Hello Muammar!!

I've just noticed that the lastest country on the list of my "hits" is Lybia! Hello Muammar!! Nice to see you following me. Watch out for that rocket propelled grenade now, won't you!

Football....well, it's just, well....

I've been sitting and thinking about football. Now I don't normally do this. You could give me tickets to the World Cup final and I'd likely as not forget when it was on and miss the game. That changed a couple of weeks ago when my young nephew came down to stay with me for a week and insisted on watching every footy game there was on TV. Wanting to be the generous and "trendy" uncle, I relented and sat through quite a number of games.

Now what got me was just how inaccurate the game is. They put some statistics up on the screen which showed that only 30% of passes were successful. Good grief!! If you don't know how to pass a ball, what are you doing being paid £100,000 a week! And because you need a good pass to string together a bit of possession which leads to goal attempts and goals, the goals were few and far betweeen; and when they did come most were scrambled and deflected and basically slightly silly.

So, here we have a game loved by billions, played by millions and abused by one or two which consists of 22 men not doing what they should be doing the majority of the time and basically screwing up, leading to a flawed, messy spectacle full of fouls and yellow cards rather than graceful play and spectacular goals.

They call football the "Beautiful Game". Must have been blind.

In this day and age when everyone wants instant satisfaction; in this "I want that and I want it NOW!!" culture, I'm surprised football has survived. It is so 70s!

My nephew has gone back home. I've already forgotton which channels the football was on.

Bliss.

London Burning .....

There are many theories that the rioting and looting taking place in London and other major cities has something to do with social inequality or a reaction to the economic "turning of the screw" by the UK government etc. etc. etc.

Utter rubbish.

This has everything to do with opportunist thugs and inbreds who deem it fit to damage other people's property and cause mayhem, suffering and danger to others. This is wanton hooliganism and has no social backdrop at all.

Enough pussy-footing around with the sympathetic treatment of this sort of person. The police need to be given powers to snuff out any further trouble with the maximum force possible.

Every parent, every brother, every sister, every aunt, every uncle, every friend has a duty to report all those responsible for this mayhem to the authorities and the UK justice system should thrown the damned book at them all, handing out the maximum custodial sentences possible.

I am livid with anger that my country can be ransacked and held hostage by a group of malcontents and miscreants, such as those who have taken part in these riots.

We need to ensure that the full force of the law is brought down upon all those involved.

Ramadhan kareem!

Have a good Ramadhan everyone.

It's getting hotter, isn't it?

A Feline Love Story .....

I'm normally not one to get all teary eyed when hearing about "long lost lovers" reunited, but when it involves two city gents and a lion called Christian I have to admit I found it hard not to be moved.

Check out the following link (especially the video):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14284320

The video, apparently, is also a major hit on YouTube but I think the BBC present a good back story to it (sorry - it's CNN who do back stories, isn't it, with that insufferable, irritating Australian presenter who taps the screen all the time).

Anyway, I digress. The story is heartwarming and wonderfully uplifting.

Norway

I've been to Norway possibly 25 times for work and pleasure. I've seen the northern lights light up the snowy landscape above the arctic circle, the majestic fjords around the picturesque Hanseatic town of Bergen, the rolling hills and valleys in the interior and the relaxed capital, Oslo.

To say that Norway is blessed as a paradise is not to sell that word short.

Knowing Norway so well, I am aghast that such a lovely country could be the scene of such a horror as the recent bombing and shootings.

My thoughts go out to all those who have lost loved ones or have been involved in such a tragedy.

Having been to Norway so many times, not only do I know the land, I know the people there too. Such a resiliant people as the Norwegians will not bow to the acts of one crazed zealot. The pledge by their Prime Minister to react with "even more democracy" could not be a more true reaction from a stoically strong people.

If there is any country in the world I would rely upon to pick itself up and get on with its way of life, it would be Norway.

But for the time being, I lend my support to such a brave nation by saying:

I dag er vi alle norske.

News of the World .....

I didn't buy the last ever copy of the News of the World. It was a souvenir copy, advert free (except for charitible ads) and all money was going to charity. Despite all of this, I'd rather give my money to charity directly than support an organisation which condones its newspapers to hack into vulnerable people's lives.

Just what did the NotW think they would achieve by listening to the voice mail of a murdered girl; or reading emails of a soldier who died in battle?

Just what did they think they could report?

It is quite sickening.

Oman has quite strict press censorship. I raged against it when I lived there, aching for the time when the press opened up and reported what was really happening, rather than what the government wanted to tell the people.

Well, if the greedy need for information from a liberated press pushes news reporters to infiltrate into people's lives without consent, compounding the grief of recently bereaved relatives or reveal personal details of those in the public eye, then I'd rather stay with the state controlled media.

I want to read news, not scandal.