Bush Not Popular Shocker

With the exception of a certain Austrian with one testicle (if the song is to be believed), it is hard to think of any other leader of a country who has suffered such a bad reception across Europe.
Riots and protests have followed the man like a bad smell every time he sets foot this side of the Atlantic.
We are supposed to be his ally but Britain saw the largest mid-week protest when he dared to show his smug face here a few years back and now Germany and Italy have descended into chaos as anti-war protesters demonstrate against the man who famously dodged his own chance of military action in Vietnam by getting his contacts to pull strings.
Last summer the streets of Vienna were swamped with anti-Bush protesters when he arrived for an EU summit but it is not just confined to Europe because last November tens of thousands turned out to protest in Indonesia against his arrival in Asia and there was mass protests against him in Colombia, Mexico and Brazil on a recent tour of South America.
The citizens of India and Australia have made their feelings well known to the US leader so, given all the hatred towards him, is Bush perceived as the most evil figure in history?
As ever, we turn to Google as our representation of World-wide opinion.
Bush Evil = 13,200,000 hits, Bin Laden Evil = 1,430,000, Saddam Evil = 1,500,000,
Hitler Evil = 1,650,000 and Stalin Evil = 1,210,000
The man is obviously not popular but can anyone find anyone even close to Bush? The closest i could get was Devil Evil and that was 2,540,000 hits.

That 'N' Word

THE SETTING - White, middle class, 19 year old student Emily, Black contestant Charley & Asian Nicky dancing in the garden of the Big Brother house.

THE EVIDENCE -
Emily to Charley dancing - You pushing it out you nigger.
Nicky - I can't believe you said that.
Charley - You are in trouble.
Emily - Don't make a big thing out of it then. I was joking.
Charley - I know you were ... but that's some serious shit, sorry.
Emily - Why?
Nicky - Just don't talk about it anymore.
Emily - I was joking

THE DEFENCE -
Emily - I'm friendly with plenty of black people.
Nicky - And you call them niggers?
Emily - Yeah and they call me niggers. They call me wiggers as well.
Nicky - I'm quite shocked.
Charley - I'm fucking in shock.
Emily - It's not a big deal though is it?

Naive? Innocent comment? Racist? Ignorant? A product of street culture? Over-reaction? String her up? Acceptable today?

Suspicions Cast On McCann's

When Madeline McCann went missing in Portugal 34 days ago, the media response was hugely supportive but there was always a faint undercurrent of apportioning blame to the parents.
The initial finger pointing quickly faded as the story rolled but as the four year old continues to be missing, the sympathy is very slowly morphing into something altogether more sinister.
For the first time, these suspicions have been aired when a reporter questioned them about whether they were involved in her disappearance.
"How do you feel about the fact that more and more people seem to be pointing the finger at you and implying that you might have something to do with it?" they were asked.
There does seem to be a feeling among a growing minority that something just does not seem to be sitting right with their stories.
Until the Portuguese turn up some evidence to the contrary, it seems bad taste to make any implications of the parents involvement in their child's disappearance but as time goes by, the whispers are certainly growing.

Tiananmen Square Horror

1989 was a time before we became desensitised to seeing death and brutality on our news programmes but the massacre in China's Tiananmen Square 18 years ago today was an event of horrific proportions.
The image of the man grasping a flag and standing defiantly in front of the Chinese tank stands as one of the most iconic images of our times.
I clearly remember watching in horror as the scene on the television unfolded with demonstrators falling over the bodies of the dead as they fled the slaughter of unarmed civilians shot dead by a brutal regime that sent its tanks rumbling through the capital's streets and the army moved into the square randomly firing on peaceful protesters.
The ferocity of the attack which killed thousands, rightly bought condemnation from around the world as the Chinese government carried out widespread arrests to suppress further protests and banned the foreign press from the country.
Deng Xiaoping may be dead and buried and China has undergone a Public Relations exercise of late but it still remains an authoritative and brutal regime.
The crying shame is that the Tiananmen Square massacre was not the last time that I have sat in silence as the camera showed images of innocent dead civilians created by other Governments around the World.

Our Olympic Logo

Here we have the result of £400,000 and a years consumer testing.
This is the 2012 London Olympics Logo. Great isn't it although the design has been a bit controversial since its launch yesterday.
Firstly, it was universally condemned as rubbish by all and sundry and likened to the scrawling of a young child armed with a red crayon and a can of Dr Pepper.
If that didn't send the logo designers diving for the nearest pub and a few pints of full strength cider, the site that housed its animated version caused some web viewers to suffer epileptic fits.
Jubilant organisers have hailed it as dynamic and vibrant, but to everyone else it is £400,000 down the gurgler and looks to me like one of those television graphics that has the pieces slowly come together to form a picture. Can't help thinking that if the image rolled on a few more seconds we would have a fully formed swastika.

