Israel has done it again!

Israel has done it again, and condemnation has been universal, though a somewhat soft response has been given by the US.
The flotilla was in international waters. Only an international response will do.

Not seeing Red

Many months ago a consortium of businessmen called the Red Knights announced their plans to buy Manchester United. This seemed to come as a major surprise to the Glazer family who had bought the club for £800m some years ago.
The Glazers have not really had a good time of it with many fans latterly dumping their red kits and substituting it for the original green and gold colours of Newton Heath, which was the amateur side founded in 1878 that became Manchester United.
However the Red Knights, who were expected to make a bid of about £1bn for the club in the next few weeks, has leaked news that it is to withdraw from the bid. The Sunday Times has stated that the bid has been put on ice after investors baulked at the club’s valuation.
Now, call me naïve, but was this not always going to happen? This bid to me always seemed a no-starter.
Firstly the guys did not have the money. Secondly the Glazers stated constantly they did not want to sell. Thirdly whatever the contentment or otherwise of fans they had no say.

The Glazers are said to value the club at £1.5bn. The Red Knights wanted to offer £1bn. This was always too far apart.
The Sunday Times have cited sources close to the Red Knights saying that the club’s debts, the lack of money spent on players in recent years and rumours of manager Sir Alex Ferguson being close to retirement meant there was “a lot more downside than upside”.
Forgive me but even though I do not follow football, have little knowledge of Manchester United, and have no interest in either, the cited reasons for pulling out of the bid by the Red Knights are just ridiculously obvious. In fact they were clear to me before I had even heard of the Red Knights so why these were not also clear to the investors behind the Red Knights is simply dumbfounding.
Maybe the Red Knights should change their name to the Damp Squibs?

Eurovision madness

I do believe that one of the best songs won Eurovision this evening, but I also can’t believe that Iceland had such few votes and the UK came bottom.

In my opinion Iceland had a terrific song, possible, next to germany, the best of the evening. 

The UK had a crap song, but certainly not the worst of the evening.  Why we get old codgers who have had significant success in the past to write today’s entries to this contest is beyond me.

Maybe Iceland received less votes due to the crisis the Country has caused in both the world financial markets and the world airline marketplace.  A shame, but in some ways sadly understood.

The UK received the least votes as that is what the rest of Europe thinks of us.  Sad, but true.

Support the Country – but not openly!

Madness in many ways is about to sweep the country.

The main way in which this is about to happen is with the World Cup.  Yes, many millions will be hooked and supporting their country through thick and thin.  Many thousands of others will be ensuring that we don’t too openly support Great Britain’s team and cause offence.  And it has started already!

Binmen in Liverpool have been ORDERED to sign contracts agreeing that they will not ‘fly the flag’ on their trucks for ‘health and safety’ reasons – as all will know this is just pathetic.  What ‘health and safety’ reasons?  Yes, I am sure that they can come up with them, but will these reasons really be valid?  I doubt it.

Madness has also hit the South of England where taxi drivers in Kent have been warned by Canterbury City Council that they could have their licences suspended if they fly the St George’s Cross.  Roger Vick who is Kent’s licensing guy for taxis said: ‘A taxi has to be seen as a public service vehicle. Lots of vehicles will be going around with flags on.  If a taxi has flags, this could create confusion as to whether it is a public service vehicle or not.’  What a lot of bollax!  What if the taxi drivers fly a different flag?  Will the same happen to them then?  I guess the answer, according to the above, is yes.

Personally I believe that those who attach flags to their cars in support of their team or country are just making money for others, but in their minds they are doing their openly honest duty, and their support means much to them individually.  It also, as a country, does much for its inhabitants, even if I think its madness.

If people want to fly the flag then they should be allowed to.

If it causes offence to some, then those some must just grin and bear it!In

One Million Pebbles

A sculptor, Peter Codling, has been making clay pebbles, courtesy of the Arts Council, local Portsmouth Council and sponsors fashioning clay into pebbles in his kiln, and throwing them into the waves of Southsea beach for the last 16 years.  So far he has made some 500,000, but this funded ‘art’ will continue no more.

It appears that money has dried up from Peter’s various sources and he can no longer complete his artwork of making 1,000,000 pebbles and depositing them into the sea.

Sad news to some, including I am sure Peter himself, but a sigh of relief for others who believe that this is a waste of money.

Mr Codling who lives in Hampshire said ‘The pebbles have built up in the layers of the beach. Some could take 100 years to wash ashore and some will just get worn away.  The idea is it would be subversively hidden there on the beach for other generations to find.’

