Here's hoping for 2008...

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear

Greg Lake - I Believe In Father Christmas

2007 has been a rather distressing year and I'm more than happy to bid farewell to it tonight. I don't have any New Year resolutions (since I never keep them anyway), but I have hopes for the future...

I hope in 2008, people will look beyond blinkered religous dogma and respect the different beliefs held by others (but that's already a forlorn hope - according to reports, three bomb blasts injured 27 people, many of them celebrating the New Year in the southern Thai tourist town of Sungai Kolok. Muslim insurgents are suspected behind the attack)....

I hope in 2008 that our young men will think twice before using a knife or a gun to take another's life. As of December 25th 2007, 26 young lives were cut short on the streets of London (I also hope that my fellow Londoners will enjoy tonight's New Year celebrations without fear of violence towards them)....

I hope in 2008 that Burma, Darfur, Afganistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Kenya and other troubled corners of this world will know peace....

And I hope for all of us that 2008 is better than 2007.

Smoking

Starting January 1st, 2008, Californian motorists could be hit with fines of up to $100 [approx. £50] for smoking in a vehicle containing anyone under 18 years of age. This ban is the latest attempt by the state to protect people from the dangers created by breathing second-hand smoke (two other American states - Arkansas and Louisiana - also have laws that prohibit smoking in vehicles containing children. The Arkansas law applies to children under age 6 or 60 pounds, while the Louisiana law covers children under age 13).
New California vehicle smoking ban begins Tuesday

And if you think that's tough, you should read the following link:
It's Official -- Belmont Bans Smoking In Some Homes

Apparently around September 2007, the Belmont City Council in California banned smoking in the privacy of one's own home. The city's existing smoking ban was extended to include to the inside of any residence except single-family detached homes (smoking is still allowed in single-family homes and their yards, and units and yards in apartment buildings, condominiums and townhouses that do not share any common floors or ceilings with other units).

As a non-smoker, I'm aware of the need to restrict second-hand (aka passive) smoking, especially amongst the young. According to research from Imperial College, second-hand smoking in the workplace causes about 700 deaths each year. And since 1 July 2007, England joined the other countries in the United Kingdom by enforcing a complete ban on smoking in all public indoor spaces.

But a ban on smoking in one's own car feels draconian. And as for prohibiting people from smoking in their own residence, what next? Banning the overweight from eating at fast food resturaunts?

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto (continued)....

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has ordered a crack down on the unrest after Benazir Bhutto's death. Ms Bhutto was buried on Friday in her family mausoleum amid the weeping of tens of thousands of mourners and renewed violence in Pakistan.
Meanwhile questions are still being asked about the identity (or identities) of those behind Ms Bhutto's assassination.
If one believes the Pakistani government, then al-Qaeda or the Taleban, or even both, were responsible for her death. However supporters of the late Ms Bhutto believe the government of President Musharraf is to blame.
I don't know what to believe...but I do know the consequences of Benazir Bhutto's death are continuing to reverberate...
Musharraf cracks down on rioters
Bhutto's cause of death disputed

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto....

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated in a suspected suicide bomb attack at an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. She was shot in the neck and chest before the gunman blew himself up, killing at least 20 other people in the explosion - the second targeting Ms Bhutto since her return from self-imposed exile in October this year.
While there has been no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, analysts believe the most likely group behind it are Islamist militants. Protests have broken out in other Pakistani cities as news of the assassination spread, with reports of 11 deaths.
One cannot help but feel that the demise of this brave and remarkable woman is a tragedy for the people of Pakistan. Yes, Benazir Bhutto was surrounded in controversy while she was in office. And by openly associating herself with the West, she probably signed her death warrant. But you have to admire her courage in accepting the risks and facing those forces baying for her blood.
Would she have helped in bringing peace to Pakistan next year? We'll never know now.
Rest in peace, Benazir Bhutto and those innocents killed today. One sincerely hopes Pakistan will recover from this loss.
Benazir Bhutto killed in attack
Obituary: Benazir Bhutto

Before I forget....

