Ok ladies and gents, it has been a while since I wrote something spontaneous, so sit back and get comfy, this could be long!
When I first started this blog, one of the ideas in my head was to write down my thoughts on various topics that interest me, in the rather egocentric hope that someone might want to read it. It has to be said that over the months I have tended to wander from that initial idea, writing about anything and everything that too my fancy, but today I will stick to one topic, namely the news from the last few days.
Strangely, I have picked a rather good day as a certain story has just broken that it would be rather remiss of me to ignore. So, in no particular order, here goes.
Prince Harry has been serving in Afghanistan for the last two months or so, and today various news agencies decided to break the embargo which had been in place to stop them telling the world what we now know. First and foremost, I am in favour of Prince Harry being on the front line, he chose to join the army and serve his country and should be allowed to do so. I have absolutely no objection to sending a future king (unlikely, but true) to fight a war if he wishes. There is the rather obvious concern for his fellow soldiers, in that he may be seen as something of a prized target, but that is something for him to discuss with them and his commanding officers, not for public debate. But, obviously all this is now moot, as some trigger happy hack has decided to cash in. the main question that comes to mind is why? Profit? Unlikely to be honest, in the UK news doesn’t sell newspapers these days unless it concerns footballers and/or page three girls, and with the internet the news will be spread around the world in seconds (this blog being a prime example of course). Was it then out some kind of moral belief that the public should know? Again, unlikely, as he has been there for two months, so why now? The truth is, as far as I can work out, that the only motivating factor that is left over is notoriety. A bit like the trader who purposely lost a few hundred dollars in order to push the oil price over $100, there is absolutely zero potential gain from breaking the story other than becoming the subject of the news. Warhol got it right, everyone gets their 15minutes, some more honestly than others. I would be amazed if Harry is still out there right now, he will have been put on the first plane home no doubt, as he has now become a real risk to his colleagues. You can’t help but feel sorry for him really, all he was doing was fighting for grandma and country, and it was ruined by the press. And worse still, no single pres agency has made anything of the shocking fact that Harry is the only royal currently “earning” a living. There is a missed opportunity if I ever saw one.
Switching topics, and continents slightly now, the biggest piece of news of the last week was the “retirement” of El Comandante himself, Fidel Castro. I am intrigued by this to say the least, because whatever you think of the guy, you have to admire his longevity. How many Presidents and Prime Ministers have come and gone since he came to power? How many times have the Yanks tried to assassinate him? To be honest, his story, and that of Cuba, is almost beyond belief. And for that reason alone there is a small part of me, the romantic, idealistic and highly naïve part, that kind of wishes he would keep surviving, if only to stand as a lasting reminder to America that it isn’t all about the Benjamins. Without him Cuba will undoubtedly be better off, how much so depends on two things -1) Whether his brother has the cojones to carry out the reforms he keeps talking about. 2) Has Fidel retired, or expired? The difference will be huge. If he his still kicking around smoking cigars and wearing lurid tracksuits, then little will change in the short run – how could his own brother reject the revolution they both fought for along with everyone’s favourite T-shirt pin up? Things will continue largely unchanged, maybe a relaxation of certain laws here and there, maybe a small opening of specific markets to some carefully selected foreign (*cough* Venezuelan *cough*) investment, but nothing to make you jump up and belt out a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. And frankly, with such a camp name, why would anyone want to sing it? But if old Fidel has smoked his last Cigar, well, then things could get very interesting, not least because Chavez will be there in a flash to fill the Charisma void left behind simply to piss off America even more. So, my advice, watch this space…
Sticking with the theme of Communism, Russia is holding an election this weekend. Obvioulsy, this being Russia, this is not the kind of election where there is a choice in who to vote for, but still, as long as they keep the gas and oil pipelines flowing CNN will keep calling it an election. Yep, unfortunately a lot of my “news” comes from CNN these days, which is hard work believe me. Everything, and I mean everything, is treated as entertainment of American news channels. Cinematic voice overs, video montages of ballot papers being put in boxes and worst of all the most ridiculous, over the top presenters you have ever seen. Thankfully I am returning to the UK in two weeks, where normal service will be resumed. Back to Russia. On Sunday Putin will hand over the keys to his office to his chosen successor a fellow by the name of Medvedev, and Vladimir will himself pick up the keys to the Prime Minister’s office. So, more so than usual in Russia, this is a pretend election at very best. Putin will pull the strings, Mednevev will pay a little more lip service to the west, while continuing to threaten much of eastern Europe at every given opportunity and what will the rest of Europe and the western world do? In a word, nothing. The Russkies can threaten Kosovo and Ukraine and Georgia as much as they was as long as our lights don’t flicker and our cars don’t run out of fuel. The Iraq Invasion is proof enough of how our own foreign policies are decided and aligned.