I lovely thought, but one from an artist I fear, who is not a realist.

I do not know how much this has cost over 16 years, but at a very minimum of 10p per pebble this has so far cost £50,000, in reality I believe that it will be far more. 

And is this not the issue – the cost of it all?

If this has in fact cost £50,000 and has gained the interest of ten of thousands of school kids and their parents and this has given them some excitement in their day then I guess it’s worth it, but as an entertainment rather than art.

If it’s cost £500,000 and has not garnered the interest of the community, apart from in a scathing manner, then it is a waste of time.

Can World Cup end South Africa sports racial divide?

Can World Cup end South Africa sports racial divide?
An interesting question, and one which has been asked, but not really answered, on BBC.co.uk today.
A similar question concerning civil liberties was asked at the time of the opening of the Beijing Olympics. Would all eyes on Beijing and China get its government to align itself with the civil rights of other countries?
The answer was no, not in the medium or long-term.
I believe a similar answer will be the valid one to the question of this blogs title.

Facebook hooked

One of the world’s most insignificant significant websites and one which wastes more time and headspace than most has admitted itself flawed in its roll-out of new privacy settings and admitted that it has ‘missed the mark’ expected from its users.
For me Facebook is a complete waste of time, intellect, effort and pleasure. For many millions, it is an essential daily past-time and communication tool.
For myself I am a deactivated member – not due to the fact I have ever really used it for its purpose but rather it is easier to withdraw member’s accounts when one has an account than without. In the past I have had clients who have had their identity hijacked by imposters, and I have activated my account in order to easily contact Facebook admin and ha e my client’s imposters removed. I have then deactivated my account – I have never wanted to be on Facebook per se, rather have access to it through a necessity for my clients.
About a month ago I received what I thought was spam announcing that my Facebook account had been reactivated. It was only at the weekend when I received a number of invites that I realised that Facebook had automatically re-activated my account without a request from me or by them to me.
Facebook’s security is an issue, the safety of its members, in my opinion, is even more so!

DeTaxing the Nation

The coalition government has made a strong, swift and decisive move and scrapped the most stupid of ideas – The Child Trust Fund. This initiative was brought in by Labour as a steal from all, give to all waste of time.
The idea was that in a child’s first year it would be given, via vouchers and to its parents/guardians, £250 to open a bank savings account then, seven years on, it would happen again. This initiative, combined with parents adding funds to the child’s account, would encourage the young to save and also enable an 18 year-old to receive a lump sum which he/she could use to fund its trip through university – and in this one paragraph, are the seeds of the reasons why this would not work.
The amount of new saving encouraged was minimal. Parents who would automatically encourage their offspring to save would take part and save on their child’s behalf. Those who did not themselves save would not encourage their offspring to save, come hall AND high-water!
Add to this that all of this Labour initiative has been made possible through the increase of Government debt, and it works even less.
There are tax-free ways of parents investing on behalf of their children, and the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition government is right in putting the choice back into the hands of parents and guardians and not burdening society with this funding cost.

Laziness = Teaching Suicide

I would have thought that, to any parent, their offspring would be their most cherished devotion. I would have thought that there is nothing a parent would not do to protect its child from danger. There would be nothing a parent would do to ensure the safety of its child.
But I know that this is not true.
Why?
Because I regularly drive and see a parent or guardian putting their child’s life at risk. I partly blame government. I partly blame others. I completely blame the parents or guardians.
Today I was driving back home, though it could have been anytime when I have been travelling, I saw a father (my assumption) holding the hand of his daughter (again, my assumption), while crossing the road and dodging traffic – this was happening not twenty yards from a zebra crossing.
Why? Oh, why? Oh, why?
At an early age this parent is instilling the wrong ideas, if not ideals. It is often when children follow the teachings of the parents that our society begin to collapse. On the street daily as I drive to work I see schoolchildren who are no longer chaperoned by a parent walking blindly across a road, between cars and moving vehicles, when a perfectly positioned crossing is a mere yards away.
Laziness breeds stupidity breeds ignorance breeds danger.
In their teachings, parents and guardians often do not realise they are themselves the most dangerous element in the wards lives – but, of course, if something happens, they won’t be chastising themselves for their own failings of the child.

Bono’s bruised ego

I have heard the sad news today that U2’s Bono has been given emergency surgery following an incident while preparing for this year ‘s continuance of the supergroup’s money-grabbing world tour.
I hope with a fervent heart that Bono’s ego and arrogance has not been bruised or broken as the world and its inhabitants will have no option than to all commit suicide if its self-proclaimed multi-millionaire saviour’s halo fails.