The Times reports that we have agreed a fee of £5.5 million with Aston Villa for Steve Sidwell. Why we ever signed him I have no idea, whenever Sidwell played he was off the pace and completely clueless – I guess Martin O’Neill sees something I do not.
Monthly Archives: June 2008
Hydrogen Cars – Green My Ass
It appears that Honda’s FCX Clarity a car that runs on Hydrogen and emits just water vapour has taken in just about every journalist on the planet. Which on the face of it sounds about as green as a car can get, however, all that Honda has done is move the emission problems from the car to the factory. Merrick Godhaven at ukwatch.net has calculated that depending on the method of hydrogen manufacture – either from natural gas or by electrolysis – that the car actually emits more than currently available production cars.
114-119g/km for compressed natural gas hydrogen
220-225g/km for compressed electrolysis hydrogenTo compare, the current petrol powered Honda Civic emits 135g/km, a Toyota Prius emits 104g/km, and a Renault Megane emits 117g/km.
Now I’m not sure the emission figures that Merrick’s compile and those emission figures he has used for the Civic, Prius and Megane are like-for-like, however he does illustrate the point that there’s no way on earth that a Hydrogen car can be thought of as environmentally friendly.
I will leave the last word to Merrick Godhaven.
Honda might be able to kid journalists into thinking that hydrogen cars are “zero emission” but unfortunately, they cannot fool the climate.
Source: BBC & ukwattch.net.
Tim Henman is a Tosser
In an interview with the Radio Times Henman was asked if he had any gossip from the changing rooms and said: “Well, the Czechs are a bit niffy”. What all Czechs? – Surely not – what xenophobic claptrap. Source: BBC & Daily Mirror.
Lap Dancing Clubs Nothing More Than a Pub
That is the view of the law at least, Labour’s Roberta Blackman-Woods says they should instead be licensed as “sex encounter establishments”, to put them on a par with sex shops and cinemas and today she will outline her concerns in a 10-minute Rule Bill. Let us hope that all MPs support her bill, there is no reason not to. Source: BBC.
Annecy
I love Brittany but fancy somewhere different next year, I don’t like the beaches and especially not the crowds in the South of France although the food is fantastic and I’d recommend anybody to visit Chez Philippe in Marseillan. So it’s with interest I read Rupert Wright’s article on the French Lakes of Haute-Savoie I’m tempted to stay in Annecy next year.
Bully
Nobody likes a bully, but US is bullying UK banks by threatening to prosecute UK banks with branches in the US that have any dealings with Cuba. Lloyds TSB has taken head of these threats and decided to write to customers who trade with Cuba telling them to stop or move accounts. Since when does the US have the right to decide who UK citizens can and cannot trade with – surely, that is the responsibility of our government – the US is just a bully. Source: The Guardian.
Scolari Madder than Mourinho
If you did not like Mourinho, it seems that you will not like Scolari either; The Independent’s Andy McSmith reckons he is madder than Mourinho.
Even by the game’s often eccentric standards, Scolari stands out: forthright, sentimental, hot-tempered and fiercely loyal to his players (unless gay). He cuts a swearing and spitting wildman on the touchline, and has been in hot water for his admiration of Chile’s murderous dictator Augusto Pinochet. Devoutly religious, he leads prayer circles, carries iconic statuettes and once required his players to place “holy pebbles” in their socks. Boring, this will not be.
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The new gaffer is unlikely to smile at any camp high jinks: he reportedly declared – jokingly? – in 2002 that: “If I found out that one of my players was gay I would throw him off the team.” Condemned by Brazilian gay groups, Phil insisted he was not homophobic: “My friends include people whose sexual preference is different from my own.” A simple misunderstanding then.
Which is more than can be said for his fist fight with a Serbian player last September. If you type the words “Scolari” and “punch” into YouTube’s search engine you can relive the moment he landed a jab square on the head of Ivica Dragutinovic.
Scolari’s surprised Serbian target was well able to dodge any further flying ham and but for the restraining hold of other players would have pursued the older coach and lamped him back.
Instead, he contented himself by mouthing the words Hijo de Puta – Spanish questioning of Scolari’s maternal parentage. Scolari’s native language is Portuguese, but he understood perfectly. Scolari had been pacing like a caged animal on the touchline, jeered by some of his own supporters. He stormed on to the field to contest a late goal. According to Scolari, he did not start the fight; nor did he actually hit Dragutinovic, and the whole incident was the referee’s fault for allowing that goal. Hmmm. “He was going to hit Quaresma and I defended him,” he said on Portuguese television. “Ask him if I touched one little hair on his head. Who was to blame out there was the referee. Two metres offside!”
