X-Factor and the x-factor Cheryl Cole publicity machine

That's show business!

Some companies couldn't care whether they get good publicity or bad publicity, as they reckon all publicity is good. Ryanair seems to fall into this category. Michael O'Leary, the chief of the airline, loves to banter about publicity. He's like a duck bobbing in the Irish Sea. Then there are are those who love to manufacture publicity. Simon Cowell's organisation is one of them, I think. Not that Cowell would get involved in it all. That's left to others.

The Cheryl Cole business of her being a judge on the American X-Factor is not as bewildering as it may first appear. This is all about control of assets. Judging from recent comments in the press, the viewing figures for the X-Factor have tumbled. But the interest in X-Factor participants, as opposed to contestants, is rising fast. Cheryl Cole is a media figure. Newspapers and magazines make money out of her and no doubt she gets a bit too. But this does not directly help Simon Cowell.

So what better than to stir up a media controversy about the judging panel, thereby attempting to keep the show in the headlines. Trouble is people's egos get hurt. Cheryl Cole is peeved beyond measure that her Geordie accent has been mocked, her very presence in America called into question. She's fallen out with Simon. But he probably never thought of the ruse. It's more likely the minions seeking his approval.

This sort of business needs a bandwagon, but as is so often the case, the wretched wagon is a wheel short, with the wrong nags pulling it, with the passengers at odds with each other as to what to do for the best. Maybe X-Factor has got some other factor?

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Ted and Grace did well - and he's 92!

"I'm 92!"

I'm an unashamed fan of Britain's Got Talent. And it's good to see Simon not being so acerbic. The first eight acts tonight in the semi-final were, imho, a tale of two halves. But the best of the not so goods must be Ted and Grace. If they can just get Ted to use that microphone properly he might stand a chance. As I type this the voting is still going on. I think the young 12-year old singer, Ronan Parke, will top the bill.

Here's Ted and Grace at the auditions. 92! You're never too old they say.

Postscript : They didn't win, but they did the audience proud. This is them at tonight's show.

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Royal Wedding boosted retail sales

Waving the flag for higher retail sales

The British Chambers of Commerce predict a gloomy year ahead for the economy. That's going to help retailers, I'm sure. Now there's news that the Royal Wedding last month helped boost retail sales. In April they were 1.1% higher than March, according to the Office for National Statistics. Demand rose most for clothing, footwear and food products. All the things you need for a royal marriage celebration. It was the biggest rise in retail sales for April since 2002.

So it's all really simple when it comes to retailing. If people feel good, they will buy. If they feel wretched they will be disinclined to do so. Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, says the April figures should be treated with caution.

"While welcome, we strongly doubt that the 1.1% jump in retail sales volumes in April is a sign that the consumer is roaring back to life," he said. "Rather, what it suggests is that pressurised consumers need a particularly favourable set of circumstances to part with their cash."

So bring on the favourable set of circumstances!

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Bin Hamman footballed out of FIFA race

"Not me guv!"

Football is an industry. Part of the entertainment industry. It is run by businessmen (no women much in evidence at the top) who see it as a way to enrich themselves. The fans are just a commodity. Where vast sums of money are involved greed is always round the corner.

The last few years have been constantly talking about corruption at the highest level of the game. Mohamed Bin Hammam is a top notch FIFA character. He was in a two-horse race with Sepp Blatter, the current FIFA president, for the presidency of FIFA. Both men are facing corruption charges and both deny the claims. Now Bin Hamman has dropped out. He said he did not want to see Fifa's name "dragged more in the mud". Well, it's always being dragged through some kind of mud.

Bin Hammam stressed his withdrawal must not "be tied to the investigation held by the Fifa ethics committee", pledging that he would appear before the panel to clear his name. This is a common mantra. Sepp Blatter's been saying it for ages.

The trouble is that this is no longer a game of football but a game of who gets the best pickings. Football is now just a means to an end for these guys. Either they reform themselves or they will collapse like a pile of rotten tomatoes.

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Poverty linked to early periods start

When I was about to enter puberty in the early Sixties, I was surrounded by people, much older, who appeared to liken the whole thing to a mixture of cricket and confirmation. It was a rite of passage, I believed. I was completely bewildered by it all, or at least by my nebulous thoughts. Why was the neighbour's boy so spotty? "It's part of growing up!" was the usual answer. Any "why" questions were met with a situation of grand obfuscation. How it has changed over the decades since.

Children are no more challenged, though. They seem to have different challenges. Medical science is far more knowledgeable but therein lies the problem, I think. Too much information. Not a day goes by now without some scientist claiming something new. More theory than fact, but it comes out into the open, and we digest it as best we can.

The latest news is that girls from poorer backgrounds are more likely to start their periods at a younger age, thereby increasing their risk of breast cancer. Poor diet is to blame, plus being overweight. But the gap is not that great. Three or four months if the figures are to be believed. I'm not sure what these studies prove. Study author Danielle Morris, from The Institute of Cancer Research in Surrey, said the results suggested that girls, particularly from poorer backgrounds, are starting their periods younger. "While we don't know all the reasons behind this, changes in diet may have played a part. This decrease is important because the age at which a girl starts her periods can influence her chances of developing breast cancer later in life."

My mother always claimed she started "far too early" and was quite miffed about it, as we heard every so often if the subject of puberty cropped up. She never had breast cancer. And she wasn't struggling in poverty at puberty. Neither was she overweight.

I don't decry medical science trying to improve our lot. Quite the opposite, for I'd not be here if they had just stayed with Hippocrates. But we get these reports on a regular basis, some often contradicting themselves. Do they really help, especially with regard to habits? Smokers have been told for years they are doing themselves harm. Doesn't stop them. Will those in poverty sit up and think about this report? I tend to doubt it. And with everything like this, expense is not far behind. I can't see government money going alongside this.

I suppose my point is that reports like this just add to the sum total of things that could go wrong if we do them. But also if we do them we may never get what we are told we could get. In that sense life is still a sort of lottery.

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Twitter to leave twitterers to the birds

I'm still mulling over this Twitter business with Ryan Giggs. But as a starter for my thoughts, if the judges and the lawyers thought their super injunction was so great, how can they try and convict a bunch of gossips for talking about it? Surely gossip is just that. A load of hearsay evidence!

