Bandits IV Revisted

"The black Stalin/Hitler"** with some of his gilded  popinjays †:

Nyezhov, Ngoebbels, Nhimmler etc.

Source: here

Well, as has been widely reported, "Doctor" Robert Gabriel Mugabe's Rhodesia is going from bad to worse; the poor people having now to endure a cholera epidemic to add to the sum of absurd inflation plus famine, ballot-rigging and brutality.

Now the mass-murderer, marxist, tyrant and all-round verminous Stalin-impersonator has a new problem that no doubt, he will blame on the "British imperialists": his soldiers are unable to withdraw more than the equivalent of 50 pence per day (the price of a single banana apparently***) from the banks; unsurprisingly, to take a leaf from P.G.Wodehouse, they are not exactly gruntled about this development and have chosen to express their displeasure.  With his great political judgement and wisdom, Mugabe, he of the many degrees - presumably beaten out of the examiners - has started to have his repellent police imprison the soldiers.

Smart move (ironically speaking), but the police will have to work even harder now with all their oppression duties to see to.

It is my wish that finally Mugabe will receive the beatings that he is so happy to dispense elsewhere, resulting in his deserved death, an occurrence unlikely to be mourned by anyone, with the exception of his few favourites who will no doubt escape to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth in some other appalling country willing to accept these scum - who would be most unlikely to want to stay at home where the oppressed population would probably want a "word" with them.

Soon, I may write a short piece about Mugabe's predecessor: war hero, sane and utterly incorruptible: Mr Ian Douglas Smith.  In the early '80s I met a chap and his wife who had arrived in England from Zimbabwe - they had wisely got out.  They told me that already the black people they knew were saying that they wished that Smith was back in charge.  I wonder what they would say now?

Until the next time

**No description is sufficiently offensive for this bastard

† Thanks to the late Lord Hives for this expression

*** Here in France I can buy six bananas for a  little more than a euro.

UPDATE!

In a radical move, Harare City Council is now offering free graves - for cholera victims.

Well, I admit it: I was wrong.  Mugabe has achieved something: free graves.  Well done Robert.

A Bit of Fun for a Change - The Uber-Tuber

Re-reading my recent posts, I have to admit that I have been in heavy rant mode lately, so now's the time for a bit of light relief.  (I have opted not to comment on the appalling events in Bombay ("Mumbai") recently; my regular readers should be able to guess my views on this outrage).

Most of us like chips (English); French Fries (USA); Frites (France) or "Freedom Fries" (Bush administration).  The following video shows a splendid way to make real chips from real potatoes and have fun at the same time!

Uber Tuber on MAKE: television from make magazine on Vimeo.

Bon appetit!

Until the next time

Good News

It has been reported today, both by the BBC and the International Herald Tribune, that the Afghani authorities have arrested ten individuals apparently belonging to the Taliban in connexion with the acid attack I reported here, on eight girls and four female teachers in Kandahar.  The BBC link carries a video, showing some of the injuries received.  

President Karzai says that those found guilty will be executed.

Good riddance; somehow I doubt I'll select a black tie.  The date of their despatch will be more of a champagne day I think.

As an aside I note that the BBC spells "Taliban" as "Taleban."  I suspect that the BBC is using the "approved" spelling, so I shall stay with "Taliban", by which I mean (if MI6 is reading this) the spelling"Taliban."

And once again, all the best to brave Shamsia.

Until the next time

More on the Sirius Star

The Sirius Star is the Saudi-Arabian tanker which, with its $100,000,000-worth of oil has been hijacked by pirates from the Republic - sorry bordel - of Somalia.

Another fat-headed islamist sheikh has now stuck his oar in, as this extract from the Daily Telegraph article describes:

"If the pirates want peace, they had better release the tanker," said Sheikh Ahmed, a spokesman for the Shebab militant group in the coastal region of Harardhere, where the Sirus Star is anchored.

Yeah - and my dad's bigger 'n yours...

Over to the pirates:

"We are the Shebab of the sea and we can't be scared by the Shebab of the land," Mohamed Said said. "If anybody attempts to attack, that would be suicide."

Hmm, "Mohamed Said"; fine Irish name...

The pirate expands a little:

"Every Somali has great respect for the holy kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We have nothing against them but unfortunately what happened was just business for us and I hope the Saudis will understand,"

Personally, I am absolutely certain that the Saudis will see the joke.  "What happened" - ho ho...

