Sunday 15 December 2013


BBC 

Today the world said goodbye to Nelson Mandela.  He was as I said before a great man, the BBC and other medias coverage of him however was far from great.  The great cause of the middle class liberals was apartheid in South Africa.  For years a small group, larger at important times, stood outside the embassy in London demanding an end to the colour bar.  Once Mandela arrived they went home.  Many journalists visited the country, often being hindered by the authorities as they reported on the conditions there.  To the followers of the cause Mandela was not just a politician, he was their hero, their star, their idol and they arrived in full to worship him at Christmas.  
I suspect however that he never gave them the same degree of adulation they gave him, Mandela was no fool.  He knew what was in a man, especially middle class Brits obsessed with their ideology, and never pandered to them.  he did however respond well, and indeed played up to, the honest support many Brits did in fact offer him and his cause.  Now he has gone and his nation continues, the people not much better off and the leaders happily wasting the cash.
But what about the other causes?
Not one middle class liberal ever stood outside an embassy governed by black leaders abusing or killing their own people.  Does black killing black make it acceptable perhaps?  Journalists may occasionally visit such places and send in clear reports of abuse and murder, but the liberals are not roused, it is after all safer to promote same sex marriage, abortion or whatever this weeks cause may be.  Actually campaigning against black leaders may in fact be called 'racist!'  Much of the rest of the nation fails to get excited, 'they are all the same after all' is the approach there.
'Love,' as in 'Love your neighbour,' is not the same as 'love your neghbour if it fits in with this weeks ideology,' that's just 'loving yourself'



Now I am not one to gloat!  Indeed such an attitude is s far from me that I have often been referred to as 'Mr Generous Heart' himself.  So when I noted the English weaving their merry way to Australia to play the colonials at the cricket I humbly let the occasion pass with no comment. That a comment regarding the loud boasting from the players of the ease with which they would dispose of the marsupial eaters was possible I let slip past.  The crowing on TV and Radio from English 'experts,' as to how easy this game in the sun would be I ignored, something one often has to do regarding English attitudes.  
Imagine my surprise then at the latest news from our contacts overseas!  It would appear that this 'England,' are not the superior chaps they supposed themselves to be, indeed the opposite could well be true.  On the off chance I have overheard some of the previously loud boasters on TV now indicate questions regarding the men out there swinging those stick things they carry. It appears from their conversations that what once were referred to as 'Ace,' or 'Superior Batsman,' and even 'World beaters,' could in fact be overpaid numpties who ought never have been allowed near a cricket field ever!  Tsk! Who would have thunk it eh?

Now I must make clear my views here.  People who stand around all day on a piece of grass that ought to have been developed into a football field, throwing a ball at a man armed with a thick stick, the intention being to stop said ball hitting thin sticks behind him, clearly have not yet found the meaning of life. The majority of one team hide in the dressing room playing on their iPads, tablets or other players girlfriends while two of them fight the opposition.  I say two fight the opposition but in fact only one throws the ball at them, the others merely stand around ion what sun breaks through the clouds while they scratch themselves.  I ask you is this any way for a grown man to pass the time of day? What is the point of this?  Why do Englishmen, working men at that, get so excited over this nonsense? In Scotland we never played this game.  On the odd occasion as kids it was attempted, more as an experiment to attempt understanding of the southern neighbours folly, but it never lasted.  The idea of standing around while others work is not the Scots way, I found many Englishmen who in my experience considered this a good working method however.   
I will not gloat that the imperialist army, known as the 'barmy army,' with good reason, have headed ten thousand miles into destruction, but I could.  There will be no gloating that those who desired an open top bus trip after a lucky win against a feeble young Aussie side last year have found themselves dangling on the end of a rope.  Laughter will not cross my mind when the defeated sun burnt 'sportsmen,' drag themselves back to their bank accounts.  No smug smiles here, but I might just go out and buy a bottle of Australian wine for Christmas!

      
Before you eat, be it breakfast lunch or tea, do not click on this link.  Click nothing until you are in a healthy state, far from dangerous weapons or fragile items.  This may make you laugh or it may make you boak!



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8 comments:

Lee said...

It is with a certain amount of glee that I'm presently witnessing the Poms eating humble pie, I must admit. Some are not as vocal now as they were before the Ashes began; perhaps it's because they were told not to speak with their mouths full.

