As someone who likes sports generally and has on occasion, visited the odd gym, it was easy to be inspired to do a couple of sit ups and cut down on the fags after watching the Olympics.
I imagine gym membership will be well up over the coming months, as the fatties strive to be the next Jess Ennis and middle aged men attempt to be eighteen again.
I must admit, to my shame, as yet i have not watched any of the paralympics. But what inspiration will be taken from the games.
The government are currently assessing the needs and ability to work of people on disability allowance. We are hearing horror stories of people suffering from cancer losing their benefits. But the fact is there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people fit enough to work, who are simply sponging off the tax payers by claiming they cant work because they have a bad back, or asthma for example.
I hope these scroungers are sat on their plush sofas watching their plasmas and seeing the likes of Martine Wright. On July 7th 2005, Martine was in the London tube bombing, after 10 days in a coma she lost both her legs. This week she competed for GB in the women's sitting volleyball team. That is some achievement. Win or lose at the games, she can take pride in the fact that she has not decided to be a victim for the rest of her life and lay around wallowing in self pity or bitterness. She actually described herself this week as lucky.
Jonathan Fox, who has cerebral palsy won a gold medal in swimming at the age of just 21.
Jon Allan Butterworth lost his arm in a rocket attack while serving in Iraq. He is competing in the cycling at the games.
These for me are just some of of the truly inspirational stories of this summer. OK, take nothing away from the private school lot, that won us a shed of load of medals in London, they did remarkably well- but in comparison to the the absolute heroes that are representing their countries at the paralympics it was school sports day.
I just hope that like the government has apparently been inspired to kick start sports in schools by the success of London 2012, the many "disability" claimants are inspired to not languish at home.
Before i'm accused of being heartless,I know many many people, who would dearly love to work, are simply unable to due their disability or illness. Those people deserve to get benefits and have a right to the same quality of life as any able bodied person.
Its the spongers and scroungers that look for an excuse to do nothing because they think they deserve a better quality of life than people who have to work for a living, that i hope are inspired to get a life.
We have become a nation of lazy lay abouts wanting hand outs from the state and it is those leeches that have contributed to the state of the economy which now means people who want to work struggle to find a job. It is the generation of why should i's that have cost the remploy workers their hope of dignity,
So when the honours list comes round and her maj drapes medals on the achievers of this year, I hope that she acknowledges the contributions of the brave and the mutilated, the sick and the unfortunate that have indeed done us proud this summer.
Friday 31 August 2012
Thursday 23 August 2012
Less than two weeks ago, the country performed a lap of honour aboard the band waggon of Olympic champion Jessica Ennis.
This week the wheels fell off the waggon, as we were reminded just how far we have(n't) come with our attitude towards sexism.
Former Celebrity big brother contestant, George Galloway stumbled into controversy again by claiming Julian Assange, accused of rape, is guilty of nothing more than bad sexual etiquette.
It has been said that opinions are like arse holes- everyone has one. This may be true, but we don't need to see or hear every arse hole. That said, i do believe that people elected to act and speak on our behalf are entitled to voice their opinion, whether we agree with it or not. It is more dangerous to censor those opinions and force such ludicrous ideas underground to fester. Britain has become so politically correct, that we are outraged by any view that is not unoffensive.
The arguments surrounding Galloway's comments proved that women are still in some circles considered to be less than equal to us men.
On twitter this week, some of the comments of "support" from men was almost on a par with patting them on the bottom and telling them not to worry their pretty little heads about Mr Galloway.
There was an argument that one of the ladies involved in the accusation, went to his hotel so she got what she asked for.
If a man went to a hotel room for a drink with another man, because he was interesting, and ended up being raped by the man, would we say he was asking for it? Absolutely not!
Also in the news this week was a 14 year old boy in Manchester, who was raped in a public toilet in broad daylight after being taken from a busy shopping centre. He was no more or less a victim than any female rape victim, yet I doubt a single person said he asked for it.
The alleged victim of Mr Assange was named in one article, totally disregarding her right to anonymity. There is clear evidence that not protecting victims identity severely reduces the number of victims willing to come forward after being raped.
Many men it seems, know it is unacceptable to be sexist in public, but still harbour deep seated beliefs that women do not deserve the same rights as men. They feel they should stand up and say that Mr Galloway was wrong and that Assange should be jailed, while actually thinking that neither of them did or said little wrong.
Some even seem to feel hurt by the idea of equality, claiming that equality is weighed heavily in favour of women.