How on earth are they going to convict 75,000 people on a massive game of Chinese Whispers? And it must have been tweeted from the court in the first place. Certainly not from round here.

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Oh it was Ryan Giggs after all!

75,000 Twitters outwit this twit!

So now we all know it was Ryan Giggs. Wasted his money on expensive lawyers. What little ............!!!!! And he was parading himself yesterday as a family man. More like hypocrite. Now let's forget him and get back to getting the country out of the whatsits.

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When it comes to these two buggers!

When it comes to these two buggers, I believe EVERYTHING Bob Marshall-Andrews says!

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MP names wayward footballer in Commons

Imogen Thomas

John Hemming, a LibDem MP, has named in the House of Commons the footballer at the centre of the Imogen Thomas affair. And why not, I say. It's all getting far too ridiculous. If this doesn't stop soon, we will have to come to terms with being led by clowns.

Yesterday Manchester United had a family day out with their premier footballers all looking like auditioners for a Walt Disney family movie. Except one is apparently not so good at maintaining marital fidelity. One wonders what it was all about. Can't have improved their image. In fact, the one I thought it may be is apparently not the one. But those who think it may be the one they think it is may be wrong. Hey-ho!

Why should MPs and the judges know who the guy is anymore than the rest of us? This is like a water company's leakage rate. Why not tell us all who the idiot is because this is very distracting. Then we can all forget him and go about life in the usual way.

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Chris Huhne can't remember

You may think so. I couldn't possibly comment!

It's very strange. Unless one is an inveterate speeder with absolute nonchalance towards speed cameras, penalty points and the traffic police, I would have thought a speeding ticket event with penalty points added would have been a memorable event. I can't remember all the Watch With Mother episodes which featured Muffin' the Mule, but I remember the mule. OK, so the memory fades, but does it fade for our convenience or its own convenience?

One thing that Chris Huhne is not and that is a silly man. There have been some in parliament, but he is not one of them. However, I think he's between a rock and a hard place on this issue now. He has been telling us that he did not ask anyone to take points for him. Anyone could be me. He has never said "I never asked my wife to take points for me". Now he says he can't remember if he was driving on the day in question. And mysteriously his former wife has apparently had three points put on an unblemished licence. This is not good enough for a cabinet minister. Frankly, the crazy talk of penalty points, who was where, who was driving, etc, etc, is distracting from the core business of the Coalition. That is to get the country out of the farmyard manure and not drive right back into it.

A lot of this talk is childish retaliation for the LibDems signing up to coalition government in the first place. Those critics should get real. Nobody won the general election, so don't think you get the victor ludorum just for losing slightly. You'd think some people believe coalition government is a bit like a supermarket price war. Now there's disgruntled talk by disaffected LibDems in Eastleigh, Huhne's constituency, that his election expenses may not be all they should be. It's far more about spite than about a high moral interest in observing the law.

I bet loads of Chris Huhne's detractors are speeders on the roads. Here's a wicked thought! How about putting speed limiters into the cars of all those seeking to do him down? Or checking their past history as law-abiding drivers? Don't all rush at once.

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TV star is first to face jail over tweets after England footballer claims injunction breached

It gets worse. Can you imagine it? Panicky football star paying through the nose to get everyone naming him stuffed in jail. Ken Clarke will have a fit. 10,000 Twitterers in the Scrubs alone. Great days ahead for judging jobs, hard days for prison staff on a redundancy programme.

I have to go to bed. It's getting my adrenalin going.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389562/TV-star-face-jail-tweets.html#ixzz1N2AKv7oX

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Twitter Ye Not! Famous footballer fears Big Brother is coming to get him

The bird will sing a loud song

I don't know what has become of the British people. We say we believe in free speech yet we appear helpless when a gaggle of superannuated footballers, bankers and a general coterie of famous flotsam decide to go for super injunctions to stop the world knowing what kind of sods they are. If they had just left well alone nobody would have bothered.

The latest nonsense is over a famous footballer having an extramarital affair with Big Brother star Imogen Thomas which lasted for seven months. He got the seven month itch I suppose. Anyway, she's peeved she can't write a book about it, parliamentarians are peeved they can't speak about it and others (although Fred the Shred got outed) and so it goes on.

The legal establishment thinks these super injunctions are tickety-boo. But they must be living in cloud cuckoo land if they think it will all be kept secret. The internet will make them all look like prize clowns instead of erudite judges. Because they are indulging in this monstrous cover-up people are pushing their doors open. Twitter is only one such place to discuss who it may be. In a very short time I found out who the alleged footballer was. Oh him!, I thought. And then felt I couldn't really care less. But as it is only alleged that he did this deed with the Big Brother star, nobody really knows. He's getting his name discussed as if he were some slave about to be sold. And slave he will be. Slave to the fear of being outed. Made a mockery of.

Of course, if it isn't him, he's been put in the frame unfairly. Wow, gossip is a hard thing. It's all like a game of Chinese Whispers with a veritable throng of ill-informed whisperers.

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Sir Fred Goodwin is not a banker or an adulterer

The finger of suspicion

So now we know. Previously Sir Fred Goodwin went to great lengths to try to convince us he was no longer a banker. Some feel he never was one. Now he has tried to convince the world he was not an adulterer or more accurately to stop us knowing he is an adulterer. The super injunction world is collapsing fast. I don't really care what Sir Fred gets up to in his private life. It's when it drifts into his public life. However, it would have been more gracious and courageous if he had admitted his wrongdoing and let the dust settle gracefully.

All he has done now is to confirm in the minds of the British public that the world of banking with his ilk in charge was a generally nasty, corrupt and self-serving industry. Banking has gradually lost its soul over the years. It is now more a heartless, avaricious industry rather than a caring, informative and constructive one.

Lord Stoneham has done us all a favour by revealing this nonsense of secrecy. It is in the public interest if those at the centre of a failing bank, one that would have been forcibly folded if the taxpayer had not coughed up blood to support it, are involved in personal relationships that may compromise corporate governance.

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Ken Clarke in rape proposal row

Ken Clarke the Justice Secretary

Ken Clarke, the Justice Secretary, finds himself at the centre of a row because he did not choose his words carefully. His understanding of the cause of the row. He had appeared on a Radio 5 phone-in show. When BBC interviewer Victoria Derbyshire told him "rape is rape", he replied, "No it's not, if an 18-year-old has sex with a 15-year-old and she's perfectly willing, that is rape because she is under age, she can't consent. What you and I are talking about is we are talking about a man forcibly having sex with a woman and she doesn't want to - a serious crime."

