(In the editor that is)
In order of finish from top to bottom:
Manchester United
It's a kind of magic, magic, magic... Quite simply the second best team in England.
Liverpool
Two losses all season is league-winning form. Sadly, they drew 11 times too.
Chelsea
How many Chelsea managers does it take to change a lightbulb? Unknown, but it's at least four.
Arsenal
Only sharpshooters are supposed to hit the same spot four times in a row. Watch out Wenger...
Everton
Blue is the colour and Europe will be our game... A good season for the Toffees.
Aston Villa
Not a bad result all that. Sending down Newcastle also made many happy.
Fulham
Quite simply, Fulham's Crowning Moment of Awesome for this decade. Most improved club.
Tottenham
You only got here because of a Hammer! Now, watch out for us- we'll beat you next season.
West Ham
We were forever blowing bubbles. However, our poor early form burst them. Need strikers.
Man City
You can't buy the trophy. You need something else. It's not Gene Hunt, though.
Wigan
Many thought you would go down, but you got a decent finish. Cracking season, Gromit!
Stoke
Not really much to say about Stoke, except you clearly need a better defence.
Bolton
Not much to say about Bolton either.
Portsmouth
Without a Hammer, you're not much good either.
Blackburn
Clearly, you're not going to win the league again any time soon.
Sunderland
You only really stayed up because of worse sides below you. Must perk your ideas.
Hull
Unless you improve, you might not be staying up after next season.
Newcastle
Your players are so bad, it's unbelievable! The final own goal summed it all up.
Middlesbrough
Well, that wasn't particularly surprising was it? Might go straight back up.
West Bromwich Albion
You're a bit of a yo-yo side aren't you? Good thing you didn't spend too much.
23 May 2009
Predictions for tomorrow
It's the last day of the season, and a big day for four clubs in the north...
My predictions are:
Arsenal v Stoke: Arsenal victory. Not that it really matters.
Aston Villa v Newcastle: Villa victory. Newcastle have had an awful season and their last victory was against Boro, so go figure.
Blackburn v. West Brom: Blackburn victory, to finish off an awful season for the Baggies.
Fulham v. Everton: Draw.
Hull v. Man United: Even with a weakened team, Man U will win this.
Liverpool v. Tottenham: It'll be a small consolation to know that Spurs aren't in Europe either. Liverpool victory.
Man City v. Bolton: Draw.
Sunderland v. Chelsea: Chelsea victory, but only narrowly. Sunderland will stay up.
West Ham v. Middlesbrough: Victory for the Hammers to finish off a fairly good season and send Boro down.
Wigan v. Portsmouth: Draw.
My predictions are:
Arsenal v Stoke: Arsenal victory. Not that it really matters.
Aston Villa v Newcastle: Villa victory. Newcastle have had an awful season and their last victory was against Boro, so go figure.
Blackburn v. West Brom: Blackburn victory, to finish off an awful season for the Baggies.
Fulham v. Everton: Draw.
Hull v. Man United: Even with a weakened team, Man U will win this.
Liverpool v. Tottenham: It'll be a small consolation to know that Spurs aren't in Europe either. Liverpool victory.
Man City v. Bolton: Draw.
Sunderland v. Chelsea: Chelsea victory, but only narrowly. Sunderland will stay up.
West Ham v. Middlesbrough: Victory for the Hammers to finish off a fairly good season and send Boro down.
Wigan v. Portsmouth: Draw.
21 May 2009
The BNP did not do the research on other aspects too.
Jams has the details.
I had a BNP leaflet through my door today and that picture was on it.
That's not the only error either. The BNP apparently does not know the difference between an immigrant and an asylum seeker.
An immigrant is someone coming here because they think their life will be better.
An asylum seeker is someone coming here because they know that if they stay, their life will either get worse or end. They want to be protected.
Now, I'm barring comments from this one, because I don't want gratuitous insults and flaming from BNP people.
I had a BNP leaflet through my door today and that picture was on it.
