I've been shaken today by this Sunday Herald report which tells of the rise in incidents of so called "corrective" rape and often murder of lesbians in South Africa.
Coming on top of the reports of the hate filled murder at a lesbian and gay advice centre in Tel Aviv, it's a sign of the dangers of inaction on homophobia.
Andrew has written powerfully of his reaction to the Tel Aviv murders. He mentions that he has also been attacked simply for being gay. It makes me so angry that anyone would cause harm to one of the nicest people I know just for being who he is.
These horrible hate filled incidents grab the headlines, but every single day, across the world, gay people have to hide who they are for fear of persecution by their Governments or ostracisation from their families, teenagers trying to come to terms with their sexuality hear homophobic language being used as a matter of course and out gay young people can be bullied by their peers. Every day, adults are bullied at work, or passed over for promotion for being "too obvious" about their sexuality. Being "too obvious", by the way, can be living with their partner. I'm appalled that people are expected to deny themselves a basic human right in order to fit into society.
What we really need in this world is a strong injection of live and let live. That's the essence of liberalism, allowing people to be who they are and to make their own choices. It's wrong to repress what we don't like unless it actively causes harm. Nobody has the right to force their views or way of life on others.
I'm thinking of the families of those who have been murdered in Tel Aviv and of those who have been so brutally raped and murdered in South Africa. There's so much more work needed across the world to wipe out this hate filled violence.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Saturday, August 01, 2009
F1 Drivers' Messages to Massa
In the wake of Ferrari's Felipe Massa's horrid accident last weekend, Sky Sports rounded up his 19 fellow drivers and asked them to record a short message of support for him. It's now up on You Tube, so I thought I'd post it here in case you hadn't seen it.
All of the drivers are clearly concerned for Felipe, although Kimi in typical fashion gets his message into as few words as possible. Some of the drivers are clearly uncomfortable in front of the camera and having to think up a message, often not in their first language on the spot.
The affection that Rubens and Nelson have for him is obvious and their words, even though they're in Portuguese, are obviously very warm.
What struck me, though, was Jenson Button. He was the only one to say his name, which I thought was interesting as at that point Felipe was still unconscious. I thought that was quite a thoughtful thing to do because he may have thought they would play it to him while he was still unconscious. He was also very much a natural, walking along, talking to the camera and smiling. Betcha we see him in tv presenting at some point because that's quite a thing to pull off.
Hat tip to James Allen.
All of the drivers are clearly concerned for Felipe, although Kimi in typical fashion gets his message into as few words as possible. Some of the drivers are clearly uncomfortable in front of the camera and having to think up a message, often not in their first language on the spot.
The affection that Rubens and Nelson have for him is obvious and their words, even though they're in Portuguese, are obviously very warm.
What struck me, though, was Jenson Button. He was the only one to say his name, which I thought was interesting as at that point Felipe was still unconscious. I thought that was quite a thoughtful thing to do because he may have thought they would play it to him while he was still unconscious. He was also very much a natural, walking along, talking to the camera and smiling. Betcha we see him in tv presenting at some point because that's quite a thing to pull off.
Hat tip to James Allen.
Lib Dem Member? Have your say on Trident
My attention was drawn to an advert in Lib Dem News which I want to publicise in the blogosphere.
Former leader Ming Campbell has been asked by Nick Clegg to review alternatives to the Government's plans to replace Trident.
As the ad says:
"The review will consider Britain's options for its nuclear posture beyond Trident and seek to balance national security needs with the part's long-standing commitment toa world free of nuclear weapons.
Together with Liberal Democrat shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey, MP, Menzies Campbell will consider evidence and input from specialists, academics and party members.
Please send any written submissions by September 30th 2009 to Menzies Campbell MP c/0Emma Collinson, Room 301, Portcullis House, Bridge Street, London, SW1A 2LW or by e-mail collinsone@parliament.uk.
If you have strong views on this, don't miss the chance to have your say.
Former leader Ming Campbell has been asked by Nick Clegg to review alternatives to the Government's plans to replace Trident.
As the ad says:
"The review will consider Britain's options for its nuclear posture beyond Trident and seek to balance national security needs with the part's long-standing commitment toa world free of nuclear weapons.
Together with Liberal Democrat shadow Defence Secretary Nick Harvey, MP, Menzies Campbell will consider evidence and input from specialists, academics and party members.
Please send any written submissions by September 30th 2009 to Menzies Campbell MP c/0Emma Collinson, Room 301, Portcullis House, Bridge Street, London, SW1A 2LW or by e-mail collinsone@parliament.uk.
If you have strong views on this, don't miss the chance to have your say.
Gary McKinnon: Cruel and Unusual Punishment for British Man
I'm as appalled as everyone else by the failure of our Government to protect Gary McKinnon from extradition to the US to face charges for hacking into Pentagon and NASA computers in search of information on UFOs. Of course, it's highly embarrassing to the US Government that A N Hacker could manage to access such supposedly confidential information so they want to throw the book at him and make an example of him in the US, where he could face penalties which mean he'd spend the rest of his life in prison.
There are very clear compassionate grounds for Gary to be tried in this country, not least that he has Asperger's Syndrome and being taken thousands of miles away from his family and support network would be a punishment in itself which could have severe consequences for his health and wellbeing. To face trial in an unfamiliar judicial system and potentially spend the rest of his life in prison would surely meet the US constitutional definition of "cruel and unusual punishment". For a start, I have no problem with the idea that McKinnon's extradition would be an example of
"any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community"
I wonder to what extent this angle has been looked into. I know the US Constitution is there to protect US citizens, but anyone going through its judicial system should have the same treatment. He's already been through the best part of a decade of hell - doesn't that count?
It looks to me that Gary in many ways did the Pentagon a favour. It's not like he tried to cover up what he did, as this report from CNN shows he even left messages to say that it was ridiculous he could get into their systems to draw their attention to the fact that they weren't as secure as their administrators thought.
I can't add much to what Jeff, Andrew, Jonathan, Subrosa and Mark have already said. They have ably highlighted the failure of the Labour Government to stand up to the US authorities. If they had shown some backbone sooner, this 7 year nightmare for Gary and his family might have been put to bed years ago.
And don't think David Cameron's going to help either. He may have offered fluffy words of support but hasn't said that his Home Secretary would pursue this more vigorously with the Americans.
The biggest lesson we can learn from this is how stupid it is to negotiate international treaties in haste on a knee jerk reaction. Drawn up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the extradition treaty gives a disproportionate power to the US. It's an irresponsible selling of the rights of UK citizens down the river and probably deserves an enquiry into Government incompetence in its own right. It just goes to show that agreements made in haste with your friends can fall apart and leave you vulnerable. Gary McKinnon is paying the price for the Government's haste and lack of foresight and unless there is a wholesale renegotiation of this treaty, more vulnerable people could suffer.
There is a Free Gary campaign which tells you all the ways in which you can make your voice heard to support him if you agree that he is suffering an intolerable injustice
There are very clear compassionate grounds for Gary to be tried in this country, not least that he has Asperger's Syndrome and being taken thousands of miles away from his family and support network would be a punishment in itself which could have severe consequences for his health and wellbeing. To face trial in an unfamiliar judicial system and potentially spend the rest of his life in prison would surely meet the US constitutional definition of "cruel and unusual punishment". For a start, I have no problem with the idea that McKinnon's extradition would be an example of
"any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community"
I wonder to what extent this angle has been looked into. I know the US Constitution is there to protect US citizens, but anyone going through its judicial system should have the same treatment. He's already been through the best part of a decade of hell - doesn't that count?
It looks to me that Gary in many ways did the Pentagon a favour. It's not like he tried to cover up what he did, as this report from CNN shows he even left messages to say that it was ridiculous he could get into their systems to draw their attention to the fact that they weren't as secure as their administrators thought.
I can't add much to what Jeff, Andrew, Jonathan, Subrosa and Mark have already said. They have ably highlighted the failure of the Labour Government to stand up to the US authorities. If they had shown some backbone sooner, this 7 year nightmare for Gary and his family might have been put to bed years ago.
And don't think David Cameron's going to help either. He may have offered fluffy words of support but hasn't said that his Home Secretary would pursue this more vigorously with the Americans.
The biggest lesson we can learn from this is how stupid it is to negotiate international treaties in haste on a knee jerk reaction. Drawn up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the extradition treaty gives a disproportionate power to the US. It's an irresponsible selling of the rights of UK citizens down the river and probably deserves an enquiry into Government incompetence in its own right. It just goes to show that agreements made in haste with your friends can fall apart and leave you vulnerable. Gary McKinnon is paying the price for the Government's haste and lack of foresight and unless there is a wholesale renegotiation of this treaty, more vulnerable people could suffer.
There is a Free Gary campaign which tells you all the ways in which you can make your voice heard to support him if you agree that he is suffering an intolerable injustice
Friday, July 31, 2009
My Second 21st Birthday
Today has been my second 21st birthday. We're spreading the celebrations over several days because I just don't have the energy to do them all at once, but today has been good. A leisurely lie-in reading lovely messages from friends on Twitter and Facebook, and a book about Michael Schumacher. It was particularly fabulous to see that Bob and Anna had stayed up until midnight to specially write on my Facebook wall.
I eventually got up and opened my pressies - some books and the Torchwood Children of Earth DVD, but the best one was the voucher for unlimited hugs and the cards which Bob and Anna had spent ages decorating. Here's Anna's:
My sister and her four children came round for lunch, bringing it and a cake with them. I feel so sorry for poor Laura who, at 16, has just come down with Glandular Fever and has a horrid dose of Tonsilitis as well. She's so brave with it even though she feels awful and is in horrendous pain. It's been a traumatic Summer holiday for the family - her brother had his appendix out the last week of school.
Uncomfortable (but in a funny way) moment of the day came when my sister's ex husband came to pick up two of her children for their holiday with him. He was telling us about his new house and was standing in our kitchen, which, to be honest, had seen tidier days, talking about how dirty the house was when he'd moved into it. I kind of felt like my kitchen was under the scrutiny of Kim and Aggie and wanted the floor to swallow me up.