Positive discrimination will make this worse. Equal rights should be just that equal. If a woman does the same job as a man, she deserves to be paid the same money. If a woman applies for a job and is equally qualified as her male counter part, she should be judged purely on merit.
If she is raped, she deserves the same empathy and justice that a man receives. If she says no, or even fails to give her consent, it is rape. Mr Galloway said in his defence of Assange, that a man does not need to get permission prior to each insertion. Any reasonable decent human being can tell when sex is consensual. If in doubt, leave it out.. as a clue Mr Galloway and Assange, it is normally required that the recipient be awake or conscious at least.
There was a story in the paper about a cheerleader in America, who was punished for not cheering the man who raped her, while footballers are allowed to refuse hand shakes with opponents that have offended them without fear of recrimination..
You would think, or at least hope, that over thirty years after we had our first and only female prime minister, that as a nation we would at least treat the rights of females equal to those of men.
Sadly, this is not the case.
A recent survey showed that the average wage of men working full time in this country is £531. The average woman only earns £426.
This will not change by people being afraid to discuss it. There needs to be open and honest discussion so that we can put to bed the attitudes that have kept women in their place since the 50's.
We need idiots, bigots and macho spokesmen like George Galloway to highlight these issues. We need the government not to promote women just because they are women, but to legislate so employers guilty of sexism can be punished.
We need laws that protect victims identities so that people are not afraid to speak out. We need laws that punish properly, the people found guilty of such crimes. We need for people to stop claiming mock offence at petty comments made by ignorant people and welcome the fact that men and women are different to each other but none is superior and none has more rights.
This week the wheels fell off the waggon, as we were reminded just how far we have(n't) come with our attitude towards sexism.
Former Celebrity big brother contestant, George Galloway stumbled into controversy again by claiming Julian Assange, accused of rape, is guilty of nothing more than bad sexual etiquette.
It has been said that opinions are like arse holes- everyone has one. This may be true, but we don't need to see or hear every arse hole. That said, i do believe that people elected to act and speak on our behalf are entitled to voice their opinion, whether we agree with it or not. It is more dangerous to censor those opinions and force such ludicrous ideas underground to fester. Britain has become so politically correct, that we are outraged by any view that is not unoffensive.
The arguments surrounding Galloway's comments proved that women are still in some circles considered to be less than equal to us men.
On twitter this week, some of the comments of "support" from men was almost on a par with patting them on the bottom and telling them not to worry their pretty little heads about Mr Galloway.
There was an argument that one of the ladies involved in the accusation, went to his hotel so she got what she asked for.
If a man went to a hotel room for a drink with another man, because he was interesting, and ended up being raped by the man, would we say he was asking for it? Absolutely not!
Also in the news this week was a 14 year old boy in Manchester, who was raped in a public toilet in broad daylight after being taken from a busy shopping centre. He was no more or less a victim than any female rape victim, yet I doubt a single person said he asked for it.
The alleged victim of Mr Assange was named in one article, totally disregarding her right to anonymity. There is clear evidence that not protecting victims identity severely reduces the number of victims willing to come forward after being raped.
Many men it seems, know it is unacceptable to be sexist in public, but still harbour deep seated beliefs that women do not deserve the same rights as men. They feel they should stand up and say that Mr Galloway was wrong and that Assange should be jailed, while actually thinking that neither of them did or said little wrong.
Some even seem to feel hurt by the idea of equality, claiming that equality is weighed heavily in favour of women.
Positive discrimination will make this worse. Equal rights should be just that equal. If a woman does the same job as a man, she deserves to be paid the same money. If a woman applies for a job and is equally qualified as her male counter part, she should be judged purely on merit.
If she is raped, she deserves the same empathy and justice that a man receives. If she says no, or even fails to give her consent, it is rape. Mr Galloway said in his defence of Assange, that a man does not need to get permission prior to each insertion. Any reasonable decent human being can tell when sex is consensual. If in doubt, leave it out.. as a clue Mr Galloway and Assange, it is normally required that the recipient be awake or conscious at least.
There was a story in the paper about a cheerleader in America, who was punished for not cheering the man who raped her, while footballers are allowed to refuse hand shakes with opponents that have offended them without fear of recrimination..
You would think, or at least hope, that over thirty years after we had our first and only female prime minister, that as a nation we would at least treat the rights of females equal to those of men.
Sadly, this is not the case.
A recent survey showed that the average wage of men working full time in this country is £531. The average woman only earns £426.
This will not change by people being afraid to discuss it. There needs to be open and honest discussion so that we can put to bed the attitudes that have kept women in their place since the 50's.