All of which brings me nicely to the final topic for today, the US Elections.
As much as I hate CNN, and as much as I hate the American Electoral System, I admit to being particularly engrossed this time around. McCain has all but got the nod for the republicans, but given the way his opponents were often portrayed in the media it is hardly a surprise. Of the top of my head here are some reasons not to vote for other republicans:
Giuliani – three marriages, no stance on abortion and is pro-gay marriage
Huckabee – plays guitar, doesn’t believe in evolution, Baptist
Romney – Venture Capitalist, Mormon, according to Huckabee believes that Jesus and the Devil are related.
I could go on, but what is the point? Who cares how many marriages Rudy has had or what he thinks about abortion or gay marriage? Who cares how Romney made his money or what he believes? Huckabee, in all fairness I find hard to defend, have you seen him play guitar? The point is that these facts should not be decisive in the election of the self proclaimed “greatest democracy on Earth”. That they are is merely a sad reflection on both society in general and the media who feeds it. So 72 year old John McCain is the man for the Republicans, and if Hilary wins the democratic nomination he will be the next President of the USA.
But will Hilary win? I, for one, hope not. She is like the spoiled brat at school who wants what she cant have, and will scream and scream until she gets it. All the fake tears and sobbing declarations about her desire to serve, her right to lead…yada yada yada. The thing I find most repulsive about her is that she claims to be a child of 68, the year when the whole world smoked too much pot and decided to fight for what they wanted. If that is the case Hilary, why the hell are you still in politics? Step aside, let the younger generation have their say like in 68. It pains me to say it because I liked Bill Clinton, to be fair what man doesn’t? But I really dislike Hilary, she wants the job too much, and sees it as her right for some reason. I am not for one minute suggesting that Obama or McCain would be much better as a leader, but at least they give the appearance of wanting to do the job for the good of the people, and not for purely personal satisfaction.
Anyway, I’m ranting again about America, and I told myself I would stop, so I will.
Next time, who knows, a review of Sweeney Todd perhaps? We shall see….
Bye Y’all.
When I first started this blog, one of the ideas in my head was to write down my thoughts on various topics that interest me, in the rather egocentric hope that someone might want to read it. It has to be said that over the months I have tended to wander from that initial idea, writing about anything and everything that too my fancy, but today I will stick to one topic, namely the news from the last few days.
Strangely, I have picked a rather good day as a certain story has just broken that it would be rather remiss of me to ignore. So, in no particular order, here goes.
Prince Harry has been serving in Afghanistan for the last two months or so, and today various news agencies decided to break the embargo which had been in place to stop them telling the world what we now know. First and foremost, I am in favour of Prince Harry being on the front line, he chose to join the army and serve his country and should be allowed to do so. I have absolutely no objection to sending a future king (unlikely, but true) to fight a war if he wishes. There is the rather obvious concern for his fellow soldiers, in that he may be seen as something of a prized target, but that is something for him to discuss with them and his commanding officers, not for public debate. But, obviously all this is now moot, as some trigger happy hack has decided to cash in. the main question that comes to mind is why? Profit? Unlikely to be honest, in the UK news doesn’t sell newspapers these days unless it concerns footballers and/or page three girls, and with the internet the news will be spread around the world in seconds (this blog being a prime example of course). Was it then out some kind of moral belief that the public should know? Again, unlikely, as he has been there for two months, so why now? The truth is, as far as I can work out, that the only motivating factor that is left over is notoriety. A bit like the trader who purposely lost a few hundred dollars in order to push the oil price over $100, there is absolutely zero potential gain from breaking the story other than becoming the subject of the news. Warhol got it right, everyone gets their 15minutes, some more honestly than others. I would be amazed if Harry is still out there right now, he will have been put on the first plane home no doubt, as he has now become a real risk to his colleagues. You can’t help but feel sorry for him really, all he was doing was fighting for grandma and country, and it was ruined by the press. And worse still, no single pres agency has made anything of the shocking fact that Harry is the only royal currently “earning” a living. There is a missed opportunity if I ever saw one.
