Red Sieve or Red Peril

Chiefs Post Season Chances

What a roller coaster! Where to start? Kareem Hunt.

What a tragedy for a young professional sportsman. It was interesting to see Arrowhead Pride take down the fan comment feed shortly after it was announced that Hunt would be released (fire effectively) with immediate effect. Whilst on a human level it is right to feel compassion for Kareem, on a professional level the Chiefs organization acted swiftly and correctly. Notwithstanding the obvious, Kareem lied to his employers about an alleged assault. In most occupations this is grounds for instant dismissal. Chiefs fans who really think some other plan might have worked are seriously deluded. Mr Hunt has left the building and he’s not coming back.

What consolation there is may be gained from knowing that in the medium to long term excellent running backs are not in short supply. With Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware set to become a running back by committee with Darrell Williams the Chiefs are not short of bodies. None, however can match the skill set of Hunt. Fans should just consider that he had a season-ending injury and move on. That’s the only choice.

Next: The Chiefs sighed Kelvin Benjamin today to bolster their receiving corps. It’s a one year deal. Not a problem. Benjamin gives them cover in a skill position. How much he plays is another question. He’s a good player. It’s a good move.

Negative: Eric Berry; Chiefs’ Thursday injury report vs. Ravens: Eric Berry limited again, could be on snap count if active Sunday. No-one can really figure out what the Berry situation is! He’s been on the roster all year and has not played a down. Common sense would tell you that the Chiefs believe he will be able to play sometime this season or they would have put him on injured reserve by now. Then again – if he does play can he really “fix” what is the worst KC defence ever? I can’t see how.

History tell you that the best way to have a successful post-season run is to lock down home field advantage. Right now the Chiefs are the Number One seed in the AFC. Can they hold that spot? We may learn on Sunday when they entertain the Ravens. The Ravens are fighting for their lives and will prove a stern test. Beating them would go a long way towards getting the number one spot. Oh, wait a minute they also have the surging Chargers (home) and Seattle (away) to overcome. The number one spot doesn’t really look so easy now – does it? Then again – even the number two seed is good – at least you get a week off. And, even playing the Pats in the AFC Championship game in Foxboro doesn’t look all that frightening. Sum up: Barring real disaster, Chiefs make the play-offs.

How far could they go?

Not too far.

Why?

They have no defence. Even with an average defence they would have a chance. The one they have is so far behind average that it makes anyone else’s look good. The truth is the Chiefs are wholly dependent on Patrick Mahomes – who has delivered a miracle of a season so far. Should he get hurt – finito!

The Chiefs are one draft and one free-agency away from a Super Bowl. And, not just an appearance, but winning the whole tamale. Fans would do well not to get caught up in the hype, enjoy the ride as long as it lasts and look forward with optimism. Fact: defense wins Super Bowls. End of.

Update: Chiefs beat the Raiders easily to secure the number one spot in the AFL Play-offs.  The Colts beat Houston easily to set up a match at Arrowhead next Saturday.  Mal's worst nightmare

Chiefs Prospects 18

A new day dawns

By this time, with the first game only hours away, I would have normally made my pre-season prognostication, but a change is as good as a rest.

So I have waited to see the Chiefs depth chart before penning any thoughts. Maybe I’ll do better?

One thing is for sure with a new QB in place and in charge things will be different, How good or how bad? Only time will tell. Partrick Mahomes is listed as the starter with Chad Henne as back-up. Mahomes will make mistakes – all rookies do. How many and of what sort will decide the season.

What weapons does he have at his disposal?

Offence

The wide-outs are: Tyreek Hill (speed to burn who scares the pants off defenders), Demarcus Robinson (don’t like him, never did, hope I’m wrong), De’Anthony Thomas (again speed to burn), Sammy Watkins (brought in specially to be the number one target – did little in pre-season to justify the huge contract), Chris Conley (always liked him – hoping for a break-out year), and Marcus Kemp (unknown quantity). There should be enough weapons here for Mahomes to score touchdowns. Running backs: Kareem Hunt (spectacular rookie season, can he keep it up?, Spencer Ware (returning now fully fit – we’ll see), Damian Williams (unknown quantity – probably a special teamer), and Darrel Williams (ditto) Don’t forget RB’s are the QB’s best friend. If a run offence can be generated to help Mahomes – great. If not he just becomes cannon fodder. Anthony Sherman is the fullback and has been for years, Dependable and great on Special Teams.

The Offensive Line

Left tackle: Eric Fisher (are his best years ahead of him or is he just going to be average forever?),

Can Erving is his serviceable backup.

Left guard: Andrew Wylie is listed (no back-up – he better be good),

Center: Mitch Morse (ex-Missouri Tiger and a crowd favourite is the stater, backed up by Jordan Devey and Austin Reiter – both destined for some game time and lots of special teams action.

Right guard: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (crowd love him – I've never been convinced.) Ike Boettiger is the back-up (never heard of him).