We need idiots, bigots and macho spokesmen like George Galloway to highlight these issues. We need the government not to promote women just because they are women, but to legislate so employers guilty of sexism can be punished.
We need laws that protect victims identities so that people are not afraid to speak out. We need laws that punish properly, the people found guilty of such crimes. We need for people to stop claiming mock offence at petty comments made by ignorant people and welcome the fact that men and women are different to each other but none is superior and none has more rights.
Friday 17 August 2012
With the biggest signing of the summer happening on the eve of the new season, Manchester United fans will have to wait until Monday to see if Robin Van Persie can justify the £24m and help bring the trophy back to the red side of Manchester. United meet an Everton side who have signed no one and sold their best two players on Monday night. With Jack Rodwell going to the other side of Manchester and Tim Cahill leaving for the States, it is hard see any other result than a Manchester United victory.
Champions City face newly promoted Southampton at home on Sunday. Other than Rodwell, City have been remarkably quiet by their standards in the transfer market although the wealth of talent they already have should be able to mount a serious campaign to regain the title. Argentine rebel of last season Carlos Tevez, looks ready for action as he returned from pre-season a stone lighter than last season.
Chelsea also play Sunday as they travel to Wigan. The big talking point of that game will be Victor Moses, a summer target for the Blues. He looks set to start for the Latics in what could be his last game before joining Chelsea for a fee rumoured to be around £10m.
The most interesting Premier League game of opening day promises to be Newcastle and Spurs at the Sports Direct Arena. Both teams looked destined for Champions League football last season, but both ended up this seasons Europa League. With last seasons Tyne side heroes, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse both doubtful for the curtain raiser, Toon manager Alan Pardew will be wishing he had managed to regain the services of £35million reject Andy Carrol from Liverpool.
New Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas will be hoping hoping for an improvement in his reputation after his ill fated time at Stamford Bridge.
Ambitious QPR will of course be without Joey Barton but could field a host of new signings including Park ji Sung and Junior Hoilett. They face Swansea at Loftus Road as the Swans play their first competitive game since losing highly rated manager Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool. Michael Laudrop takes charge of Swansea for his first managerial game in the Premier league.
Meanwhile Rodgers kicks off his first season as Reds boss as Liverpool travel to Steve Clarke's West Brom at the Hawthornes.
In the Championship, Niel Warnock's Leeds United start at home to newly relegated Wolves, who start life back in the second tier under new manager Stale Solbakken.
Newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday return to the Championship after two seasons in league 1, away at Derby, hoping the good run of form they found at the end of last season continues. Dave Jones' summer recruit Chris Kirkland is due to start at Pride Park.
Birmingham are at home to last seasons League one run away champions Charlton while Steve Bruce starts his reign as Hull manager at home to Gus Poyet's Brighton. Both teams could be favourites for promotion at the end of the season.
Blackburn manager, Steve Keen will be hoping for victory away at Ipswich as he was apparantly told earlier in the week that he will be sacked from the Lancashire side, relegated last season, if they lose their opening few games.
Watford boss Gianfranco Zola should push the others with the Udinese backing his club enjoys.
In League 1, Sheffield United look to overcome two penalty shoot out defeats in the last two games as the welcome Shrewsbury Town to Bramall Lane.
Coventry start life in the third tier for the first time in over 40 years away to Yoevil.
Portsmouth start the day at home to Bournemouth after releasing all of their senior players and fielding a team of teenagers in the league cup defeat last week.
Who will take the honours this season?
I think the Premier League will be a two horse Manchester race, with the signing of Van Persie proving the difference. I expect Ferguson's United to take the title. City should be runners up and i would like to Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea contending the top spots while i think Liverpool will take a while to adjust to life after King Kenny. With Everton looking vulnerable too, a glum season is in store for Mersey side. Watch out for Fernando Torres to rub salt in the wounds with a good season at Chelsea.
At the other end i think Reading will find the step up a step too far, and i can see a former really big club like Aston Villa fighting for survival again. Many will hope that the unpopular QPR will join them, but i suspect the summer signings and the possibility of the cheque book coming out again in January,will steer them clear of danger.
The top of the Championship should be a good battle this season with Steve Bruce and Niel Warnock looking to build on their track records for promotion and don't rule out Milan Manderic's Owls to surprise a few and mount a challenge to return to the Premiership.
Birmingham and Charlton will be hard to beat also.
In League 1 I don't see Sheffield United repeating last seasons form, with no money they will struggle this season and i would expect the founders of the football league, Notts County to dominate that division and Coventry looking to bounce back at the first attempt.
