Dustin Hoffman Saved My Life
This is the headline in a story in The Sun.
It concerns a man, who collapsed whilst jogging in Hyde Park and it was Dustin Hoffman, who called the ambulance.
All seems to be well now!
They Do Presidential Debates Differently In Mexico
This story about a Mexican presidential debate, shows they do things rather differently.
Basically, the production company hired a lady to escort the candidates to the podium and she wore rather inappropriate clothing. Or perhaps clothes more appropriate for one of Berlusconi’s parties.
The Vatican Has Its Troubles Too
According to this report on the BBC, the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland is discussing the Church’s future.
And as they are sensible reforms, in areas like celibacy, contraception and woman priests, the Vatican is not pleased. I wonder whether they are discussing whether coeliacs can be priests, something that the Pope is personally against. Even though that rule would have stopped Liverpool’s excellent Archbishop Warlock being a priest.
The Headmistress Lays Down the Rules
The headmistress or is it the Chief Warder, has put on her sternest East German face to lay down the law to the naughty Greeks, who have said they won’t take her medicine.
I’m afraid I think they will have to otherwise the financial police of New York, London, Frankfurt and the Far East, will make it so expensive for them to get the money they need to spend on expensive cars and the other imports they need.
The state of the Greek parties are outlined here. Just look at the face on the Chief Warder’s picture.
As if the Chief Watrder hasn’t got enough on her plate with the Greeks, and the French decide to play by their own rules. I suppose they have to, as reportedly, it’s the French banks, who are up to their necks in Greek debt.
Has Steven Gerrard Come of Age?
You’d think that the headlines about Steven Gerrard this morning, would all have been about his performance in the FA Cup Final yesterday. The Times rated him at 6/10, but said he was rather a frustrated figure.
The biggest headline about himn today, is that he has signed a letter with Jamie Oliver, saying that cooking should be taught in schools, as a means of fighting obesity.
Coupled with his measured and thoughtful support for the new England manager, Roy Hodgson, it would appear that we are seeing a very different Steven Gerrard.
Cynics might argue though, that he wants the England captaincy.
The View From the North Bank of the Thames
After an excellent gluten-free sandwich and a coffee in the Starbucks by the Cutty Sark, I got onto the DLR again and travelled back to Island Gardens, where I walked along the North Bank of the Thames taking pictures.
Note you can just see the three masts of Cutty Sark in some of these pictures in front of HMS Ocean.
HMS Ocean Arrives At Greenwich
With a great deal of professionalism, the Navy’s largest ship, HMS Ocean, was positioned at Greenwich this morning.
She will act as a base for helicopters and Royal Marines during the Olympic Games.
The Mayoral Referenda
What is the most disappointing about this election is the rejection of new mayors in places like Manchester and Nottingham.
I moved to Hackney in London because a stroke meant I couldn’t drive and I needed good public transport. The Mayor, whoever he or she is, certainly gives London a focus and I believe helps to improve public transport and other things, that are important to the city.
The rejection of mayors is probably a vote for the status quo, as a good mayor would probably do more for the city, than an entrenched party of old time-servers.
Recently, I visited all 92 football clubs in alphabetical order by public transport. Manchester, and I mean Greater Manchester, has the worst public transport of any major conurbation. An elected mayor might just bring it all together and create a system that works. At present, all the local authorities have too much control and create the mess they’ve got.
Putin Is The New Tsar
In the iconic film, Dr. Zhivago, set around the time of the Russian Revolution, the question is asked if Lenin is the new Tsar.
But this story on the BBC’s web site really says that Putin might be behaving like a Tsar and is having a palace built on the Black Sea coast.There will be a full report on Newsnight tonight.
The Election That Wasn’t
Has there ever been an election, that was so low key? I haven’t seen one window sticker or been canvassed. If it wasn’t for the coverage on television and in the papers, you would have thought there was no elections at all. I did see Boris once, but he wasn’t actually doing anything, except being nice to everybody.
The only result that says anything, has been turn-out of 32 %, that has been the worst for a decade.
I did vote, but the polling station was like a morgue. I saw two other voters and the one of those had got lost as he tried to find the room, where the vote was taking place.
In some ways the election that matters for London, other than the Mayor, takes place at the weekend in France. Turbulence and political uncertaincy there, will certainly affect London, but until we see the result of the Sarkozy-Hollande run-off, we won’t know how.
The Anonymous Widower 