Hold Your Head Up


Every now and again the BBC really rocks.

Yesterday morning while I was working I happened to have BBC Radio 2 playing in the background instead of my usual Radio Paradise. Note, I said” in the back ground”. That was until my ears perked up.

Ken Bruce was playing Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up”. But not just the usual version. Oh no, Ken was playing the album version, complete with extended instrumental break in the middle.

Needless to say I wound the volume up to 11.

So imagine my surprise as I am driving home this morning, having just dropped my wife off at work. Chris Evans was bemoaning the fact that he had suffered a huge dose of show envy.

What was that envy ?

Well, of course, it was the fact that Ken Bruce had played the album version of Hold Your Head Up. So to get over this Mr. Evans decided to play the same track.

So there I was, stuck in my car, parked on my drive, with the volume on my radio turned way up.

Two days on the trot good ol’ Aunty Beeb had hit the gold spot.

What do you think the chances are that they can make it a “hat trick” ?

Teenager arrested after Leigh Park ‘sex attack’ hunt


I hope the authorities come down hard on this foolish child.

Not only has she wasted an enormous amount of police time but one can only guess at the stress that she has caused her friends and family.

She has also caused the whole neighbourhood to be on high alert for no good reason.

Just imagine if the police had actually found someone who matched her description of the alleged attacker. What would that do to him and his life especially if it became known in the greater community that he had become a suspect.

Then there is the disservice that she has done to real victims of such attacks. She has made it more difficult for the police to treat such incidents as credible. Always at the back of their minds, no matter how they try to think otherwise, will be the question of if the attack was real.

Silly silly girl.

Teenager arrested after Leigh Park ‘sex attack’ hunt – Law and Order – The News.

Roman Catholic Church Squirms


As usual, when those that have been abused by Catholic priests speak out, the Catholic church closes ranks and does what it has been doing for decades. Denies everything especially liability.

So when you see a headline like this

Waterlooville woman wins High Court case against Catholic church over sex abuse

it’s no surprise that there is an immediate response with a headline like this

Portsmouth Bishop hits out at High Court ruling in sex abuse case

The Catholic Church has done absolutely nothing to help those that were abused by the Catholic clergy but they have bent over backwards to hide and protect the abusers.

Now that the finger is actually being pointed at the church, now that the courts are saying that the church is in fact culpable, now is the time when the Catholic Church speaks out.

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Crispian Hollis, has leapt to the defence of  Father Wilfred Baldwin, who it is alleged abused a young girl back in the 70’s.

However, solicitor Tracey Emmott said: ‘This effectively reinforces the public perception that the church doesn’t care and is once again trying to avoid responsibility.

‘I question his assertion that the legal case concluded last week involved the only allegation against a priest who he describes as being of unblemished character.

‘In fact before his death Father Baldwin was the subject of an extensive police investigation, based on allegations against him from at least three other alleged victims.’

Now a High Court Judge has ruled against the Catholic church in a row over whether it can be held responsible for sexual abuse by one of its own priests, now the Catholic Church is feeling exposed and is starting to squirm.

It’s about time the church acknowledged its responsibility for not having removed abusive priests and for not having actively supported the prosecution of abusive priests.

And most of all its about time that they acknowledged that they have let down the very people that they should have been protecting, the victims of abusive priests.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTINE


Happy Birthday Chris

 

I’m too much of a gentleman to give away your age.

 

Well actually I am too worried about what you might do to me.

 

Anyway, you’ll never catch me up.

 

Hope you have a great day.

 

Lots of hugs XX

 

Cameron blames ‘pointless’ EU rules for killing growth


Hear Hear !!

I have been saying for years that the rule makers in the EU are out of touch with reality. The point of the EU was to facilitate cross border business activities. It was not intended to introduce nonsense rules and regulations which only serve to make doing business more difficult.

Cameron has it right when he says that resolution of the current crisis also offered a golden opportunity to undertake fundamental reform of the EU.

Needless to say I won’t be holding my breath while we wait for this reform to materialise.

Cameron blames ‘pointless’ EU rules for killing growth – Yahoo!.

Jackie Leven


I just thought I would post this having just received an email today. Jackie Leven, the Scottish singer-songwriter is gravely ill, suffering from cancer. In all likelihood he only has a few days left to live.

“Leven is probably the most talented singer-songwriter never to have become a household name” – Neil McCormick

For those of you who have never heard of Jackie I suggest you take a look at the link below and some of the other offerings available on YouTube.

My thoughts are with Jackie, his family and friends.

Jackie Leven & Deborah Greenwood in Southsea – YouTube.

Thankful villages: The places where everyone came back from the wars


Today is Remembrance Sunday and many people will be paying tribute to those that died during the two “great” wars and many other conflicts. The media, newspapers and television, are full of articles and programmes looking back at the famous battles and talking to survivors.

But, please, follow the link below for a slightly different look at the war years and the impact that they had on communities. There you can read about villages that watched their menfolk march off to war and were lucky enough to see all of them return. It’s an amazing story which shows the arbitrary nature of war.

As an aside to this article is a short mention of the French village, Thierville, which has not suffered a single fatality in any of France’s last five wars. That is the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, World Wars I and II, Indochina, and Algeria. A truly unique claim.

Given the lives lost during all those wars, then to be able to witness the return of all your menfolk, that is truly something for which to be thankful.

BBC News – Thankful villages: The places where everyone came back from the wars.