Dear God!  What a farce.

Until the next time.

In Case You Didn't Know...

Sorry everybody, but Sunday has turned out for me to be a bit of a blood-boiling day.  Perhaps I should stop reading the news?

Anyway, it seems that it's official: some creep (the son of what is, I hope, the late Osama Bin Laden) has written to the government of Iran, thanking it for its help in setting up terrorist cells in Yemen (another bordel) and for its assistance in the suicide bombing of the American Embassy there.

Unfortunately for the "towels" the communication has been intercepted by Western Intelligence.

Whoops.

I suppose that "Dinner-Jacket" will be obliged by his bearded masters, the Ayatollahs, to deny everything and continue with his atomic bomb.  Perhaps they can hire "Mr Whippy" who by now, probably considers himself a master of public relations!

God!  How they piss me off!

Until the next time

Wacko Jacko Reinvents Himself?

"Bad"  Source: here

Michael Jackson has excelled himself: he has become a Muslim and may be seen in the picture above elegantly turned out in some sort of black tent.

There is no doubt that Jackson is talented.  Really I have to say it's all very sad.  Perhaps now he will be greeted by Mr Whippy in Somalia?  Better give up the dancing (at least with ladies) Michael (now "Mikaeel").

???????????????

Until the next time

Le Hot Dog

The relationship between France and the USA is complex.  Despite occurrences of diplomatic abrasiveness, the fact remains that the French have a soft spot for American culture. So it is in France that one may find pinball machines in many places, American brands of cigarettes readily available in most Tabacs, and the French have long had an affection for American cars which may often be seen on the roads in France.

As for the title of this piece, yes, hot dogs are a popular snack and easily found in France.  And yes, the snack is known, probably to the great distress of the guardian of the French language, L'Académie Française, as "Le Hot Dog" and not "Le chien chaud." (Curiously, football is known as "Le Foot").

These reflections led me to investigate the subject of the hot dog.  As a snack sold in a roll, its origins have been the subject of some debate and argument, but reading the excellent site Hot Dog City reveals that the snack first appeared some time around the middle of the 19th century. The historical section of the site contains the following excellent paragraph:

The year, 1893, was an important date in hot dog history. In Chicago that year, the Colombian Exposition brought hordes of visitors who consumed large quantities of sausages sold by vendors. People liked this food that was easy to eat, convenient and inexpensive. Hot dog historian Bruce Kraig, Ph.D., retired professor emeritus at Roosevelt University, says the Germans always ate the dachshund sausages with bread. Since the sausage culture is German, it is likely that Germans introduced the practice of eating the dachshund sausages, which we today know as the hot dog, nestled in a bun.

"Hot dog historian", wonderful. The site also tells us that in US stores alone (excluding Wal-Mart) in 2007, 740,000,000 packages of hot dogs were sold.  Big business indeed since this excludes the millions sold at sporting events.

As one might expect, Wikipedia has an excellent piece on this toothsome subject, a piece that includes a picture of the world record hot dog - all 60 metres of it:

Source: Wikipedia

The hot dog is especially associated (or so I believe) with Baseball; and I have here an excellent and amusing video all about a hot dog launcher developed by the Hatfield company and used at the Philadelphia baseball ground.  High technology in action.

Makes me feel quite peckish!

Until the next time

Couldn't Resist This one

(Boston Globe)

Apropos Sudan etc.

This cartoon is quite poignant I think:

Source: Boston Globe

Until the next time

An Islamic Twerp Raises his Profile

A short while ago I mentioned in a post about various Islamic brutalities and nonsense, one repulsive individual who rejoices in the name "Sheikh" Abdirahim Isse Adow.

Mmm, nice!

"Mr Whippy"  Image source: here

Yes this is Somalia's "Mr Whippy", if this does not seem too light-hearted for a bigoted, misguided, anachronistic, misanthropic, muslim barbarian.  Well, he has raised his head - and beard - once again.

Adow is very upset that the pirates who seem to have an easy time in hopeless Somalia, have hijacked what the cretin calls a "muslim" ship.  I wouldn't want a "muslim" ship to carry my $100,000,000-worth of oil: not much use to have a ship that turns around and faces Mecca three times a day!