Now legally he is right. And I think most people, if they sit and think about it without any prejudicial thoughts, would have to agree. The two are in no way the same. However, certain people rush to judgement because they have "issues", many of which are quite understandable. However, saying "rape is rape" is meaningless. Each situation arises out of different circumstances. There might be similar traits to the crimes, but they are definitely not all the same.

Quick as a flash Ed Miliband got all priggish and thought he was onto a winner by seeking Ken Clarke's immediate resignation to be followed by the demand for a grovelling apology. This just shows why Miliband is not fit to be prime minister. For him the mantra is a means to an end.

In the same programme the Justice Secretary was confronted by sex attack victim Gabrielle Browne. She said later, "Ken Clarke didn't listen. His comment about not all rapes really being rape was disgraceful for a man in his position, a man of previous ministerial experience and previous experience as a barrister.

"He did not show empathy or understanding. If he can't open his eyes and ears and listen and see life from a victim's perspective then he should resign."

But this is where her natural emotions blinker her understanding of the truth. Ken Clarke's example of distinctions in rape is legally and factually correct. And explaining a legal distinction does not mean one excludes empathy or understanding.

It would appear that the government is seeking to cut costs in trials. One cost cut would be if those charged with rape have the opportunity to plead guilty (if they are so minded) before a trial begins in order to obtain a reduced sentence term. It also means that the main witness does not have to go through the ordeal of a court appearance and the trial costs are reduced.

It all sounds so reasonable to me. If Ken Clarke had chosen his words with efficacious carefulness we would hardly be talking about it.

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Earl of Onslow dies aged 73

Earl of Onslow in the House of Lords

I've just noticed this on the BBC website.

"The hereditary peer, the Earl of Onslow, has died, House of Lords speaker Baroness Hayman has announced. The 73-year-old peer had been a member of the House for 40 years and last spoke in the chamber on 29 March. A self-styled "disloyal" Conservative, he was known for his colourful bow ties and outspoken views on issues such as drugs, which he called to be legalised."

Nick Clegg is currently unveiling plans for a second chamber populated by 300 members, 80% of which could be elected. Who might get to choose the candidates, I wonder? Maybe they will be those who failed for the other place.

Lord Onslow saw humbug, spoke up against it, and was not afraid to speak his mind. I'd far rather have a 100 of him than one of Clegg's nominees! Let the dust settle on the House of Commons, with all its recent travails, before we get to pontificate on the House of Lords. Anyway, who is so desperate for this supposed reform? Most people are worried about their immediate futures.

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Dominique Strauss-Kahn held in Rikers Island Jail

No holiday camp for Strauss-Kahn

The City of New York has a Correction Department and their choicest facility is Rikers Island. Where better than this to send the head of the International Monetary Fund. Dominique Strauss-Kahn has moved from a $3,000-a-night penthouse suite to a cell in one of America's most notorious prisons. He will also get turkey burger dinners. What a thought.

Far from correcting many of the inmates, there seems to be a culture of fear, favouritism and being preyed upon. Mr Strauss-Kahn will have a one-person cell, for his own security, officials say. "This is not about isolating the inmate from any human contact. This is about preventing the inmate from being victimised or harmed in some way as a result of his high profile," a spokesman for New York's Department of Correction said. You don't say!

If they were serious about correcting the criminals and the alleged criminals on remand why not get Strauss-Kahn to give them lessons in financial management. Then the corrected characters could set about reforming the outside world. Who better than them to spot wrongdoing!

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Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley being investigated

These big beasts of American banking are being subjected to an "active and ongoing investigation into the mortgage crisis." This is being conducted by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. He's leaving no stone unturned in his quest to find out why the so-called Triple A rated mortgage securities metamorphosised into Quadruple X rated financial bubbles all eager to pop themselves over unsuspecting investors.

The proverbial excrement hit the fan. This is the beginning of the end in the clean up of the fan. No fan with such stuff wedged into it can pump fresh air around a room. How long it will take to investigate is probably hard for anyone to say. Getting to the truth will be something. It cannot be right for city slickers to defraud, if that is what they have done, with impunity and for others to carry the financial can.

These sub-prime mortgages were toxic to start with. I'm no scientist, but if you add one toxin to another it must still be pretty vile as a result. In my opinion it was the credit rating agencies giving the products a clean bill of health that let the scam get out of control. Maybe they should be called something else? Or as Marjory Dawes of FatFighters fame (BBC Little Britain) might say "but You are summin else!"

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Tom Miller flies high to land the presidency?

Tom Miller

Tom Miller is a career flight attendant, single dad, believer that America is a Judeo-Christian country and definitely not a career politician. He just wants a short career as president.

Bon mots from Tom -

1. I have no prior political experience and our leaders have proven that none is required.
2. I believe I have what it takes to be an effective President because I will make the tough, unpopular (but necessary) decisions others have not been willing to make.
3. I will not sign any unread or unfunded legislation.

Basically he's got a gripe with politicians. Here's his campaign website.

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Fred Karger - Gay, Republican and running for president

Fred Karger is new to me. On this video he is in his contemplating running for president stage. He is now a declared candidate describing himself as "Gay, Republican and Running For President" which will attract many and detract others. He describes himself as an independent Republican, which may mean he's not mainstream or just speaks his mind.

Here's Fred contemplating his candidature -

and here's his campaign website.

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New Gingrich is a candidate for 2012

Newt Gingrich, onetime Speaker of the House of Representatives and champion of Marietta, Georgia is running for the presidency. His campaign is styled "Together We Will Win The Future". Here is Newt announcing his candidature -

and here is his campaign website.

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Donald Trump bows out of winnable contest

Donald Trump looking at a strong conviction

He's fired himself from a contest he says “I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election.” So says Donald Trump. Are we to miss out on a candidate with strong convictions or one with an eye on the main chance?

The Republican primaries are slimming down as each month goes by. Mike Huckabee's out, Donald Trump's out. It's a bit like a cricket match with Barack Obama doing all the bowling. Googlies at the moment.

Oh well, it makes Ron Paul's chances that much better.