Switching topics, and continents slightly now, the biggest piece of news of the last week was the “retirement” of El Comandante himself, Fidel Castro. I am intrigued by this to say the least, because whatever you think of the guy, you have to admire his longevity. How many Presidents and Prime Ministers have come and gone since he came to power? How many times have the Yanks tried to assassinate him? To be honest, his story, and that of Cuba, is almost beyond belief. And for that reason alone there is a small part of me, the romantic, idealistic and highly naïve part, that kind of wishes he would keep surviving, if only to stand as a lasting reminder to America that it isn’t all about the Benjamins. Without him Cuba will undoubtedly be better off, how much so depends on two things -1) Whether his brother has the cojones to carry out the reforms he keeps talking about. 2) Has Fidel retired, or expired? The difference will be huge. If he his still kicking around smoking cigars and wearing lurid tracksuits, then little will change in the short run – how could his own brother reject the revolution they both fought for along with everyone’s favourite T-shirt pin up? Things will continue largely unchanged, maybe a relaxation of certain laws here and there, maybe a small opening of specific markets to some carefully selected foreign (*cough* Venezuelan *cough*) investment, but nothing to make you jump up and belt out a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. And frankly, with such a camp name, why would anyone want to sing it? But if old Fidel has smoked his last Cigar, well, then things could get very interesting, not least because Chavez will be there in a flash to fill the Charisma void left behind simply to piss off America even more. So, my advice, watch this space…
Sticking with the theme of Communism, Russia is holding an election this weekend. Obvioulsy, this being Russia, this is not the kind of election where there is a choice in who to vote for, but still, as long as they keep the gas and oil pipelines flowing CNN will keep calling it an election. Yep, unfortunately a lot of my “news” comes from CNN these days, which is hard work believe me. Everything, and I mean everything, is treated as entertainment of American news channels. Cinematic voice overs, video montages of ballot papers being put in boxes and worst of all the most ridiculous, over the top presenters you have ever seen. Thankfully I am returning to the UK in two weeks, where normal service will be resumed. Back to Russia. On Sunday Putin will hand over the keys to his office to his chosen successor a fellow by the name of Medvedev, and Vladimir will himself pick up the keys to the Prime Minister’s office. So, more so than usual in Russia, this is a pretend election at very best. Putin will pull the strings, Mednevev will pay a little more lip service to the west, while continuing to threaten much of eastern Europe at every given opportunity and what will the rest of Europe and the western world do? In a word, nothing. The Russkies can threaten Kosovo and Ukraine and Georgia as much as they was as long as our lights don’t flicker and our cars don’t run out of fuel. The Iraq Invasion is proof enough of how our own foreign policies are decided and aligned.
All of which brings me nicely to the final topic for today, the US Elections.
As much as I hate CNN, and as much as I hate the American Electoral System, I admit to being particularly engrossed this time around. McCain has all but got the nod for the republicans, but given the way his opponents were often portrayed in the media it is hardly a surprise. Of the top of my head here are some reasons not to vote for other republicans:
Giuliani – three marriages, no stance on abortion and is pro-gay marriage
Huckabee – plays guitar, doesn’t believe in evolution, Baptist
Romney – Venture Capitalist, Mormon, according to Huckabee believes that Jesus and the Devil are related.
I could go on, but what is the point? Who cares how many marriages Rudy has had or what he thinks about abortion or gay marriage? Who cares how Romney made his money or what he believes? Huckabee, in all fairness I find hard to defend, have you seen him play guitar? The point is that these facts should not be decisive in the election of the self proclaimed “greatest democracy on Earth”. That they are is merely a sad reflection on both society in general and the media who feeds it. So 72 year old John McCain is the man for the Republicans, and if Hilary wins the democratic nomination he will be the next President of the USA.
But will Hilary win? I, for one, hope not. She is like the spoiled brat at school who wants what she cant have, and will scream and scream until she gets it. All the fake tears and sobbing declarations about her desire to serve, her right to lead…yada yada yada. The thing I find most repulsive about her is that she claims to be a child of 68, the year when the whole world smoked too much pot and decided to fight for what they wanted. If that is the case Hilary, why the hell are you still in politics? Step aside, let the younger generation have their say like in 68. It pains me to say it because I liked Bill Clinton, to be fair what man doesn’t? But I really dislike Hilary, she wants the job too much, and sees it as her right for some reason. I am not for one minute suggesting that Obama or McCain would be much better as a leader, but at least they give the appearance of wanting to do the job for the good of the people, and not for purely personal satisfaction.
Anyway, I’m ranting again about America, and I told myself I would stop, so I will.
Next time, who knows, a review of Sweeney Todd perhaps? We shall see….
Bye Y’all.