That's not the only error either. The BNP apparently does not know the difference between an immigrant and an asylum seeker.
An immigrant is someone coming here because they think their life will be better.
An asylum seeker is someone coming here because they know that if they stay, their life will either get worse or end. They want to be protected.
Now, I'm barring comments from this one, because I don't want gratuitous insults and flaming from BNP people.
17 May 2009
Stephen Fry and Twitter
I have just added my first Twitter feed to my Google Reader account.
Well, if it was going to be anyone, it had to be him.
Well, if it was going to be anyone, it had to be him.
16 May 2009
Congratulations to Manchester United
With a 0-0 draw against Arsenal, Manchester United have gone seven points clear at the top of the table with only two games left for Liverpool. Therefore, they are Premier League Champions for the 18th time.
With three trophies so far this season and a fourth possible in the Champions League, United are one of the greatest sides of all time.
I extend my most sincere congratulations to Sir Alex and his team. There's a reason you get these trophies.
Well done!
With three trophies so far this season and a fourth possible in the Champions League, United are one of the greatest sides of all time.
I extend my most sincere congratulations to Sir Alex and his team. There's a reason you get these trophies.
Well done!
Well, this is beyond parody
This article alleges Obama is trying to destroy the US.
Two words: confirmation bias.
BTW, if someone on the left posted that about McCain, Bush or Reagan, I would make the same response.
Two words: confirmation bias.
BTW, if someone on the left posted that about McCain, Bush or Reagan, I would make the same response.
09 May 2009
Farage and UKIP
I caught a bit of the UKIP Party Political Broadcast a couple of nights back.
The UKIP leader was speaking in a manner that I found rather uncomfortable, stating that Britain should leave the EU because our money was going to the states of the former Soviet bloc, who were only joining for subsidies and new infrastructure.
Mr. Farage, are you at all aware of the history of Communism? Or that these states are pretty poor, had their economies ruined by Soviet rule and are suffering because of the credit crunch? Or the principle of helping your neighbour out?
People need to examine UKIP throughly before voting for them.
The UKIP leader was speaking in a manner that I found rather uncomfortable, stating that Britain should leave the EU because our money was going to the states of the former Soviet bloc, who were only joining for subsidies and new infrastructure.
Mr. Farage, are you at all aware of the history of Communism? Or that these states are pretty poor, had their economies ruined by Soviet rule and are suffering because of the credit crunch? Or the principle of helping your neighbour out?
People need to examine UKIP throughly before voting for them.
Victory Day
Today is the 64th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.
May I extend my deepest gratitude to all those who served to defend freedom during that war. You will never be forgotten.
May I extend my deepest gratitude to all those who served to defend freedom during that war. You will never be forgotten.
On MPs Expenses
Two posts today- I anticipate at any rate.
It's important to get some perspective on this whole scandal over expense claims of MPs. Certain words are being bandied about, like "fraud", that aren't fully justified.
Firstly, Members of Parliament don't get paid that much. The basic salary of your backbencher is about £65,000. Members of the US House of Representatives earn over £100,000 a year. I don't know what Paul Dacre earns, but I guess it's at least £500,000.
Secondly, it costs considerably more than that to function as a member of Parliament. Some of the key expenditures:
Fourthly, MPs do work very hard. Just because Parliament is taking a 12-week recess, it doesn't mean that MPs won't still be working. Even when in session, you can't spend all your time in the Commons Chamber.
Fifthly, there's been far worse cases of corruption, that's for sure. Try Italy.
The system needs complete reform, that's for sure. I propose an increase in basic salaries and an allowance specifically for all office-related stuff. No-one should claim non-essential social stuff on expenses.
Now, let's get this sorted out. We have more important things to deal with.
It's important to get some perspective on this whole scandal over expense claims of MPs. Certain words are being bandied about, like "fraud", that aren't fully justified.
Firstly, Members of Parliament don't get paid that much. The basic salary of your backbencher is about £65,000. Members of the US House of Representatives earn over £100,000 a year. I don't know what Paul Dacre earns, but I guess it's at least £500,000.
