Own Goal

UK impose sanctions on Russia.
British Steel Company SSI goes into liquidation with the loss of 1700 jobs citing a slump in demand for steel in Russia for its problems.   
I think that's called an own goal by the UK Government, must have given Putin a chuckle though.

Not Life On Mars Just Yet

The battle to keep people interested in all things cosmos has been on a bit of a roll lately with Pluto, then a Lunar Eclipse and now the discovery of running water on Mars. 
NASA explained: 'Liquid water runs down canyons and crater walls over the summer months on Mars which raises the chances of being home to some form of life'.
David Bowie must be very pleased because almost every TV and Radio bulletin has managed to shoehorn in at least a few lines from his song 'Life On Mars' to set the royalties till kerchinging.
If the overblown glam rocker is the winner, those of a religious bent are the losers as the inevitable question is thrown at them, 'If God created the heaven and the Earth, when did he squeeze in Mars?'
I have long made my peace with religion by just ignoring it but if it weathered the storm about being the centre of the Universe, oops, no it isn't then i expect it will explain away the idea that God's sole intent was to create people in his image here on Earth only, especially if we find something in the newly detected rivers of Mars.
The does open up new possibilities regarding manned mission to the Red Planet and bases and a distance of 140 million miles from the nearest radio playing 'Life on Mars'.

The 2016 US Election Candidates

Anyone who wants to run for President has to register with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the list of candidates is on the FEC website where you can find all the people you would expect to see such as Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Jeb Bush and Donald Trump but altogether there are 2128 candidates vying for the top job in the White House.
The FEC is the body that regulates elections in the USA and in the New Statements of Candidacy section of their website is a full list of the 2016 candidates who have filed a Statement of Candidacy (FEC Form 2) with the FEC to register as a candidate for federal office (U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate and U.S. President).
Amongst the candidates are such famous figures as Doctor Pepper (American Independent Party), Dr White Lightning (GAD), Fidel Castro Ruz (Communist Party) and even Kim Jong Un (Independent) has thrown his hat into the ring.
From the cartoon world, stepping up to the plate is Mickey Mouse (Write In), Eric Cartman (Independent) and Elsa Ice Queen (Independent) and joining them from the world of fiction is Forrest Gump (Democratic Party), Ming The Merciless (independent), Rocky Balboa (Independent) and Jack Sparrow (independent).
The Animal Kingdom has always been chronically under-represented in US Elections but this time they have Moose The Dog (Jewish/Christian National), Seymour Cats (Independent), Mr R. Porcupines Spikey Jr. (American Independent Party), Frosty Chickens (Independent) and Buddy The Cat (Democratic Party) to vote for.
There are some candidates who could be related to famous people such as Tronald Dump (Republican), Donald Tramp (US Taxpayers Party), Jorge Bush (Independent) and Osama Bin Liftin (unaffiliated).
Other candidates include Lesale Venomancer Deathbringer (Green), Lezbe Honest (Independent), Mr MMM Dat Ass (independent), Mr Tarquin Fintimlinbin Bus Stop Poontang Ole Biscuit Barrel (SIL), Blue Hair Guy (Independent), Cranky Pants (independent), Bippy The Clown (None) and Jesus Dog Lord Ickes (Write-In).
I'm not sure about Satan Lord of Underworld Prince of Darkness (Republican Party) though, i think that one could be made up.
As a foreign national I am prohibited from partaking in any election in the U.S so i can't contribute but if i was American i'd be interested to hear what Buddy the Cat had to say on legalising catnip for medical purposes and his feelings on the Canary Islands.

Supermoon Eclipse Weekend

If Buffy the Vampire Slayer taught us anything, it is to stay in when moon is full and as this weekend sees the moon at its closest, you might want to check that lock is secure.  
Shakespeare said  “It is the very error of the moon. She comes more near the earth and makes men mad' and Aristotle suggested that the brain was the moistest organ in the body and thereby most susceptible to the influences of the moon.
Science has dismissed any link between the full moon and erratic behaviour but police departments in the UK, New Zealand and USA have been known to add officers on full-moon nights in an effort to cope with presumed higher crime rates.
After considering all the facts and you want to chance it, this weekend is a double whammy because not only is it a Supermoon, but there is a lunar eclipse thrown in also.
While you probably don’t relish the prospect of waking up in the small hours of most Monday mornings, you will have to set your alarm for 3am BST on Monday for this month’s celestial showstopper.
The weather forecast is for cloudless skies but if you miss this one the next supermoon eclipse is pencilled in for 8 October 2033.
The Moon will be immersed in Earth’s shadow from 3:11am BST until 4.23am BST with the full eclipse at 3:47am BST but if you are planning on getting up, keeping a silver bullet close by wouldn't hurt. 