Right tackle: Mitchell Swartz starts (a crowd favourite) backed up again by Cam Irving

Tight end: Travis Kelce (all-pro – hope he avoids injury his back up is Alex Ellis (unknown)

Significantly the tribe did not use either draft picks or free-agency to shore up the O-line. I hope they are right but I fear they are not. Forgetting Mahomes for a moment, these guys are the bread and butter of any team.

Defence

The real weakness of the team last season.

Left DE: Chris Jones (can he repeat his form of most of last season?, Jarvis Jenkins(special teamer?)

Nose tackle: Xavier Williams (Chiefs couldn’t stop a 10 year old last season – he better be good), Back-up Derrick Nnadi (good back up)

Right DE: Allen Bailey (part of last year’s group) backed up by Justin Hamilton (special-teamer?)

LOLB: Justin Houston (once terrorized the opposition – how much is left in the tank?) Tanoh Kpassagnon is the back up (an enigma wrapped up in a riddle – we’ll see)

LILB: Anthony Hitchens, Terence Smith and Dorian O’Daniel are listed. (they better be better than last year’s crew or the season is over before it starts)

RILB: Reggie Ragland (crowd favourite – I’m not convinced) Back-up is Ben Nieman

ROLB: Dee Ford (if he’s fit he is fantastic) His Back-up (Breeland Speaks) should get plenty of playing time.

LCB: Steven Nelson (never like him – must improve), Orlando Scandrick (must be ready to play on day one), Charvarius Ward ( I don’t trust players with names like Charvious, sorry)

RCB: Kendall Fuller (big shoes to fill). Tremon Smith (not well-known back-up)

Safety Eric Berry (the heart of the team – questionable to start game one) Eric Murray (good enough?) Ron Parker (previous reject brought back?), Armani Watts (was supposed to be good), Jordan Lucas (unlnown).

Dustin Colquitt returns to punt and Winchester is the long-snapper.

Prediction time: the pundits are all over the place. Some even see a Super Bowl season. I all goes well they win 10 games. Super well – 11 and the Division Champs. Super bad – 8-8 and no-where.

My money is on 10-6 but I have no real faith in it.

We find out a lot tonight as they take on the Charger (many folks favourites for the division in game one). Ask me after this one!

Brexs***

Brexit Scuppered?

I saw a great bumper sticker on my way back from Bath the other day. It just said Brexshit.

Because I was bored hanging abound waiting for some friends – no not bored with the friends, just bored from waiting, I decided to buy a Times to read. Got the day wrong and it was the Saturday edition, not the Sunday Times which I buy every week without fail.

Incidentally, Bath is quite interesting – in a Milton Keynes sort of way. Like the new town in Bucks, it is uniformly uniform. Where ever you are it looks essentially the same. Bath’s charm is that it is old whereas Milton Keynes is a modern invention.

I digress. In the Times was an article by Ben Machess entitled “In just three years we will have a population that voted remain”.

One recent poll suggests that 48% of voters back the idea of a referendum on the terms of the final deal.

Interesting? But an anathema to the real hard-core Brexiteers. Their mantra goes. “We have had the referendum and that’s it. We have to get on and leave.” They insist that to have another vote is a betrayal of democracy. (Sorry, can’t see the logic there.)

Two points: the 2014 referendum was actually the second one on the EU.

The United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum was a public vote that took place on 5 June 1975, on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Communities which was principally the European Economic Community (the Common Market) as it was known at the time.

Results Votes %

Yes 17,378,581 67.23%

No 8,470,073 32.77%

Valid votes 25,848,654 99.79%

Brexiteers don’t talk about this at all.

Status of referendums. ... Referendums are not legally binding, so legally the Government can ignore the results; for example, even if the result of a pre-legislative referendum were a majority of "No" for a proposed law, Parliament could pass it anyway, because parliament is sovereign.

So. if Dave Cameron had any cojones he could have just said, “Wow – what a close one – so close the government will now look at the options. No balls.

Second point: Referenda are very bad ways of organising this country – or any country for that matter. The devil is in he detail – or the question – ask the “right” question and you can get some very different answers.

Leading the campaign for another vote is Femi Oluole, the co-founder of Our Future, Our Choice . . . the law graduate from Darlington has spent this year hammering home a simple point: young people do not want Brexit but are the ones who will have to live with the consequences.

Femi tells us that he gets on-line abuse every two minutes and racial abuse every other day. One of his key arguments rests on demographics. By 2021 we will have a population that voted to remain. . . enough Brexiteers will have died and been replaced by Remain favouring young voters to make Britain more pro-EU than against.

The fact remains that young people have only themselves for the mess. 73% of registered 18 to 24 year-olds voted Remain, but their turnout was about 64%. 90% of Leave voting 65 year-olds turned out. That did it for Leave.

Who couldn’t vote?

The flip-side of “who can vote” is “who can’t vote”.

You can’t vote in the referendum if you’re under 18, even in Scotland, where people that age could vote in the independence referendum.