Secondly, it costs considerably more than that to function as a member of Parliament. Some of the key expenditures:
- The rent/mortgage on two residences.
- Travel costs on a weekly basis to places as far away as Scotland.
- The salaries of at least two staff members and probably more, as well as expenses for interns.
- Office hire in your constituency.
- Food costs.
- Feeding yourself and your family.
- Stationery and other office supplies (20,000 leaflets costs a fair chunk of cash)
Fourthly, MPs do work very hard. Just because Parliament is taking a 12-week recess, it doesn't mean that MPs won't still be working. Even when in session, you can't spend all your time in the Commons Chamber.
Fifthly, there's been far worse cases of corruption, that's for sure. Try Italy.
The system needs complete reform, that's for sure. I propose an increase in basic salaries and an allowance specifically for all office-related stuff. No-one should claim non-essential social stuff on expenses.
Now, let's get this sorted out. We have more important things to deal with.
04 May 2009
30 Years After Thatcher's Election
It's been thirty years since Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. It will take another thirty, at least, to fix the damage she did to this country.
Mrs. Thatcher's economic policies condemned an entire generation of working class to long-term unemployment. The manufacturing capability of Britain was massively eroded. The credit crunch was caused by the culture of greed she helped create.
Before anyone says the Falklands War, her Government was planning to make cuts to the Navy beforehand. Those cuts were a reason for the Argentine invasion.
For those of you who are unhappy with Labour at present, remember Thatcher. Remember what a lurch to the left does. You can't play politics with people's livelihoods and jobs at stakes. Do what is best for this country and the wider world.
Mrs. Thatcher's economic policies condemned an entire generation of working class to long-term unemployment. The manufacturing capability of Britain was massively eroded. The credit crunch was caused by the culture of greed she helped create.
Before anyone says the Falklands War, her Government was planning to make cuts to the Navy beforehand. Those cuts were a reason for the Argentine invasion.
For those of you who are unhappy with Labour at present, remember Thatcher. Remember what a lurch to the left does. You can't play politics with people's livelihoods and jobs at stakes. Do what is best for this country and the wider world.
03 May 2009
Swine Flu
It appears, so far, that this swine flu thing is just going to turn out to be a minor strain of the regular sort of flu. Some people are going to have time off work. Some are going to pull sickies. Pigs are going to die in Egypt.
This is not going to be Spanish, or even Hong Kong Flu.
The papers have been doing their usual panic thing (thankfully, no-one's attempted to tie this to immigrants, although house prices have probably been mentioned somewhere) over a virus that has a mortality rate of about 2% or less and has had virtually all of its deaths confined to Mexico.
Which leads me to think that there's something odd going on in Mexico, which needs investigating. Diet, perhaps? It would be interesting to see a case location map, because if they're all grouped in one area that happens to be near a chemical plant, it would be suspicious to say the least. Remember the Bhopal disaster in India in 1984.
This is not going to be Spanish, or even Hong Kong Flu.
The papers have been doing their usual panic thing (thankfully, no-one's attempted to tie this to immigrants, although house prices have probably been mentioned somewhere) over a virus that has a mortality rate of about 2% or less and has had virtually all of its deaths confined to Mexico.
Which leads me to think that there's something odd going on in Mexico, which needs investigating. Diet, perhaps? It would be interesting to see a case location map, because if they're all grouped in one area that happens to be near a chemical plant, it would be suspicious to say the least. Remember the Bhopal disaster in India in 1984.
21 April 2009
Time for openness and accountability
It is time that key decision-makers and people of influence reveal their expenses and sources of income.
Mr. Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail, how much do you earn a year?
Mr. Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail, how much do you earn a year?
18 April 2009
On recent events in London Town
Is it just me or does Max Clifford come across as the PR equivalent of an ambulance chasing lawyer? Every time someone suffers some nasty event, there he is representing them. While he may have waived the fee for Jade Goody, he got a lot of exposure from it. All publicity and all that...