Anyway he is referring to the Saudi-Arabian oil-tanker, hi-jacked last week by the pirates.  He says that the hi-jacking of a muslim ship (sic) is much more serious than the hi-jacking of any other ship, and in consequence says that his revolting followers will deal with the pirates.

With whips perhaps?  I should like to know if the Koran, as interpreted by Adow, deems that hi-jacking a "muslim" ship is naughtier than ladies and gentlemen dancing together.

It seems that this may be more complex than the "sheikh" imagines, since it is said that some of the worthy, god-fearing, upright islamites are sharing the spoils with the pirates (as are, by some accounts certain elements of what passes for the Somali government).

Quel bordel!

For some reason, this reminds me of a recent item in Private Eye, which reported how a police chief in Ghana was unable to explain how 2 tonnes of cocaine "disappeared" from his police headquarters...

Quel bordel!

Until the next time

$7,000,000,000

I have been following with great interest the ups and downs of the world economic situation since the trouble began a few months ago. This has introduced me, as no doubt it has many, many others, to enormous numbers, by which I mean brobdignagian sums of money.

The seven billion dollars in my title seems almost pathetically small in comparison to some of the trillions that are reported almost daily in the financial and business pages of the media.

Well, this "pathetically small" sum has been called for by the United Nations, as aid to four African countries. Readers of this blog will know that I have written in connexion with three of these so-called states; the fourth, which ludicrously includes the word "democratic" in its official name, today makes its debut in these pages.

First we have Sudan, whose president, one Omar al-Bashir is wanted for trial on genocide charges. Basher's régime has been very busy over the last few years, raping and murdering the people of the Darfur region. Curiously the African forces sent there to prevent this have been very ineffective.

Next up, and also in East Africa, we have the shambles of Somalia, in the news headlines as home to large number of pirates who are very busy off the coast hijacking vessels for ransom. Somalia is also notable for its cretinous islamic fundamentalists, mentioned here just a few days ago.

Unlike the two above, this one is not islamic, but given the disgraceful governance and brutality that prevails there, the proverbial visitor from Mars might be inclined to think the reverse. Yes, it's "Doctor" Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, a particularly disgraceful case, for whilst the two above have never achieved much, Zimbabwe (or really Rhodesia) was the most successful economy in Africa. Thanks to the inspired leadership the country is now an economic ruin.  The Zimbabwe government's website is still available.  A visit to the section  of the Ministry of Finance offers inflation statistics; unfortunately the last entry was for April 2005, at which point inflation was running at 129.1%...  The Finance Ministry offers an informative mission statement: "To effectively facilitate sustainable, socio-economic development, in consultation with stakeholders, through efficient mobilisation and allocation of resources to achieve macro-economic stability in Zimbabwe." So much for that.

And finally to the newcomer, which calls itself "The Democratic Republic of Congo." I suppose that if the population actually voted for a government whose troops instead of defending the people, rape, murder and pîllage the citizens, then I suppose it is democratic. Henceforth I shall refer to the country as Congo. It is there that enormous misery has been caused by the rebellious activities of one "General Laurent Nkunda" who appears to be at least as brutal as the government troops. To me, for whom Africa is nearly always very depressing, it appears that as usual, this war's causes are tribal in origin. 3000 additional UN Peacekeepers are to be sent. I should like such international forces to be given proper rules of engagement, so that when the opportunity arises they can blow away these scum.

So: four countries, all a complete mess. To me the time is long past when "colonial guilt" should apply (despite Mugabe's rantings) but once again the rest of the world must take care of the innocent. After all, contrast these sorry tales with say India; Africa, so rich in natural resources has had many chances and stupendous sums of aid, much of which has ended up in the numbered offshore bank accounts of the pirates who run many of the countries in the continent. 

I find it difficult to hope for much improvement whilst belief in witchdoctors is widespread together with all kinds of other barbaric superstitions - which merely serve to enable the bandits to stay in power to the great disadvantage of the people.

Until the next time

**Source of flag images: Flags.com

"Realeconomik"

Yes, that's right: policies that address the real world!

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA is renowned as a resort, and well known for its gambling facilities as well as other entertainments, sports etc.  The city was, I imagine, proud to have introduced a total smoking ban in its casinos just seven months ago.

As is the case elsewhere in the world, banning smoking meant effectively banning customers too. For the city, the current economic crisis has proved to have been a bit of a wake-up call and the City Council has relaxed the ban to the extent of permitting the casinos to install "ventilated smoking lounges away from the tables" according to this article in the Daily Telegraph.