My Tips for the season
Premier League Champions. Manchester United.
Runners up . Manchester City
Whipping boys Reading
Top scorer in Premier League- Fernando Torres
Championship
Champions Hull
Runners up Sheffield Wednesday
Bottom Bristol City
Champions City face newly promoted Southampton at home on Sunday. Other than Rodwell, City have been remarkably quiet by their standards in the transfer market although the wealth of talent they already have should be able to mount a serious campaign to regain the title. Argentine rebel of last season Carlos Tevez, looks ready for action as he returned from pre-season a stone lighter than last season.
Chelsea also play Sunday as they travel to Wigan. The big talking point of that game will be Victor Moses, a summer target for the Blues. He looks set to start for the Latics in what could be his last game before joining Chelsea for a fee rumoured to be around £10m.
The most interesting Premier League game of opening day promises to be Newcastle and Spurs at the Sports Direct Arena. Both teams looked destined for Champions League football last season, but both ended up this seasons Europa League. With last seasons Tyne side heroes, Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse both doubtful for the curtain raiser, Toon manager Alan Pardew will be wishing he had managed to regain the services of £35million reject Andy Carrol from Liverpool.
New Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas will be hoping hoping for an improvement in his reputation after his ill fated time at Stamford Bridge.
Ambitious QPR will of course be without Joey Barton but could field a host of new signings including Park ji Sung and Junior Hoilett. They face Swansea at Loftus Road as the Swans play their first competitive game since losing highly rated manager Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool. Michael Laudrop takes charge of Swansea for his first managerial game in the Premier league.
Meanwhile Rodgers kicks off his first season as Reds boss as Liverpool travel to Steve Clarke's West Brom at the Hawthornes.
In the Championship, Niel Warnock's Leeds United start at home to newly relegated Wolves, who start life back in the second tier under new manager Stale Solbakken.
Newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday return to the Championship after two seasons in league 1, away at Derby, hoping the good run of form they found at the end of last season continues. Dave Jones' summer recruit Chris Kirkland is due to start at Pride Park.
Birmingham are at home to last seasons League one run away champions Charlton while Steve Bruce starts his reign as Hull manager at home to Gus Poyet's Brighton. Both teams could be favourites for promotion at the end of the season.
Blackburn manager, Steve Keen will be hoping for victory away at Ipswich as he was apparantly told earlier in the week that he will be sacked from the Lancashire side, relegated last season, if they lose their opening few games.
Watford boss Gianfranco Zola should push the others with the Udinese backing his club enjoys.
In League 1, Sheffield United look to overcome two penalty shoot out defeats in the last two games as the welcome Shrewsbury Town to Bramall Lane.
Coventry start life in the third tier for the first time in over 40 years away to Yoevil.
Portsmouth start the day at home to Bournemouth after releasing all of their senior players and fielding a team of teenagers in the league cup defeat last week.
Who will take the honours this season?
I think the Premier League will be a two horse Manchester race, with the signing of Van Persie proving the difference. I expect Ferguson's United to take the title. City should be runners up and i would like to Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea contending the top spots while i think Liverpool will take a while to adjust to life after King Kenny. With Everton looking vulnerable too, a glum season is in store for Mersey side. Watch out for Fernando Torres to rub salt in the wounds with a good season at Chelsea.
At the other end i think Reading will find the step up a step too far, and i can see a former really big club like Aston Villa fighting for survival again. Many will hope that the unpopular QPR will join them, but i suspect the summer signings and the possibility of the cheque book coming out again in January,will steer them clear of danger.
The top of the Championship should be a good battle this season with Steve Bruce and Niel Warnock looking to build on their track records for promotion and don't rule out Milan Manderic's Owls to surprise a few and mount a challenge to return to the Premiership.
Birmingham and Charlton will be hard to beat also.
In League 1 I don't see Sheffield United repeating last seasons form, with no money they will struggle this season and i would expect the founders of the football league, Notts County to dominate that division and Coventry looking to bounce back at the first attempt.
My Tips for the season
Premier League Champions. Manchester United.
Runners up . Manchester City
Whipping boys Reading
Top scorer in Premier League- Fernando Torres
Championship
Champions Hull
Runners up Sheffield Wednesday
Bottom Bristol City
Thursday 9 August 2012
So a fabulous summer of sport is almost over. European championships provided us with a prolonged football season, ( if only as spectators) and then the glorious London Olympics inspired us all to dig out our plimsolls and shell suits and join the gym, again.. But what happens when the band waggon comes to an abrupt end in a few days time?