Mr. Green is not being charged over the Home Office leaks. Right call I say. If anything the bad publicity would be spectacular. That said, while Labour may have got overly comfortable in power, I'd take 12 years of Labour to even one day of the Conservatives.
I see the Daily Fail is already smearing the woman who is complaining anyway. The hypocrisy of Tories is outstanding at times.
Smear and spin, by the way, are as old the hills.
Mr. Green is not being charged over the Home Office leaks. Right call I say. If anything the bad publicity would be spectacular. That said, while Labour may have got overly comfortable in power, I'd take 12 years of Labour to even one day of the Conservatives.
I see the Daily Fail is already smearing the woman who is complaining anyway. The hypocrisy of Tories is outstanding at times.
Smear and spin, by the way, are as old the hills.
12 April 2009
10 April 2009
Good Friday
Today is Good Friday, the day when Christians all over the world remember Jesus' death on the cross.
Over at TV Tropes we have a fairly large category called "Crowning Moment of Awesome", which details awesome moments that occur in fiction and also in real life.
We don't have a section on religion, but if we did, the Crucifixion would have to go on the last.
I've been spending some time over the last few days thinking about the whole story of Holy Week. There are just so many great aspects of it, that show just how amazing God is.
The entry into Jerusalem. Jesus comes into a city on a donkey and people mob him. I'm guessing the palm leaves were for the colt, to protect its feet. That donkey must have had a great story to tell to his peers for the rest of his life. It's also entirely different to traditional triumphant entries- but Jesus was no conventional hero. He was- and still is- so much cooler.
He never ran any earthly body, never ran for office. His only paid job was as a self-employed carpenter. He lived for 33 and a third years. He wrote no books and directly preached to only a few hundred thousand.
Yet this man, the Son of God, has influenced the entire of global history for the past 2000 years. That shows the power of God. Thanks to Jesus, many, many good works have been done as well. I admit that he has been misused for evil by many people, but the good he has achieved far out weighs that. Do you think that we'd have as little poverty as we do in this country without the impact of Christianity?
The Gospels differ over when precisely Jesus cast out the money-changers from the Temple. I'm perfectly happy for him to have done it twice. It's a dramatic enough event and shows a side of Jesus that people sometimes ignore. Yes, he is nice, but he can also be very angry at times.
He used skilled rhetoric and intelligence, not force of arms, to attack the corrupt society of his day. If it wasn't for Jesus, we'd have far more wars these days.
The authorities felt threatened by him. The powerful generally don't like anything that threatens their own position. In this case, the High Council were worried about their income from sacrifices and endangering their own good relations with an imperialist force. So, they falsely accused Jesus of blasphemy, subjected him to an unfair trial and executed him.
On to the Last Supper. Few of us know precisely when we are going to die. It tends to come rather suddenly. Those who know to the precise hour tend to be facing execution.
The Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus must have been terrified. He knew, he knew, that in less than 24 hours, he was going to be flogged, stripped naked and nailed to a cross. He was going to be taunted by a crowd who had earlier supported him and then he was going to die.
He knew he had a way out- he could have fled Jerusalem altogether. He knew Judas was going to betray him- he could have killed him. Yet he chose to face his fate.
He could have made a spectacular demonstration of his power and come off the cross. That would be the predictable thing to do. But Jesus was anything but predictable.
In fact, the evidence of what was going to happen was there, people just interpreted it wrongly.
It had to happen this way. If Jesus had done the "predictable" thing, people wouldn't have believed him.
Witness the Resurrection. It was observed by two women. Women didn't have much respect in society back then.
Jesus was spectacular by not being spectacular. In fact he still is. In the continuing provision for us, the hope he has offered for millions (I am sure many more suicides would occur without Jesus helping people), the miracles that still occur, he shows the awesome power of God.
Happy Easter.
Over at TV Tropes we have a fairly large category called "Crowning Moment of Awesome", which details awesome moments that occur in fiction and also in real life.
