Key Quotes

"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist."
(Kenneth Boulding)




"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. "

(Raymond Chandler)





"Live simply so that others can simply live." (unknown)





"I cannot live without books" (Thomas Jefferson)





"Sport is war without the shooting" (George Orwell)





"New York is a great city to live in if you can afford to get out of it" (William Rossa Cole)





The secret of a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits (Patterson Hood)































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Thursday 30 September 2010

Normal service resumed.

After last weekend's defeats, midweek salvation. Arsenal went to Belgrade, literally a cauldron of sound and secured a 3-1 victory. Once again I winced at the treatment handed out to Jack Wiltshere, and had my view confirmed that five match officials are really no better than three.
By the time the next round of matches come round the squad should be stronger, and a number of those recently absent through injury should be available. After Almunia's performance last Saturday, he developed an elbow injury. I don't have a problem if Arsene Wenger uses "dipplomatic injuries" to conceal dropping a player whose confidence must already be low. Anyway Fabianski took over in goal, and in spite of all our fears, came through unscathed He conceded only from the penalty spot, and in the last tem minutes with Arsenal sitting on a comfortable 3-1 advantage, he saved a spot kick and made a very good reaction save. One can only hope that this helps build his confidence, for the games ahead, starting at Chelsea on Sunday.

Last night in dreadful weather conditions the Dons took three points, to restore their second place in the Conference. The first half saw some great football but no goals. An injury to Yakubu saw Franks come on in the second half, and the substitute centre back scored twice, his goals the 1st and 3rd were separated by a goal from the very pacey Christian Jolley. The Dons looked excellent from wide positions and it was no surprise when Ryan Jackson was chosen as MOM. Hopefully the Dons can maintain their strong home form this Saturday when Forest Green Rovers are the visitors.

Monday 27 September 2010

The wrong Ed

On Saturday afternoon while I was watching Arsenal capitulate to West Brom, Labour announced that Ed Miliband was the newly elected leader of the party. The Labour conference held this year in Manchester ( what's wrong with seaside towns) was the venue for the announcement . Of course the media picked up on the closeness of the result, the fact that Ed Miliband did not secure a majority vote amongst members or MPs and the Mail coined " Red Ed !"

Ed Miliband's strategy to become leader was all too obvious, the only way he could defeat his brother was to position himself to the left and hope to pick up second preference votes. The strategy worked, In the 24 hours after the result was declared, Ed Miliband appeared on the Andrew Marr programme, and Miliband worked at showing that he was not "Red Ed". However the real performance of the weekend was Jon Soppel's interview with Ed Balls, who produced the type of performance that suggested that he was the one Labour headliner who could battle the Coalition in Parliament.

In all honesty I'm far from impressed by Miliband, perhaps because as Minister for Climate Change he tended to talk a good job, but failed to deliver, none more so than at Copenhagen.
Whether he genuinely wants to reduce inequality and tackle climate change only time will tell.

Thursday 23 September 2010

Round Up - 100th entry

Let's start with politics its the week of the Lib Dem conference, and my chance to rant at Chris Huhne. Months ago i wrote that nuclear power would be the breaking point of the coalition; it seems I was badly wrong. I thought that nuclear power was an issue on which you could compromise, you either believed it was a safe alternative to carbon based fuels, and its cheaper or it remains deeply flawed , is fundamentally unsafe and leaves waste that is not disposable in any ethical sense. Well its seems you can compromise, Huhne says he still opposes nuclear power but will build new reactors, because they will be privately financed and anyway its part of his party's sacred deal with the Tories. The perfect case of power before principle.

On Tuesday night Spurs played Arsenal in the Carling Cup. arsene Wenger was banned from the touchline , but out foxed Redknapp and the Gunners came away with a 4-1 victory. Very sweet, I doubt whether Spurs will be bringing out a DVD of that game.

Wednesday and England rounded off an excellent summer by defeating Pakistan 3-2 in the ODI series. The last month has been ravished by controversy over spot betting and match fixing, but nevertheless its to England's credit that they remained professional and saw the job through. Today the Ashes squad has been announced and delighted that Surrey's Steve davis, Chris Tremlett have made the touring party. I'm also pleased that Monty Panesar is seen as the back up spinner to Graeme Swann. Monty may spend a lot of time carrying water bottles but that is in large part to Swann's magnificant performances over the last 18 months. He must walk away with the player of the year awards and could easily be rewarded with the ICC World cricketer of the year, he has been that good.