By the time they left, I was pretty exhausted so I lay on the sofa for a while and we decided that we'd have the special meal we'd planned tomorrow or Sunday. We've just eaten and I am having the first glass of red wine I've had in 6 months. And very nice it is too. All hail Tony Laithwaite. By the way, if you ever want to buy some cases of wine by mail order, this is the company to go with. Their call centre is the friendliest ever. I grant you, they do have a nice job, it's not like they're the tax people, but they cannot do enough for you. I hope we haven't dented their profits too much as we haven't really been buying wine this year cos I've been too ill to drink it.
Thinking all the way back to my first 21st birthday, that was spent similarly surrounded by family and friends. We went out to Kavio's, a brash but friendly Italian in Leith. Then, I had no idea that 26 days later, I'd be married, but that's another story.
I eventually got up and opened my pressies - some books and the Torchwood Children of Earth DVD, but the best one was the voucher for unlimited hugs and the cards which Bob and Anna had spent ages decorating. Here's Anna's:
My sister and her four children came round for lunch, bringing it and a cake with them. I feel so sorry for poor Laura who, at 16, has just come down with Glandular Fever and has a horrid dose of Tonsilitis as well. She's so brave with it even though she feels awful and is in horrendous pain. It's been a traumatic Summer holiday for the family - her brother had his appendix out the last week of school.
Uncomfortable (but in a funny way) moment of the day came when my sister's ex husband came to pick up two of her children for their holiday with him. He was telling us about his new house and was standing in our kitchen, which, to be honest, had seen tidier days, talking about how dirty the house was when he'd moved into it. I kind of felt like my kitchen was under the scrutiny of Kim and Aggie and wanted the floor to swallow me up.
By the time they left, I was pretty exhausted so I lay on the sofa for a while and we decided that we'd have the special meal we'd planned tomorrow or Sunday. We've just eaten and I am having the first glass of red wine I've had in 6 months. And very nice it is too. All hail Tony Laithwaite. By the way, if you ever want to buy some cases of wine by mail order, this is the company to go with. Their call centre is the friendliest ever. I grant you, they do have a nice job, it's not like they're the tax people, but they cannot do enough for you. I hope we haven't dented their profits too much as we haven't really been buying wine this year cos I've been too ill to drink it.
Thinking all the way back to my first 21st birthday, that was spent similarly surrounded by family and friends. We went out to Kavio's, a brash but friendly Italian in Leith. Then, I had no idea that 26 days later, I'd be married, but that's another story.
Michael Schumacher courts controversy over test request
He's barely been back in the game 48 hours but already Michael Schumacher has caused controversy in the Formula One World. To be fair, there's not much sign of it in the actual Formula One World, but there's been a huge amount of debate on Twitter today.
The reason is that Ferrari, having given Schumacher a run in a 2007 Ferrari, have asked the FIA, with the backing of FOTA, the teams' organisation, to let him have a day's testing in this year's car. This would be an exception to the rules which prohibit in season testing.
I'm pretty relaxed about Ferrari's request and, in an acid test, I would feel the same way if one of my least favourite teams, McLaren and Williams, were asking the same thing.
Much has been said in the Twitterverse about Schumacher having rules bent for him that weren't broken for 19 year old rookie Jaime Alguersueri for his F1 debut last weekend. For a start, Toro Rosso is part of FOTA, who have agreed to the Schumacher test. Secondly, we don't know whether their team prinicpal Franz Tost asked for a day's testing for Jaime. Frankly, if I had been him, I would have done. I would have wanted to make sure that my new driver was comfortable with the car and could actually turn a corner in it. Mind you, if I had been him, I wouldn't have sacked Sebastien Bourdais the race before upgrading the car in the first place, but that's another story.
All the teams are in agreement that the rules on in season testing are daft, anyway, so I expect they wouldn't see much harm to Ferrari's request.
There's also an argument to allow it on the ground of fairness to the driver. All the drivers who started the season were all able to test this year's model of the car before they raced in Australia. Surely anybody new who comes on to the grid should be given the same opportunity.
I would certainly say that the car Schumacher tests should be identical to the one they raced at the Hungaroring last week, with no new added bits to give the team an unfair advantage, but I think Ferrari may been helpful in setting a useful precedent that will help new drivers in the future.
I thought it was terrible and potentially unsafe to force Jaime Alguesuari out to do his first ever run in the car he was supposed to be racing on Sunday 48 hours beforehand in front of the world's motorsport press. If Toro Rosso didn't request testing for him, then it's a scandal. Michael Schumacher is no rookie, but by the same token, he should be able to drive a fair distance in the car just to get his body used to the g-forces a race puts you under. You can't blame Ferrari for being more ahead of the game and I think they've made a smart move.
UPDATE: James Allen, who is undeniably better placed to know these things, says that that other teams aren't unanimous in giving their agreement to this so the actual test won't happen. He gives some good insights into what it will be like for Schumacher has he gets up to speed with an F1 car again.
The reason is that Ferrari, having given Schumacher a run in a 2007 Ferrari, have asked the FIA, with the backing of FOTA, the teams' organisation, to let him have a day's testing in this year's car. This would be an exception to the rules which prohibit in season testing.
I'm pretty relaxed about Ferrari's request and, in an acid test, I would feel the same way if one of my least favourite teams, McLaren and Williams, were asking the same thing.
Much has been said in the Twitterverse about Schumacher having rules bent for him that weren't broken for 19 year old rookie Jaime Alguersueri for his F1 debut last weekend. For a start, Toro Rosso is part of FOTA, who have agreed to the Schumacher test. Secondly, we don't know whether their team prinicpal Franz Tost asked for a day's testing for Jaime. Frankly, if I had been him, I would have done. I would have wanted to make sure that my new driver was comfortable with the car and could actually turn a corner in it. Mind you, if I had been him, I wouldn't have sacked Sebastien Bourdais the race before upgrading the car in the first place, but that's another story.
All the teams are in agreement that the rules on in season testing are daft, anyway, so I expect they wouldn't see much harm to Ferrari's request.
There's also an argument to allow it on the ground of fairness to the driver. All the drivers who started the season were all able to test this year's model of the car before they raced in Australia. Surely anybody new who comes on to the grid should be given the same opportunity.
I would certainly say that the car Schumacher tests should be identical to the one they raced at the Hungaroring last week, with no new added bits to give the team an unfair advantage, but I think Ferrari may been helpful in setting a useful precedent that will help new drivers in the future.
I thought it was terrible and potentially unsafe to force Jaime Alguesuari out to do his first ever run in the car he was supposed to be racing on Sunday 48 hours beforehand in front of the world's motorsport press. If Toro Rosso didn't request testing for him, then it's a scandal. Michael Schumacher is no rookie, but by the same token, he should be able to drive a fair distance in the car just to get his body used to the g-forces a race puts you under. You can't blame Ferrari for being more ahead of the game and I think they've made a smart move.
UPDATE: James Allen, who is undeniably better placed to know these things, says that that other teams aren't unanimous in giving their agreement to this so the actual test won't happen. He gives some good insights into what it will be like for Schumacher has he gets up to speed with an F1 car again.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Explosions hit Mallorcan holiday resort
This is the first year for a long time that we haven't spent at least a fortnight in Mallorca. We have loved the island since we first went there together some 16 years ago and have made friends there that we look forward to seeing every year. We learn something new about the island every single year and I have missed our holiday there very much. We hope to go back as soon as we can.
So, you can imagine that I'm quite shocked to see that a car bomb has exploded yards from a hotel where we have stayed twice and where we usually pop in to visit at least once when we're over. In fact I suspect that some of the footage in the BBC report was shot from its sun terrace. Unfortunately two Guardia Civil officers have been killed in the explosion.
We've noticed each year that the island has not seemed quite so busy as firstly the Germans and then we British have expanded our horizons and headed out of the Eurozone to places like Croatia. It's not insignificant that entertainments director at the main hotel we stay in has been sent to a new aquisition in Croatia for this season. So there was a decliine anyway. Every time we went over we noticed that certain shops, or restaurants or hotels were no longer open.
This has been going on for some time, as I say, but this year, Spain in general is expecting a 10% drop in visitor numbers which includes 16.6% less from Britain.
This is the background in which some murderous and cynical apologies for human beings decide to try to make things even worse for the island's struggling economy. They choose a Thursday lunchtime, just as the weekend rush is starting, knowing that they are going to completely disrupt flights throughout the whole of one of the busiest weekends of the year, just as the English school holidays are getting underway. Thursdays to Sundays are absolutely manically busy at the airport, with the peak number of flights arriving between Friday night to Saturday night. We tend to avoid the airport at all costs on a Saturday.
The authorities have sealed off all the ports and airports to try to ensure that those responsible for this horrible attack can't get off the island. It's the right thing to do in the circumstances, but the inevitable consequences are going to be days of chaos.
None of the stranded holidaymakers will be suffering as much as the families of the Police Officers who were killed, though.
It may be that this is a cruel attempt by Basque Separatists ETA to remind us that they still exist, 50 years on. There have been various, fruitless attempts to find a peaceful solution, but in the last couple of years, after a ceasefire was broken, ETA activity is starting to increase again.
Let's hope that the new European Parliament puts its mind to trying to find a solution that everyone can live with so that we don't have to see any further violence.
So, you can imagine that I'm quite shocked to see that a car bomb has exploded yards from a hotel where we have stayed twice and where we usually pop in to visit at least once when we're over. In fact I suspect that some of the footage in the BBC report was shot from its sun terrace. Unfortunately two Guardia Civil officers have been killed in the explosion.
We've noticed each year that the island has not seemed quite so busy as firstly the Germans and then we British have expanded our horizons and headed out of the Eurozone to places like Croatia. It's not insignificant that entertainments director at the main hotel we stay in has been sent to a new aquisition in Croatia for this season. So there was a decliine anyway. Every time we went over we noticed that certain shops, or restaurants or hotels were no longer open.
