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As a resident of Leicester, I’m shocked with the sacking of a hero. Claudio Ranieri worked against the odds to produce the upset of the century in football terms, with Leicester City winning the English Premiership last year. According to the BBC , the season ‘ ended with a success that defied history, logic, the odds and the game's natural financial order, as he turned a Leicester team that narrowly avoided relegation into champions.’ Yesterday, after a run of bad results, he was fired. He didn’t deserve that and it was done for the usual short-sighted reasons of money and politics. There seems to be such a culture of dishonour nowadays. We see it in the Brexit debate. These are important decisions and it seems reasonable to discuss them, but the moment a former Prime Minister raises those issues, there’s a dishonouring of him as a person- nothing to do with the debate. Sadly it seems the same with the comments and tweets of the new President in the States. It’s not whether he i...

American Friend: ‘Hey Ralph, what’s happening with you guys? Crazy politics!’ Ralph: ‘Yep. Not our most glorious moment as a British people.’ AF: ‘So what exactly has happened? Explain it to me.’ R: ‘I’ll have a go. But just to get things into perspective, you guys have got Donald Trump!’ AF: ‘Fair enough!’ So here is my attempt at an answer to my American friend: BACKSTORY There’s quite a backstory to this. A lot of it involves the press and their ability to spin a story. Our press are not neutral. We boast a free press, but with it comes a lot of baggage. Especially press intrusion, wild headlines and frankly, lies. We have the BBC of course. Supposedly neutral. But probably not. It tends towards the left wing of British politics and is not averse to trying to get a scoop, seemingly at the cost of the truth. (Cliff Richard, our British pop icon, has been dragged through the mud on his private life- started by the BBC filming a raid on his home. Turns out none of it is true. Hope he s...

1.        Allow the Unions to vote in the inexperienced younger brother Ed Milliband instead of the electable brother David 2.        Allow Ed Milliband to change the rules of membership to allow extreme views to be represented in future leadership elections 3.        Allow Ed Milliband to lead a lacklustre campaign showing why he is not a leader and giving the Tories a full majority 4.        Allow a shambles of a leadership election with non-Labour members voting and resulting in an unelectable leader 5.        Allow the once great policies of an electable Labour Party to be destroyed by unelectable rhetoric Such a shame.

This is my post at the time Ed beat David. It gives me no great pleasure to note I was right. Sad day for Labour. 1. Ignore what the public want: look to keep the peace in your own party at the cost of becoming unelectable 2. Make sure the election process is long enough for the unions to form around a candidate that is weak enough not to take them on 3. Make sure the Unions have a vote that outweighs their true influence in the country 4. Elect someone that is young and untried 5. Ignore the older brother who has a welcome reformist approach and is obviously the more able communicator 6. Go back to the old party ways, following the policies of the last failed Prime Minister rather than the new approach from the earlier successful and long lasting Prime Minister 7. Look forward to a number of years of debating failed left wing election proposals 8. Look forward to a long time as an opposition party.

There was a bit of a scary documentary on TV the other night. Robert Peston was looking at what might happen to France after their next election. There is a real possibility of the far right getting in.  This is reflected in many other nations, including the UK with the rise of UKIP. Not as far right as the Front National in France, but a definite leaning in that direction. It’s clear that there is a concern amongst ‘locals’ with regard to ‘newcomers’. But if we go back into history, pretty much all of Europe can be classed as ‘newcomers’. Most of us have relations who have travelled beyond old borders and taken up residence in another country. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French Front National, sets out the issue as countries needing to decide if they are ‘globalists’ or ‘nationals’. It sounds almost convincing. Until you consider the fact that she is demanding a choice. Either you support your country, or you are a ‘globalist’ and want to do away with borders. But it’s not ei...

I must admit it had passed me by. Black Friday that is. It was only on the actual day that I noticed it, so I guess I can be grateful that I managed to avoid most of the hype. Apparently, it’s the day after Thanksgiving in the States. I’m pretty sure we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving over here, so it’s sad that we decided to import the day after. Or did we? Of course, it’s not ‘our’ import at all - ‘us’ being the Great British population. It’s the retailers. Another opportunity to make some money. Another ‘sale’. And sadly, we fall for it. I much prefer Red Friday. Instead of needless taking, it’s about selfless giving. One man who gave all. Black Friday? Bad Friday. Red Friday? Good Friday.

We moved house on 10th June. It took Severn Trent Water a day to change our contract. Scottish Power - a day. Sky TV - two days. Driving licence change - a week. BT broadband? 91 days and 4 hours. Incredible incompetence, a lack of customer care and an Openreach operation out of control meant we went around in circles for a long time. All BT seemed able to do was the equivalent to switching an appliance off at the mains, and then back on again, hoping against hope that it works next time around. I'd like to record here my thanks to all my friends who helped me bombard BT with tweets. Over 200 tweets were sent and I'm sure that was one of the main reasons we got somewhere in the end. It doesn't seem right that Openreach can dictate what company we use either. We started with Sky, because of the good deal they had. But a month in and a few 'failed connections', Openreach said that they were 'unable to support' another provider. So I had to move to BT. Twice th...