It's two months to the Ashes, and the weeks ahead will see me give greater priority to football,unfortunately I'm missing the AFC Wimbledon v Crawley game which has been moved to Thursday to suit TV; even at Conference level someone other than the fans is calling the tune.

Saturday 18 September 2010

A night out in Luton

Friday night isn't made for football, but because of Tv contract the Dons were obliged to travel to Luton on a Friday night. Now for me that isn't too much of an ask but for anyone finishing work around 6pm in South London, forget it.

After initially getting lost somewhere around the Luton town centre I discovered the route to Bury Park. The other news item of the day of course was the Pope's visit, and his comments about English society. Now Bury Park is one of the most multi cultural areas in England. Put bluntly it is dominated by muslim schools, community centres and what are described as ethnic shops. Nestling amidst these is Kenilworth Road, the home of Luton Town.

Luton is an usual town in southern England, rows and rows of back to back terrace houses, front doors directly onto the street that seem to have been transported from a Lancashire mill town. It is worth noting that Luton is represented by the only Labour MPs in eastern region at present.

Ironically I found myself in the press box doing the match stats and accompanying Mikey T on WDON. First time I've acted as guest summariser, and a real pleasure. Shame about the result.
Luton deserved the win , the final score of 3-0 was a reflection of how well their keeper played and how poorly we defended set pieces.

Luton is one of the first times as AFC Wimbledon that we have faced a Club with more supporters than ourselves, fans who are not in awe of us. Last season to quote Mikey T it was a bit of a John & Yoko love in, as both sets of fans united in their hostility to MK Dons, last night usual hostilities were restored.

On the way home I listened to a debate on the Pope's visit. What became apparent during the programme and in discussions during the day, is the acceptance by catholics that they can pick and choose which is the Pope's views that they follow. Its obvious that most British catholics do not follow the church's teachings on contraception, yet this is accepted with a shrug. As I said it's the equivalent to someone claiming to be a vegetarian while devouring the Sunday roast. Of course the Church decides to turn a blind eye in this country, while denouncing birth control in the third world.


Friday 17 September 2010

Wednesday night in Highbury

It was the first Champions League game and perhaps a mixture of low key opposition, televisation and the sense that we've been here before meant that there was a rather muted atmosphere before the start of the match.

It only took a few minutes to change that, Arsenal without the services of Van Persie, Walcott, Diaby and Vermaelen simply dominated from start to finish. The Portuguese opponents, SC Braga, literally must have wondered what hit them. It was a great night, after two penalty appeals , one of which looked "half decent", Fabregas threaded the ball through to Chamahk who was upended by the keeper, and the referee pointed to the spot, Fabregas obliged.

Arshavin made it two, again Fabregas the provider. An audacious back heel from Wiltshere set up Chamahk for the third. In the second half Arshavin hit the post before crossing for Fabregas to head home the 4th, and finally substitute Vela hit numbers 5 and 6.

When Arsene Wenger started to make substitutions Chamahk and Song went off to a great reception. Song already established as a crowd favourite but Chamahk worked tirelessly , was always available and was a constant threat. The loudest reception greeted the introduction of Eboue who had previously acted as leading cheerleader. Eboue has great spirit and clearly loves his cult status, what a change from 18 months ago.

6-0 and a bag of chips after the game, can't beat that.

Thursday 16 September 2010

Not welcome

So the pope arrived today and warned against "aggressive secularism", he congratulated Britain for its traditions of tolerance, how ironic for as head of a church that is anything but tolerant.

There are so many areas of discussion. How is the pope afforded the privileges of a state visit, no other religious leader would be so treated. When public services are being cut what defence can the government have for the expenditure on such a visit.

The pope congratulated Britain on its fight against Nazism, yet of course he was involved in that fight as a member of the Hitler youth movement and at 83 he is certainly the age to have fought for Hitler's Germany. The facts that the media seem to not want to dwell on. Of course the pope also rehabilitated the priest who was a holocaust denier.