This has been going on for some time, as I say, but this year, Spain in general is expecting a 10% drop in visitor numbers which includes 16.6% less from Britain.
This is the background in which some murderous and cynical apologies for human beings decide to try to make things even worse for the island's struggling economy. They choose a Thursday lunchtime, just as the weekend rush is starting, knowing that they are going to completely disrupt flights throughout the whole of one of the busiest weekends of the year, just as the English school holidays are getting underway. Thursdays to Sundays are absolutely manically busy at the airport, with the peak number of flights arriving between Friday night to Saturday night. We tend to avoid the airport at all costs on a Saturday.
The authorities have sealed off all the ports and airports to try to ensure that those responsible for this horrible attack can't get off the island. It's the right thing to do in the circumstances, but the inevitable consequences are going to be days of chaos.
None of the stranded holidaymakers will be suffering as much as the families of the Police Officers who were killed, though.
It may be that this is a cruel attempt by Basque Separatists ETA to remind us that they still exist, 50 years on. There have been various, fruitless attempts to find a peaceful solution, but in the last couple of years, after a ceasefire was broken, ETA activity is starting to increase again.
Let's hope that the new European Parliament puts its mind to trying to find a solution that everyone can live with so that we don't have to see any further violence.
Caron's Corkers
Not so much time for blogging at the moment as still feeling rubbish. At least doctor has found a reason for it so let's hope the new drugs do the trick.
Won't be around much today as we are looking after my sister's four lovely children while she's on a work course. Can you all please keep your fingers crossed for:
a) no fighting
b) no accidents
c) me not to catch Tonsilitis from Laura. I promise I didn't give her the Glandular Fever she also has, poor thing. I remember 14 years ago looking after her when she had Chicken Pox as an almost 3 year old - she gave me that! I feel so sorry for her cos Glandular Fever is bad enough by itself without anything else on top.
Anyway, a few links to some fabulous blog postings I've found over the last few days:
Wasn't sure whether to include the strategy to get STV on the voting reform ballot paper (are you listening, Nick Clegg?) or this brilliant expose of tabloid hypocrisy from the quill of Mr Quist, but I'm in a generous mood, so you can have both.
A heartbreaking article from the Sunday Times from one father with a racing driver son about another whose son, Henry Surtees, was killed in a terrible accident a couple of weeks ago.
There are times I could curse Tom Harris, and this is one of them. I don't like agreeing with him, it brings me out in hives, especially when he quotes Tony Blair, but he's right on this one. Sure, they can always do better and we need wholesale reform of the system, but MPs are, pretty much, a good bunch.
I'm not religious, but I found something to learn in Kelvin's sermon about how his Church is dealing with the issues of minimising the risk of spreading Swine Flu during Communion.
Doctorvee, moonlighting on Scottish Unionist showing he understands federalism, possibly better than many Liberal Democrats. One of the blog postings of the year for me.
Finally, some Ferrari freebies on offer if you sign up for the Brits on Pole newsletter. a site dedicated to following the fortunes of British drivers. It's worth reading, even without the bribe.
Won't be around much today as we are looking after my sister's four lovely children while she's on a work course. Can you all please keep your fingers crossed for:
a) no fighting
b) no accidents
c) me not to catch Tonsilitis from Laura. I promise I didn't give her the Glandular Fever she also has, poor thing. I remember 14 years ago looking after her when she had Chicken Pox as an almost 3 year old - she gave me that! I feel so sorry for her cos Glandular Fever is bad enough by itself without anything else on top.
Anyway, a few links to some fabulous blog postings I've found over the last few days:
Wasn't sure whether to include the strategy to get STV on the voting reform ballot paper (are you listening, Nick Clegg?) or this brilliant expose of tabloid hypocrisy from the quill of Mr Quist, but I'm in a generous mood, so you can have both.
A heartbreaking article from the Sunday Times from one father with a racing driver son about another whose son, Henry Surtees, was killed in a terrible accident a couple of weeks ago.
There are times I could curse Tom Harris, and this is one of them. I don't like agreeing with him, it brings me out in hives, especially when he quotes Tony Blair, but he's right on this one. Sure, they can always do better and we need wholesale reform of the system, but MPs are, pretty much, a good bunch.
I'm not religious, but I found something to learn in Kelvin's sermon about how his Church is dealing with the issues of minimising the risk of spreading Swine Flu during Communion.
Doctorvee, moonlighting on Scottish Unionist showing he understands federalism, possibly better than many Liberal Democrats. One of the blog postings of the year for me.
Finally, some Ferrari freebies on offer if you sign up for the Brits on Pole newsletter. a site dedicated to following the fortunes of British drivers. It's worth reading, even without the bribe.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Michael Schumacher in surprise Ferrari return.
Ok, I want to know who Stephen's mole in Ferrari is, but it turns out he called it right. Michael Schumacher is indeed going to replace the injured Felipe Massa at the European Grand Prix in Valencia. In a way I'm annoyed at them for announcing it so far in advance - I'm not sure I can bear to wait 23 days to see him in action!
One of the first posts I made on this blog was the day Schumi retired. He's such a special talent that even if the car isn't up to much, it'll be so exciting to watch him drive.
I did wonder what was going on when Willi Weber, Michael's manager, denied the speculation so quickly. I seem to remember him doing the same when there were rumours that Michael would move from Benetton to Ferrari for the 1996 season - and a few days later, the announcement being made.
I am genuinely torn about who to support in Valencia. Schumacher was part of that special team at Ferrari that included Ross Brawn and Rubens Barrichello so my heart has been with the Brawn team all season. Ross looked so miserable at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday so my instinct is to want Rubens to win, Michael to come second and Jenson third. Mind you, I guess Brawn would be happy with two of the first three places, so maybe it would be fabulous to see that Schumi jump on the podium. Much as I like Sebastian Vettel, his victory leap just isn't the same.
It'll also be interesting to see Michael come back without Ross in his ear giving him the killer strategy at a circuit he's not driven at. I expect that whatever the result, he'll be thrilling and exciting. I can't wait.
UPDATE: Yousuf has done an absolutely brilliant Schumi retropsective. If you do nothing else today, read it......
UPDATE 2: Excellent article from Duncan on Schumi's return. Not for the first time, I think that a job offer for this man in motorsport journalism is long overdue. His knowledge, going back to days before he was born, is awesome.
One of the first posts I made on this blog was the day Schumi retired. He's such a special talent that even if the car isn't up to much, it'll be so exciting to watch him drive.
I did wonder what was going on when Willi Weber, Michael's manager, denied the speculation so quickly. I seem to remember him doing the same when there were rumours that Michael would move from Benetton to Ferrari for the 1996 season - and a few days later, the announcement being made.
I am genuinely torn about who to support in Valencia. Schumacher was part of that special team at Ferrari that included Ross Brawn and Rubens Barrichello so my heart has been with the Brawn team all season. Ross looked so miserable at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday so my instinct is to want Rubens to win, Michael to come second and Jenson third. Mind you, I guess Brawn would be happy with two of the first three places, so maybe it would be fabulous to see that Schumi jump on the podium. Much as I like Sebastian Vettel, his victory leap just isn't the same.
It'll also be interesting to see Michael come back without Ross in his ear giving him the killer strategy at a circuit he's not driven at. I expect that whatever the result, he'll be thrilling and exciting. I can't wait.
UPDATE: Yousuf has done an absolutely brilliant Schumi retropsective. If you do nothing else today, read it......
UPDATE 2: Excellent article from Duncan on Schumi's return. Not for the first time, I think that a job offer for this man in motorsport journalism is long overdue. His knowledge, going back to days before he was born, is awesome.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Desperate Labour attacks David Kerr for filming with guns
Are there no depths to which Labour will not sink in their attempts to drag down SNP candidate in the Glasgow North East SNP candidate David Kerr.
I've only just really caught up with the Sunday papers and found this report in the Sunday Herald where Labour candidate calls for Kerr to apologise to the people of Glasgow for an item he filmed in a Tesco car park in Springburn. Particularly pathetic was their insistence that "the incident could have alarmed others and questioned Kerr's judgment". Now, I've been lucky enough never to come across a random gunman in a Tesco car park, but if I ever did, I doubt he'd be dressed in a suit and surrounded by a film crew. I think it would have been pretty obvious that nobody was in any danger.
The idiocy of this sort of approach is that they miss the reasons to tell people of the many and varied reasons there are not to vote SNP. They've failed on class sizes, teacher numbers, their Scottish Futures Trust is a joke. They've had to back down on stupid ideas like banning under 21s from buying alcohol in off licenses and privatising Scotland's forests. I hope they are forced to climb down on their appalling, centralising plans for the Police Force too. It would be ridiculous for decisions about policing in Orkney or Caithness to be made in Edinburgh.
And I haven't even got round to mentioning their lauding it round the international stage pushing the cause of independence at our expense. Oh, wait...
On many important issues, the SNP just gets it wrong.
David Kerr got it wrong on G-Cal and deserves everything he gets for that, but the attempts of the Labour portray to wrongly portray him as some sort of gun toting religious maniac are at best tasteless. It just shows how little they have to say for themselves.
I guess we're going to get more heat than light from Labour and the SNP for the next 4 months until the by-election. Oh joy!
I've only just really caught up with the Sunday papers and found this report in the Sunday Herald where Labour candidate calls for Kerr to apologise to the people of Glasgow for an item he filmed in a Tesco car park in Springburn. Particularly pathetic was their insistence that "the incident could have alarmed others and questioned Kerr's judgment". Now, I've been lucky enough never to come across a random gunman in a Tesco car park, but if I ever did, I doubt he'd be dressed in a suit and surrounded by a film crew. I think it would have been pretty obvious that nobody was in any danger.
The idiocy of this sort of approach is that they miss the reasons to tell people of the many and varied reasons there are not to vote SNP. They've failed on class sizes, teacher numbers, their Scottish Futures Trust is a joke. They've had to back down on stupid ideas like banning under 21s from buying alcohol in off licenses and privatising Scotland's forests. I hope they are forced to climb down on their appalling, centralising plans for the Police Force too. It would be ridiculous for decisions about policing in Orkney or Caithness to be made in Edinburgh.
