Saturday 31 July 2010

What's sauce for the goose...

The humanitarian in me (yes, there is a scintilla of that quality that lurks somewhere deep within my DNA) appreciates that it is incumbent on the Prison Service to afford the Soham murderer, Ian Huntley, full protection while in their care. Nonetheless, I find it difficult to shed a tear on learning that fellow inmates have meted out their own particular brand of justice.
We now learn that he is about to sue his 'protectors' (a.k.a. the taxpayer) for close on £100,000.
I say good luck to him and, for good measure, let's round it up to a cool one million.
Then, why not invite the tragic parents of the poor girls who lost their lives to sue the despicable sewer rat for every penny he gets?
Just as he seeks, let justice be done.

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Retiral is an anagram of retrial. Coincidence?

11 lives lost in a single incident. £11 billion lost in a single quarter. £11 million lost in a single pension pot.
You might well ask, what is it about the number 11?
More germane, I would like to ask what is it about failure and reward?
Fred Badwin (a.k.a. Goodwin) and Tony Wayword (a.k.a. Hayward) will be remembered as the respective, but most certainly not respected, Chief Executioners at RBS and BP.
Neither could plug the leaks in their most precious resources and neither could accept that it happened on their 'watch'.
Well, you wouldn't want to tarnish a diamond encrusted gold Rolex, would you?

Wednesday 21 July 2010

You wince some, you lose some.

As the rest of the western world discusses whether or not to ban the wearing of the hijab, it seems that Britain and the USA are considering drawing a veil over proceedings in Afghanistan.
Consider it done.
What Cameron and Barak would like to present as the possibility of a withdrawal next year is, in truth, an inevitability that is as clear as the nose on your face ...if only it were visible.
Two great superpowers stacked up against the Taliban who were there for the beating.
Little did we know that the cost in terms of human lives and economic woes would conspire to have us beating a retreat.
Now it's just a matter of time before terrorists beat a path to our door.
It doesn't take a mastermind to recognise the importance of "I've started, so I'll finish".

The difference between gravity and gravitas

With most composers, you always come back down to earth.
With Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart, on the other hand, their music has a gravitas that takes you to a higher a plane.....and leaves you there.
Presently, I am looking down at cloud nine.

Keeping your own counsel can mean no bullshit.....

.....and no bulls hit.

Friday 9 July 2010

Bilge pumps at the ready!

Before I begin, I would like to put my cards on the table. I have a sneaking admiration for the sneaky - and sometimes not so sneaky - ways of John Prescott.
But before I go any further, I would also like to make it perfectly clear that there is not a single issue that he stands for - or purports to stand for - that I can agree with.
But that's not the point.
John Prescott is a politician's politician. The Norman Tebbit of the Labour Party. A pitbull on steroids. It remains a great mystery to me how he escaped the Dangerous Dogs' Act all those years ago and an even greater disappointment that he has not been muzzled ever since.
But let's not be in any doubt. There is not a single hoop that John Prescott wouldn't have jumped through in order to pursue his own ends. The hoops on the croquet lawn at Dorneywood were merely emblematic of that.
And so he is now elevated into the House of Lords as Baron Prescott or BP as I will now 'defer' to him.....that other great natural disaster to beset our beautiful planet.
I would just like to leave you with this little thought.
Having ably represented Hull in the Commons, BP has come a long way since his Merchant Navy days where he started his career clearing the bilge water from the hull of a ship.
There is also a certain irony in that he will now be spouting forth his own bilge in the House of Lords.
I look forward with eager anticipation to his 'made un' speech and even more so to its translation.
Into English.

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Unfortunate acronyms. No. 3. The Queen has a great SOD.

The Queen has a great sense of duty.

Coincidentally, she also has a great sod (Charles). It is because of her SOD (sense of duty) that she doesn't abdicate.