‘Mr Hough - a professional on Dancing With The Stars, the U.S. version of Strictly Come Dancing, stayed with Mrs Cole until 4am when he left with his dog.’Up until then, I was bored by the whole story, but now....!!
Shock Horror!
It is being implied that our prime minister, Gordon Brown, is a bully and has been intimidating his staff by his rants and physical abuse.
An anti-bullying charity has stated it has received calls from No.10 personnel seeking comfort and advice about the upset they are suffering while at work.
Predictably, No 10 are denying the allegations and the Conservative Party are calling for an official enquiry. The Lib-Dems are doing what they always do and waiting to see which side to emulate before committing themselves to an opinion.
Guess what...it’s almost time for an election and all the parties will grasp at every opportunity to tarnish their opponents. None of them have any original policies or solutions, so it is better to start name calling to divert our attention away from that fact.
The story first broke because of a new book being publicised by a self promoting journo.
Personally, I am disappointed: by the charity for its lack of confidentiality; the Tories for their cheap attempt at character assassination; the journo for being a journo and the staff of No.10 for being pathetic spineless wimps.
The latter group are employed in the 'pump room' of what is supposed to be the 'heart' of our government. Their leader is supposed to be a man of iron who is ruthless in his decision making.
All leaders have to show their displeasure and frustration from time to time, otherwise nobody would do anything but sit around sharing coffee and doughnuts while discussing celebrity lifestyles.
I am pleased the PM has finally demonstrated some character; I have spent far too long waiting for such a sign.
If the workers in Downing Street find the temperature too hot for them, I can only suggest they get out of the 'hell' they think is the kitchen!
The killing of a Hamas commander in a Dubai hotel last month, is starting to cause an international outcry - officially at least.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh is thought to have been in Dubai negotiating a deal for armaments, when his life was ended by what is believed to have been members of an Israeli secret service hit squad.
Dubai's police chief has said he is 99% sure of the involvement of Mossad agents in the killing. He has released details and photographs of the squad and rather predictably, they were all found to have been using stolen identities - some of them of UK passport holders.
The Israeli government, in their normal blunt and forthright way, have responded by saying there is no proof!
Foreign secretary David Miliband has vowed to “get to the bottom” of the incident but I am assuming it is the same “bottom” he got into, when trying to suppress involvement by our own security services, during the US interrogation of suspected terrorists, recently made public in the UK Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, Interpol has issued red notices for the eleven suspects in the Dubai killing and distributed photos for identification purposes.
I am not sure what is more ridiculous: that they really believe such professional killers are not disguised; or that the international “outrage” at the killing is genuine.
Oh the games governments play.....!
Barclays Bank has just announced profits of £11.6bn. This is an increase of 92% on the previous year. Other banks are expected to announce similar news in the near future.
Barclays' management is intending to share out a bonus pool of around £1.5bn amongst some of its staff.
Meanwhile, interest on credit cards is running at its highest level since the late 1990's, despite the lowest base rate we have ever seen.
According to the Institute of Directors, 60% of small firms are being turned down for loans by the banks. Many are only surviving in the short term by the use of credit cards.
Yesterday it was reported that it will not be until at least 2016 that we will see repayment of the massive public funds poured into the banking system by the present government.
Is it really surprising then, that such huge profits are being announced?
It seems that City institutions have, once again, taken us all for a ride.
They really are a complete bunch of 'bankers'
The above life-size bronze sculpture, by Swiss Artist Alberto Giacometti, was sold at auction in London, yesterday, for the record sum of £65m after just eight minutes of bidding.
The UK appeal for the disaster victims of the earthquake in Haiti has raised £70m and taken almost three weeks.
Somehow, comparing those two facts makes me feel uncomfortable.
I am not sure whether it is because one person can have so much as to be able to spend such a huge sum on a piece of bronze, or whether it is that so many people are left with so little, and are not able to find even the basics necessary to survive.
I guess that is the balance of life....for those who have, there are many more who have not.
It just does not seem a fair equation to me!
Just when you thought it could not get any worse...it has!
We are already the most surveilled population of almost any country in the world and now it seems our controlling government are paving the way to be able to deploy the armed forces on the streets of Britain.
The news came in a Green Paper published yesterday as part of a strategic defence review. Of course, it uses the same old tired excuse - terrorism!