And I haven't even got round to mentioning their lauding it round the international stage pushing the cause of independence at our expense. Oh, wait...
On many important issues, the SNP just gets it wrong.
David Kerr got it wrong on G-Cal and deserves everything he gets for that, but the attempts of the Labour portray to wrongly portray him as some sort of gun toting religious maniac are at best tasteless. It just shows how little they have to say for themselves.
I guess we're going to get more heat than light from Labour and the SNP for the next 4 months until the by-election. Oh joy!
Government Soldiers' Compensation Shame
I never fail to be horrified at how horrendously badly this Government (and others before it to be fair) treats those who work for it. We see repressive and toxic management cultures in many Government Departments which stifle innovation and create environments where bullying flourishes.
The Armed Forces, though, seem to come off particularly badly. Successive Governments abuse the willingness of men and women to make huge sacrifices for our country by failing to look after them properly. They send people to serve in war zones without the proper equipment, knowing that their families are struggling in substandard military housing. They even try to do them out of leave days by counting the time they spend travelling back from places like Iraq and Afghanistan as leave, giving them less time to spend with their families. When I was in the Civil Service, if I spent an hour and a half travelling to Birmingham for a course, then I got that time back and I can't imagine it's changed for the office based staff now.
So, that's bad enough. But today we have plain wicked. How dare the Government spend our taxes appealing the relatively modest increases in compensation awards for two injured servicemen. This is every bit as bad as denying the Gurkhas the right to live here.
Basically what the Government is saying that if you are injured in the line of duty, you only get compensated for the injury and not any other complications that injury caused. That makes no sense whatsoever. I presume that means that if you, say, break your hip and for some reason that leads to a blood clot which causes permanent brain damage, then you'd only be compensated for the original fracture, even if you needed lifelong care.
Isn't it time the Government focused its energies on improving conditions for the forces instead of screwing our brave men and women out of every last penny they can? I object to my taxes, probably far in excess of the increased awards, being paid to treat people in this way.
Bob Ainsworth, the defence minister, a supposed champion of the forces, should hang his head in shame. He could stop this, but I'm not holding my breath.
The Armed Forces, though, seem to come off particularly badly. Successive Governments abuse the willingness of men and women to make huge sacrifices for our country by failing to look after them properly. They send people to serve in war zones without the proper equipment, knowing that their families are struggling in substandard military housing. They even try to do them out of leave days by counting the time they spend travelling back from places like Iraq and Afghanistan as leave, giving them less time to spend with their families. When I was in the Civil Service, if I spent an hour and a half travelling to Birmingham for a course, then I got that time back and I can't imagine it's changed for the office based staff now.
So, that's bad enough. But today we have plain wicked. How dare the Government spend our taxes appealing the relatively modest increases in compensation awards for two injured servicemen. This is every bit as bad as denying the Gurkhas the right to live here.
Basically what the Government is saying that if you are injured in the line of duty, you only get compensated for the injury and not any other complications that injury caused. That makes no sense whatsoever. I presume that means that if you, say, break your hip and for some reason that leads to a blood clot which causes permanent brain damage, then you'd only be compensated for the original fracture, even if you needed lifelong care.
Isn't it time the Government focused its energies on improving conditions for the forces instead of screwing our brave men and women out of every last penny they can? I object to my taxes, probably far in excess of the increased awards, being paid to treat people in this way.
Bob Ainsworth, the defence minister, a supposed champion of the forces, should hang his head in shame. He could stop this, but I'm not holding my breath.
Monday, July 27, 2009
The race to succeed John Barrett
Now that a decent interval has passed since John Barrett announced that he was standing down as MP for Edinburgh West, there will be no doubt be speculation as to who might succeed him as the Liberal Democrat candidate.
Ian Swanson had a couple of guesses in the Evening News, but they were both men. Why would he put two two senior male Lib Dem councillors (who, by the way I think are fabulous) in the frame and not suggest that Jenny Dawe or Marilyne McLaren might put herself forward? Another strong contender would be Siobhan Mathers, who stood for Edinburgh Central in 2007. I have absolutely no idea whether any of them would be interested, but they surely warrant a mention. Other good and credible potential women candidates in Edinburgh include Amy Rodger and Gillian Cole-Hamilton.
I have to say that the Scottish Liberal Democrats' record on gender balance is pretty shocking - only two out of 16 MSPs and one out of 12 MPs are women. It's a record that I'm not even going to attempt to defend. I would like to see that change and for Edinburgh West to select a woman from the strong field available.
Ian Swanson had a couple of guesses in the Evening News, but they were both men. Why would he put two two senior male Lib Dem councillors (who, by the way I think are fabulous) in the frame and not suggest that Jenny Dawe or Marilyne McLaren might put herself forward? Another strong contender would be Siobhan Mathers, who stood for Edinburgh Central in 2007. I have absolutely no idea whether any of them would be interested, but they surely warrant a mention. Other good and credible potential women candidates in Edinburgh include Amy Rodger and Gillian Cole-Hamilton.
I have to say that the Scottish Liberal Democrats' record on gender balance is pretty shocking - only two out of 16 MSPs and one out of 12 MPs are women. It's a record that I'm not even going to attempt to defend. I would like to see that change and for Edinburgh West to select a woman from the strong field available.
Send your message of support to Felipe Massa
It's great that there's been some encouraging news on the condition of F1 driver Felipe Massa. It's great to know that he's now awake and communicating and that the doctors think that he could make a complete recovery from the injuries he sustained in that awful crash on Saturday.
This is better news than we'd heard earlier in the day when it had been suggested that his eye had been damaged to the extent that it might end his career. In fact, the truth is that they simply don't know yet. I'm really fed up with some of the exaggerated and inaccurate speculation that has come out over the last few days - at best it's journalists being sloppy and at worst ghoulishly sensationalist. At the moment the blogosphere and Twitter are kicking the mainstream media into a cocked hat. Rubens Barrichello again updated his Twitter today. It's actually better to have these reports from him because I doubt he would say anything that the Massa family didn't want us to hear.
Fellow Brazilian driver and all round good guy Nelson Piquet Jr, who, as I said before, has earned the admiration of at least the corner of the F1 Twitterverse I inhabit, has got together with some friends of his to organise messages of support via Twitter. If you are not on Twitter, you can send your message, or picture or e-card to forzafelipemassaATgmailDOTcom.
It's a nice idea and I'm sure it'll cheer him up to know that many people across the world took time out of their day to send him their get well wishes.
This is better news than we'd heard earlier in the day when it had been suggested that his eye had been damaged to the extent that it might end his career. In fact, the truth is that they simply don't know yet. I'm really fed up with some of the exaggerated and inaccurate speculation that has come out over the last few days - at best it's journalists being sloppy and at worst ghoulishly sensationalist. At the moment the blogosphere and Twitter are kicking the mainstream media into a cocked hat. Rubens Barrichello again updated his Twitter today. It's actually better to have these reports from him because I doubt he would say anything that the Massa family didn't want us to hear.
Fellow Brazilian driver and all round good guy Nelson Piquet Jr, who, as I said before, has earned the admiration of at least the corner of the F1 Twitterverse I inhabit, has got together with some friends of his to organise messages of support via Twitter. If you are not on Twitter, you can send your message, or picture or e-card to forzafelipemassaATgmailDOTcom.
It's a nice idea and I'm sure it'll cheer him up to know that many people across the world took time out of their day to send him their get well wishes.
Blogging and the Lib Dems
That nice Mr Tall set we Lib Dem bloggers some homework over the weekend. I hope Sir won't mind me handing mine in a bit late. I could plead illness - which would be true, but if he will hand out assignments at short notice on a Formula 1 weekend, then he's just going to have to bloody well wait. So there!
Here are the questions that he wants us to answer:
What are the greatest successes of the Lib Dem blogosphere?
Firstly, I think its accessibility - any party member can get listed on Lib Dem Blogs without having to go through ideoligical purity tests. I think it's vital that the aggregator stays in its current form. Having said that, like James, I tend to look more to Twitter for interesting blog posts and to expand my horizons, although I do try to look at the aggregator at least once every couple of days. I think it's particularly encouraging that the number of individual blogs has increased so much and is continuing to do so. There's some good quality stuff out there.
It also works as a one stop shop to other blogs so the would-be or new blogger can have a wee look around and see how it all works and get ideas about the sort of things they might like to do with their template. Training at conference is a good thing, but not always accessible to everyone. I wonder if, and this is a random idea I've just had this second, so it might be nonsense, there could be a list of bloggers who were willing to give advice and support to any new people setting up. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without Stephen. I mean, there would be words on the page, but I wouldn't have the first clue how to do links or put up photos or stuff like that. Could we have a virtual bloggers' surgery, like the old ALDC Focus surgeries?
Secondly, Lib Dem Voice, which is run so well by a very hard working small team, all of whom have other jobs. No evil Derek Draper clones for us. From the geekery genius of Mark Pack, to the prescience and relevance of Alix Mortimer and the creativity and humour of Helen Duffett, the plain speaking incisiveness of Mr Tall and the honesty and able analysis of Alex Foster, there's something there to tick every box. It provides a forum for reporting news within the party, promoting party campaigns, inspiring debate and occasionally lighting the pantene 123 touchpaper and retiring.
What's good about them as well is that you don't have to be the great and the good, or their acolytes to write for them - anyone can submit an article. Heavens, they even let me write for them once - although it was a Sunday afternoon and they probably had space to fill, in fairness....
I like the fact that they don't shrink away when there's controversy or bad press or when we muck it up. It's not a vehicle for spin and bollocks.
They also do what they can to encourage the rest of us - their relatively new 2 x 2 feature gives prominence to 12 Lib Dem blogs a week, as does their Golden Dozen. Some of the blogs which have now become required daily reading for me, the likes of Mark and Darrell, for example.