The Catholic Church remains fixed in its views that deny equality to women, and labels gay and lesbians as incapable of good. Meanwhile over years to has shielded priests who sexually abused children, this new found attitude of care for the victims is opportune, but what about bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Meanwhile the Catholic Church vetoes the use of condoms in 3rd World nations , while turning a blind eye to the fact that in Europe those who follow the faith obviously practice birth control. It opposes abortion even for victims of sexual violence and abuse, and attacks stem cell research that offers hope to many who have to live with what are currently incurable conditions and diseases .

Frankly the last thing we need is to be lectured about civilised behaviour by this man. If members of the church wish to hear him no problem, but as to why those of us who believe in equality should have to foot the bill , no way.

Saturday 11 September 2010

Council Elections and Conference

Thursday night and sadly the Greens didn't take control of Norwich Council. The Party won an additional seat taking them to 14, while Labour held 16. Nevertheless it's the largest green group of councillors in the country and Norwich as a city should be able to mount a campaign against the cuts that the Con Dem government will surely attempt to impose.

The day after the Green Party Conference began in Birmingham. It's the first conference since Caroline Lucas won the seat at Brighton Pavilion, and the importance of that fact was confirmed when she was interviewed on Radio 4 and 5 in the morning. BBC News carried a short soundbite from her at the conference, and the Guardian, Independent and Telegraph carried reports the next day.

Her speech focussed on welcoming those disillusioned with the three main parties, she ridiculed the choice put in front of Labour members in the current leadership contest. In fact she could have been speaking to me, since leaving Labour I've not felt compelled to return. I was energised by working for the Greens during the election campaign, but in truth the yawning gap between the level of debate at national level and the near moribund state of the local organisation deters me from involvement. I sense I have to resolve this in my own mind during the remainder of thw year.

Wednesday 8 September 2010

The Boys of Summer are gone !

Wednesday 8th September at around 4.45pm, the rain began to fall over the Oval. Play had stopped for bad light some minutes before. Grey sky overhead indicated that the rain was not going to relent, and so I decided to make my way to the station.

For me the cricket season was over; there are two more days of the game remaining but work commitments will prevent me taking seat at the ground. I came to realise that next year , once I retire, I'll be able to watch much more cricket.

Sadly between now and then is a long winter. In November England will travel to Australia to defend the Ashes, and I should be able to watch a fair amount on TV, but cricket is all about being there. Warm days, warm beer and a pasty... until next April.

Monday 6 September 2010

Back to Politics

After a fairly quiet month the chance to chew over a few political stories:
To start with the Labour leadership, there would have been a time I'dhave been waiting for the ballot paper to drop on the mat. Now I can look from the sidelines, and to quote Diane Abbott it does look like "four geeks in suits". Of course there's little to choose between them on policy, they all , bar Abbott, served Blair/Brown loyally. What should anyone make of apologies or regrets over Iraq or other contentious issues. It hasn't been a contest to light up the media, and it seems likely that it will be a shoot out between the Millibands ( son of Blair v son of Brown). Strangely in terms of fighting the coalition in Parliament , Balls has the right credentials, whether his close relationship with Brown has done for him is debatable.

Meanwhile in London , Labour members have to select a candidate to challenge Boris Johnson for the London Mayor post. While Ken Livingstone will be attacked by the Tory press he offers so much more than Oona King. king has always come over as a Blairite politician, and her defeat by Galloway in 2005 caused few tears to be shed. Ken in the last election benefitted from the 2nd preference votes of the Greens something that King could in no way guarantee. Ken Livingstone has a sound track record over more than 30 years for progressive causes, and in spite of a few indiscretions he is deserving of support.

This week should see the Bill introduced into Parliament that will ensure a national referendum next year on the electoral system. It will be FPTP or AV ? Therefore once again it has been left to Caroline Lucas to propose an amendment that give voters a wide choice than in her words " two types of vanilla". Between AV and FPTP it a tough call .

Finally on Thursday there are Council Elections in Norwich. Normally not the sort of issue to cause much of a stir, but there is a good chance that the Green party could finish up as the largest party in the City. More thoughts on this later in the week.

Sunday 5 September 2010

A change of plan

Last weekend I'd said I'd travel to Kettering to catch the Dons on Saturday, during the week circumstances changed and we decided to spend Saturday on the south coast. The attraction of a trip to brighton was the chance to watch Kevin Pietersen pull on a Surrey shirt and play for Surrey against Sussex in CB40 competition at Hove.

