreme with a fine line in interviewing technique. But he also comes across as a slippery weasel, the sort that would know all too well how to operate a bog-standard tool for journalistic purposes.

It's a pity Lord Leveson is only heading an inquiry. Sometimes I wish he had recourse to summary justice, but I know that goes against my grain and almost everyone else's. But it did cross my mind!

John Terry in race row charge

2011-12-21T16:57:00.002Z

You *@!!*@!! and **!!@*!**!

The Crown Prosecution Service is in the lip reading business. That's the only way they are going to prove their point that John Terry, footballing vulgarian, racially abused another footballer. The other ball kicker was Anton Ferdinand, who is of mixed race. He's had some threatening letters and has himself been in trouble with the police over a fracas outside an Ilford nightclub. He was acquitted as the jury believed he was acting in self-defence.

The CPS and footballers don't go together very well. The modern prosecution service is all politically correct and self-important. Modern footballers on the other hand tend to be rude, crude and bad to know. Gary Lineker played in a different universe!

Now we only have Ferdinand's word for it that Terry slagged him off with a racial epithet. The CPS have heard Terry's denials, yet wish to proceed. John Terry says he will fight the case "tooth and nail". If that is so, then this will be a fine courtroom drama. Lipreaders and soothsayers to the witness stand.

Racial abuse is one thing, very distasteful. But the legal profession with cretins at the helm is also very unappetising. I hope the CPS know what they are doing. Playing a straight bat, I trust.

RBS report by FSA a total whitewash

2011-12-12T18:07:00.003Z

Adair Turner tells a story about bankers

The Financial Services Authority is a joke. They've spent months doing a report into the shinanigans at RBS and now conclude that the collapse was all due to poor decisions. Not poor enough for heads to roll. Adair Turner, the chief at the FSA has been on TV spinning a line. But this collapse was not about poor decisions, it was ALL ABOUT Fred Goodwin and other directors becoming too big for their boots. In the BBC2 programme on this collapse and public bailout, we see Sir Fred happily saying that he never bothered much with due diligence when taking over NatWest. It was "due diligence light" rather like some heady cocktail with Diet Coke in it. He then boasted that the same happened at ABN Amro, the Dutch bank that was a can of worms. Due diligence light and toxic loan heavy. Adair Turner just waffles on about the FSA being "flawed" in its own supervision and that it "provided insufficient challenge" to RBS. We knew that before he put pen to paper!

None of this will ever get better until the whole financial services industry is giving a good cleaning from top to toe. After all, as a complete shower they need a complete shower!

Tottenham Hotspur fans are dimwitted twitterers

2011-12-12T17:25:00.001Z

Football managers have big egos - Chris Foy gets verbal abuse

I see that fans of Tottenham Hotspur football club, or more correctly Tottenham Hotspur football company, have been bombarding Sir Chris Hoy, the cyclist, with rude and abusive tweets. They don't know the difference between him and Chris Foy, the referee. It was Mr.Foy's refereeing skills that they are most peeved about. They feel he made a string of incorrect decisions, including the sending off of defender Younes Kaboul in the London club's 2-1 defeat to Stoke City on Sunday.

Now I realise not all fans of Spurs are dim, but these ones are. Not only have they made themselves look foolish but they take it all too seriously. As the Premiership is now exclusively big business the scoring of goals is only to help boost profits. The fans are customers, not members and they are treated like a commodity. No amount of huffing and puffing will blow the house down. These fans should understand that this is an entertainment industry with a sporting element. If they want to sound off, it's those who run the show, not the referee who tries to see the game is played.

Ron Paul spots the flaws in Newt Gingrinch

2011-12-08T11:00:00.001Z

Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign

Here are two videos on the Ron Paul Presidency 2012 Republican contest. The first is a campaign one, the second is Ron Paul explaining why he sanctioned the first. Seems to me that if Newt was taking advantage of Congressional information that would help him personally, whether financial or not, then the American people should know. They should not be treated like mushrooms in this contest. Transparency and above board politics is on the menu.

This is the campaign video -

and this one is showing Ron Paul explaining why "serial hypocrisy" is not good in politics!

Tough ad, indeed!