Finally, there's been the obvious and deserved catapult of Mark to blogosphere superstardom after his analysis of MP's Expenses was picked up by Polly Toynbee.
What are we, collectively as bloggers, failing to achieve?
I'm not sure that we as bloggers should collectively be trying to achieve anything. That sounds a bit New Labour and therefore very scary to me. I think the strengths of the blogosphere is that we're all individuals and we all have our own style and we all appeal to different people.
I don't think that what I write on my blog, or even anything we could all write on our blogs simultaneously, is going to win elections. That's not to say they aren't a good medium for getting liberal ideas across to lots of different people, of course.
Maybe we are a bit too insular, though. We interact with other political types and don't necessarily engage with new people. Having said that, I've had people randomly find my blog and stick with it becaue they've liked some of the ideas in it.
I don't view my blog as some sort of extension of the party machinery. Certainly, I'm happy to promote what the party is doing and what its key figures are saying, but I'm equally happy to give the leadership a good kick up the arse if I think it needs it. I don't think there's any advantage in us all becoming like cyber-linked Stepford bloggers, even if such a thing were possible. I see myself as a Liberal Democrat who has a blog, rather than as a Liberal Democrat Blogger (TM). I don't just write about politics - I just go wherever takes my fancy.
How does the Lib Dem blogosphere compare with those of the Labour, Tories and other parties’?
To be honest, I don't know enough about this to give it a decent answer. I don't really read enough of the "opposition" blogs to give a view. I have examples I like from each party but I tend not to delve too much into their collective blogospheres. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
I like how the Scottish blogosphere interacts, though - I have "met" if not in person, through t'interwebby, good people from all persuasions and there's quite a community feel to it. There are times when we can be kicking seven bells out of each other on policy and then five minutes later being on Twitter or Facebook chatting about some trashy tv programme or the Formula One. In fact, I think I remember one occasion when someone left a comment slagging off a posting of mine and then saying in the last paragraph something along the lines of "wasn't it horrendous that so and so was kicked off Strictly?" Of course there's some tribal name calling, but we do tend to get on and there have been a few meet ups. In fact, one Labour blogger even ended up going to the bloggers' breakfast at the SNP conference and not only lived to tell the tale but I think actually enjoyed the experience. Now, there are times when Labour and the SNP can be really mean to each other on the street. I've witnessed some nasty scenes at counts in my time and some robust debates on blogs, but never really any major, catastrophic bust ups.
I don't get the sense that it's quite the same south of the border. Does anyone want to disabuse me of that notion?
How helpful is blogging as a campaigning tool (are there examples of it making a real impact)?
I think that Focus type local blogs are a great part of an election campaign - but only a part. The blogopshere is accessible but also very crowded. As Costigan pretty much said this morning, campaigns can not live by blog/Facebook/internet/Twitter alone.
I think that the Lib Dem blogosphere can become a useful part of the air war, too. We saw a bit of that in the Euro campaign. I think the role of Lib Dem Voice, and to a lesser extent Lib Dem Blogs, will be really important during the coming General Election in promoting the ideas that the party is trying to promote and that we all come up with.
We maybe also need to be looking at ways to be more in touch with our readers and find out what they want from us and what makes them tick. All of us will have readers who are not involved in politics even if they are only our families and friends.
We need as well to look at other ways of promoting our blogs - candidates should have their blog addresses on their leaflets, but what about those of us who aren't standing? I use Twitter a lot, but I also talk to people about my blog and tell them how to find it - usually putting my name into Google works.
What do you think the next year holds in store for the Lib Dem blogosphere?
It'll be all about the election, I guess. And then, the aftermath.
Here are the questions that he wants us to answer:
What are the greatest successes of the Lib Dem blogosphere?
Firstly, I think its accessibility - any party member can get listed on Lib Dem Blogs without having to go through ideoligical purity tests. I think it's vital that the aggregator stays in its current form. Having said that, like James, I tend to look more to Twitter for interesting blog posts and to expand my horizons, although I do try to look at the aggregator at least once every couple of days. I think it's particularly encouraging that the number of individual blogs has increased so much and is continuing to do so. There's some good quality stuff out there.
It also works as a one stop shop to other blogs so the would-be or new blogger can have a wee look around and see how it all works and get ideas about the sort of things they might like to do with their template. Training at conference is a good thing, but not always accessible to everyone. I wonder if, and this is a random idea I've just had this second, so it might be nonsense, there could be a list of bloggers who were willing to give advice and support to any new people setting up. I know I wouldn't be where I am today without Stephen. I mean, there would be words on the page, but I wouldn't have the first clue how to do links or put up photos or stuff like that. Could we have a virtual bloggers' surgery, like the old ALDC Focus surgeries?
Secondly, Lib Dem Voice, which is run so well by a very hard working small team, all of whom have other jobs. No evil Derek Draper clones for us. From the geekery genius of Mark Pack, to the prescience and relevance of Alix Mortimer and the creativity and humour of Helen Duffett, the plain speaking incisiveness of Mr Tall and the honesty and able analysis of Alex Foster, there's something there to tick every box. It provides a forum for reporting news within the party, promoting party campaigns, inspiring debate and occasionally lighting the pantene 123 touchpaper and retiring.
What's good about them as well is that you don't have to be the great and the good, or their acolytes to write for them - anyone can submit an article. Heavens, they even let me write for them once - although it was a Sunday afternoon and they probably had space to fill, in fairness....
I like the fact that they don't shrink away when there's controversy or bad press or when we muck it up. It's not a vehicle for spin and bollocks.
They also do what they can to encourage the rest of us - their relatively new 2 x 2 feature gives prominence to 12 Lib Dem blogs a week, as does their Golden Dozen. Some of the blogs which have now become required daily reading for me, the likes of Mark and Darrell, for example.
Finally, there's been the obvious and deserved catapult of Mark to blogosphere superstardom after his analysis of MP's Expenses was picked up by Polly Toynbee.
What are we, collectively as bloggers, failing to achieve?
I'm not sure that we as bloggers should collectively be trying to achieve anything. That sounds a bit New Labour and therefore very scary to me. I think the strengths of the blogosphere is that we're all individuals and we all have our own style and we all appeal to different people.
I don't think that what I write on my blog, or even anything we could all write on our blogs simultaneously, is going to win elections. That's not to say they aren't a good medium for getting liberal ideas across to lots of different people, of course.
Maybe we are a bit too insular, though. We interact with other political types and don't necessarily engage with new people. Having said that, I've had people randomly find my blog and stick with it becaue they've liked some of the ideas in it.
I don't view my blog as some sort of extension of the party machinery. Certainly, I'm happy to promote what the party is doing and what its key figures are saying, but I'm equally happy to give the leadership a good kick up the arse if I think it needs it. I don't think there's any advantage in us all becoming like cyber-linked Stepford bloggers, even if such a thing were possible. I see myself as a Liberal Democrat who has a blog, rather than as a Liberal Democrat Blogger (TM). I don't just write about politics - I just go wherever takes my fancy.
How does the Lib Dem blogosphere compare with those of the Labour, Tories and other parties’?
To be honest, I don't know enough about this to give it a decent answer. I don't really read enough of the "opposition" blogs to give a view. I have examples I like from each party but I tend not to delve too much into their collective blogospheres. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
I like how the Scottish blogosphere interacts, though - I have "met" if not in person, through t'interwebby, good people from all persuasions and there's quite a community feel to it. There are times when we can be kicking seven bells out of each other on policy and then five minutes later being on Twitter or Facebook chatting about some trashy tv programme or the Formula One. In fact, I think I remember one occasion when someone left a comment slagging off a posting of mine and then saying in the last paragraph something along the lines of "wasn't it horrendous that so and so was kicked off Strictly?" Of course there's some tribal name calling, but we do tend to get on and there have been a few meet ups. In fact, one Labour blogger even ended up going to the bloggers' breakfast at the SNP conference and not only lived to tell the tale but I think actually enjoyed the experience. Now, there are times when Labour and the SNP can be really mean to each other on the street. I've witnessed some nasty scenes at counts in my time and some robust debates on blogs, but never really any major, catastrophic bust ups.
I don't get the sense that it's quite the same south of the border. Does anyone want to disabuse me of that notion?
How helpful is blogging as a campaigning tool (are there examples of it making a real impact)?
I think that Focus type local blogs are a great part of an election campaign - but only a part. The blogopshere is accessible but also very crowded. As Costigan pretty much said this morning, campaigns can not live by blog/Facebook/internet/Twitter alone.
I think that the Lib Dem blogosphere can become a useful part of the air war, too. We saw a bit of that in the Euro campaign. I think the role of Lib Dem Voice, and to a lesser extent Lib Dem Blogs, will be really important during the coming General Election in promoting the ideas that the party is trying to promote and that we all come up with.
We maybe also need to be looking at ways to be more in touch with our readers and find out what they want from us and what makes them tick. All of us will have readers who are not involved in politics even if they are only our families and friends.
We need as well to look at other ways of promoting our blogs - candidates should have their blog addresses on their leaflets, but what about those of us who aren't standing? I use Twitter a lot, but I also talk to people about my blog and tell them how to find it - usually putting my name into Google works.
What do you think the next year holds in store for the Lib Dem blogosphere?
It'll be all about the election, I guess. And then, the aftermath.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Forza Felipe, Siamo con te
Strength, Felipe, we are with you. The poignant message on the sign held up by Felipe Massa's Ferrari colleagues as the cars assembled on the grid this afternoon.
The news on his condition is about as good as it could be. He's had another brain scan, which was clear, and he had an incident free night. He was awake for a while this morning but he'll be kept in a medically induced coma for the next 48 hours.
I have had a very limited experience of being around an ICU with a friend with a brain injury and this makes a lot of sense to me. To be honest, I wouldn't be alarmed if they kept him under for a few days longer. It just makes it so much easier for his brain to recover if it doesn't have to work at things like making the body move or breathe or respond to pain. It's a really good sign that he woke up when they wanted him too, though. Although my friend recovered, too, she didn't wake up when they stopped the sedatives, and that was scary.
