I can’t even begin to express my anger over his attempt at decrying a multi-cultural society. The fact is we have a society with many cultures. We have a culture with many tribes. I see Punks, Crusties, Goths, Emos, Unionists, Communists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Jews. I see Reds and Blues from Manchester and Liverpool and Reds and Rams and Bluenoses and Villains in the Midlands.
Diversity makes us stronger and better and a ‘little englander’ view expressed by a man who believes in aligning with right wing nationalist parties from central and Eastern Europe makes us look like idiots.
Maybe it’s time to follow the lead of the Egyptians and take to the streets …

Looking back, 2010 was a hard year. We’ve had too many doctors to see, too little time to enjoy things but we have made new friends and had new experiences.

It’s been a strange year in sport with Derby being up and down and the Chargers being down and down. Derby seem to be on the up but the Bolts seem to be in decline. Maybe the magic of AJ Smith is wearing off?

So, to 2011 we are looking forward to spending more time with friends and family and see more of the world.

And maybe, just maybe, do a bit more blogging.

Seems like my kind of t-shirts although I don’t agree with all of the slogans. But that’s the way of t-shirts I suppose.

Some you like, some you don’t.

I liked this one

Have a look and see what you think!

The Pope in this version is not someone I admire. I find some of his previous actions nasty and inexcusable. I also find that his views on religion and social issues are a long way from mine. But at the sasme time I really felt uneasy about the rampant atheists who went mad over the visit.

I’m a Christian. I think that the Gospel has much to offer anyone. I believe Atheists are incorrect and missing something. That’s what I think.

I believe that God created everything in some timescale that was longer than 7 days. It seems sensible to me that the creation stories written in humanity are stories to explain where we came from. A bit like the start of many books, plays and films.

Not accurate but valuable. Hey, Dad, where do we come from? Let me tell you a story, kid. You know? Not accurate but enough for people to get. Like the Darwinism taught in schools – enough to get the gist but not enough to break my mind open.

I also can’t see that the Bible has everthing correct in terms of life rules. The mildew laws are ridiculous if you have bleach and a toothbrush …

Anyway, I am a 21st century, reasonably educated bloke. I can see right from wrong most of the time.

So when atheists start to tell me I’m wrong because I believe something I get a bit hacked off. Because they would be as hacked off if I started to tell them they were wrong. Belief in God or non-belief in God has to be a personal choice. It’s something for me to decide. If I’m wrong then I pay the price. If I’m right then all well and good.
I’d be happier if we all showed more respect and tolerance for different views because if we have to agree on one set of beliefs I won’t be happy unless they are mine.

I expect we all feel the same.

Because a lot of what Spain has to offer in terms of social thinking and development is stuff that humanity would benefit from.

All done by the owner of the Company we were visiting. Strange or what?

Decide what you want to believe.

Me? I know who I rent with.

So, a random summary just to get back on track:

Budget cuts politically motivated: unnecessary risks for no benefit: Coalition government means Clegg swallowing everything Cameron wants despite the fall in support and lack of manifesto connection: Gratz to Spain on World Cup win: Season starts v Leeds and you all know how I feel about Leeds: Savage! looks like a fun read: Cricket going well even against a bunch of kids who need to mature: Madrid not as warm as it was last year: Stop! Thief!!!: Dog sitting is fun: some local wine is good, others is bleeauugh: pool filter is bust: Anne Rice is being misunderstood and she has some valid points BUT there is more than one Church out there and not all are as portrayed: Richard Dawkins is annoying: Cameron needs to keep his mouth shut until he knows that what he is going to say makes sense and won’t start a war: in 1941 the British Empire was alone while the Yanks sat home and fiddled.

There may be other stuff but in the meantime there you go!

The tournament was a sad sight to see. England weren’t good enough in most departments, the selection remained static, players went missing and only the fans came out with any credit.

And the credit for the fans came because no one rioted, which should of course be the basic level of behaviour. Anyway, the point of this isn’t to disect the playing. Oh no. That way lies insanity and opinion and no hope.

What I have seen this past few weeks has been a sick organisation being bypassed in every department. Sure we can point the fingers at Capello at the issues lie at the top of the game.

The FA sold their soul to the Premiership. By handing control of the money to the Clubs it pandered to every tribal desire of the football fan. When players like Cantona, Gullitt, Zola, etc. arrived we all got excited. Now we see Fabregas, Tevez, Torres, Vidic, van der Saar, etc. and we don’t have any excuse because these are the bed rock of our game and deliver success for our clubs. Which we like!

Add to this foundation a structure that is biased towards bottom end coaching rather than top level and the problem gets worse. Spain have 10 times more uefa A coaches than there are in Britain … And you could argue it shows. When school kids in Spain get top level coaching and our players may not you have to wonder. Where do you look for leadership on this stuff? The FA again.

They are making a hash of the world cup bid, can’t seem to have any continuity at the top level and show no leadership. When commercial relationships make more impact than the issues of using an unfamiliar ball should we be questioning the leaders? Damn right.

The Germans slaughtered England on Sunday playing flexibly and breaking quickly. Kids beat massively paid superstars. So back to coaching.

And finally, the managerial fiasco. Capello is a good manager. Better than Sven, better than Steve. But he missed a chance because he was inflexible, players didn’t stick to their roles or made mistakes or didn’t show up. But before the tournament major club sides we’re sniffing around Capello so the FA decided to renegotiate their contract. That was a rational choice. Now they need to stick with it, rebuild and move forward. Keegan and MacLaren weren’t good enough. Sven did OK.

We need to look long and hard at the situation. We don’t need an English manager, we need an overhaul from top to bottom. We need to concentrate on young players and bring them on like Spain and Germany as a team. But whilst the Prem teams continue to chase foreign talent over developing youngsters we will stifle the development of the England team in pursuit of winning a Premiership game.

On a final point, can someone remove Alan Green because he needs to do more analysis and less opinion.