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Queen visits Ireland today

Queen opening hospital wing in Londonderry 2009

Her Majesty The Queen is making a state visit to the Republic of Ireland today. This is not her first visit to Ireland, but it is her first visit to the Republic of Ireland, or Eire as my prep school Geography master from Lisburn called it. The BBC is keen to be telling us that this is "the first time a British Monarch has set foot on Irish soil since independence from British rule", which is a bit of a twist on history.

Ireland was, as a whole island, fully part of the United Kingdom from 1st January 1801 until 6th December 1922, when the south of Ireland assumed independence within the Commonwealth. It was called the Irish Free State and the King of Ireland became the King in Ireland. The Free State ended in 1937 and the Republic was formed, with no king in or out!

The BBC seems to forget that the Free State was what many Irishmen wanted. They do not mention it. They have mentioned the Irish who fought in the Great War and were inconveniently forgotten, which was a disgrace. However, the majority of the Irish people supported and voted for complete severance, and that is what seems predominant. We may be getting a similar run of political manoeuvring in Scotland, although Alex Salmond is a very much a creature of 2011 and not a back of the hay trailer tubthumper of 1911.

I hope the Queen's visit goes well. It seems most Irish people are at ease with the relationship between the Republic and the UK. We need to put enmity aside, if enmity there is and enjoy our common heritage and blood ties, for there are many of those.

Queen in Northern Ireland 2009

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Is Chris Huhne speeding to disaster?

Chris Huhne in Chicken Run riddle

Chris Huhne is an ambitious man. He has put his ambition to good use. He set up his own business, he succesfully launched a political career, has become a cabinet minister and would like to be leader of his party and who knows what else. I detect he is a clever man, but not necessarily a nice man. I've never met him but that's the impression I get. I've met nice politicians, affable ones, self-opinionated ones and quite nasty ones. Thankfully the latter is a tiny minority. All politicians, if they are successful in getting high up the ladder, have to endure being talked about. Mostly it is by the public and the political chattering classes. They can handle that. But a wife who feels wronged and betrayed? That's potential dynamite.

Entering the fray is his estranged wife Vicki Pryce, herself a political animal. She claims that her husband asked her take his penalty points for a 2003 speeding offence. He strenuously denies it. As with all such tiffs, one of them is wrong. She's miffed about his adultery. Quite understandable. But would she say things to hurt him like this? He's said some trenchant things about the Tories of late? But would they say things to hurt him like this? It all becomes quite mystifying.

I know the asking of someone else to take penalty points is not unusual. Some even talk openly about it. Usually it's the willing wife, but sometimes it's the put upon parent, child or business partner. It's illegal, of course, but quite a few drivers have a tendency to think they are above the law, or the motoring laws in particular.

If Mrs Huhne did do this for her husband, then it is tantamount to her being a perjurer. If Mr. Huhne did it he is in the firing line for a charge of perverting the course of justice. High stakes for both of them. Bit like poker in Las Vegas. Mr Huhne's future could hang on whether Essex Police, who have assigned a senior detective to look into the allegations, decide to launch a full criminal investigation. Will they or won't they? I'd say they will, because not to might look like they were covering up. Anyway, it can't be that difficult to find out what went on. Dates, drivers and penalty points can easily be matched up.

The name Huhne is German in origin and means "live chicken" as opposed to a cooked one. Could be Chris Huhne will find out soon enough if his chickens are coming home to roost or he has cooked them good and proper! And there was I thinking the Coalition wouldn't have any skeletons in the cupboard!

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Dominique Strauss-Kahn in second sex allegation

Tristane Banon

Dominique Strauss-Kahn appears to be caught between his political ambitions and his history as an alleged womaniser. Only hours after being accused by a chamber maid that she was sexually attacked by the IMF chief, a second accuser has stepped forward. Tristane Banon, the 31-year-old god-daughter of Strauss-Kahn’s second wife Brigitte Guillemette, said he attacked her almost a decade ago. Ms Banon will now tell French detectives about the attempted rape, which took place in an anonymous studio flat in Paris in 2002. Strauss-Kahn lured the then 21-year-old trainee journalist her to the property under the promise of an interview, and then started to rip her clothes off.

‘I kicked him, I called him a rapist, he didn’t seem to care,’ said Ms Banon in earlier interviews, in which she also described Strauss-Kahn as acting like a ‘rutting chimpanzee’. Does she know what a rutting chimpanzee is like? And why did she hold off telling the police before now? Apparently because she was afraid of being 'defined by the story' of being attacked by a senior politician. Not anymore it would appear.

If Mr.Strauss-Kahn has done anything wrong, then it should be dealt with by the courts as appropriate. However, if this is some evil set-up, I'd be the first to admonish those concerned. True victims of rape need assurances that society will be supportive, non-judgmental and provide justice. Saying you were raped or sexually molested in order to gain from it is despicable. And setting others up to say things is as well. I hope nobody is telling porkies!

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387621/Second-woman-alleges-attacked-IMF-chief-Dominique-Strauss-Kahn.html#ixzz1MWVQnNNW

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South West Trains sack safety conscious stationmaster

Last train for station master Faletto

Here's another corporate moron deftly displaying super arrogance when it comes to health and safety laws and regulations. Every time we get such things happening, the company concerned says it is doing it for the community, the staff, the customers, Uncle Tom Cobley and all. But they're not. They are doing it for themselves. Or more correctly to safeguard themselves from any perceived lawsuit. So they are really slimy self-interested souls looking after number one. I do wish it would stop.

Lymington Stationmaster Ian Faletto has been sacked by South West Trains after pulling a shopping trolley dumped by vandals off the track. He simply wanted to stop the possibility of a tremendous train crash. It seems he was spotted on the track by CCTV. Mr Faletto said, ‘I can’t believe it after all I have done for them. What I did prevented an accident which could have derailed a train and injured passengers. I saw the trolley on the line and managed to remove it before the first train arrived that morning. Health and safety rules have gone too far when you prevent an accident and get sacked for it. I just want my job back.’

There's an irony here, that's for sure. Network Rail has finally owned up to the Potters Bar crash as being their fault, or their predecessor's (Railtrack). It took many years of legal wrangling to get the wretched corporates to see that they had been sloppy on the job. People got killed, yet it was the nature (now seemingly part of corporate DNA) of the company to try to blame others or wriggle out of responsibility.