Robbie Keane had a penalty saved saved by goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, as Nicklas Bendtner headed Arsenal's winner in the 2-1 defeat of local rivals Tottenham yesterday. Bendtner had just come on as a substitute for the Gunners after after 76 minutes.
OK, the match wasn't pretty and Aresnal weren't at their best, but I'll take the win and 3 points at this stage.
Well, at the beginning of the season no one gave us a cat in hells chance, but here we are still at the summit. Congratulations lads (and thanks for keeping us in it, Manuel).
Oh - and Happy Xmas, Spurs fans (Hahahahahahaha)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham

Blair (finally) becomes a Catholic

Our ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair has left the Anglican Church to become a Roman Catholic.
There had been speculation he would convert after leaving office. However ex-Tory minister Ann Widdecombe - herself a Catholic convert - said Mr Blair's voting record as an MP had often "gone against church teaching".

We all knew Tony Blair was a secret Catholic for quite a while, so this is no suprise. However, I would have had more respect for him had he put his faith before politics and converted to Catholicism whilst he was in No. 10.
But I guess our Tone would then have to face embarrassing questions about his stance on same-sex unions, stem cell research and abortion.
Blair converts to Catholicism

And the next England Manager is (continued)...

Italian Fabio Capello who signed a four-and-a-half year deal to become the new manager. This deal is reportedly worth £6m a year, with an "opt out" clause after 2010.
It's a lot of money, but desperate times call for desperate measures. This England national team had become so much of a laughing stock that it needs someone like Capello to (hopefully) kick some collective rear ends and put things right.

As for the "Little England" brigade - it's time for people to swallow their national pride...
Capello named new England manager

A very dangerous teddy bear (postscript)......

I'm glad that 54-year old teacher Gillian Gibbons is back in the UK after being released from jail in Sudan.
If you refer to previous posts on this blog, Mrs Gibbons had been jailed after being found guilty for "insulting Islam" on 29 November, after allowing her six- and seven-year-old pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad. She was found not guilty of two other charges.
However when you consider that she could have faced 40 lashes if found guilty of all three charges, I'm still flabbergasted how a simple misunderstanding could degenerate into a cauldron of ignorance and intolerance.
Those crowds of people who marched in Khartoum calling for a tougher sentence - those extremists who reportedly called for her to face a firing squad - should ask themselves: is all this anger and hate following the example of the Prophet? Where is the tolerance and understanding of Islam?

I also shudder when I consider the plight of the black African population of Darfur who are subjected to attacks by the vicious Janjaweed Arab militia, reportedly aided by the Sudanese authority.
According to UN goodwill ambassador and former actress Mia Farrow, the case of Gillian Gibbons "underlines the brutality and insanity" of the Sudanese government.
I agree with Ms Farrow - "we mustn't forget the countless women in Darfur who are not free to leave."
Teacher speaks of Sudan 'ordeal'
Egypt to host fresh Darfur talks
Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict

A very dangerous teddy bear (continued)......

Two British Muslim peers (Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi) are hoping to meet the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, in order to secure the release of Gillian Gibbons, the UK teacher jailed in Khartoum for insulting religion - by allowing her pupils to call a teddy bear Muhammad.
The Sudanese president is only person with the authority to pardon Mrs Gibbons, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail and then deportation from Sudan.

I hope Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi will stress how this apalling incident has damaged people's perception of Islam and Muslims - ALL Muslims. Already British author Kes Gray has stated the case of Gillian Gibbons influenced his decision to change the name of a character in his book, Who's Poorly Too. The character, Mohammed the Mole has been renamed Morgan so as not to offend Muslims. Gray's book which has sold 40,000 copies in Britain and overseas, was to be reprinted, but this has now been postponed.

It's hard to hold onto liberal and tolerant views when facing religious bigotry, that has no place in the 21st century.