The thing that really shocked me about ICU was how quiet it was. In hospital dramas, you always hear the bleep of the machines, but it wasn't like that at all. The nurses were fantastic. They don't really get to have a relationship with the patients, but they were brilliant at explaining everything to friends and family.
So far, so good. I'm not chuffed with either the pictures of the injured Massa that are circulating or the sensationalist way in which the papers, and not just the tabloids, Scotland on Sunday, are reporting this. He is not fighting for his life, ok? Massa's doctors expect him to make a complete recovery and I think they probably no more than your average sports journalist.
My thoughts, and I'm sure the thoughts of everyone in F1 are with Massa. Like the sign said, Forza Felipe, siamo con te.
UPDATE: Have just blown a gasket about Sky's sensationalist speculation about Felipe's condition. My advice is to ignore them and get your information from a credible source such as James Allen who's putting updates on both is blog and Twitter feed.
I think it's also amazing that Rubens Barrichello, Massa's friend and fellow Brazilian, is also posting updates on Twitter. I know that all the F1 fans on Twitter are incredibly grateful to him for doing that. He's a good bloke.
The news on his condition is about as good as it could be. He's had another brain scan, which was clear, and he had an incident free night. He was awake for a while this morning but he'll be kept in a medically induced coma for the next 48 hours.
I have had a very limited experience of being around an ICU with a friend with a brain injury and this makes a lot of sense to me. To be honest, I wouldn't be alarmed if they kept him under for a few days longer. It just makes it so much easier for his brain to recover if it doesn't have to work at things like making the body move or breathe or respond to pain. It's a really good sign that he woke up when they wanted him too, though. Although my friend recovered, too, she didn't wake up when they stopped the sedatives, and that was scary.
The thing that really shocked me about ICU was how quiet it was. In hospital dramas, you always hear the bleep of the machines, but it wasn't like that at all. The nurses were fantastic. They don't really get to have a relationship with the patients, but they were brilliant at explaining everything to friends and family.
So far, so good. I'm not chuffed with either the pictures of the injured Massa that are circulating or the sensationalist way in which the papers, and not just the tabloids, Scotland on Sunday, are reporting this. He is not fighting for his life, ok? Massa's doctors expect him to make a complete recovery and I think they probably no more than your average sports journalist.
My thoughts, and I'm sure the thoughts of everyone in F1 are with Massa. Like the sign said, Forza Felipe, siamo con te.
UPDATE: Have just blown a gasket about Sky's sensationalist speculation about Felipe's condition. My advice is to ignore them and get your information from a credible source such as James Allen who's putting updates on both is blog and Twitter feed.
I think it's also amazing that Rubens Barrichello, Massa's friend and fellow Brazilian, is also posting updates on Twitter. I know that all the F1 fans on Twitter are incredibly grateful to him for doing that. He's a good bloke.
MPs' Recess - our right to know?
Imagine getting a letter like this from your boss:
Dear Employee,
Please be transparent about how you're planning to spend your time away from work this summer by filling in this survey.
I hope you'll be using the break to focus on other parts of your job. I am concerned though that some people may use the time to take excessively long holidays and work on extremely well paid second jobs.
Please fill in this survey to reassure me.
I'm asking you to complete the survey because I think we have a right to know what you are doing in your private life. Please let me know if you disagree and explain your reasons why.
Thank you,
The Boss
How would you feel? Aggrieved, I would think. An unacceptable invasion of privacy? In the words of Big from Sex and the City, absof******lutely.
The above is an only slightly adapted version of an e-mail that a new organisation called 38 Degrees wants us all to send to our MPs. Heaven knows I have very little time for Jim Devine, my MP, but I adapted it slightly - I told him that I didn't think I had the right to know what he was doing for the entire Summer, and that I was horrified by the campaign. I also pointed out the huge irony of the website - the way it's set up, I couldn't actually find a way to access the survey I was supposed to be sending him to fill in. That's right - a campaign which is supposed to be demanding openness and transparency from MPs isn't open enough and transparent enough to do me the courtesy of letting me see what I'm sending mine. I hope at least it makes him or his staff laugh when he reads it.
While I doubt Mr Devine will be any more use to me during the Summer recess than he is for the rest of the year - how do you think I feel about having an MP who voted to deny the Gurkhas the right to live here? - I guess that even if he spent from now until October 12th drinking cocktails on a beach and reading trashy novels, he still wouldn't have got back the time he'd worked over and above most people's normal working week.
Most MPs I know will be spending the Summer, this year the same as every year, taking the chance to meet as many people as they possibly can in the constituency, getting to go to events that they don't get the chance to during the Parliamentary "term". Many of them have Summer tours, where they visit every nook and cranny of their constituency. All of them will spend lots of time knocking on doors. They'll also work on casework and make plans for the next few months when they do go back to Parliament. It's a chance for them to catch up on stuff that they don't have time to do when the Commons is sitting. In fact, getting your average livewire Lib Dem MP to slow down at all is no mean feat. Thank heavens that most of them have partners who force them to take a couple of weeks off, otherwise some might not take holidays at all.
What might change is that sometimes they'll only work from 9-5. They might actually get to go home and put their feet up.
I think it's fair enough for people to know what their MPs are doing in the constituency over the recess. To be honest, most of them will happily tell them. What I don't think is on is for people, whether they be constituents or journalists, to think they have the right to know where their MP is going on holiday, for how long and when. Everyone has the right to a private life.
I'm really angry to see from this report in the Telegraph that people are being urged to send in photos of holidaying MPs. Sorry, but that's harassment. The thing about that is that the more well known MPs, whose constituents recognise them because they do work hard, are going to be the ones who are more vulnerable to this sort of carry on.
Frankly, I hope that all MPs boycott this sort of grossly intrusive, and mildly threatening sort of campaign. They should all just get out there on the ground and work hard. Ultimately, I want them to go back to Parliament refreshed, relaxed and ready for the challenges of holding the Government to account, so it's important that they do get a meaningful holiday in there too.
Dear Employee,
Please be transparent about how you're planning to spend your time away from work this summer by filling in this survey.
I hope you'll be using the break to focus on other parts of your job. I am concerned though that some people may use the time to take excessively long holidays and work on extremely well paid second jobs.
Please fill in this survey to reassure me.
I'm asking you to complete the survey because I think we have a right to know what you are doing in your private life. Please let me know if you disagree and explain your reasons why.
Thank you,
The Boss
How would you feel? Aggrieved, I would think. An unacceptable invasion of privacy? In the words of Big from Sex and the City, absof******lutely.
The above is an only slightly adapted version of an e-mail that a new organisation called 38 Degrees wants us all to send to our MPs. Heaven knows I have very little time for Jim Devine, my MP, but I adapted it slightly - I told him that I didn't think I had the right to know what he was doing for the entire Summer, and that I was horrified by the campaign. I also pointed out the huge irony of the website - the way it's set up, I couldn't actually find a way to access the survey I was supposed to be sending him to fill in. That's right - a campaign which is supposed to be demanding openness and transparency from MPs isn't open enough and transparent enough to do me the courtesy of letting me see what I'm sending mine. I hope at least it makes him or his staff laugh when he reads it.
While I doubt Mr Devine will be any more use to me during the Summer recess than he is for the rest of the year - how do you think I feel about having an MP who voted to deny the Gurkhas the right to live here? - I guess that even if he spent from now until October 12th drinking cocktails on a beach and reading trashy novels, he still wouldn't have got back the time he'd worked over and above most people's normal working week.
Most MPs I know will be spending the Summer, this year the same as every year, taking the chance to meet as many people as they possibly can in the constituency, getting to go to events that they don't get the chance to during the Parliamentary "term". Many of them have Summer tours, where they visit every nook and cranny of their constituency. All of them will spend lots of time knocking on doors. They'll also work on casework and make plans for the next few months when they do go back to Parliament. It's a chance for them to catch up on stuff that they don't have time to do when the Commons is sitting. In fact, getting your average livewire Lib Dem MP to slow down at all is no mean feat. Thank heavens that most of them have partners who force them to take a couple of weeks off, otherwise some might not take holidays at all.
What might change is that sometimes they'll only work from 9-5. They might actually get to go home and put their feet up.
I think it's fair enough for people to know what their MPs are doing in the constituency over the recess. To be honest, most of them will happily tell them. What I don't think is on is for people, whether they be constituents or journalists, to think they have the right to know where their MP is going on holiday, for how long and when. Everyone has the right to a private life.
I'm really angry to see from this report in the Telegraph that people are being urged to send in photos of holidaying MPs. Sorry, but that's harassment. The thing about that is that the more well known MPs, whose constituents recognise them because they do work hard, are going to be the ones who are more vulnerable to this sort of carry on.
Frankly, I hope that all MPs boycott this sort of grossly intrusive, and mildly threatening sort of campaign. They should all just get out there on the ground and work hard. Ultimately, I want them to go back to Parliament refreshed, relaxed and ready for the challenges of holding the Government to account, so it's important that they do get a meaningful holiday in there too.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Update: Felipe Massa recovering from successful surgery in intensive care
It's reassuring to hear that Ferrari F1 driver Felipe Massa is recovering following successful surgery after his accident. He's in intensive care in hospital in Budapest. I have to say that I have no medical knowledge to back this up, but it seems to me that short is good when it comes to any sort of surgery on the head and it seemed that he was in theatre for not much more than an hour, if that. I hope he's in ICU purely as a precaution and so they can monitor all the bits they need to monitor to make sure all is as it should be.
I hope all goes well for him.
I really feel for his family, particularly his wife, who's 5 months' pregnant, and also poor Rubens Barrichello who must be going through all sorts even though this is just such a freak accident that I can't see how it could have been prevented. He's called for F1 to be made safer. It certainly wasn't Rubens' fault.
The accident must be thoroughly investigated to try to understand what happened, but on the evidence available, my resident health and safety adviser basically said that the probability of the sequence of events involving a part falling of a car and then travelling to hit someone on the head was so low that even he can't think of a way to prevent such an occurrence.