What would South West Trains say if a driver had taken a train over the shopping trolley? What if death and injury had been caused? I don't think I'd put a bet on it, but I sense they'd try to blame somebody else. This health and safety is nothing of the sort on many occasions. It is all about fear of litigation. So the mean-minded, self-interested management sack a worker because he cares about his station, his staff, his customers. And he cared about his company.

There is a petition to get Mr.Faletto re-instated. Customers are outraged by the sacking. South West Trains is owned by Stagecoach plc. Maybe we could have a better approach. South West Trains can hardly afford such adverse publicity. They have a history of it. Punctuality declining. Price rises. Overcrowded trains. Overcrowded trains? According to this website South West trains tried to get a commuter arrested under anti-terrorist laws for photographing overcrowded trains.

Do we need corporate bosses like these? They give capitalism a bad name. They stifle free enterprise and they sniff their noses up at entrepreneurs. They need a good thrashing!


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385895/Stationmaster-Ian-Faletto-sacked-stopping-accident-Lymington-Pier.html#ixzz1MRxsWC60

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Queen beheaded in mock Dublin execution

Mock execution in Dublin 

Some Irish people are tearing their hearts and minds out with hatred and vitriole. Currently the Republic of Ireland is a basket case financially. There are a few that would wish it to become a basket case morally, spiritually and democratically as well. A group calling themselves Éirígí staged a mock execution in Dublin yesterday. Sacrilege on a Sunday! And very distasteful given recent events. Of course, such things have always been attractive to republican Irishmen. They desecrated Easter Sunday once.

Complete with a portable guillotine they cut off the head of a plastic replica (not a great likeness) of the Queen. Supposedly this was to make a point about the Queen's visit to Dublin. I've looked at the website of these revolutionary socialists. They babble on about freedom, yet if they ever got to control the Dail (by foul means rather fair, no doubt) most decent Irish people would either have fled from their clutches or decided a counter revolution was the best bet.

These people are dreamers with acid in their veins. They think the ills of their world are all down to Elizabeth Windsor, as the impudently call the Queen. I suppose she had a guiding hand in the Irish banks going for broke.

Most people in Ireland welcome this visit. In fact, if Queen Victoria hadn't been such a recluse she might have wowed Dubliners a bit better. Her first visit was in 1849, described as a public relations success by many accounts. By the time she did eventually return, some 51 years later in 1900, she had left it a little too late. Just as in the American Colonies, it was never a foregone conclusion that independence from the British Crown was desired. It was more down to meddling, arrogant politicians not giving an inch to reasonable demands, although Queen Victoria didn't help much. If you don't see someone for 51 years what are you expected to think?

I hope the Queen is given a warm welcome. Obviously she has been asked by the Irish government to come. It would be churlish if the reception was cool and distant, outrageous if it was abused by raving revolutionary socialists.

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Porn Found in Osama Bin Laden Evidence Trove

So the old devil was a sexual animal keen on looking at pornography. Osama Bin Laden may have been the world's most wanted terrorist but basically he was a low level hypocrite. There are many debates about whether pornography is a good, bad or indifferent thing for the human being. But saying that you adhere to high moral standards, such as Islamic belief in sexual integrity, and then do something completely different is, well, hypocritical. Bin Laden spent his days lambasting America and other western countries over sexual immorality. It's one thing to fall from grace, be tempted by sexual gratification, it's quite another to be an inveterate hypocrite. Was he boozing as well, and living life on the hog? Oh, heaven forfend!

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Iran acid blinding sentence postponed

The Iranian authorities have seen sense. They postponed blinding a man with acid following an international outcry over the retributive punishment imposed after he was found guilty of doing the same to a woman who refused to marry him.

In a literal application of the sharia law of an eye for an eye, Majid Movahedi was scheduled to be rendered unconscious in Tehran's judiciary hospital today while his victim, Ameneh Bahrami, dropped acid in both his eyes.

But Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported that officials had postponed the sentence on Friday night and not indicated when the punishment might be carried out in future.

Ameneh Bahrami has been severely damaged, physically, mentally and spiritually. She is hellbent on retribution and, from a human perspective, that sense wells up quite effectively. We all get that revenge feeling from time to time. Many are siding with her. But this sharia law goes directly opposite to the Christian Gospel. She will have to reveal her true fellings and reasons for her actions at the "dreadful day of judgement", as the Prayer Book puts it, and what she wants to do will have to be put before the "whole company of heaven".

Much of the world believes in an eye for an eye. Somehow it lets them eat their breakfast more easily after a good nights sleep. George Bush is cock-a-hoop Bin Laden's dead. That's the Bin Laden of Abbottabad fame and not the ones he and his father did or do business with. And George professes the Christian Faith, now in the United Methodist Church, having departed his Episcopalian background. He should know that Christ told us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away."

It's not easy being a Christian, but saying you are a Christian and then defying the Gospel repeatedly, then that's something else entirely.

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Visa for the Olympic Games Tickets

You'll need a visa to get in!

Those who want to come to the 2012 Olympic Games and live abroad may well need a visa to get into Britain. Fair do's, really. However, what is not fair is that Visa, the credit/debit card operator, which has become a sponsor of the games, is dictating which credit cards you can use. Theirs! And theirs alone, it seems.

I spotted a group on Facebook calling itself  "Olympic Visa Boycott". They are campaigning for a change to sponsorship arrangements

"If you want to go to the London Olympics in 2012, you won't be able to buy tickets using any credit or debit card other than Visa. While you're there, you won't be able to use any other card to pay for food, souvenirs, etc.


The reason for this is that Visa is one of the main Olympic sponsors, and has done a deal to exclude other card handlers from anything related to the Olympics.


We believe this is unfair, unreasonable and entirely unjustifiable. There's nothing wrong with commercial sponsorship of sporting events whereby the sponsor gets exposure of their brand in return for the organiser getting money. But sponsors should not be able to dictate what the fans can and cannot do. Whether it's the credit card you use, the clothes you wear or the food you eat, the sponsors have no moral right to override your choice."

Like them, I'm perfectly happy in a commercial world for companies to sponsor people, games, events, etc. But to put people to the inconvenience of not being able to use a credit/debit card simply because it is a competitor's is simply wrong. It is moral blackmail. This happened in South Africa with the football World Cup with assorted merchandisers. It is an insidious, invidious thing!