Corbyn's Beliefs

Usually with politics you get to vote for the party that most resembles your beliefs but that can end up
being a choice for the least worst and they may only get your vote because although they may not be ideal, they are not as bad as the other lot.
For those of us a bit further to the Left of centre than most, Labour electing Jeremy Corben as leader has been a god-send and this is probably the first time in my life that my party of choice actually has a leader that chimes very much with my own beliefs.
Although he is undergoing a baptism of fire from the right wing press, there is much Jeremy beliefs that I can cheer for.

1. The deficit should be tackled but not through spending cuts but via higher taxes for the rich and a crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion. Agree completely, why should the poorest bear the brunt of cuts and the richest not contribute more to get us out of the mess the banks got us in?  
2. Britain's railways should be renationalised. Again, 100% behind this. Privatisation doesn't work.
3. No replacement for Trident. With him here, why spend £100 billion replacing a weapon we are never going to use, especially in times of austerity. The money would be much better spent elsewhere where it could benefit everyone.
4. Scrap university tuition fees. Why saddle students with tens of thousands pounds worth of debt at the start of their working lives.
5. No support for air strikes against Islamic State in Syria. Yes because as we have seen in every war, it is the innocent who would suffer and the Government have a nasty habit of mission creep once they gain the authority to act which is how we ended up being the air-force for Al-Queada groups in Libya.
6. More council houses should be built. A no-brainer, we have a chronic housing shortage.
7. An arms embargo should be imposed on Israel. I would go further and as well as an arms embargo i would like to see sanctions imposed also.
8. Energy companies should be under public ownership. As above, privatisation is the pup we have been continually sold.
9. A national maximum wage. If you can impose a minimum wage, why not a maximum? 
10. The arms trade should be restricted. Only a war mongering maniac would think any different.

As i have said previously, i consider Corbyn to far left to be elected Prime Minister in five years, the press will see to that but we can dream.

The Decline Of Jose Mourinho

When Jose Mourinho first came to manage Chelsea in the Premier League he was a breath of fresh air but it is a very different Jose who has come back this time.
The self-proclaimed 'Special One' hasn't been quite so special this season as his team languishes in the bottom half of the league table and their title defence almost certainly over before the end of September.
Rather than stick his hands up and accept the blame for the defeats his team have suffered this term, he has blamed everyone and everything from the ball boys to the physio who has now walked out of Chelsea after a bizarre and outlandish attack on her from the Chelsea manager.
Dr Eva Carneiro has not appeared on the first-team bench since the opening day draw against Swansea, where she was involved in a row with the manager after rushing onto the pitch to treat Eden Hazard after he requested treatment late in the game.
Mourinho claimed that by the Physio going onto the pitch, Hazards would then have to leave the pitch as per the rules before he could come back on again and as they were already down to ten men, would leave them short on the pitch.
Rather than blame Hazard for requesting the treatment, Mourinho aimed his anger at the Physio who claimed that he used abusive and sexist language towards her and is consulting employment lawyers.
While Mourinho has an excellent CV and is undeniably a successful manager albeit at massive clubs with huge transfer budgets, he doesn't seem a particularly nice character and as he continues to lose the plot, the odds on him becoming the former Chelsea manager by the end of the season grow.
While we missed him when he left previously, this time around most of us will only miss watching his ludicrous excuses and bizarre behaviour when his team lose yet again but i hope the owner isn't too quick to fire him because while his teams have always been boring to watch, it is enjoyable watching them being beaten while being boring.

Selfies More Dangerous Than Sharks

Last week, a 66-year-old Japanese tourist died and his companion injured when he fell down the stairs while attempting to take a selfie at the Taj Mahal which brings the number of selfie-related deaths to 12, compared to 8 deaths caused by shark attacks this year.
Most of the selfie-related deaths have to do with falling or being hit or injured by a moving vehicle while the people taking the selfies are focused on their phones and not what is going on around them.
Lasy year the organisers of the Tour de France asked the public to 'respect the riders' after a few accidents occurred when spectators ran onto the road to take selfies.
It has become such a problem in Russia that the Government has begun a 'safe selfie' campaign after
the number of accidents caused by selfie takers.