I can imagine that everyone who worked on Rubens' car will be shaken up tonight and I'm sure that the Brawn team will be its usual supportive bubble and look after them all and focus them all for the work they need to do for the race tomorrow.
UPDATE 2 22:55 Sky News have just reported that he's in a serious but stable condition after successful surgery for a life threatening condition - a double skull fracture. There have been reports on Twitter that he's in a medically induced coma which to me with my limited knowledge of neurosurgery would seem to be normal for the circumstances. They'll start to bring him out of it when his brain has had time to recover from the trauma. It seems that things are going as well as can be expected, to use that old cliche.
He's one of my favourite drivers and I don't think I'll really be at peace until he's out of ICU and on the road to recovery. I know that he has the good wishes and positive energy of F1 fans everywhere.
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I hope all goes well for him.
I really feel for his family, particularly his wife, who's 5 months' pregnant, and also poor Rubens Barrichello who must be going through all sorts even though this is just such a freak accident that I can't see how it could have been prevented. He's called for F1 to be made safer. It certainly wasn't Rubens' fault.
The accident must be thoroughly investigated to try to understand what happened, but on the evidence available, my resident health and safety adviser basically said that the probability of the sequence of events involving a part falling of a car and then travelling to hit someone on the head was so low that even he can't think of a way to prevent such an occurrence.
I can imagine that everyone who worked on Rubens' car will be shaken up tonight and I'm sure that the Brawn team will be its usual supportive bubble and look after them all and focus them all for the work they need to do for the race tomorrow.
UPDATE 2 22:55 Sky News have just reported that he's in a serious but stable condition after successful surgery for a life threatening condition - a double skull fracture. There have been reports on Twitter that he's in a medically induced coma which to me with my limited knowledge of neurosurgery would seem to be normal for the circumstances. They'll start to bring him out of it when his brain has had time to recover from the trauma. It seems that things are going as well as can be expected, to use that old cliche.
He's one of my favourite drivers and I don't think I'll really be at peace until he's out of ICU and on the road to recovery. I know that he has the good wishes and positive energy of F1 fans everywhere.
LibDig This!
John Barrett MP to stand down at Election
I am really sad today because John Barrett, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, has announced that he is standing down at the next election.
I've always got on very well with John. He has been a very good constituency MP, but I also shared an interest with him on various issues. It was John who spoke at the anti Trident march in Edinburgh in November 2007 and who addressed the protest rally against the Israeli action in Gaza in January of this year.
I've also heard him talk several times about his trips to various parts of the world as he became more and more interested in international development issues. I wonder if he might turn his attention to that in his future career.
He's given a great deal to his constituents both as MP and Councillor and to the Party over the last quarter of a century or so. He also strongly supported the West Lothian party in as many ways as he could. He had been the candidate in Linlithgow in 1999 and subsequently always supported the local effort. During the Livingston by-election in 2005, he was an invaluable support.
The House of Commons will be poorer without him and I wish him well for whatever he chooses to do in the future.
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I've always got on very well with John. He has been a very good constituency MP, but I also shared an interest with him on various issues. It was John who spoke at the anti Trident march in Edinburgh in November 2007 and who addressed the protest rally against the Israeli action in Gaza in January of this year.
I've also heard him talk several times about his trips to various parts of the world as he became more and more interested in international development issues. I wonder if he might turn his attention to that in his future career.
He's given a great deal to his constituents both as MP and Councillor and to the Party over the last quarter of a century or so. He also strongly supported the West Lothian party in as many ways as he could. He had been the candidate in Linlithgow in 1999 and subsequently always supported the local effort. During the Livingston by-election in 2005, he was an invaluable support.
The House of Commons will be poorer without him and I wish him well for whatever he chooses to do in the future.
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Nightmare accident for Felipe Massa
I can't remember a time when I didn't care what the outcome of a Formula 1 qualifying session was going to be. My devotion to the Brawn team knows no bounds, but their fate was nothing compared to that of Felipe Massa.
It's pretty sickening to see a Formula One car immobile in a wall of tyres. Accidents and spin offs are reasonably common, but usually when a car hits a wall of tyres, a few minutes later you see the driver jump out and walk off and you silently thank all those people whose hard work made Formula 1 so much safer. This didn't happen today when we saw Felipe Massa's Ferrari in that condition. Massa did not jump out and was soon surrounded by marshals and then the medical car. I think everyone watching must have been holding their breath. You could feel the air of uncertainty in the pit lane where the BBC were filming. You could see people running here, there and everywhere and for quite a few minute, which seemed to go on for ages.
Then came the somewhat chilling reports that Massa had been hit on the head by debris. In the wake of the awful accident which killed 18 year old Henry Surtees last weekend, everyone watched on with an air of horrified incredulity that two such freak events could take place on consecutive weekends. Then we heard that Massa hadn't been on the radio. Was that because it wasn't working or for a worse reason?
There seemed to be no apparent reason for the crash. How did he suddenly go off at a reasonably easy part of the track. Why did he hit with such an impact? Had his brakes failed?
Just before all this happened, the Official Hiding Behind Pillow was in place as it looked like Rubens Barrichello was not going to make it into Q3 - the first time that any of the Brawns had failed to make the final stage.
It soon transpired that there was a reason for Barrichello's failure to complete his last lap - something had fallen off his car. This "something", a part of the suspension, was what hit Massa. The footage the BBC showed showed that it had given him quite a whack. He started to brake but must have lost consciousness.
Then we cut to some live footage of marshals seemingly scouring the track, presumably to check that there weren't any other Brawn bits flying around the place.
After what seemed like an age but can't have been more than about 20 minutes, word came from Eddie Jordan, of all people, via "one of his spies" whom he wouldn't name, who had told him that Massa was going to be fine.
It's a cruel irony that it was a part of Rubens' car, who is a really good friend of Massa's, which caused the problem. Rubens legged it to the medical centre to see Massa and reported that he was ok, in pain, but talking and not in any danger.
As we all started to breathe again, qualifying resumed in the final 10 minute shoot out. It's usually dramatic, but today it was confusing as the live time feeds disappeared, so the commentators and we at home had no idea what on earth was happening. Neither, it appeared, did the drivers. In chaotic scenes which sharply contrasted with the earlier tension, the drivers parked up afterwards and were comparing their times with each other. They all seemed to know their own times, but had no idea how they all fitted together. As one of the commentators said, it was like a high stakes game of Top Trumps with the winner getting to start at the front of the grid. Martin Brundle had to issue a hasty apology when Jenson Button used some extreme Anglo Saxon to Alonso.
The BBC actually ended its transmission before the result was confirmed - why, oh why, could they not have delayed going to the athletics for a few minutes? If it was football, or Wimbledon, they would have done, why not for F1?
A few minutes later, the FIA confirmed that Alonso had made pole, with the Red Bulls snapping at his heels followed by Hamilton, Rosberg and Kovaleinen.
What was clear was that Jenson wasn't going to figure anywhere near the front of the grid. The Brawn team had put responsibility before everything else and kept him in the garage until they could be sure his suspension was safe. This meant he had time to do one flying lap on his race fuel - it was never going to be enough.
As far as the race is concerned, it was Ross Brawn who developed the strategy in 1998which turned a losing situation into a remarkable victory. He relied on Michael Schumacher basically breaking the laws of physics to do it, so we'll see tomorrow if he and Jenson can come up with enough to at least keep the Red Bulls at bay.
A win for Alonso would actually not be too bad a result for the Brawns, and much better than a Red Bull 1-2. Alonso is in no position to challenge for the championship. In fact, if Lewis Hamilton uses his KERS button to advantage, he may be able to get past one or both of the Red Bulls - he very nearly took the lead from Webber in Germany. Again, he can't challenge from the championship, but he could narrow the gap between the Red Bulls and Brawns. Last year's championship came down to just one point on the last corner of the last race, so every single point is vital.
Anyway, Massa is probably very sore at the moment but if the reports are right, there will be no permanent injury. Let's hope that's the case and that the rest of this weekend passes without incident.
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It's pretty sickening to see a Formula One car immobile in a wall of tyres. Accidents and spin offs are reasonably common, but usually when a car hits a wall of tyres, a few minutes later you see the driver jump out and walk off and you silently thank all those people whose hard work made Formula 1 so much safer. This didn't happen today when we saw Felipe Massa's Ferrari in that condition. Massa did not jump out and was soon surrounded by marshals and then the medical car. I think everyone watching must have been holding their breath. You could feel the air of uncertainty in the pit lane where the BBC were filming. You could see people running here, there and everywhere and for quite a few minute, which seemed to go on for ages.
Then came the somewhat chilling reports that Massa had been hit on the head by debris. In the wake of the awful accident which killed 18 year old Henry Surtees last weekend, everyone watched on with an air of horrified incredulity that two such freak events could take place on consecutive weekends. Then we heard that Massa hadn't been on the radio. Was that because it wasn't working or for a worse reason?
There seemed to be no apparent reason for the crash. How did he suddenly go off at a reasonably easy part of the track. Why did he hit with such an impact? Had his brakes failed?
Just before all this happened, the Official Hiding Behind Pillow was in place as it looked like Rubens Barrichello was not going to make it into Q3 - the first time that any of the Brawns had failed to make the final stage.
It soon transpired that there was a reason for Barrichello's failure to complete his last lap - something had fallen off his car. This "something", a part of the suspension, was what hit Massa. The footage the BBC showed showed that it had given him quite a whack. He started to brake but must have lost consciousness.
Then we cut to some live footage of marshals seemingly scouring the track, presumably to check that there weren't any other Brawn bits flying around the place.
After what seemed like an age but can't have been more than about 20 minutes, word came from Eddie Jordan, of all people, via "one of his spies" whom he wouldn't name, who had told him that Massa was going to be fine.
It's a cruel irony that it was a part of Rubens' car, who is a really good friend of Massa's, which caused the problem. Rubens legged it to the medical centre to see Massa and reported that he was ok, in pain, but talking and not in any danger.