To an inveterate smoker such as myself, I think a "ventilated smoking lounge" is a long way from my idea of say, a proper poker game!

Until the next time

"Newspeak" in Russia Today

As time and life go by, my respect for George Orwell increases.

His wonderful concept of "Newspeak" that he introduced in "1984" is alive and well in Russia in 2008.

In Putin's Russia, bad news is evidently not acceptable according to the Daily Telegraph which reported on a survey of public attitudes to the Russian economy yesterday:

 "And sure enough, at a time when their country is locked in its worst financial crisis in a decade, they [The Russian people] are more optimistic about the economy than they have ever been. According to opinion polls, 57 per cent reckon it is flourishing, up from 53 per cent in July.

The survey's findings are a triumph for the state, proving that the Kremlin has not lost its touch when it comes to manipulating fact. Obeying orders from the top, Russian television has banned the use of words such as "crisis", "decline" and "devaluation. "

Soon no doubt, official policy will be that belief in fairies is mandatory!

One could I suppose,  characterise recent Russian history in Orwellian terms: 

From Animal Farm to 1984 in twenty years!

Until the next time

Strictly Come Dancing? I think Not

Alternative title:

THE BARBARIC, THE TRAGICOMICAL & THE COURAGEOUS.

I hate once again to give you a rant, but once again here it is! It is about those wonderful, progressive, humanitarian peoples, full of the milk of human kindness, tolerance and generosity, guided (so they say) by their holy book.

My alternative title is inspired by the fact that this piece is based on three recent news items, as usual taken from the International Herald Tribune.

The first item, splendidly illustrating how holy men can provide comfort and support for populations in struggling countries, comes from Somalia. There, 32 people, 25 women and 7 men foolishly decided to take part in a traditional dance. In consequence, they were all whipped.

"We arrested 25 women and seven men who were dancing near Balad (town). We released them after whipping them. We warned them many times, but they wouldn't listen," he told Reuters.

"The dancing of men and women together is illegal and totally against Islam. We neither killed them nor injured them, but only whipped them according to the Islamic law."

Thus spake one Sheikh Adow, a fine example of Islamic fundamentalism. A bullet in the back of the Sheikh's head would, I think, improve conditions in that locality. What a miserable example he is! "We neither killed nor injured them, but only whipped them..." Arsehole.

By an amusing coincidence, the second story concerns dancing too. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, is apparently Vice-President of Iran and he is in big trouble. Mr Mashaie is responsible for Culture and Tourism and presumably in connnexion with his official role, attended a ceremony in which women in traditional dress carried a copy of the Koran (the Islamic bible if you didn't know) accompanied by music. This has been described as a "dance" and is viewed as being very naughty indeed. There are calls for the Vice-President's resignation. Sounds very moderate to me; perhaps they'll not injure him - just give him a little whipping? Next time perhaps the women will carry a copy of the Satanic Verses or Plato's Republic - or even Tom Jones (!) instead.

Finally my third item shows real courage which I can only boggle at. I should say that I am well aware that sitting here in the West at my keyboard, it is easy to be "brave"; the story of Shamsia in Afghanistan puts all of us bloggers to shame.

Shamsia, a 17-year-old schoolgirl at Kandahar, was in a group of girls who were attacked by some of those fearless servants of Allah and Mohammed. No doubt inspired by the Koran, they ripped off the girls' headscarves and threw acid into their faces. Shamsia is made of stern stuff; covered in ointment and with one eye damaged she said:

"I'll continue going to lessons. I'm studying to be able to build our country."

In Afghanistan where the appalling Taliban who were most likely responsible for this fine holy act, hold sway over much of the country, Shamsia has great courage to speak out thus. I wish her every success.

Until the next time.

Free Speech: President Sarkozy Eats Babies!

                                                                                                                                                                     

It is reasonable for a reader to ask whatever prompted me to compose the eccentric headline above.

Well I am simply exercising my right to free speech, supposedly guaranteed by the United Nations, The European Union, and by all the countries that subscribed to the Helsinki accord.

You could argue that by making such a childish statement (sorry for the pun) I am abusing my right of free speech; of course it was inspired by the nonsense propaganda that circulated in England during the First World War concerning Kaiser Wilhelm II.  Further than this the real prompt was quite another matter.

