Abramovitch Revolves The Door Again
Roman Abramovitch has sacked another manager at Chelsea. What a way to run a football club? Especially, as it seems to be generally accepted that stability in football leads to success.
I suppose the only winner is Roberto di Matteo, as he’ll probably be well paid.
But it doesn’t alter the fact that Chelsea are rapidly becoming a joke in the mind of many!
Some of the statements on the BBC’s web site get straight to the point.
Colin Bundred has said “How is it possible to be Champions of Europe and the joke of the football world at the same time? Sad really.”
And then Post and In give it the treatment.
I wonder if Roman Abramovitch is going to sue everybody who is criticising him on Twitter. If he is, every lawyer in the UK, will be rubbing their hands. I suspect the Americans will lend us a few lawyers if we need help.
Frank Gardner On Risk Profiling
Frank Gardner has written an article about risk profiling software for the BBC web site. He writes it with respect to terrorism, but buried in the article is this piece.
He says South Korean Customs, which have bought the programme, report a 20% higher detection rate of illegal goods.
That is just good use of data mining software, to identify the source of illegality.
There are so many applications for this type of software, such as in healthcare, road safety, crime, product failures from televisions and vehicles to large projects, that generally all we will see is a much better lifestyle.
Only in a few areas will there be any cause for concern about human rights.
Katie Gets It Right
I like this article by Katie Hopkins on the BBC’s web site. She feels that free healthcare on the NHS should come with responsibility to look after yourself. This is the first few paragraphs.
Former Apprentice contestant Katie Hopkins argues that people who eat, drink and smoke more than is good for them should pay more towards the NHS health care they need, as she sets out her calls for additional payments for some health services.
A strange and particularly British trait is revealed when things are free at the point of use.
Just like all-inclusive holidays, or theme-park tickets, once you have handed over the money, the cost seems instantly forgotten.
The ability to have as much as you want whenever you want it, or to go on as many rides as you can whenever you like, is all that matters.
Somehow, everything in this new land of plenty is free. The NHS is rather like this.
I hope that I do the best to make sure, I’m not too much of a burden on the NHS.
Indians Execute Mumbai Gunman
The Indian authorities have executed the lone surviving gunman from the Mumbai attacks of November 2008. It’s reported here on the BBC.
I am against all forms of judicial killing, whether they be after a fit and proper trial in a Court of Law or not. So I will not condone what the Indians have done.
Remember that these attacks in Mumbai, were just after I visited the city and stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in the city. How many of the staff, that attended so well to my friend and myself died in the attack?
But even being that close to an attack, doesn’t make me change my view on the death penalty.
Good Riddance To Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Earls Court is an exhibition centre, whose sell-by date was decades ago. I can remember going to events there like The Motor Show in the 1960s and it wasn’t the best then. I can also remember being at the NEC in Birmingham about 1980, talking to one of the top people in Hewlett-Packard, where he reckoned at that time the NEC was one of the best places they exhibited.
So what has Earls Court done in those intervening years? Absolutely nothing! Read about the NEC and it is a story of continuous development and updating.
If ever a building was saying “Please knock me down!” it’s Earls Court.
So I’m now pleased to see that this is going to happen. It’s reported here on the BBC. But as ever there are those, who want to turn the clock back. Two housing estates will be incorporated into the scheme and the report says this.
But tenants and leaseholders on the West Kensington and Gibbs Green housing estates who will have to be re-housed have called for a judicial review on the grounds that the plan is contrary to Hammersmith and Fulham’s local planning policy.
As ever, selfish people seem determined to not co-operate for the good of the many. So be prepared for a long and expensive fight which will only delay the inevitable.
On a personal note, I’ve only visited Earls Court once in recent years. I try to avoid the place, as it is one of those places where I can’t find anything to eat.
Now we have the problem of what to do with Olympia. After all with Excel and the O2 Dome we have made a start on providing alternative venues.
The Cheesegrater
The Cheesegrater is another building under construction.
London seems to have a good naming systems for buildings these days. Do other cities and countries stick the definite article in-front of a nick-name.
London has or might have The Cheesegrater, The Gherkin, The Pinnacle, The Razor, The Shard and The Walkie-Talkie for starters.
The Pinnacle
The Pinnacle is another building going up in London.
Although as the pictures show, construction has halted for the moment. The Cheesegrater is in the background, with the wall of yellow scaffoulding.
The Back Of Moor House
I think this building with the distinctive windows is Moor House.
The Back Of Moor House
It does remind me of Oriel Chambers in Liverpool.
Oriel Chambers
But that building was completed in 1864 or 140 years before Moor House.
Cromwell Tower
I took this picture of Cromwell Tower from where I took the picture of The Heron and CityPoint.
Cromwell Tower
We used to live on the eleventh floor, which is just about the lowest floor visible in the picture.
Considering this tower was built at the end of the 1960s, it is still an iconic and distinct building.
The Heron And CItyPoint
This picture was taken from the Barbican.
The Heron And CItyPoint
CityPoint used to be known as Britannic House and it was a much plainer and brutal building, when we lived in Cromwell Tower. It has since been rebuilt. The Heron is a new residential block, yet to be completed.
The Anonymous Widower 