A Uefa inquiry reached a different conclusion. Scolari was fined £8,000 and banned for four games. He apologised but said his actions were in the best interest of his players. “It wasn’t my greatest moment, but I won’t let anything happen to my players.” Similarly, when his Portugal captain Luis Figo headbutted Holland’s Mark van Bommel during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Brazilian boss leapt to the defence of his skipper: “Jesus said we should turn the other cheek. Unfortunately, Figo is not Jesus Christ.”
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He looks – and acts – much like Gene Hackman, the Hollywood star whose grizzled face has enlivened classic films such as Bonnie and Clyde, The French Connection, and the western Unforgiven. Source: Andy McSmith – The Independent.
Cloak of Silence
If you have neighbours like mine, then like me, you will be eagerly looking forward to being able to purchase this.
Being woken in the dead of night by noisy neighbours blasting out music could soon be a thing of the past.
Scientists have shown off the blueprint for an “acoustic cloak”, which could make objects impervious to sound waves.
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“It’s not an unrealistic blueprint – it doesn’t demand that we do extraordinary things,” said Professor John Pendry of Imperial College London, UK, an expert in cloaking. “This is something that can easily be manufactured.”
If a material could be commercialised, both researchers believe it could have many applications.
Walls of the material could be built to soundproof houses or it could be used in concert halls to enhance acoustics or direct noise away from certain areas. Source: BBC News.
Of course, it will probably be cheaper to move house.
It’s Scolari
What do I think? I know little about him, he has been successful at international level but has no club experience in the Europe he has been successful at club level in Brazil however; my knowledge of Brazilian club football is zilch.
Will Scolari be successful? My concern is the media, Scolari supposedly turned down the England job because he feared media intrusion and let us be fair managing Chelsea will be the equal of any media attention he would have faced as England manager – so will the media be his undoing?
Two things are apparent
1) The style of Scolari’s Brazilian or Portuguese teams show we can expect a more exciting football than the moribund styles of Mourinho or Grant.
2) Scolari has the kudos to attract players that Chelsea has been unable to attract in the past – we can expect a few Brazilian and Portuguese and maybe Spanish transfers this summer.
To sum up Scolari has the reputation, presence and style Abramovich craves and given time, he will be successful. Now if he can just persuade Ronaldo to sign for us.
42-Day Detention Do We Need It
I have remained neutral about the question of should or should we not extend the detention limit from 28- to 42-days. Last night the government won the vote on 42-days by 315 to 306 MPs.
A look at how MPs voted is interesting, Ann Widdecombe was the only Conservative to vote with the government whilst the whole of the DUP which includes the Rev Ian Paisley. What on earth is happening in the world when a Labour government agrees with these loonies? It all makes me very uncomfortable.
When you think about it 6-weeks is along time to hold someone without charge – in comparison you can only be held for 4 days without if you are suspected of murder. Personally, I suspect if the police cannot build a case in the current limit of 28-days then they are not going to in 6 weeks. A review of the laws in general would be more beneficial, for instance, the BBC list these suggestions.
Changes being made to the powers to question someone after they have been charged. But there are calls for this power to be extended yet further to allow police to charge someone earlier and then interview them as more evidence comes to light.
Others argue more secret intelligence could solve the problem – such as showing juries phone taps and other internet intercepts.
Another more controversial proposal is to allow terror suspects to be charged on a lower evidence threshold. That charge would then be argued in the court, with the Crown saying they can build their case more fully in the weeks to come.
I leave the last word to Amnesty International.
Amnesty International renewed its call to the UK government to listen to the large number of MPs who voted against this dangerous and ill-conceived measure, and to the wide range of experts who have expressed the most pressing concerns about it, and to abandon it once and for all.
“Instead of allowing people to be held for longer and longer without being charged, the UK government should be committing itself to a root-and-branch review of all counter-terrorism legislation in the UK, with the aim of bringing it into line with basic international human rights standards – standards which protect the rights of individuals, including the right to be treated fairly and the right not to be detained arbitrarily for a prolonged period of time,” Amnesty International said.
“The idea that countering terrorism somehow requires removing or eroding basic guarantees of individual liberty and physical safety is a dangerous and discredited one; the government should reject it once and for all”.
So, I have just convinced myself that 42-days is a bad idea.