The Turning of The Year

The country wallows in a morass of anticipation of the sword hovering over our bowed heads. While the disabled and hungry are robbed of their dignity and the meagre sums they hold in store nobody speaks a word of protest, yet when mention is made of taking £20 a week from those who already have enough to live on, our noble leaders beat a hasty retreat for fear of losing their vote. Let no-one mistake this first step towards Americanising the British welfare and benefits system, and yet the voices of anger which most alarmed the Coalition were not those of the left, bemoaning the end of universalism, but the relatively wealthy, who might be forced to cut down on an au pair or two. The Opposition presents a disheartening face for any who harbour hopes of reversing the trend of nastiness and greed which has characterised the political landscape for too long.

Rivers of blood flow towards the Danube, staining the earth yet again and pouring poisons into the water supply. They say that 12 countries, through which the Danube flows, could be effected by the spill. Obama and his crowd have been exposed for hiding the terrible reality of another spill in the Gulf of Mexico, spinning the scientists’ numbers. The price of a gallon of ‘gas’ in the USA is on average between $2.50 and $3.00, which equates to about £1.50. Here in the UK, 1 litre costs around £1.19, which equates to about £4.50 for a US gallon.

Liverpool FC look likely to be not only wearing red socks very soon, unless those two lovely Americans can stop another American from buying out the club, leaving them with not a sausage from their ill-advised sojourn into the Premier League madness. Also leaving the red Scousers without the promise of a new ground and the attendant Caffe Neros, Eats’s and Boots’s these things inevitably trail in their wakes. Premier League clubs, it has been said, are responsible for 56% of the football debt in Europe, which is a sobering thought. A major contributor to that mountain are of course Manchester City, who have announced losses of £121,000,000 for the last year. Although Sheik Mansour is probably good for a few quid yet, I hear we are looking to expand Eastlands to boost ticket sales. Another way to do this might be to introduce a more formal type of gladiatorial event on match days, rather than just watching Nigel De Jong (the new villain of the piece) career into opposing players and break their limbs.

My team sit second in the league, above the Rags, and that is a heart-warming thought, though the style of play (Adam Johnson and Tevez excepted of course) which has brought us to this position is not one with which I feel comfortable. I have never believed in winning at all costs, and honestly (as I have said before) prefer to watch a good match which we lose than a crap one which we win. It does help that this recent turn of events also coincides with a sharp decline in United’s fortunes, and one can only hold out for similar catastrophes to befall yet another bunch of bloody Yanks who are siphoning off the meat headed fan money to cover their sorry arses.

Another winter approaches. Only 15 more (touch wood) till I reach 60...