Israeli Boycott Growing

The sidelocks are being tugged in anger in Haifa as yet another British Union join the series of boycotts aimed at Israel.
Condemned Israel for its "denial of educational rights" to Palestinians, The University & College Union today joined the largest public sector workers union, Unison,and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in boycotting Israel in protest at its treatment of Palestinians.
The claim was that while the Israeli university was functioning well, the Palestinian university had been closed for 51 consecutive weeks because of arrests and incursions by Israeli forces.
In retaliation, Israeli groups are now planning to launch a counter-boycott of British goods and services.
Regular as clockwork, the Israeli response was to call the boycott by millions of unionists as anti-semitic with minister for social affairs saying that there is "a long trail of anti-semitism in Europe." Wasn't expecting that.
Such a large number of protesters have made the politicians sit up and take notice with two high profile UK Jewish groups JIV and J-BIG, joining the fray against Israel's policy in the Occupied Territories.
Better stock up on your oranges, they could soon be in short supply.

Cold War: Take 2

Someone dig out the Nena song '99 Red Balloons' because if the experts are to be believed, the Cold War is back on.
America has plans to place missile interceptors in Poland and the Czech republic which has piqued the Russian Vladimir Putin who in response, has successfully test-fired a new intercontinental missile armed with multiple warheads.
The proud owner of 10,000 nuclear weapons, the vast majority of Russia's nuclear arsenal are now to be pointed at European Cities. This is in the hope that these countries will put pressure on the Polish and Czech Republic who are only too happy to whore themselves to America's foreign policy instead of telling them where to stick their missiles as anyone else with a half self respecting Government would do, except England of course who whored themselves decades ago.
So it's 'When the Wind Blows' and 'Two Tribes' all over again unless, in the interest of fairness, the US let Russia place missiles on their doorstep. Cuba would be a good spot.

Imagine That

It is the 40th anniversary of The Beatles Sgt Peppers Album and as i was sitting in traffic on the way home tonight listening to a discussion on the radio about John Lennon.
One of the guests mentioned a conspiracy theory that his killer was actually Stephen King and not Mark Chapman at all.
After laughing like a drain, i made a mental note of the website mentioned and have since been poking around this chaps theory.
Indeed, Steven Lightfoot has a dedicated site that sets out his theory that Mark Chapman was a patsy and the real murderer is the famous author.
His greatest evidence is the above picture where, according to Lightfoot, 'the man photographed getting Lennon’s autograph hours before he killed him is not Mark Chapman like we were all told. Chapman’s glasses are the wrong prescription, his features are more centrally boxed in the middle of his face and his hair is the wrong texture, as well as the fact that the killer has dimples that Chapman does not. Only Stephen King’s features exactly trace the proportions of the autograph hound.'
Not convinced? He has threatening letters from King and other evidence and implores us to get the truth out there.
I love a good conspiracy theory and the loopier the better but tell you what, as far as getting the truth out there is concerned, shall we not but say we did if he asks?

Bush The Eco-Warrior?

It isn't that i don't trust George Bush, although i don't. It isn't that i think he tells the sort of lies that would make Richard Nixon blush, although he does. It is not even the fact that anything that issues forth from his mouth should be taken with as much salt as the dead sea contains. Although it should be.
What made me a tad sceptical about the US president turning eco-warrior and promising to save the planet was that silly grin he always wears as he speaks which makes it look like his mouth is saying one thing and his mind is laughing "YEAH RIGHT, AS IF".
He has spent his whole administration denying global warming by continually opposing Kyoto and dismissing his own Administrations, Environmental Protection Agency and the combined opinion of the worlds leading environmental scientists IPCC report that blamed climate change on human activities.
So what did Bush, who runs the Worlds biggest polluter, actually say?
He has pledged that the US will hold a series of meetings of the world's highest polluting countries to discuss action on climate change.
That was basically it, that at some point he will sit down with the other biggest polluters and have a chat about reducing their pollution levels. No details, no plans, just the promise that the man whose environmentally friendly initiative named the 'Clear Skies Act', would have actually increased pollution, would take care of things.
Considering his track record and duplicity on most things, showing any trust in regarding anything Bush would be foolhardy, but leaving him to save the planet from Global Warming would be akin to assigning the Pope to a condom distribution clinic.

Oh, It IS A Mars Bar In Your Pocket

When somebody has closely studied 11,531 penises they either answer to the name of Miss P. Hilton or they are a Scientist.
Luckily, Dr Kevan Wylie is from the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and has been researching 'small penis syndrome' and discovered that almost 50% of men worrying about the size of their tiddler.
The report also found no evidence that penis-lengthening tools such as vacuum devices worked and the positive results of surgery to extend the length are lacking.
The survey found evidence of different practices around the world, including hanging weights from the penis and encouraging snakes to bite it with the hope it will enlarge.
Dr Wylie said: "It is very common for men to worry about the size of their penis and it is important that these concerns aren't dismissed as this can heighten concerns and anxieties."
I feel that us women can do our bit to ease the concerns of that precious flower we call men when it comes to sexual matters, and this quote from Rachel Green in Friends is perfect.
"And just so you know, it's not that common, it doesn't happen to everyone, and it IS a big deal".Don't pretend you didn't know that already guys.