As we all started to breathe again, qualifying resumed in the final 10 minute shoot out. It's usually dramatic, but today it was confusing as the live time feeds disappeared, so the commentators and we at home had no idea what on earth was happening. Neither, it appeared, did the drivers. In chaotic scenes which sharply contrasted with the earlier tension, the drivers parked up afterwards and were comparing their times with each other. They all seemed to know their own times, but had no idea how they all fitted together. As one of the commentators said, it was like a high stakes game of Top Trumps with the winner getting to start at the front of the grid. Martin Brundle had to issue a hasty apology when Jenson Button used some extreme Anglo Saxon to Alonso.
The BBC actually ended its transmission before the result was confirmed - why, oh why, could they not have delayed going to the athletics for a few minutes? If it was football, or Wimbledon, they would have done, why not for F1?
A few minutes later, the FIA confirmed that Alonso had made pole, with the Red Bulls snapping at his heels followed by Hamilton, Rosberg and Kovaleinen.
What was clear was that Jenson wasn't going to figure anywhere near the front of the grid. The Brawn team had put responsibility before everything else and kept him in the garage until they could be sure his suspension was safe. This meant he had time to do one flying lap on his race fuel - it was never going to be enough.
As far as the race is concerned, it was Ross Brawn who developed the strategy in 1998which turned a losing situation into a remarkable victory. He relied on Michael Schumacher basically breaking the laws of physics to do it, so we'll see tomorrow if he and Jenson can come up with enough to at least keep the Red Bulls at bay.
A win for Alonso would actually not be too bad a result for the Brawns, and much better than a Red Bull 1-2. Alonso is in no position to challenge for the championship. In fact, if Lewis Hamilton uses his KERS button to advantage, he may be able to get past one or both of the Red Bulls - he very nearly took the lead from Webber in Germany. Again, he can't challenge from the championship, but he could narrow the gap between the Red Bulls and Brawns. Last year's championship came down to just one point on the last corner of the last race, so every single point is vital.
Anyway, Massa is probably very sore at the moment but if the reports are right, there will be no permanent injury. Let's hope that's the case and that the rest of this weekend passes without incident.
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Who will be the Hungarian Heroes?
After a truly horrible week (more of which later), I'm feeling human enough to write a little bit. I'm all excited about the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend. My beloved Brawn boys have had some fairly ugly modifications to their car, but, frankly it's not a beauty contest - all I really care about is that it makes it go faster.
What's done for the Brawns, and allowed those pesky Red Bulls to get their claws into the championship, has been a combination of cold weather and circuits which don't require huge amounts of braking. Consequently, they couldn't get enough heat into their tyres which gave them less grip.
It has been lovely to hear tales of 38 degree heat from the Hungaroring - just what Dr Brawn ordered. However, BBC best anchor man in whole entire universe Jake Humphrey told us on Twitter this morning that it's gone all cold and blustery. When he says cold, though, it's still 6 degrees hotter than Silverstone at its warmest and that was only 9 am. Also, Red Bull might have been doing rain dances, but they'd have found it difficult to straighten out the track. There's loads of slow corners and it absolutely is not going to rain, so our boys will be fine.
I'm also not going to dwell on the fact that it was the McLarens and the Williams which did best out of the practice sessions yesterday. The Brawns finished midfield, but they often do on a Friday and they would have been carrying race fuel, so I'm not worried. I'm sure one of them, and I actually do hope it'll be Rubens, will deliver that killer lap in the dying stages of Q3. I really want to see Rubens win this weekend, although obviously I won't complain if Jenson does.
In the worst kept secret ever, Toro Rosso fired Sebastien Bourdais after the last Grand Prix and replaced him with 19 year old Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari. I think that they were utterly mean to do so the race before they brought in upgrades to the car. Ok, so he hadn't won any points this season, but, let's face it, his team mate had won a whole 2. I wonder if this is also a bit of succession planning for the Spanish market, whose F1 fans are all about Alonso, to give them someone else to back when Fernando retires.
While I think Toro Rosso were well out of order in the way they treated Bourdais, none of this is Alguersuari's fault, have you got that, Felipe Massa who shares management with Bourdais? You can call Franz Tost, team principal of Toro Rosso anything you want, and I have, but leave Jaime alone.
Jaime himself had never driven an F1 car in anything other than a straight line until he went out in practice yesterday. Of course he came 20th out of 20 in both sessions and it must have been hard for him with the added pressure of all the expectation on him. Most people on their first day in a new job are finding out where the toilets are and where to put their coffee mug. This teenager had to drive a car he'd never driven before at 200 mph in front of the world's press. The media have given him quite a build up - let's hope they give him some time to settle in before they rip him to shreds.
I am kind of looking forward to finding out how the BBC boys, and EJ in particular, will cope with what looks like an unpronouncable name but is in fact quite easy. Repeat after me Ch(as in Scottish loch)imey Alg-wer-swari, making sure you roll your r's nicely. The 5 Live lot made a bit of a balls of it yesterday before deciding just to call him Jamie, as he had given them permision to do. Jaime, you are being too nice to them. It will not kill them to do you the courtesy of saying your name right.
Now that Bourdais has gone, there has been intense speculation about the future of Nelson Piquet Jr at Renault. There have been mutterings about his failure to perform and by the sounds of it there was a bit of a stushie between Nelson's dad and manager, the former 3 times world champion, and Flavio Briatore. That must have been quite an explosive sight. Young Nelson has been utterly brilliant in the way he's interacted with fans and come across on television. He seems like a well balanced, very pleasant guy and he does not deserve to be crapped on by Flav. He got some backing yesterday from commentator Maurice Hamilton in response to a question submitted via Twitter by Yours Truly who thought it would be better if he stayed at Renault. At least he should have the advantage of having an equivalent car to Alonso and he's shone at the Hungaroring earlier in his career.
We also welcome two new BBC F1 twitterers this weekend. Sarah Holt has been the best so far with lots of useful information while Andrew Benson who won me over with his analogy that a Todt FIA presidency with Max Boo Hiss Mosley in the Senate would be like the Medvedev Putin situation in Russia.
Anyway, am off to get ready for the final practice session and to look out the Official Hiding Behind pillow for Qualifying later.
What's done for the Brawns, and allowed those pesky Red Bulls to get their claws into the championship, has been a combination of cold weather and circuits which don't require huge amounts of braking. Consequently, they couldn't get enough heat into their tyres which gave them less grip.
It has been lovely to hear tales of 38 degree heat from the Hungaroring - just what Dr Brawn ordered. However, BBC best anchor man in whole entire universe Jake Humphrey told us on Twitter this morning that it's gone all cold and blustery. When he says cold, though, it's still 6 degrees hotter than Silverstone at its warmest and that was only 9 am. Also, Red Bull might have been doing rain dances, but they'd have found it difficult to straighten out the track. There's loads of slow corners and it absolutely is not going to rain, so our boys will be fine.
I'm also not going to dwell on the fact that it was the McLarens and the Williams which did best out of the practice sessions yesterday. The Brawns finished midfield, but they often do on a Friday and they would have been carrying race fuel, so I'm not worried. I'm sure one of them, and I actually do hope it'll be Rubens, will deliver that killer lap in the dying stages of Q3. I really want to see Rubens win this weekend, although obviously I won't complain if Jenson does.
In the worst kept secret ever, Toro Rosso fired Sebastien Bourdais after the last Grand Prix and replaced him with 19 year old Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari. I think that they were utterly mean to do so the race before they brought in upgrades to the car. Ok, so he hadn't won any points this season, but, let's face it, his team mate had won a whole 2. I wonder if this is also a bit of succession planning for the Spanish market, whose F1 fans are all about Alonso, to give them someone else to back when Fernando retires.
While I think Toro Rosso were well out of order in the way they treated Bourdais, none of this is Alguersuari's fault, have you got that, Felipe Massa who shares management with Bourdais? You can call Franz Tost, team principal of Toro Rosso anything you want, and I have, but leave Jaime alone.
Jaime himself had never driven an F1 car in anything other than a straight line until he went out in practice yesterday. Of course he came 20th out of 20 in both sessions and it must have been hard for him with the added pressure of all the expectation on him. Most people on their first day in a new job are finding out where the toilets are and where to put their coffee mug. This teenager had to drive a car he'd never driven before at 200 mph in front of the world's press. The media have given him quite a build up - let's hope they give him some time to settle in before they rip him to shreds.
I am kind of looking forward to finding out how the BBC boys, and EJ in particular, will cope with what looks like an unpronouncable name but is in fact quite easy. Repeat after me Ch(as in Scottish loch)imey Alg-wer-swari, making sure you roll your r's nicely. The 5 Live lot made a bit of a balls of it yesterday before deciding just to call him Jamie, as he had given them permision to do. Jaime, you are being too nice to them. It will not kill them to do you the courtesy of saying your name right.
Now that Bourdais has gone, there has been intense speculation about the future of Nelson Piquet Jr at Renault. There have been mutterings about his failure to perform and by the sounds of it there was a bit of a stushie between Nelson's dad and manager, the former 3 times world champion, and Flavio Briatore. That must have been quite an explosive sight. Young Nelson has been utterly brilliant in the way he's interacted with fans and come across on television. He seems like a well balanced, very pleasant guy and he does not deserve to be crapped on by Flav. He got some backing yesterday from commentator Maurice Hamilton in response to a question submitted via Twitter by Yours Truly who thought it would be better if he stayed at Renault. At least he should have the advantage of having an equivalent car to Alonso and he's shone at the Hungaroring earlier in his career.
We also welcome two new BBC F1 twitterers this weekend. Sarah Holt has been the best so far with lots of useful information while Andrew Benson who won me over with his analogy that a Todt FIA presidency with Max Boo Hiss Mosley in the Senate would be like the Medvedev Putin situation in Russia.
Anyway, am off to get ready for the final practice session and to look out the Official Hiding Behind pillow for Qualifying later.
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