A friend has sent me a news item from PCinpact.com concerning an appointment at the Elysée Palace - the official residence of the President of the Republic of France.  The appointee is a 24-year-old, Nicolas Princen by name; he was appointed last March.

His function? To monitor blogs, websites etc. for "false rumours and misinformation" concerning le Président de la République.  The Elysée helpfully commented that it is quite normal for the République to monitor such things, as it does with press and radio etc.  Apparently there is no plan for a particular course of action in the event of abusive content: the function of this office is merely to inform...

However the plot thickens.  The French Ministry of Education has issued an invitation to tender for further monitoring, including identifying the themes and assessing the likely impact and many other criteria, including "locating the opinion leaders" and "to alert and make recommendations."

Now on the face of it this doesn't seem so terrible, but having reported British plans connected with the Internet, let us say that I am at least sceptical if not downright suspicious.

So I shall just wait and see if my silly headline causes panic at the Elysée...

And by the way, it's not just the politicians and departments of state: a while back I wrote a piece about the Raytheon drone "Killer Bee." And the very same day, I found that my blog had been visited by someone in the corporate offices of Raytheon itself; my hopes that I had a new loyal supporter in high places were dashed however, as I do not think they have ever come back for another look at all the wonderful stuff I post here.  So disappointing...

Until the next time

Damn' Right!

The subject of Free Speech is one guaranteed to get my blood pressure up into to the red part of the scale - principally because of course despite its being guaranteed by various international treaties and charters and well-meaning bodies it seems not to exist in many parts of the world.

I have written here on this subject a number of times - for example on 1st March and 3rd March this year.

For once something good has happened. Today the BBC reports that the Centre for Social Cohesion, a British organisation has, citing the cases of 27 writers who have been threatened for criticising the Muslim religion, stated that "governments have a duty to ensure free speech for all citizens" (or of course in Great Britain, subjects).

This sort of thing is long overdue: I considered it outrageous that a foreign government could threaten the life of a British subject with seeming impunity. I refer to the case of Salman Rushdie, who was obliged to live in hiding for nine years, all because he wrote a book. And what about this case (from the BBC article):

"And Syrian-born Danish MP Naser Khader, who founded the organisation Democratic Muslims, in the wake of the Prophet Muhammad cartoon row, lives under 24-hour police protection, said the think tank's report. "

Britain needs a new Lord Palmerston: he would have known how to deal with these religious fatheads.

That's right: they make me bloody angry with their insufferable arrogance and barbaric medieval behaviour, all in the name of their god.

Until the next time

US Presidential Update

Image source: here

Those of you who live in England will be familiar with the "Party-Political Broadcast", ten minutes of mind-numbing stuff from the various political parties, that usually appears around nine o'clock in the evening.

Once upon a time, I think it might have been in the 1970s, a Conservative General Election victory was followed up by some party-political broadcasts entitled "Report to the People" which I suppose was intended to demonstrate that all the promises made in the election campaign had been, or were being, met.  Of course this series of broadcasts ceased relatively quickly.

This lengthy introduction relates to the fact that I am determined to be "difficult" about Mr Obama's election as President of the United States.  This is not because I believe that Mr Obama will be a bad president - far from it - but I am determined to do my little bit to stop the nauseating self-congratulation that I have witnessed here in France on television.  The gullibility of the general public beggars belief, but really I should know well enough by now not to be surprised.  Whatever are they expecting from Mr Obama?  Do they imagine that as a true American he does not believe in "America First"?

There was a "special" after the news today on France 2 TV, showing various black - and white - people in tears following the announcement of the election result.  There was one individual in a t-shirt bearing a likeness of Mr Obama, accompanied by a red star!  There was a group of misguided individuals chanting "Af-ri-ca, Af-ri-ca".  They should visit the Congo or Zimbabwe rather than visit that on us... EDIT: or Nigeria for that matter.

Now to the real stuff - realpolitik - the things a real US President does and deals with; forget the touchy-feely nonsense: let's start with the US plan to install a missile defence shield in central Europe.  I quote from this BBC article:

In a statement published on his website on Saturday, Poland's president said Mr Obama had "emphasised the importance of the strategic partnership of Poland and the United States and expressed hope in the continuation of political and military co-operation between our countries."

"He also said that the missile defence project would continue," the statement added.