We don't have a section on religion, but if we did, the Crucifixion would have to go on the last.
I've been spending some time over the last few days thinking about the whole story of Holy Week. There are just so many great aspects of it, that show just how amazing God is.
The entry into Jerusalem. Jesus comes into a city on a donkey and people mob him. I'm guessing the palm leaves were for the colt, to protect its feet. That donkey must have had a great story to tell to his peers for the rest of his life. It's also entirely different to traditional triumphant entries- but Jesus was no conventional hero. He was- and still is- so much cooler.
He never ran any earthly body, never ran for office. His only paid job was as a self-employed carpenter. He lived for 33 and a third years. He wrote no books and directly preached to only a few hundred thousand.
Yet this man, the Son of God, has influenced the entire of global history for the past 2000 years. That shows the power of God. Thanks to Jesus, many, many good works have been done as well. I admit that he has been misused for evil by many people, but the good he has achieved far out weighs that. Do you think that we'd have as little poverty as we do in this country without the impact of Christianity?
The Gospels differ over when precisely Jesus cast out the money-changers from the Temple. I'm perfectly happy for him to have done it twice. It's a dramatic enough event and shows a side of Jesus that people sometimes ignore. Yes, he is nice, but he can also be very angry at times.
He used skilled rhetoric and intelligence, not force of arms, to attack the corrupt society of his day. If it wasn't for Jesus, we'd have far more wars these days.
The authorities felt threatened by him. The powerful generally don't like anything that threatens their own position. In this case, the High Council were worried about their income from sacrifices and endangering their own good relations with an imperialist force. So, they falsely accused Jesus of blasphemy, subjected him to an unfair trial and executed him.
On to the Last Supper. Few of us know precisely when we are going to die. It tends to come rather suddenly. Those who know to the precise hour tend to be facing execution.
The Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus must have been terrified. He knew, he knew, that in less than 24 hours, he was going to be flogged, stripped naked and nailed to a cross. He was going to be taunted by a crowd who had earlier supported him and then he was going to die.
He knew he had a way out- he could have fled Jerusalem altogether. He knew Judas was going to betray him- he could have killed him. Yet he chose to face his fate.
He could have made a spectacular demonstration of his power and come off the cross. That would be the predictable thing to do. But Jesus was anything but predictable.
In fact, the evidence of what was going to happen was there, people just interpreted it wrongly.
It had to happen this way. If Jesus had done the "predictable" thing, people wouldn't have believed him.
Witness the Resurrection. It was observed by two women. Women didn't have much respect in society back then.
Jesus was spectacular by not being spectacular. In fact he still is. In the continuing provision for us, the hope he has offered for millions (I am sure many more suicides would occur without Jesus helping people), the miracles that still occur, he shows the awesome power of God.
Happy Easter.
08 April 2009
AJJE Games blog
Thought I'd advertise this:
The official blog of AJJE Games.
It's largely news announcements, but I'll be adding some more.
The official blog of AJJE Games.
It's largely news announcements, but I'll be adding some more.
03 April 2009
G20 Thoughts
I've been on holiday to Dubai, so I haven't been able to blog recently.
Might as well give my thoughts on the latest excuse for a riot in my home city.
Personally, I doubt that the economy is exactly stimulation-capable at the moment. Metaphorically speaking, it's in a coma having banter with a lairy Mancunian detective (BTW, watching the first episode of Ashes to Ashes on the plane home, I remembered just how awesome Mr. Hunt can be- he gets three Crowning Moments of Awesome in the first episode can be).
What we're going to need, basically, is damage control- ensuring that the exchequers of some of the poorer countries still get decently revenue, that jobs are protected and that confidence doesn't go down any further (in the latter case, we need to drop out the rest of the bad debt news now to get it done with).
This is a step in the right direction, but things will get worse before they get better.
I expect the economy will recover in a couple of years. I'd say 2010 is too optimistic. Personally, I'm going for 2011.