I believe in free enterprise. My blog is here so I can say things against covert corporate sleaze and wrongdoing, often done in total opposition to free enterprise and entrepreneurship. This action is anti-competitive, it is undemocratic too. Why? Because Visa are denying choice in the market place. In order to purchase merchandise at the event, you have to have either cash about your person or a Visa card of some sorts. If you dare to have a MasterCard on you, do the remnants of the Stasi get overtime bonuses whilst they root out the offending cards?

Lord Coe should come clean now. Is this what we want in a sporting venue? Anti-competitive, self-interested monopolising of commercial activity by secret agreement!


Visa had a glitch!

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Wither the weather today?

So yesterday it was forecast as "sunny intervals" for today in Solihull. Now when the icon goes up with the tag line, that's supposed to be the predominant weather pattern. I accept it's not 100% guaranteed. But each day it changes. So today this morning I look at the pattern and, lo and behold, it's changed. What to? "light rain shower" is the answer. So a light rain shower trumps sunny intervals. Sunday, tomorrow is still "white cloud" but will that change tomorrow? Tantalisingly, Monday is now forecast as "sunny intervals".

If one looks at a weather forecast and sees thisit can lift the spirits a bit. But if one sees thisthe very next day it's a bit of a downer, if not a downpour. Maybe the Met Office could go to this event?

Thunder in the Desert 2012

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Seaweed or satellites?

I am beginning to wonder whether we should go back to hanging seaweed in the garden to tell what weather we might be getting. As I type this, the BBC Weather says Solihull will get "sunny intervals" tomorrow, Sunday will be "white cloud" as will Monday. Now for the last month I've been looking at the three day forecast which pops up on the BBC homepage. Whatever they say for one day, the weather forecast will be different when that day comes. So tomorrow I'm not expecting "sunny intervals" but maybe "white cloud" or some other weather pattern.

I know they've given up forecasting weeks in advance. But surely next day can't be too difficult. All these expensive satellites peering down at the clouds as the shift across the globe. I'll be very keen to see what tomorrow's weather logo will look like. Of course, some people can forecast the future with a high degree of accuracy. THE DAILY EXPRESS! They are confident that June and July will be scorchers. I do hope this is the first thing they've got right.

Sky News - Saturday's Front Pages

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Fish on Friday is back! Did it ever go away?

Fishy Fridays for all

In the Daily Telegraph Cristina Odone is reporting on her blog that "the bishops are introducing once again the traditional diet of fish on Friday". This is, she claims, "a brilliant move, calculated to bind Catholics in England and Wales in an ancient observance many will remember as children. A change in diet may seem a small thing, but make no mistake about it: this is about strengthening the group’s identity, drawing a clear line distinction (even if only at meal times) between Catholics and the rest. Finally, the bishops believe Catholics are proud of their faith, and are ready to show it every week."

Now I know it was deemed not necessary to eat fish on Fridays by the previous pope, but is she so unaware that this is not something people have stopped altogether. In fact, the whole country, or that part which eats fish and is Christian, considers Friday a fish day. When I worked in the insurance business in the seventies, fish was a regular on the canteen menus for Fridays. I've seen fish in restaurants, hotels and supermarkets promoted on Fridays more than any other day. I've never really known fish not on a Friday. In fact, tonight our local fish and chip shop was bursting onto the street with customers. You don't get that on Thursdays.

I've always associated fish with Friday. You don't have to be Catholic to do that. In fact, the English never gave up many of the ways of the early church. My High Church proclivities may have steered me towards a fish eating Friday, but I think it was more my mother's doing. People are drawn to eating fish on Fridays because it is a custom of the land and nobody really queries it.

As an Anglo-Papalist (still!) I never feel good about eating red meat on Friday. I don't get het up if I do and I'm told that it is not a problem if I do. I'm rather curious if Cristina Odone is suggesting all Roman Catholics ran a mile from fish on Fridays when told it was not compulsory fare and are now considering buying Rick Stein recipe books to remind themselves of what they've been missing. Surely they're like the rest of us. Just carried on as usual!

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British woman beheaded in Canaries

Woman beheaded by mad man with machete in Tenerife

A British woman apparently on holiday in the Canaries has been murdered whilst shopping in a supermarket. She was repeatedly stabbed then beheaded in a frenzied attack. Eye witnesses saw the perpetrator calmly carry passed them the woman's head by the hair, until he was grappled to the ground by police.

This is such a horrendous thing to have happened. However, should it have happened? The Spanish police are letting it be known that the man involved, a Bulgarian, has had a history of mental illness. If he was known to be difficult why was he let out, so to speak? I know it's easy being wise after the event, but we are constantly being asked to be wise after events. Another family severely traumatised, another mentally unstable person incarcerated and another inquiry no doubt. I imagine Spain is no different from the UK or any other country. A judge will adjudicate and say things need to change. Let's hope the do.

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Candidate Jack Davis in fisticuffs fight with GOP tracker

Jack Davis before the mayhem started

Jack Davis is a Republican candidate running in the special election to replace former Rep. Chris Lee for New York's 26th district congressional seat. In a very odd moment he was involved in a videotaped scuffle with a Republican volunteer questioning why he was not participating in a debate. Instead of telling the man why not, he got a tad mad and tried to lunge at him and land a few punches. This is all a bit reminiscent of the Deputy Prime Minister that was, namely John Lord Prescott. He famously punched a bating bystander, a good wallop it was too.

One of Davis' team said, "You have an operative from an opposing campaign harassing and assaulting a candidate for federal office. This person was pushing a camera in Jack's face, preventing him from getting in his car. Standing in his way, trying to antagonize him and trying to get video that would look like far more than what actually happened." Harassing and assaulting? It all depends on whether you support Mr. Davis or the other guy, I suppose.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20062273-503544.html#ixzz1MFoWIjJ6

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Ron Paul is joining 2012 presidential race

Ron Paul to run in 2012

So Ron Paul has announced he is running for president. Good news. He told ABC's Good Morning America of his plans. I'd have commented earlier on this but Blogger went into the blogosphere and I've just found out it's back on earth.

The list for the Republican nomination is quite crowded with previous runners also entered, such as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Although, I understand Huckabee's got a day job now that may be more lucrative than anything he's previously had. And to make matters worse, most Americans don't recognise them or even remember their names. I would have thought at least Donald Trump was a household name, but he gets less than half the voters picking him out. With that hair as well! Surely he's memorable for something? Sarah Palin doesn't do much better. It seems Americans need these people constantly in front of them, a bit like McDonald's advertising hamburgers.