And you can’t vote if you’re an EU citizen living here, unless you’re from Ireland, Malta or Cyprus. Ireland has always had special treatment, and the other two countries are in the Commonwealth as well as the EU.

British citizens living abroad for more than 15 years can’t vote either. This was unsuccessfully challenged in the courts.

Non-UK nations, as above, could not vote. Hard to see how this was fair. Gerrymandering has a long and proud tradition in the UK.

Femi tells us that Dave Cameron never once tried to explain what he single market was. He says he can do it in 20 seconds. He made a video explaining the single market in terms of beer production.

On a radio talk show with Nigel Farage he forced the UKIPPER Supremo to admit that EU treaties did, in theory, allow member states to restrict immigration.

Femi is also convinced that in the end self-preservation means that a new vote will happen. The UK politicians will try to CYOA when it becomes apparent that the cost of Brexit is just going to be too high. He is convinced that a new vote can only happen after the deal is on the table. This was the problem with the 2016 vote – no details were available.

Hardly a day goes by without some new problem arising. Dominic Rabb – the new Brexit Secretary is only now publishing the governments assessments of the impact of Brexit on various sectors of the economy. They do not make pleasant reading to anyone – either Brexiteer of Re-moaner.

A good example is news today about the European sat nav system. The EU says we cannot be in it if we are not in the EU. The government says, OK we’ll do our own. Nah, nah, nah!

Cost: up to 100 million pounds.

The hits just keep on coming!

Brino or Draino

Draino is a well-known American drain cleaner known to release blockages – particularly a build-up of compacted faeces. Most appropriate in the circumstances. Brino is a kind of acronym for Brexit in name only (could this be the love that dare not speak it’s name?)

Looks as if we are, at last, approaching some kind of Brexit cabinet agreement on the eventual outcome of the decision in 2014 to leave the EU. (Screams of “about time too” are heard in the background).

Without re-running the whole Leave/Not Leave schmozzle, it’s time to take stock of where we are, how we got there and where we go next.

Two salient points which have mostly gotten lost or just been ignored recently. One – the 2014 referendum was the second UK-wide referendum on this subject. In the first, people voted substantially to remain in the EU – or whatever it was called then. That decision must also be respected. Times changed. In 2014 people voted narrowly to leave. That decision must be respected. We hear a lot of politicians using the word “respected”. Good word. What does it mean? (Answers on a post card) 

It rather depends which side of the argument you are on. Both sides say we all must respect the result, but both sides then go on to assert that they will only respect the decisions which conforms to their own ideas/prejudices. (Not an Aretha Franklin sort of respect at all?)

So, we are left with the last result stands.

Today Mrs May gathers her cabinet at Chequers for a marathon session to finally agree and put the UK position on record. (Hallelujah, cries the multitude!) That’s where we are now. Reports are that she will agree to what is termed a “soft” Brexit. Problem: many in her cabinet and in the country think this is a betrayal. She may argue that this is the best we can get and the only hope of the EU accepting her plan. She may well win the day but lose the war. (useful to remember that the 2014 referendum was a direct result of two seemingly unrelated events/situations – firstly David Cameron was scared to the point of soiling his underwear that UKIP would mean a Labour government by default unless he headed them off at the pass – he just didn’t factor in how his promise of a referendum designed to scupper UKIP would work if he won the election and had to deliver! (Wonder how Dave sleeps at night?)

We must digress slightly at this point, for at the end of the day membership of the EU is a political decision. Ted Heath, a Conservative Prime Minister, took us into Europe. Why? Having been rebuffed by DeGaulle for many years he pulled out all the stops to get us in. Heath realised that the demise of the Commonwealth (yes I know it still exists, but it is not as it was - with Britain calling all the shots and denuding India of goods, the Caribbean of people, Australia and New Zealand of sheep and Africa of raw materials.) meant that the UK would be isolated and in perpetual financial crisis. The EU was our only hope.

(You may remember that joining the EU was a decision of Parliament – no referendum was either necessary or even proposed – this is only right in so far as the UK is a Kingdom and not a republic. Sovereignty resides with the Queen in parliament – not with the people. Would that Brexiteers would remember this when the spout off about the will of the people. The will of the people is changeable. Fact.)

The ideological basis for the EU for the Tories was/and is that the EU is primarily a capitalist club. Heath and other Conservative leaders were struggling with a Labour Party led by Michael Foot and featuring Tony Benn at the time of joining and now the threat of Jeremy Corbyn and his hard-left cronies has rightly scared the Tories. The 1970's Labour Party was diametrically opposed to joining the EU.

Hence they are busy trying to get some sort of Brexit (any sort really) going to avoid a future Labour government. This is short-sighted in the extreme – even for politicians. They should know this and be brave enough to remind the voters. One Parliament cannot bind another. A Brexit deal – no matter how fudged – cannot survive if a Labour or UKIP government deems it unacceptable.

Today, we are where we are. Where we will be in the future is the vexing question.

60% of under 25’s voted to remain in the EU. About 60% of the over 60’s voted the exact opposite way. Demographically the remainers have already won the day, if not the argument.