If it does recover before the next election, Mr. Brown will have the thanks of a grateful world. If not, Mr. Cameron had better remember that he was responsible for none of the recovery and that he opposed many elements of it.
Might as well give my thoughts on the latest excuse for a riot in my home city.
Personally, I doubt that the economy is exactly stimulation-capable at the moment. Metaphorically speaking, it's in a coma having banter with a lairy Mancunian detective (BTW, watching the first episode of Ashes to Ashes on the plane home, I remembered just how awesome Mr. Hunt can be- he gets three Crowning Moments of Awesome in the first episode can be).
What we're going to need, basically, is damage control- ensuring that the exchequers of some of the poorer countries still get decently revenue, that jobs are protected and that confidence doesn't go down any further (in the latter case, we need to drop out the rest of the bad debt news now to get it done with).
This is a step in the right direction, but things will get worse before they get better.
I expect the economy will recover in a couple of years. I'd say 2010 is too optimistic. Personally, I'm going for 2011.
If it does recover before the next election, Mr. Brown will have the thanks of a grateful world. If not, Mr. Cameron had better remember that he was responsible for none of the recovery and that he opposed many elements of it.
18 March 2009
That Goal Was Offside- I want £45 million because we didn't get into Europe because of it!
Just when I thought we'd finally put this whole stupid thing with Tevez to bed, we start getting sued by an ex-manager and Leeds United of all people.
Look, you got relegated due to your own incompetence. If we'd registered Tevez properly, he'd have been cleared to play.
Are you going to blame us for your poor footballing or are you going to try and get back into the Premier League?
Don't waste everyone's time.
Look, you got relegated due to your own incompetence. If we'd registered Tevez properly, he'd have been cleared to play.
Are you going to blame us for your poor footballing or are you going to try and get back into the Premier League?
Don't waste everyone's time.
16 March 2009
Upcoming Stuff
I got elected, pretty much unanimously, Administrator of the Ride The Edge club of AJJE Games recently. No-one else ran. That's a vote of confidence in itself, I hope.
I'ved Fast Eddie and the people at TV Tropes if I can take the articles on atomic weapons platforms there and put them here. They might be more suited for this. Who knows? I might even get a small community here.
I've also joined up for a Harpoon 4.1 Play By Email game, a single scenario one based on one of the scenarios for the High Tide (1980s Cold War) box set. I'll do a write-up on that once it's concluded.
Does anyone know a place that does D20 Modern PBEM, by the way?
I'ved Fast Eddie and the people at TV Tropes if I can take the articles on atomic weapons platforms there and put them here. They might be more suited for this. Who knows? I might even get a small community here.
I've also joined up for a Harpoon 4.1 Play By Email game, a single scenario one based on one of the scenarios for the High Tide (1980s Cold War) box set. I'll do a write-up on that once it's concluded.
Does anyone know a place that does D20 Modern PBEM, by the way?
09 March 2009
Northern Ireland
I haven't been blogging as often as I aim to. Can't make any promises on that regard, it's been busy.
So, a bunch of bigots have just killed two British soldiers in Antrim. The Real IRA has actually been setting off bombs for a while now, but the papers don't really care about property damage.
I don't think this callous act (they shot them some more while they were lying on the ground) will derail the peace process. The Daily Mail's attack on Gerry Adams is not really going to help matters, especially as a front page headline (then again, the Daily Fail was always deeply Unionist).
Cooler heads should prevail and these evil-minded terrorists will not return Northern Ireland to the bad old days of the Troubles.
So, a bunch of bigots have just killed two British soldiers in Antrim. The Real IRA has actually been setting off bombs for a while now, but the papers don't really care about property damage.
I don't think this callous act (they shot them some more while they were lying on the ground) will derail the peace process. The Daily Mail's attack on Gerry Adams is not really going to help matters, especially as a front page headline (then again, the Daily Fail was always deeply Unionist).
Cooler heads should prevail and these evil-minded terrorists will not return Northern Ireland to the bad old days of the Troubles.
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