Doctor, Doctor, My Penis Smells Like Bacon!

The right wing press mocked Ed Miliband for eating a bacon sandwich, so what are they to make of the news that David Cameron 'inserted a private part of his anatomy into the mouth of a dead pig during an initiation ceremony while he was studying at Oxford'.
Not that i would like to be David Cameron at any time but this is a particularly bad time because the Prime Minister is about to face a barrage of pig jokes after the Daily Mail printed extracts from Lord Ashcroft’s biography of David Cameron.
While we already knew that Dave was a ham-fisted swine, and has a liking for telling porkies, i do feel that we need to go the whole hog and not let the trots on the left wing let this go as on of the less rasher things Cameron has done.
He has had his nose in the trough for too long but the revelation that he inserted his penis into a dead farmyard animal could see us cured of the pig-ignorant leader.
The days of Cameron feeling Perky are over because after today, no matter what he does from this day forward, David Cameron will forever be remembered as the man who played hide the sausage with a dead pig.
What a glorious, wonderful day, just don't call him Babe!

Who Is Bernie Sanders?

To the outsider the race for the White House can appear a ridiculously long and drawn out process as they have to go through the respective parties nominations and then the whole business of electing one of them as the President.
The two most likely eventual nominees are Clinton and Bush which may lead some of the electorate to enter the voting booth, see the names, think to themselves: "I'm sure i did this already' and leave.
This time around though its Hilary and Jeb although Jeb's name does confuse me because his name is John Ellis Bush so he should be called Je Bush otherwise you are saying John Ellis Bush Bush.
Anyway, the Bush/Clinton showdown is looking in peril because neither are leading the polls of their respective parties with the ridiculous Donald Trump topping the Republican Party and Bernie Sanders the top banana for the Democrats.
Donald Trump is well known, mostly for being an idiot of biblical proportions with a hairstyle to match, but who the hell is Bernie Sanders?  
Wikipedia shows that he is Senator from Vermont and a socialist! A socialist with a particular liking for the European style of Socialism at that!
Of course, for many people, especially us Europeans, there's nothing unusual about a Socialist but in the US, Socialism is viewed the same as Communism with all the hammer, sickles and mustachioed Soviet leaders trying to overthrow Capitalism which is something Sanders agrees with, saying: 'I’ve stayed away from calling myself a socialist because I did not want to spend half my life explaining that I did not believe in the Soviet Union or in concentration camps'.
His other soundbites include such gems as: “What being a socialist means is a vision of society where poverty is unnecessary, where international relations are not based on greed but on cooperation, where human beings can work together rather than having to work as semi-slaves to other people who can hire and fire'.
I imagine as the contest hots up the spotlight on him will grow stronger and the word 'Communist' will be spat at him with more conviction to muddy the waters but it might be worth keeping an eye on him and as America is over $17 trillion in the hole, the pro-Capitalists who they have elected previously obviously haven't been that good.

Looking Up Blog

When you write about a particular subject, especially if it has a touch of the scientific about it, you find that some writers tend to set their level high, so high that it can seem aimed at people of the same level as the writer which leaves out many people who have not got the same experience or knowledge and can easily get lost in the technical explanations.
When it comes to Astronomy there is much to get your head around but many of the bloggers that i have looked at while writing my own astronomy blog appear to have fallen into the trap at writing to impress each other with their knowledge which might make them feel good and but means it flies over the head and alienates a large section of their potential audience.      
In anything, you have to learn the basics before you can move on to the advanced stuff for example you have to learn the alphabet before you can construct words, sentences and paragraphs.
In Astronomy it is rather pointless explaining that something is 4 light years away if the reader doesn't know what a light year is who how far it is in terms they can understand. 
What i have picked up from visitors to the Astronomy Centres is that there are a lot of interested people but they get lost in the technical details and from gaps in their knowledge from teachers who for whatever reason have not put the basic building blocks in place before moving on and students feeling too embarrassed to go back and ask the questions to plug the gaps.
That's why i have torn up my Astronomy blog and have decided to start again and dedicate it to hopefully answering some of those basic questions that i hear in a way that will plug some astronomy gaps and keep the interest from waning.
Looking Up blog.