We wait to see what the deal is and whether it will prompt the EU to ease up.

We wait to see how after Brexit the prosperity of the country (at present all guess work and ranging from the sun-lit uplands to the slough of despondency) can be maintained.

Either way it will be interesting – if not fatal.

True Brit - the Windrush Scandal

SS Windrush

I am in the club. I am numbered among the congregation.

Watching the fulminations about the West Indian generation who came to Britain in the 1950’s and subsequently found that they were not as welcome as they either thought or were promised, brings to mind some experiences of mine.

For, I have the same bit of paper one of the victims was proudly clutching on TV last evening. It resides in my passport and except for its size it is identical. It’s dated 9 June 1975. It’s almost exactly like the TV one – except it is on A5 paper, not A4 (saving money in 1975?)

I dug out my old passport. On 8 June 1974 I entered the UK having debarked from the QE II at Southampton. My passport stamp says I have leave to enter the UK for two months. On 16 July I have another stamp which says my leave to remain will expire on 8 June 1975 – I confess I do not remember how I got that stamp. Finally I have a stamp from the Home Office on 9 Jun 1975 saying that the time limit to enter the UK is hereby removed.

Am I of the Windrush generation? No. I am neither black nor West Indian. The cut-off date for Windrush migrants, as reported in the press is 1974. I’m just a “legal” immigrant.

How did all this happen?

Well, in 1974 I graduated from Central Missouri State University and wanted to begin my teaching career. At the same time my wife was pregnant with our oldest son – now over 40. We decided to return to her country of origin. So, we did. At about that time there was a furore in the press regarding wives of British men who had come to the UK to join their husbands.

Was not what’s good for the goose, good for the gander? Eventually the government agreed and therefore husbands of British women were accorded the same rights. Hence my 9 June 75 passport stamp. Clear?

In the intervening years I had no problems citizenship-wise. I had vacations in the USA. I traveled on the continent. I went through immigration and customs without problems.

Once I lost my Home Office letter. Luckily, I arrived back at Heathrow from the US on the first plane to land that morning. Happy Days! I grabbed my luggage and rocked up to Immigration with no queue in sight! Very Happy Days! Because it was so early, I half expected to be waved on my way. No. The immigration officer quizzed me: where are you going? Norwich. Why? I live there. How long? 20-odd years. How am I supposed t know that? Damn it I lost my letter (soto voce) BTW- We had an Australian lady here who was stuck for weeks! Come on, give me a break, please? Okay, on your way. Lucky. I wonder how I might have fared if I had a black face? (I found the letter eventually and it is now safe again in my passport)

Is it stretching it to assume that the Windrush migrants were/are having so many problems because they are black? I don’t think so.

This is a result of government policy and TRUE BRIT. We must guard our borders! Why? We must be wary of strangers/foreigners. The WOGS start at Calais. This government – and to be fair – previous governments of all parties - have created an atmosphere where the Windrush migrants became easy targets. Immigration Officers believed they were carrying out government policy by making it as difficult as possible for black people to enter the homeland. What TOSH.

In his grave, and celebrating the Rivers of Blood speech he made 50 years ago, Enoch Powell must be having a good laugh at the mess he helped to create. The sooner the government and the people move on from the completely ridiculous idea that the whole world is laying siege to Britain the sooner we might get some compassion and sense into the problem. 

Two chances: fat and slim.

Economics 101

A wealth plan for the ages and for all

Now, I am the first to admit that I am functionally economically illiterate. I must point out that this in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. After all even though there is a loud and boisterous group who like to pretend that economics is a science, most people recognize that economics is to science as bookmaking is to wealth. The systems involved in each are, at best, enlightened guesswork and at worse ill-informed charlatanism.

I have long had an economic plan. This plan has been the subject of ridicule and approbation from all sides.

By way of illustration: it resembles my famous cherry-pie mathematics theory. Cherry-pie maths postulates what happens when you apply some mathematical principles to a cherry pie. For example, if you add one cherry pie to another cherry pie you get two cherry pies. OK?

Now if your multiply instead of add you get something different, so the mathematicians tell us. Where I come from, adding is like multiplying. Add two things together you get more. Multiply two things together you get more. (Like rabbits for example or cherry pies)

Therefore when the mathematicians tell you that 1x1 = 1 – hey! not where I come from! IF you multiply 1 cherry pie x another cherry pie – the maths genii say you get one cherry pie. Crazy – what ever happened to the law of conservation of mass and energy? Where did the rest of the pie go to?

No, multiplying one cherry pie by another cherry pie means you get two pies – not one!

Similarly, if you ask maths guys they will tell you that multiplying two negative numbers together creates a positive sum. So -10 x -10 = 100. Yeah, right.

In the real world if I go to Barclays bank and borrow £1000 pounds – go next door to HSBC borrow another £1000 and then ask them to multiply my borrowings together and send me the cheque for 1 000 000, they just won’t do it! (Go ahead, try it and see, but be prepared to be laughed at!)