It's a sorry state of affairs. But then I watch Jerry Springer, Judge Judy etc and some of the people on there are in need of remedial therapy. And they are voters too. If I think along these lines too much it might make me think democracy is a scary thing. Springer had a show with feuding hillbillies on. Then he's had fat slobs, African Americans with unique names (Chantalaya, Chantaleeza, etc), grandmothers dating teenagers (maybe twentysomethings) and each one of these is empowered to give the go ahead or not to one of these GOP hopefuls or their Democratic opponent President Obama.

It's early days. Those in the 1% recognition zone should not give up hope. I see Ron Paul isn't even getting a mention yet. Today's showing might have done something, but how many ABC viewers will claim they don't him tomorrow? I hope not many, but then I'm a bit of an optimist in this regard.

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Birmingham Airport faces closure threat

I noticed a copy of the Birmingham Mail in Morrisons this afternoon. "Holiday Chaos" was the headline with the distinct impression that summer holidays might be ruined for some. It's all about Birmingham Airport being forced to close completely if angry firefighters opposing changes to their pensions take industrial action.

About 55 fire service workers based at the airport are fighting planned changes to their final salary scheme which they say could cut their pensions by up to 30 per cent. So strike action may be taken.

Personally I think it's a bit rough for them to get their pension contracts re-arranged when the bankers got given tidy sums to carry on with their "work". But that's life. It's not a fair world. I wonder if we have the gumption to change it.

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/05/11/birmingham-airport-faces-closure-threat-97319-28670569/#ixzz1M3qpPGc5

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Is Gaddafi dead? Or just hiding?

There's an odd thing about dictators and terrorists (some of whom happen to be both at the same time) and that is we all seem uncertain as to whether they are actually dead when they are dead. There are some who thought Hitler survived the bunker. Others have speculated about the death of Stalin. Mussolini got strung up and Ceausescu got riddled with bullets, alongside his delectable wife, so there was some certainty there. Now Bin Laden is being gossiped about, much to the annoyance of the Americans.

So what of Colonel Gaddafi of Libya? Is he dead? Or just playing possum somewhere, hoping to skidaddle to somewhere better? NATO doesn't know of his whereabouts. Some reporters think he might have been killed in a bombing raid. NATO spokesman Brigadier General Claudio Gabellini said, "We have no evidence about what Gaddafi is doing right now. To tell you the truth, we're not really interested in what he's doing." Sounds rather vague. The whole reason for going into Libya was to protect the civilian population from his madness. I know we don't want a running commentary on his daily routine but wouldn't it be nice to know if he is still around?

It may suit the Libyan government to keep up a charade but the Western democracies could be wasting valuable time by not knowing. This isn't even in conspiracy theory territory. It's just not bothering much.

Gaddafi has vowed to die a martyr. Better that than dying in unknown circumstances with all the rumourmongers in full cry. We are told that his youngest son got killed in a raid, but even questions are being asked about that. Definitely a war of words as much as bombs.

Read more: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/78793,people,news,is-colonel-gaddafi-dead-libyans-suspicious-of-vanishing-act#ixzz1M3feLlmC

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The Young Wife Who Defended Osama Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden's willing wife - willing to talk?

The Osama Bin Laden story is continuing. Someone told me that the Americans should just have done it and kept quiet about it. Trouble with that is it would not have stopped the rumour mill. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't when it comes to these things. It's like finding Hitler's bunker intact when the Berlin wall came down. It was covered up again, literally, pretty quickly. Just to keep tourists out and Hitler shrine makers as well.

Now the young Yemeni woman, betrothed to Bin Laden when she was a teenager, is in the limelight. She knew no better I suppose. I know some Yemenis and they have decided to leave the mind-bending existence that Yemen offers. 29-year-old Amal Ahmed Abdul Fatah was only doing what she thought was her duty. I bet Osama was a cool operator and she believed his every word. Either that or she was deluded.

Osama Bin Laden will still be around this time next year, and the next. He's moved into that category that makes him worth more dead than alive. He was never much of a threat but he needed to be built up by some so they could make money from it all. What next? The books, of course!

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Foreign affairs for Nick Clegg?

Nick Clegg meeting Dutch PM Mark Rutte - did they
speak in English or Dutch?

I've just read the link that Iain Dale put on his blog. This is about an interview he has given to So So Gay. He suggested it was read and I did. And it is a good read. Two things strike me. On civil partnerships, the current ban on a religious element to them and objections to the ban, the article says, "Dale, who is in a civil partnership himself, is open to that objection despite his own agnosticism. ‘I don’t think the law should prohibit a religious element, but I also don’t think that churches should be forced to offer services for gay people if they don’t want to.’ That's the point. Not forcing people, either way. His comments on Chris Bryant and Ben Bradshaw are also telling. But it's like all things with Labour. If they think you are stealing their political clothes they will try to say you look like a tramp.

On the Coalition and Nick Clegg's position in it after the poll slump last week for the Liberal Democrats, Dale sees Clegg in the foreign secretary role. "Dale can see Clegg as a potential future foreign secretary – subject to William Hague’s standing down at the next reshuffle". I think this would be a good idea. I've never really understood what a deputy prime minister is for or does. John Prescott spent some of his time humping his desk and carpet about his office. He also spent time knocking old buildings down in Northern England. Michael Heseltine was deputy prime minister as was Geoffrey Howe. Neither seemed fulfilled in the job.

I think, if William Hague does go in a reshuffle, that Clegg would be ideal as foreign secreatary. This is a proper job in government. He has the background from his Dutch and Russian blood and he is married to a Spanish politician's daughter. In Europe, I am told, he would come across well. Not because he is pro-European but because he would not be perceived as "arrogantly English". That's what I've been told. If the continental Europeans would be happier with that, surely that is to our advantage.

Of course, if like Peter Bone MP, you want the Coalition to collapse tomorrow, then Nick Clegg should be left to his own devices as a role-finding deputy prime minister. Mr Bone wants to "be rid of the Liberals" as if he was seeking help from a rat catcher. Personally, I want the coalition to succeed in its mission. Peter Bone may not like "liberals" but he should have helped the Conservative Party to be more electable last year. We've got what we've got. Let's do the best with it and stop infighting and move forward.