The report says decisions need to be made on the...
"balance between focusing on our territory and region and engaging threats at a distance"and
"what contribution the armed forces should make in ensuring security and contributing to resilience within the UK".
I have no idea what the hell such a vague and all encompassing statement means but I do know that the possibility of troop deployment is a much more frightening prospect than the perceived threat it is supposed to be preventing.
However, it seems that the media are far more interested in publishing news of philandering sportsmen, than reporting on what would be an irreversible attack on our individual freedoms.
If we don't wake up to reality soon, we could all be dozing into a permanent nightmare!
According to the website of ITN, the latest wedding of Katie Price (aka Jordan) which took place in Las Vegas yesterday "drew gasps throughout the nation".
Really?
The only thing close to a gasp that I could hear, was a collective yawn of boredom and the odd wheeze from an asthmatic.
Somehow, I doubt there will be many anniversaries!
If I was Tony Blair I would be seriously worried tonight.
TV presenter, Richard Madeley, who is the 'Dick' of the legendary TV partnership of Richard and Judy has felt the need to make a short film for BBC's Daily Politics show in defence of our previous prime minister.
I am not sure which shocks me the most: TB needing to be defended by RM or RM becoming an authority on the legalities of war.
It has to be said, that as a political analyst, Richard makes a very good television presenter.
Watch for yourself here and weep!
Could it soon be "Arise Sir Dick"?
For me, the answer is very simple...No!
I say this not because of what he has done but because of the arrogance demonstrated in the way he has done it.
Whether this is a one-off transgression or whether more stories will surface in the near future, I do not know but so far at least he has not even expressed regret.
Terry did not ‘come clean’ when he became aware he was about to be exposed by the press but, instead, resorted to legal action to gain a complete injunction against the allegation being published in the UK media.
Fortunately, this injunction was lifted last Friday by Mr Justice Tugendhat who made it clear he thought Terry was more interested in protecting his lucrative advertising sponsorship than protecting the privacy of his family. Mr Justice Tugendhat also said:
"Freedom to live as one chooses is one of the most valuable freedoms.Terry chose the girlfriend of a teammate - and a friend of his wife - as the focus of his attention and according to the press, paid for her to have an abortion when she became pregnant with his child."But so is the freedom to criticise - within the limits of the law - the conduct of other members of society as being socially harmful, or wrong."
In reality, he was not just cheating on his wife but cheating the general public and his sponsors by selling his image as that of a responsible role model.
Sadly, in the world of football things like infidelity are not often thought of as being a red card offence; I remember several instances over the last decade - including that of an England coach.
Meanwhile, the general public seem to be more impressed by the amount of money a player earns in a week, or the 'flash' cars they are seen to be driving. Football players have become celebrities and many of them think they can do what they like, when they like and get away with it. They are arrogant.
Whoever captains the England squad should be an ambassador for the whole country and a genuine role model for the young. He should not be someone who behaves as John Terry has done. Respect is something that should be earned and not something that can just be bought.
So, on balance, I think Terry’s behaviour has been less than that we should expect of someone worthy to lead the England team into the Finals.
In the meantime, his betrayed wife has - like all betrayed wives of celebrities seem to do - flown to sunnier climes to concentrate on her tan and her future.
The alleged ex-mistress is said to be negotiating the sale of her story to the media for a sum that most of us will never see in our lifetimes.
Welcome back to the real world!
The UK’s Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, has stated it would be “profoundly irresponsible” to use one “mistake” as an excuse not to act.
He was referring to the fact that the Himalayan Glaciers have not seemed to melt in quite the 'doom and gloom' manner predicted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Mr Miliband added it did not "undermine decades of climate research and the overwhelming majority of scientists say that." Hmmm it must be right then!
The trouble is, no-one has come up with a convincing argument either for, or against, climate change being a man-made problem. It has, instead, been a storm of confusion and opposing ‘facts’.
Cyclical changes in climate have been occurring since the creation of the planet.
Yes, we could all do a lot better at helping the environment but we have reached a stage in our evolution where we no longer just accept, or believe, the words of Al Gore, government funded scientists or self important ministers. We need to respond to positive education and not desperate scare tactics.
I have no idea who is right or wrong about global warming but what I do know, for sure, is...... I am bloody freezing!!