Result: my cherry-pie maths is rooted in the real world. Economics is rooted in the mathematical world. And, the two rarely meet - and if they do it is usually with an earth-shattering collision.

How does this fit with my plan to exploit the economists? Simples.

Take as an example the National Lottery. Since it’s inception in November of 1994, the National Lottery has produced more than 4,750 millionaires. Gosh, that seems a lot – especially since I’m not one of them! Not only is it a lot of winners: it is also a lot of money. And, here is the important point: it (apparently) does not cause inflation – or indeed any other blip in the economic life of the nation. This could be because it is essentially self-financing – indeed there is money left over to give to good causes. In actuality the National Lottery is a wealth redistribution vehicle. It takes money from millions of citizens and gives it to a few.

I propose something similar. But, why not just cut out the middle man and give money directly to the public. There are about 27 million households in the UK.

For 2015/16, the overall NHS budget was around £116.4 billion. That’s about 5000 per year per household. The government seems content to fund this.. Of course, they could just give every household £ 5 000 and say you get your own healthcare – use it to buy health insurance for example. By way of comparison: How much does the US spend on healthcare per person?

$10,345 per person.

So, here in the UK we are content to let the government redistribute wealth through the NHS.

Why not let the government do this on an industrial scale?

My plan: the Chancellor writes to all 27 million households and tells them that on January 1, 2019 he is going to deposit 1 million pounds in their bank account. He explains that if asked he will, of course, deny this. All you have to do is provide the Inland Revenue with your bank account details and on Jan first the money will be deposited. The only proviso, if you haven’t spent the money by Jan 5 he will take it back.

I figure that 5-10 million households will think it’s a hoax and do nothing. Another 5-10 million will lose the letter, or forget or be so drunk after New Year they just fail to do anything. So, 10 million folks will get the million and spend it (oh, yeah, one more proviso). You can spend it either to pay off your debts or buy stocks, shares or bonds. Or a combination of either.

The result: the total cost to the exchequer will be about the same as the annual spend on the NHS. 

 

10 million households will no longer have a mortgage payment to find every month. Those 10 million will also own most of the shares in VW, GM, US Steel and South Africa’s diamond industry.

And, here’s the best bit, they will have paid for these non-perishable assets with mostly worthless paper currency, for the pound will sink like a rock. No real matter – that’s why only non-perishable assets are allowed. Makes no difference if the pound in your pocket is worthless, if you own real assets. Works for me. Also, the best bit is the economists will hate it!

From where I’m standing it looks like winning..

True Brit Part Two

No shortage of nonsense

If nothing else, Brexit has provided endless opportunities for examining the concept of True Brit.

For those with short memories let me explain. The True Brit believers hold these truths to be self-evident: Britain is the greatest country in the world; the rest of the world is both envious of Britain and at the same time plotting our downfall (Johnny Foreigner can not be trusted and WOGS begin at Calais); the British system of Parliamentary democracy (I'll say democracy though it is really an autocracy) is the best form of government and the envy of the world; British justice is far better than any other (only in the USA would the people elect their judges and in the EU the Court of Human Rights is to be mistrusted – if not downright dismissed as a plot to foil British ambitions); The NHS is the nearest thing to a national religion and provides not only universal healthcare but also the force that unifies the nation; and Britain’ s armed forces are the envy of the world and far superior to those of any other nation.

There’s a good place to start. Britain does have an enviable historical record on the military front. But, the key word here is “historical”. The fact is: not since about 1943 has Britain been able to hold its own against another world power. And that was chiefly because of the finance provided by the USA. Unfortunately, no-one in Britain believes this and politicians and population cling hysterically to the notion of Britain’s military might. Except in the realm of nuclear warheads, Britain is a third or fourth rate military force. Were it not for the stubbornness of the UK establishment this fact would be more widely accepted and some tangible benefits could be accrued on the defence front which might go a long way to solving some other, more pressing problems.

Take Trident for example. Governments of all persuasions have clung dogmatically to the idea of a British independent nuclear deterrent. This is in spite of the fact that it is a myth. Firstly is there a scenario where the UK could launch a nuclear strike on its own against an aggressor? Beyond unlikely!

Secondly, whilst the warheads may indeed be British, the submarine’s missiles are not. They are American. Would the US stand by and allow its missiles to be used against its wishes? Sorry, it’s Suez all over again! Conclusion: there is no real independent UK nuclear deterrent. So, why persist with the myth? Simples – it just reinforces the True Brit myth.

What about the conventional forces? Again it soothes the British psyche to imagine that they have the best Army, Navy and Air Force. True Brit is alive and well as long as the politicians can con the public into believing this for it makes the public happy to cough up billions on the wasted and useless defence mechanism that is Trident. (Actually, more and more mainstream politicians and commentators are beginning to see this and speak publicly about this waste of national resources. )

Just this week we find that the Royal Marines, current size 7020, is set to shrink by another 2000 marines.. The current size of the Army is about 80 000. The RAF has about 35 000 personnel. The Navy has 33 000 with 20 of the commissioned vessels being major surface combatants (six guided missile destroyers, 13 frigates and one aircraft carrier) and 10 are nuclear-powered submarines (four ballistic missile submarines and six fleet submarines). The fact is the UK has forces totally inadequate for the very small tasks they might be expected to do.