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Telegraph undercover LibDem sting "broke press rules"

Pressing on with pressing constituency business

The Press Complaints Commission has said that the Daily Telegraph breached rules on the use of subterfuge when it sent reporters to secretly tape Lib Dem ministers. The Telegraph denied it was a "fishing expedition", arguing it had acted upon information "from multiple sources". They may well have got information from various sources, but as Tim Farron MP says today, it is not news to reveal that the Conservatives and LibDems have differences. As we already knew and know that, it can only have been malicious.

The Daily Telegraph I think has decided that it is now both holy revealer of personal wrongdoing and self-promoter of Conservatives in government. The first may have been admirable because it took investigative journalism on the right path. However, the latter is borne out of a distaste the Telegraph has for coalition politics.

The editors of the paper, high low and sub, have allowed themselves to believe that going undercover and provoking a conversation with an MP in the supposedly private and discreet constituency surgery is somehow to the public advantage. It is not. It is underhand not undercover. It is also a slight on our democracy. The Daily Telegraph should not want to sink to redtop level just to boost circulation. Politicians are fair game for what they get up to in their parliamentary work in the House of Commons or what they say or don't say in the media. But both constituents and MPs need to know that their concerns are being discussed in secret and not in preparation for fanfare reporting.

Vince Cable, one of the ministers recorded in the sting, said he was "delighted". He told the BBC, "My main concern, as one of the ministers involved was that we have been personally vindicated and that the relationship between members of Parliament and their constituents, the privacy and confidentiality of their relationship, that's been preserved."

I agree. All MPs, whatever their party, all councillors and all peers should be able to meet the electorate without fear or favour.

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Can Anglicans be Catholic?

For those pondering this question you might like to watch these lectures by former Anglican and now Catholic Priest Rev. Dr. John Fleming who tackles the relationship between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. Starting with the harmonising ecclesiology as typically held by communion-minded Anglicans, Fr. Fleming outlines the influence of Venerable John Henry (Cardinal) Newman, the Oxford Movement, and his own spiritual and intellectual development.

I got this from the website of the Church of St. Mary and The Angels, Hollywood's Historic "Little Church Around The Corner", which has recently voted to join the American Ordinariate when it is set up.

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Samoa is not in yesterday but today as time moves forward

Time to question time in Samoa

In the classic "Radio Ham" Tony Hancock memorably explained to would-be helpers of a stranded yachtsman that it "isn't this time of night where he is, it's yesterday afternoon". The time zones of the world have often led to a mixture of confusion and curiosity. And when Greenwich Meant Time was invented, with its 24 hour zoning of the world, it was the British Empire that thought the Pacific islands better off stradling today and yesterday at the same time. But in the modern world, places like Samoa don't want to be in yesterday longer than they have to be. Now they are in today. Meaning they get to beat the world for New Year's Day fireworks and the rest. But losing a whole day. Where did it go? It's all a bit Doctor Who-ish. I wish them well.

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi says "In doing business with New Zealand and Australia, we're losing out on two working days a week. While it's Friday here, it's Saturday in New Zealand and when we're at church Sunday, they're already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane." Makes sense. This way you can go to church with the Aussies and Kiwis and do business with them as well, in a timely manner so to speak.

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Law and Order UK - Police to prosecute

"I've got a bigger postbag than you!"

The Crown Prosecution Service is getting its workload reduced and by implication its staffing numbers. Home Secretary Theresa May has announced proposals aimed at reducing police bureaucracy. She said her plans marked a "watershed moment" in policing and could save up to 2.5 million police hours each year.

Basically the Home Office's idea is to allow police officers, rather than the Crown Prosecution Service, to decide whether to press charges in up to 80% of cases, with some people being charged by post. I'm assuming they will have been arrested and subsequently interviewed beforehand. "Will you be charging me, then?" "Not today, the charge will be the post!"

The police should be "chasing criminals not chasing targets," said Mrs May. I agree, but she better make sure that the police are involved in real chases and not paper chases.

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New bishops of Ebbsfleet & Richborough

Fr Jonathan Baker SSC

The Archbishop of Canterbury has seen fit to appoint new bishops to the suffragan sees of Ebbsfleet and Richborough. Downing Street made the announcement on Thursday that the next Bishop of Ebbsfleet is to be the Revd Dr Jonathan Baker ssc, Principal of Pusey House, Oxford and Secretary of Forward in Faith, and that the next Bishop of Richborough is to be the Revd Norman Banks ssc, Vicar of Walsingham, Houghton and Barsham, Rural Dean of Burnham and Walsingham and Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen. Both priests will now become bishops administering sacramentally to Anglicans unable in conscience to accept the innovation of women in holy orders, particularly the priesthood and episcopate.

Fr Norman Banks SSC

The announcement has been welcomed by traditional Anglicans, those who have moved to the Ordinariate under Rome, those without in the continuing churches and those in Forward in Faith. Other Anglicans are also expressing warm respects, even if they are not so traditional. But some have spoken with a sharp tongue.

Jean Mayland is a lady for sharp words. On Thinking Anglicans she says "These appointments are despicable. In response to an advert from his Appointments Secretary many of us wrote asking that that he wait until next year when the new legislation will, God willing be approved and hopefully such posts disappear. He has nevertheless appointed them - maybe in the hope that next time he and Sentamu will push through their heretical amendment. It is a slap in the face for faithful women priests".

Heretical? Despicable? Ms Mayland is herself a lady cleric and church person. However, as with all liberals, she has taken to expressing her will as God's Will. Not content to accept that the overwhelming majority of sacramental Christians believe the three-fold ministry is male in creation as given to us by Tradition and Scripture. That majority, made up of Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Christians, rejects the notions of those who desire innovations based on presumed fairness and equality of the modern world, as being inconsistent with the faith of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Whilst sacramental Christians may be divided yet are praying and working for unity, it is beyond doubt that Ms Mayland's approach is hellbent on perpetual division.

She thinks Rowan Williams is a heretic! There is a hymn - "God moves in mysterious ways" - and it is hard sometimes to fathom what some people really want. It's a mystery to me what goes on in Ms Mayland's mind. I bet she'll have us out of the Church of England at the point of candlestick if she could. Heretic, indeed! Some cheek, I'd say.

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