I must admit to be less than happy with the parking restrictions close to the Hove ground, but once in the ground, any annoyance soon vanished. On what I suspected would be the last Saturday of summer, the chance to spend the day sitting in the sunshine watching cricket could not be beaten. KP was soon at the wicket, and the ground was soon filled with more than 5000 spectators.

Pietersen's innings of 116 had a good collection of boundaries including four 6s. Assisted by Jason Roy ( a real prospect) Surrey reached 240. Sussex started well , then struggled as wickets fell and the boundaries dried up. That Sussex scored 14 runs in the last over, meant the game was tied. However in a week when the allegations against several pakistan players has damaged the game, this game showed its inner strength. Pietersen's century, some excellent outfielding, the reception that the crowd gave to Kirtley as he left the field in his last game for Sussex, these were what will live in my memory.

After the game e walked down to the sea, went for a short walk along the promenade, bedecked with beach huts. Hove often seen as Brighton's less exciting partner, seemed very attractive if hilly.

As for the Dons they won 2-1 away and regained top spot in the Blue Square Conference.

Thursday 2 September 2010

A Journey but not one I'd care to take.

Yesterday saw the publication of Tony Blair's autobiography " A Journey". I'd made up my mind that there was no way I wanted to buy the book, even though the profits are now going to a charity. Nevertheless with Blair prominent on the front pages of most papers the book was inescapable.

Last evening Blair was interviewed by Andrew Marr for BBC2. Marr for ever the professional took Blair through his relationship with Brown, the War in Iraq, and a short analysis of the Peace Process in N.Ireland (which I'm sure history will judge as his greatest achievement).

There was nothing left to be gleamed about Iraq, although I doubt if anyone expected to hear him say he got it wrong. It was all a mistake etc.

Perhaps what was more revealing was his belief that Labour lost the 2010 election, not so much because of Brown's leadership but because it deviated from the New Labour plan. His recipe for revival was more public sector reform, frankly when commentators said that Cameron was the natural successor to Blair, I sense they were right. Blair claimed to be a progressive and denied vigourously that he was a Conservative. However what was clear is that Blair left the Centre-Left of politics long ago.

Significantly the media is hinting that David Milliband has asked Blair not to back him for the Labour Party leadership, his support could just be the kiss of death. Blair himself feels that he was liked by the public rather than the Party. Frankly it's not surprising, he stripped any vestige of socialism out of Labour, his social policies although an advance on the past, could arguably have been pursued by any liberal politician. What separates Blair from the left of centre is his view that the role of the State should be restricted and reduced. On last nights performance Blair could fit snugly alongside the Con Dem coalition.... as part of a much wider consensus on the centre right.

Wednesday 1 September 2010

It's not cricket

The allegations against 4 Pakistan players places a dark cloud over the entire game. Whether a few no balls here and there influences the outcome of the game or not is not the point. The issue is that the sport becomes corrupted. Its easy to understand the temptation for Pakistani cricketers who earn a fraction of what their counterparts here, in Australia or of course the IPL earn, however that can not excuse the deed. One can only hope that the ICC respond swiftly and decisively.

Meanwhile Kevin Pietersen has been dropped from the 50 over and T20 series against Pakistan. His form has been poor by his own extremely high standards this summer , but at first glance it seems strange to omit him from the forms of the game where he has traditionally excelled. On the plus side the fact that he is turning out for Surrey on loan till the end of the season is an exciting development, that will hopefully bring a few more spectators to the Oval.

A New Start

Its September 1st and it seems like a fresh start. On a personal level last night I wrote my letter of resignation from work, there can't be many people who give a year's notice, but I have my reasons, not least my lack of trust in the Government and my belief that they will attack public sector pensions sooner rather than later.

As part of the fresh start I wrote myself a list of things I wanted to do over the next twelve months. I'm working part time now so I've enrolled at the gym so that I can dovetail my working hours with trips to get some exercise. We went and bought the bike I chose yesterday. At the moment I'm a bit like a kid with a new toy, but I want to get out and about round here and leave the car at home. Finally I'm keen to find time to pick up the guitar I bought some years ago, I always said it was a retirement project.

I'll still be at work most days but now the die is set, my mind is made up with very few reservations.