The really interesting part of this sorry saga is that the newspapers are full of stories like this. The one they particularly “like” is the “plan” by the EU to form a European Army. The media, politicians and the public are aghast and horrified! Why? True Brit strikes again. Pointing out that the UK has been co-operating with other EU counties in NATO for a very long time does nothing to assuage True Brit. Equating this long-standing co-operation with the foundation of an EU Army brings gasps of incredulity.

Moving on to another True Brit maxim: the NHS, of course, even causes Donald Trump to get in the news – and he doesn’t need much of an excuse to seek news opportunities I hear you say! The Donald jumped on the bandwagon by insisting the problems in the NHS are caused by the ideological wedding of a socialistic healthcare system to the failing British economy.

Notwithstanding the usual hyperbolic balderdash pedalled by the Donald, there is no doubt that the NHS is the nearest thing the UK has to a national religion any more (even though there is a real national religion in the Church of England). It is a True Brit maxim that the NHS is the envy of the world.

Then we have to add gun control to the list. The UK in general and the media in particular are obsessed by guns and gun control. They have no real understanding of the issues involved and the difficulties which need to be overcome. So, when POTUS finally moves a bit towards some rational, achievable measures to help, the outcry barely abates. It’s the truth that everyone says they like to mind their own business but no-one really means it. They would much rather everyone simply adopt their prejudices. True Brit loves to tell everyone else what to do. True Brit has all the answers. Blah. Blah, blah!

Facebook

How the internet gets it way wrong sometimes

A letter to a friend:

People (including me) sometimes sit at their computers and merrily type comments which seem innocuous or possibly humorous to them – but to other people they may be very thoughtless, offensive or downright silly. For that reason, I almost never use Facebook to express opinions on controversial topics – especially politics.

I was telling you about those two characters in my family, my nephew Brent (Ruthanne’s boy) and my nephew Rusty (son of my cousin Virginia). They are from the same general gene pool - but Brent is a bit to the right of Adolf Hitler, Barry Goldwater (remember both you and I supported him in 64!) and Attila the Hun. Rusty, on the other hand, makes Bernie Sanders, Che Guevara and Karl Marx look like arch-conservatives. Needless to say when these two nutters get to arguing (and I use the term “arguing” very loosely) on Facebook it is very ugly – but at the same time entertaining – if you like watching train wrecks that is. Me, I just watch what they age doing and occasionally chip in with something like – “hey, the answers are not usually to be found in black and white – it’s the shades of grey where you are more likely to find some sense”.

Needless to say, they ignore me, mostly.

I think it’s a product of age. When you get old youngsters just think you have lost it and should shuffle off the mortal coil quietly and shut up. (Perhaps, they are right)

My tactic is to use Facebook to look at photos of friends, family (particularly grandchildren) and keep track of the Chiefs and the Royals. (Interestingly, you can have a good, quality discussion with both Brent and Rusty about sport, Chiefs and Royals style – a topic we all agree on!!)

If I find the urge to spout off I use my blog. That way if anyone is actually interested in my opinion they have to navigate to the blog – i.e. it’s not on Facebook where almost anyone can see it. Seems sensible to me.

Regarding our President. I absolutely agree that every President belongs to the whole country, not just those who voted for him or only to those who share his opinions. We are all free to agree with him on matters of policy or to take another stance. Therefore the office of President deserves respect – not the actual office-holder.

Take “fake news”. This seems to be a favourite of the President. And, he is in many ways correct to point out that not everything has equal value out in cyberspace. The problem is many folks now-a-days are getting their “news” from Facebook and other non-verifiable sources.

The fact is there are some facts!

For example you can find people who believe Kennedy was shot by someone other than Lee Harvey Oswald. (Polls often show that a majority of American people support this idea) Most of the conspiracy theories are wrong, but entertaining. So, should we stop folks from blogging about the Kennedy assassination? No, of course not, everyone is entitled to take a view and express an opinion.

A better example: did the Russians try to influence the election of President Trump? There seems to be some evidence, but is it conclusive. No, not yet. And if they did, so what? Is it likely that significant numbers of voters could be swayed by Russian propaganda? Not likely. But and this is the important point – just like the Kennedy assassination, if you think they did you are perfectly entitled to do so and it is un-American to insist that those who hold that view are stupid, vile, or trying to subvert the electoral process. What opponents should be doing is finding facts to support their position, Same for the other side. Here’s where “fake news” comes in – it seems that a number of folks are not able to differentiate between some old bovine faeces on Facebook and even the semblance of a reliable fact.

This is a big problem.