Will the shine of those gleaming gold medals fade or will the legacy of the games be to actually benefit the rest of the country for generations?
There has been plenty of reporting on the ratio of medals per private school compared to state school. How many comprehensives have a rowing lake? asked free school champion Toby Young this week.
How many comprehensive schools have a sports academy?
It is yet another example of the rich being able to afford the opportunity to succeed.
State school pupils can only dream of the kind of facilities on offer to the better off kids. Not only are they unable to access the same facilities at school but cannot afford to join the clubs either. How many working class families from poorer backgrounds can afford to send little Harvey off to yachting club at the weekend or little Gideon off to a cycling club? Many of them cant even afford a bike let alone a club membership.
London Mayor, Boris Johnson says he wants school children to do PE for two hours every day. Is this the answer? Of course not. Typical Tory patronising, well meant but not really thought out.
Most kids don't even want to do PE once a week. How will they react to being forced to do it for two hours a day? They will rebel against it and probably write them selves a sick note. It is quite likely the only game they will be playing is truant.
What is needed is inspiration from teachers. Unfortunately, it the governments policy to discourage the best people from joining the teaching profession by raping their pensions and trying to discredit their unions. As a father of two young children i want the very best people to teach them. My wife and I entrust them to the care of school for more hours of the day than I spend with them.
If my children get sick i want to know that the doctors and nurses that treat them are the best available.
Why shouldn't teachers get well rewarded to do one of the most responsible jobs in the world?
Teachers are not just expected to teach the syllabus these days, in many schools teachers are also responsible for teaching right from wrong, morals,and sex education. Some parents don't even own a single book. Some of them see it as the job of teachers to enable their children to read, others simply cant afford books. For me the very best teachers are those who can inspire. Sadly even the most inspirational teachers cannot work magic with no help. The government needs to think of ways to facilitate the inspiration, not just legislate for it.
If we want to see equality in sport in this country, we need to see equality in life. We will never achieve this while the rich and powerful dominate and control every aspect of our life. I agree with Dennis Mcshane's suggestion that we need more working class MPs. I'm not sure his idea of how to achieve it is plausible but the idea would be a good start. We also need more working class athletes, gymnasts, cyclists and teachers. Come on Britain, make the most of London 2012
Will the shine of those gleaming gold medals fade or will the legacy of the games be to actually benefit the rest of the country for generations?
There has been plenty of reporting on the ratio of medals per private school compared to state school. How many comprehensives have a rowing lake? asked free school champion Toby Young this week.
How many comprehensive schools have a sports academy?
It is yet another example of the rich being able to afford the opportunity to succeed.
State school pupils can only dream of the kind of facilities on offer to the better off kids. Not only are they unable to access the same facilities at school but cannot afford to join the clubs either. How many working class families from poorer backgrounds can afford to send little Harvey off to yachting club at the weekend or little Gideon off to a cycling club? Many of them cant even afford a bike let alone a club membership.
London Mayor, Boris Johnson says he wants school children to do PE for two hours every day. Is this the answer? Of course not. Typical Tory patronising, well meant but not really thought out.
Most kids don't even want to do PE once a week. How will they react to being forced to do it for two hours a day? They will rebel against it and probably write them selves a sick note. It is quite likely the only game they will be playing is truant.
What is needed is inspiration from teachers. Unfortunately, it the governments policy to discourage the best people from joining the teaching profession by raping their pensions and trying to discredit their unions. As a father of two young children i want the very best people to teach them. My wife and I entrust them to the care of school for more hours of the day than I spend with them.
If my children get sick i want to know that the doctors and nurses that treat them are the best available.
Why shouldn't teachers get well rewarded to do one of the most responsible jobs in the world?
Teachers are not just expected to teach the syllabus these days, in many schools teachers are also responsible for teaching right from wrong, morals,and sex education. Some parents don't even own a single book. Some of them see it as the job of teachers to enable their children to read, others simply cant afford books. For me the very best teachers are those who can inspire. Sadly even the most inspirational teachers cannot work magic with no help. The government needs to think of ways to facilitate the inspiration, not just legislate for it.
If we want to see equality in sport in this country, we need to see equality in life. We will never achieve this while the rich and powerful dominate and control every aspect of our life. I agree with Dennis Mcshane's suggestion that we need more working class MPs. I'm not sure his idea of how to achieve it is plausible but the idea would be a good start. We also need more working class athletes, gymnasts, cyclists and teachers. Come on Britain, make the most of London 2012
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