I did make a couple of extra pies yesterday just in case they ran out of them.

However, it's not over yet...not quite. It's never over until the fat lady sings. I did see her in the audience yesterday, though, gargling.

I've donned my baggie green and whites in readiness for today's onslaught...it's only a couple of hours away!

the fly in the web said...

Well with you on the blindness of the PC establishment.
I could weep when I see what has become of Africa...and when there was no howl of outrage at Zimbabwe taking on the chairmanship of the U.N. Human Rights commission.
Zimbabwe - for goodness' sake!

Much to the disgust of my father, I loved and love cricket....but it was clear in the summer that England were on their last legs...a legend on their own laptops and setting themselves up for a fall.
A failure to replace the clique of players - past their best - who kept out younger aspirants to excellence...
Reliance on new age crap like eating tofu burgers...an 80 page menu requirement document...
Working in the gym to develop the body at the expense of the legs...
Harold Larwood didn't eat tofu burgers and he scared the wits out of Bradman....
Fred Trueman didn't work out in the gym...but he could bowl through an innings without going off for a drink or an ice bath...

Tchah!

Bring back Geoffrey Boycott!

I shall be listening to the last rites in Perth - and my Irish brother in law will be in the stands there putting the boot in!

Carol said...

Adullaman, I think the secret weapon is the heat. Father Bob, an excommunicated Catholic priest here in AUS tweeted (that's that Twitter thing if you are not a tweeter yourself), Father Bob tweeted something like if you can appeal for light and rain in the UK, then why can't you appeal for the heat in AUS. at least they stop the Aussie Open (tennis) when it gets too hot on the court. No gloating from this little marsupial eater ~ about to have chicken for lunch! but who knows it could be anything :-/

Carol said...

Ok, my stomach was strong enough to check out the Christmas family portraits. One never knows what you are going to see. Looks like pyjamas is a common theme, and guns? And I had seen the fig leaf one on a blog the other day ~ just proves your worst photos go viral.

Adullamite said...

Lee, I am wearing my green cap in sympathy.

Fly, Zimbabwe chairing Human Rights! I loved that!
Your father sounds a wise man! A great many women follow cricket, always many at the grounds. Geoff has been having his say on the radio!

Carol, You cannot get too much heat. It is impossible, believe me!

Carol, Never post a picture of yourself, it could end up in the media. You will never guess what I have done with yours.....

soubriquet said...

Well, i'm not a great admirer of cricket myself, other than as a quaint backdrop to a leisurely summer weekend pint by the village green.
However, I must point out that cricketers play the game for weeks at a time, maybe even months out there on that carefully tended patch of green, whilst those footballing ruffians merely run about for ninety minutes, in between kissing each other and all that unseemly affection.
And while protecting the three little sticks from a little red ball might seem a little pointless, I'd mention the ridiculous nature of all those people striving so hard to kick a ball into an overwide gateway backed by a net, while another little chappie throws hisself about trying to catch the ball and kick or chuck it as far away as possible.
And what of the millions who watch? All trying to bask in the reflected 'glory' of their team.
You are, of course, on a bit of a sticky wicket, if I may say so, given that your country invented what might be the daftest 'sport' ever, golf.

As for Nelson Mandela, yes, he seems to have been counter to the trend of his contemporaries, in his more peaceful approach. But let us not forget his wife, Winnie, and her little gang of murderers, and let us wonder how it is that Mandela, who spent much of his life in prison, somehow managed to accumulate over millions of pounds in wealth.
He may have truly been a saint, it's possible, but he was jailed as a leader of the armed wing of the ANC. Yes, it's possible that he was an innocent victim of the apartheid regime's propaganda, but I suspect he's not as squeaky-clean as it's fashionable to believe. His family certainly aren't. Nor were many of his friends. He did great things, and must be respected for his campaign to stop the handover from becoming a bloody war of revenge, but I'm not sure he was quite as nice as the eulogies claim.

Jenny Woolf said...

Someone gave me a book of Awkward Family photos. These are well up to the standard of that book. Or down to it, whatever....

Adullamite said...

Soub, So glad you still live!
You fail to appreciate the intellectual importance, the team spirit, the nourishing of local pride observed in the football. Cricket is just a waste of grass, and as you say it goes on for months!.
You make good points about Mandela, especially hsi friends.

Jenny, The worry is all families have such fotos somewhere!