I remember having an argument not long ago with James (you know, tall guy – father of Noam and Maya) about the Dutch Tulip Bulb speculation in the 17^th century. Most people think they know vaguely about this and use it as an example of how things can get out of hand by speculation (particularly in stocks and shares). To my chagrin, James turned out to be more right than I. A classic example of “the problem ain’t that folks are ignorant, it’s just that they know so damn much that ain’t true”.

(By the way this is another classic – most folks think it was Mark Twain who came up with this – no it was Josh Billings – you can look it up its a FACT)

Back to the bulbs. It turns out that the speculation in tulips was greatly over-estimated and many other factors led to the collapse of this particular market, Again, there is a lot of stuff on Facebook and the internet about Tulips – but you have to wade through the Bull dust to find out any real facts.

Most folks seem to have lost either the time or inclination to do this.

Likewise, folks can easily find information which reinforces their crazy, mistaken ideas. That don’t make it so!

Over this side of the pond we have the Brexiteers and the Remoaners. They argue, bicker and threaten each other with relish. They muster facts or pseudo-facts with abandon. But, of course, they never get any closer to agreement or understanding. Perhaps this penchant for self-centred preoccupation is just in our genes?

Chips on Yarmouth Market

Competition - Ha!  Ha!

I am a member of a very small, very exclusive club – I like Gt Yarmouth, always have. It has always seemed to me to be more a large village, rather than a small town. (It is, actually, the third largest town in Norfolk) When I lived near Yarmouth in the 1970’s the shopping trips were always to Yarmouth and no shopping trip was ever complete without the purchase of some chips from Yarmouth market. It’s good to know that the market is still alive and well and the chip stalls remain open (https://www.great-yarmouth.co.uk/shopping/market.aspx)

However, after only a few months of shopping in Yarmouth I noticed a really odd thing about the chip stalls on the market. They all sold their chips at the same price. I expect they still do so today. It just seemed odd that not one of the 10 or so chip stalls would cut their price to try and get more custom.

Then again, Yarmouth folk are funny, they will swear that the chips from their particular favourite stall are the best. I was never hung up on this, I’d just go for the one with the smallest queue.

But, where was the competition? It was explained to me (dummy foreigner) that the Yarmouth chips stalls, or more precisely the permits to run the chip stalls, were like the Yarmouth version of Standard Oil, the American Tobacco Company, the International Mercantile Marine Company, and the match companies controlled by Ivar Kreuger, the Match King. De Beers had a dominant role in the supply of diamonds.

Other trusts were formed by several companies, such as the Motion Picture Patents Company or Edison Trust which controlled the movie patents. Patents were also important to the Bell Telephone Company, as indicated by the massive litigation that came to be known as The Telephone Cases. - Wikipedia

The Yarmouth chip stalls were handed down within the family. No-one else could start a chip stall or buy a chip stall and therefore provide some healthy competition. Is it any wonder that all chips were the same price?

And now the news is filled with the demise of Carillion: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/22/carillion-privatisation-myth-councils-pfi-contracts

What’s the connection?

Back to Yarmouth. In the 80’s the Gt Yarmouth Borough Council built the Marina Centre. In a prime location on the sea front it was supposed to breathe new life into the town and provide somewhere for the beleaguered holiday-makers to go when it rained. It had a swimming pool (with a wave machine), an indoor sports area and eateries all under one roof. It cost some millions to build and the council provided the money, or they borrowed it I can’t remember which. In any event, instead of using the council’s own personnel to manage the Marina Centre (they have a perfectly good Tourism and Leisure section to this day), in their wisdom the GYBC (Gt Yarmouth Borough Council) employed a management company (like Carillion?) to manage the Marina Centre. The local paper, the Yarmouth Mercury, then ran stories every week for years about how the Marina Centre lost money – and lots of money – every year.

Strangely, it never occurred to them to find out why the fee paid to the management company almost exactly equalled the Marina Centre deficit.

It was easy really. When the GYBC or any government body actually manages something there is nowhere to pass the buck.

Yarmouth rate-payers who had a poor Marina Centre experience would ring their borough councillor and complain. The councillor would pick up the phone and speak to the management company, The councillor would then be able to tell his constituent that he had made the appropriate inquiries. Nothing got done but the council could pass the buck. That’s what they paid the management company for.

Sound familiar? It ought to for that’s what has been happening since the 80’s – not just in Yarmouth but everywhere. Companies like Carillion have been paid to take the flak. The government talks and talks about competition being a good thing, but works like hell to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Only the NHS escapes the management company malaise.  But, for how long?  I'm sure the government would love to unload the NHS on to Carillion, and they would if they thought they could get away with it!

The government talks and talks about how small businesses are the life-blood of the economy, yet they dish out multi-million pound contracts to very large companies which are no better than the robber-barons of old. For Carillion read Standard Oil.

Take the ill-fated and doomed NDR (the road to nowhere). When the Norfolk County Council were looking for someone to build this white elephant, their choice was limited at best. The contract was worth over 200 million pounds. Now me, you and Paddy with a few shovels and spades cannot build the NDR. Only a few companies have the resources which enable them to bid for the contract. Where’s the competition? There is no practical competition.

