The latest hot topic in the footballing world right now is racism. We have Luis Suarez being found guilty of using insulting words with reference to race, and just this evening it is alleged that Oldham FC footballer Tom Adeyemi was racially abused by a member of the Liverpool crowd during tonight’s FA Cup game between Liverpool and Oldham. I should stress that this is only an allegation, coming mainly from Twitter, and mainly from a particularly odious (in my opinion) reporter in the name of Ollie Holt, who writes for the Mirror. View full article »
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On Monday 8th August, I (like many others across the country) watched in horror as the citizens of this country turned on it, and bit hard. I watched as young people of all types set fire to a car and pushed it into a wall. I watched the police standing back, not wanting to let the rioters and looters have their way, but unable to make a stand against them. I was amongst those who called for David Cameron to stop tipping Italian waitresses and come back to England to try and sort this mess out.
In the aftermath, I kind of wished he’d stayed on holiday and let someone else take charge.
As we come to the end of a fortnight in which the foundations of a press-politics relationship have been shook, possibly fatally so, it seems clear that the revelations surrounding the News Of The World hacking scandal will not be going away any time soon. In the same week, we saw the end of an era as STS-135, Space Shuttle Atlantis, arrived back on Earth for the final time.
Over the past few days we have seen a quite frankly staggering series of claims regarding the ongoing investigations into the allegations of “hacking” at the News Of The World. The allegations began in 2006, when charges were made against Clive Goodman, the Royal Editor at the newspaper at that time, and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator hired by the paper. At the time nobody really understood the extent of the situation, and the Met (having locked up two people) left it at that.
But it turned out that they had only scratched the surface.
On Thursday 5th May 2011 the public went to the ballot box to register their vote on the Alternative Vote referendum, as well as many areas of the country facing local council elections. Many comentators saw this as the first chance for the voters to pass their judgment on Nick Clegg after his decision to take his party into a coalition with their political opposites, the Conservatives. Indeed, the No campaign on the AV vote implicitly used their campaign literature to press this home.
With a couple of weeks to go until the May 5th referendum both the “Yes” and “No” brigades are in full electioneering swing. There are “Party Political” style broadcasts on TV, and leaflets going through every door telling everyone and their dog what is wrong with the other’s system. Am I the only one that is just a little bit tired of the bickering and electioneering being employed by both sides?
After the second weekend of racing in this year’s Formula One calendar, it has become clear that with the most recent rule changes a different beast has been awakened within the sport. Announced as part of measures intended to increase overtaking, they include a new moveable rear wing that can be used in designated areas of a track, a new tyre supplier who was instructed to deliberately make tyres that wear quickly, the re-introduction of KERS power boost, and the return of the 107% qualifying rule.
Week after week, this half-hour of televised showboating comes up and shows the world that we do NOT have a civilised and democratic House Of Commons. There is rabble-rousing, baiting, pointing of papers, talking across answers, this is supposed to be the House of people who represent this nation and it is nothing more than the country’s largest classroom of rowdy schoolchildren! In fact, I reckon that even the rowdiest of children would behave better than these “adults” who get paid £65k+ a year to act on behalf of the people of this nation. So is it time we saw the end of this half-hour of madness?
We are coming close now to learning whether a referendum will go ahead on the same day as local council elections, as the House Of Lords begins the run of concessions needed to ensure a vote is won by the Conservatives. Just last night, Labour forced an amendment allowing the referendum to be discarded should turnout be less than 40% (which in my own opinion it will be). The Lords are arguing over more and more concessions each day, although the major one, the one that has caused all this ruckus in the Lords in the first place, remains.
What does it take for someone to get fired from the Daily Fail for their bitter and spiteful views? Jan Moir has already survived the scandals over Stephen Gately and the subsequent fallout where she “apologised” but did not retract what she said. This time round, another celebrity is in the spotlight