So lets’ recap why I can’t blog so often, tweet so often, or do my work properly.... This is day 41 without broadband and you are no nearer a solution. Just so you know, this is the story so far.... We moved house on 10 th June. The electric contract took a day to transfer. The water services took a day. Sky TV took two days. The Post Office took a week to change the address. And BT have taken 41 days. And counting. First I went for a Sky package. BT Openreach apologised when the first deadline was missed. They said they had sent the instruction to the wrong exchange. A week’s delay. Then, when the second deadline was missed, they said they had lost the link with the phone number. Funny that one, as it’s their phone number. Finally, after a month of trying, Sky were told by BT Openreach that they were unable to facilitate a service at the required exchange. So.... Unwind the deal with Sky and go to BT. Twice the cost. Half the service. Two week delay while BT retrieve the phone line f...

Be careful what you ask for. Apathy and protest have won in Europe this weekend. Apathy in that only 43.1% voted throughout Europe- even less in the UK at 33.8%. And protest, with many fringe parties winning big majorities. But here’s the problem. Today’s protest vote is tomorrow’s policy. Is it really wise to have the right-wing and reactionary UKIP as the overall winners? Are we so naïve as to think they are going to have answers to our nation’s problems? Who are we punishing? Ourselves of course. It may be we’re unhappy with the government and with a weak opposition leader – but UKIP?! And what goes for the UK goes for France too. In spades. Are our neighbours so short sighted and racist as to vote for their National Front party? It seems they are. There may be racial tensions in France. And it may be that the main parties are not responding well. But the French have just put the fox in the hen coop. Perhaps that should be spelled ‘coup’. It’s not the first coup in France of course....

A reminder -   it’s a personal selection. Of course it is. And it reflects a certain time period as well. But you wouldn’t go far wrong in seeking out these albums/downloads and adding them to your collection….. I’ve excluded compilations and they are kind of in an order, but can pretty much change at will, depending upon the mood you’re in. Here are the next ten; there could have been so many more! Let me know what you think! 1.        PINK FLOYD – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON Floyd at their best. ‘Time’, ‘Money’, The Great Gig’…. If you’ve not heard them, you’re missing one amazing album. 2.        ADELE – 21 A new and prodigious talent. A mix of folk and soul with most of the tracks written by Adele, who was only 21 when writing! ‘Rolling in the Deep, ‘Rumour Has It’ and ‘Set Fire to the Rain’ are just three of the brilliant tracks, with no weak ones in sight. Now famous the world over - with reason. 3.   ...

OK, it’s a personal selection. Of course it is. And it reflects a certain time period as well. But you wouldn’t go far wrong in seeking out these albums/downloads and adding them to your collection….. I’ve excluded compilations and they are kind of in an order, but can pretty much change at will, depending upon the mood you’re in. Here are the first ten; the others will follow. Let me know what you think! 1.        EVA CASSIDY – SONGBIRD The artist never knew fame in her lifetime. Her version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ was picked up by Radio 2, and this, the best of her albums, sold millions. A clear as crystal voice makes for moving listening. 2.        MIKE OLDFIELD – TUBULAR BELLS It was so different when it came out in the early seventies. Aside from earning a fortune for Richard Branson and his new record label, it’s a great fusion of classical meets pop. 3.        FLEETWOOD MAC – R...

When I consider your heavens, The work of your fingers, The moon and the stars, What is man that you are mindful of him? Psalm 8:3-4 The Crab Nebula was first seen in 1054. The Hubble Telescope has improved the image. The Nebula puts out 10 quadrillion volts of electricity. That’s thirty times the power of a lightning bolt. The Rose Galaxies, also viewed from the Hubble Telescope, are 300 million light years away in the constellation of Andromeda. In the beginning, God created.

A late night yesterday as Roh and I enjoyed our new dvd – Les Misérables . Les Misérables is a powerful story. Not just the music and acting- but the story itself. It’s a story of redemption. Of someone getting a second chance. Of being given hope when there was none. Every one of us has a spiritual ‘awareness’, a knowledge that there must be more to life. That ‘more’ can only be filled by Jesus’ redemption. If we are honest with ourselves, we have to accept that, like so many in the film, we are lost, poor, alone. Like the main character, we deserve nothing. History shows Jesus lived, died and rose again. Taking our punishment. That moment offers us our own redemption. In a moment of love and forgiveness, the main character,   Jean Valjean, was given hope. The bishop who welcomes him into the church building on a cold night says ‘ you need not tell me who you are. This is not my house; it is the house of Christ. It does not ask any comer whether he has a name, but whether he has ...

Yes that’s not a misprint. 4,214% APR is the loan rate from Wonga, one of the best known of the new breed of payday loan companies. This compares with bank loans at around 15% APR. Sure, those needing the short term Wonga loan would not likely get a loan from a bank. But there’s a reason for that- they can’t afford the loan. Rather than holding on until payday, many are getting into serious debt with this new, largely unregulated payday loan industry ( The Week, 22 September ). It preys on the weak. It cries out for serious regulation before the poor become poorer still. There is an alternative- the credit unions. Financial co-operatives basically. Why don’t more people use them? They simply don’t have the advertising budgets of companies like Wonga (even the Wonga advert is an insult, portraying older people in a stereotyped manner). Government policy can sometimes become too intrusive. Here’s an area in need of some serious legislation.

The link below takes you to a fascinating story of a Tweeter facing his Troll. If that doesn’t make sense, have a read. We need to forgive. If we hold on to a grudge, if we choose not to forgive, it’s us that ends up hurting, not them. We remember the incident. We are the ones that don’t sleep well. We are the ones churned up with anger. We are the ones to get bitter. If Jesus could forgive his own murderers, (Luke 23: 33-34) surely, we can let go of that injustice, the anger that accompanied it, and find there is life beyond the hurt. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes the thing done against us is enormous. Life and death issues. But still forgive. For your own sakes. LINK: Meeting a Troll....