Eventually Balfour Beatty got the contract – though they were a lot smarter than Carillion (or maybe the NCC were a lot more stupid than the national government?)

https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/news/2017/11/councillors-to-consider-revised-ndr-budget

The point is competition for these type of contracts is just a myth designed to reassure the public and assuage the mega-morons in the Tory shires (and line a fair amount of Tory pockets at the same time through dividends and pension companies).

Only large companies have the resources to take on large building projects. Only the government has the resources to finance large building projects. Only the government itself can provide competition for Carilllion or Serco or uncle Tom Cobley and all.

This is now in vogue. “Let’s bring it back in house! Is the cry.”

From the same folks who sent it out in the first place.

Flying elephants are more likely to be spotted.

Laugh? I thought I’d cry!

One and Done - Minus the One

Chiefs Blow it Big Time

An historic loss and I watched the whole thing live courtesy of Sky Sports. Happy Days. I almost wish I had had the flu and only had to read about it the next day!

But no – like the live-streaming of a train wreck – you just have to watch even when you know the outcome is going to be a disaster.

UGLY: What was that call?

Marcus Mariota fumbled the football on the play, which Justin Houston recovered, but it was ruled a stoppage of forward progress, which cannot be challenged. This was the first of two questionable forward progress calls on the evening.

The Titans kicked a field goal to get on the board.

"Anyway that aside, I have to say that these rules now a days are getting very complicated and they are starting to pull at the fabric of the game. The forward progress call where Mariota fumbled was egregious and atrocious. The quarterback was standing still - the impact of the hit jarred the football loose and the referee decided to call his forward progress stopped - even though he was standing still looking downfield - negating an obvious fumble. The definition of a sack fumble has now been called into question. Calls like this should never happen and yet are becoming routine and familiar. These calls are absurd and way overcomplicated. So I wanted to open a discussion and see what people think should be done to stop this lunacy of calls. Instead of a rant I thought it may be constructive to have a discussion about solutions to a problem rather than being pissed that we follow the biggest choke artists in sports. Hence this post.”

“The odd thing was – at half time with the score 21-3 and I was thinking that if we can get a touchdown on the next possession maybe we can rest some of the starters for next week’s encounter with the Steelers. (Talk about some rose-coloured lenses).

Then the wheels not only came off but went rolling off indifferent directions. The running the ball plan was abandoned (it wasn’t working anyway). The injuries piled up (two were extremely critical – Travis Kelce and Chris Jones). The defense began to show their true form (the Greeks have a word for it “pathos”). Finally, Alex Smith (in what will surely be his last game in red) began to look confused and shell-shocked, as if “surely this can’t happen again!” Oh, yes it can and it did, Alex.

At the end of the day the truth is the Chiefs lost because they did not make enough good plays on either offence or defence. This self-evident analysis is only useful going forward if it forms the basis for progress.

Let’s start with the offence: where, at least, there were some bright sparks.

Alex Smith has been a great servant to the franchise, but next year he is just trade bait. Patrick Mahomes will be the QB and the Chiefs cannot afford to have Alex as a back-up. He goes for either high draft picks or a quality player which fills a need. We have the rushing leader in Kareem Hunt. That should be enough! No, it is not. In he Titans game, he was generally ineffective, whilst a much leas talented back got the glory for the Titans by pounding the Chiefs D-line. We could use a real pounder as compliment to Hunt. At Tight end we have Travis Kelce and when he got injured the game was lost. Demetrius Harris and Orson Charles are poor, and very poor respectively substitutes. The much talked-about Chiefs three tight end offence was shown to be nonsense. We need another proven tight end via the draft or free agency. The O-line has been poor all season. Some good games have only masked the inadequacies. Upgrades are required across the board. You simply cannot have a rookie QB with a poor O-line and a one-dimensional running game. The core of the problem is the receiving corps. Alex has been hampered all season by a lack of quality receivers to throw to. Mahomes will need proven NFL receivers and some top draft picks to come in and challenge for starting spots. The Chiefs have been making do with Tyreek Hill – who is not really a wide-receiver at all! Getting in some real big-bodied wide-outs who can catch the ball is the number one priority!

Moving on to Special Teams. What a disappointment. In the most critical game of the season they made one play – a fumble recovery on a punt. Result: no points. The Butt Kicker missed a chip shot. Shame to blame him but it comes with the job. He makes it and we probably win. Shame because he is very good and will have the job next season. Dustin Colquitt will be a free agent and may go. I can see a low draft pick being used on the next Chiefs career punter.

The Chiefs defense is overall graded at about D or C- at best. D-line needs help and players who could help are not on the roster. LB’s are D at best. Help! Help! The secondary is solid but needs another quality cornerback and a safety (even if Eric Berry returns and is in his old form.)

There are no mysteries here. You can call it a rebuilding year or a revamping year or a treading water exercise, call it what you will. Problem is almost every other team will be looking for the same things!

Still, until these issues are addressed and solved the next play-off win is a mirage in the distance.