When asked about the declaration, McDonough said that the US president-elect had had "a good conversation" with Mr Kaczynski about the American-Polish alliance and discussed missile defence, but "made no commitment on it".

"His position is as it was throughout the campaign, that he supports deploying a missile defence system when the technology is proved to be workable," Mr McDonough told the Associated Press. 

This is bullshit: the US has already declared that the system is in no way intended or designed to, shoot down Russian missiles - indeed I recall that the US invited senior Russian military personnel to inspect the facilities etc.  Politics in action No  1.

Here's No 2: concerning Iran.  The International Herald Tribune, one of my favourite sources for news items, is associated with the New York Times and Boston Globe.  These are not right-wing publications and indeed I get the impression that they are more inclined to a Democratic point of view.  In an article published today I read:

Iran's head of parliament on Saturday criticised U.S. President-elect Barack Obama for saying its development of a nuclear weapon would be "unacceptable" and repeated the Islamic state's call for fundamental policy change.

"Obama must know that the change he talks about is a fundamental change and not changing of colours or tactics," Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said in comments on state radio.

Larijani, echoing Iran's official line, called on Obama to carry out his campaign slogans of U.S. foreign policy change, including change to U.S. dealings with Iran.

"Repeating objections to Iran's nuclear programme will be taking a step in the wrong direction."

Obama, at his first news conference since Tuesday's election, said on Friday an international effort must be made to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, adding that the country's development of a nuclear weapon was "unacceptable."

President-elect Obama is an American, further he is about to become President and Commander-in-Chief of the USA.  As I wrote on 5th November, he is not likely to be a cuddly little pussycat; his achievements to date suggest that he is a tough egg and I see no reason why he should change.  The "touchy-feelies" should take note.

If you have read this far, you might wonder at the purpose of my rather lengthy introduction to this article.  Well, it was just to indicate that I have no intention of publishing regular updates for the next four years!

Until the next time.

Oxford University Acts on Horrid English

A view of part of Oxford University

Image source: here

Wired.com reports today that a group of researchers at Oxford University has compiled a list of "The ten most irritating expressions in the English language."

The list is as follows:

1 - At the end of the day

2 - Fairly unique

3 - I personally

4 - At this moment in time

5 - With all due respect

6 - Absolutely

7 - It's a nightmare

8 - Shouldn't of

9 - 24/7

10 - It's not rocket science

Readers are invited to add their own choices in the comments section.  My contribution to this most satisfying project are as follows:

"Parenting", and even worse "birthing" - one bears children, one does not "birth" them.

"Gifted"(in the verbal sense): pathetic: What's the matter with "given"?

"Having said that" or "that said". Irritating.

"Chair" meaning "chairman"; "actor" meaning "actress"

Finally "innit" as in e.g. "I'm goin' dahn uh pub, innit". Horrible.

More have come to mind since I posted my comment:

"Going forward" e.g. "I should like you to take more responsibility going forward."  Rubbish.

"Negative growth"  Pathetic euphemism.

"To grow one's business"  Stupid.

"Logistics" - meaning transport; grossly affected and pretentious.

There'll probably be more...

Meanwhile how about a comment or two from some of you?  I am sure you have your own pet hates.

Until the next time.

#44...

Is Senator Barack Obama, voted in as President with a very substantial majority.

I think that anyone who is expecting a gentle pussycat is in for a shock; I thought that Mr Obama's victory speech demonstrated a degree of tough determination that of course, a US President should possess. I believe that he will be good for America and notwithstanding his obvious steely qualities, good for the world too.

Credit is due to Senator McCain for his dignified acceptance of defeat; I feel he is a decent man, hamstrung by his inept choice of a vice-presidential candidate (despite his generous and gentlemanly comments after his defeat) and further hamstrung by the eight years preceding his presidential campaign.

I have one gripe: what is all this rubbish about Senator Obama being "America's first black president"? The president-elect is as much white as he is black.

Perhaps that's a good thing?

Until the next time

United States Presidential Election 4th November 2008

I should like to take this opportunity to say "hello" to all my American readers, who far outnumber those I have from other countries.

Thank you for your support and regular visits - some comments would be nice from time to time though - and I hope that you will continue to look in at my various ramblings.

Meanwhile, I wish you all the best for tomorrow and good luck to your preferred candidate! (Tonight I am being strictly neutral).

Until the next time