Having digested the choice to award the 2020 Olympic Games to Japan, I was struck with mirth at the revelation that wrestling is to assume Olympic status. Quite where the limits to such absurdity end are not clear. Seemingly, devotees of squash are inconsolable that their sport has once more been overlooked. I can only imagine the sheer devastation within the darts world this morning as trainer wearing darts players face life without a shot at Olympic Gold. For me, this decision has propelled the Olympics in to a Pythonesque farce where eligible sports are decided upon with a rationale which leaves me standing. The next thing you know, they'll be replicating the London Eye in Tokyo - for the sake of all those with a sense of humour like mine, I can but hope.
Of course, it isn't only the Olympics which seem intent on making the rules up in such an odd way. I was in a prominent department store at the weekend and was highly amused to see a fantastic example of marketing on the inside of men's trousers. Their latest ploy is to promote "an active waist band" on selected trousers. This can surely only be interpreted in one way. The less active you become, the less forgiving the waist band will become. The wording of course implies that they promote activity when nothing could be further from the truth. We have not become a nation of jogging bottoms for nothing because, like the darts players with their trainers, athletes we are not. That said, I can only marvel at the invention of the marketing men.
On the subject of marketing, the HS2 rail network has been marketed to within an inch of its life by the current government. I fear they are caught in a trap. Every government likes to undertake one huge project by which they will hopefully be remembered and I'm sure this one is no different. The idea is fraught with problems though. The ascent of London as the epicentre of commerce in this country is not a new development. It has been going on for years and it is frankly absurd to try and redress this balance by spending such a colossal sum of money on a project which, when finished, will be too costly for most commuters to use anyway. They would be better remembered as the government who addressed the rest of the railway network. Seats on trains would be a good start as would a financial incentive for people to use them. Most people I know look upon a train journey as a luxury due to the prohibitive cost. Too many people I know have no access to a railway system within 20 miles of their home - this has only served to isolate them and further exarcerbate class division. Until this is addressed, our road clogging will continue unabated.
In spite of just about everyone else in the world being against military intervention in Syria, Obama seems to be caught in a trap. When he proclaimed that he would never stand by in the event of chemical weapons being used anywhere in the world, he rather laid himself bare to criticism. He'll be damned if he does intervene and he'll be damned if he doesn't - might have been better to keep quiet on the matter and keep his cards close to his chest.
Ed Milliband finds himself in a similar position with regard to the unions. If he goes ahead with his reforms he will seriously alienate his paymasters and all but rule himself out of election victory in 2015. Change is great provided it fits in with the people who call the shots. Now as always, the unions play the tune to which the Labour Party dances. If he proceeds, it will make UKIP's incursions into Tory strongholds seem trivial. Yes, its been a great week for the Tories. Sometimes in politics, you get weeks where you don't have to do or say anything much because the opposition is doing all your hard work for you. This is a week in point.
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