Hamilton Saint

"Southampton manager Nigel Adkins does not feels he owes predecessor Alan Pardew a debt of gratitude for the work done before his arrival at the south coast club." Who knows what has motivated NA to say this at this time (probably the timing - right before AP and Newcastle come to town), but it is undeniable that Pardew brought a great group of players to Saints. Adkins built on what Pardew had already set up.

I've had a bicycle stolen three times during my life. Each time it has been very upsetting. Not that the things were worth a huge amount, you understand - it just feels like such a personal violation.

The new double-CD release from Neil Young and Crazy Horse; it's called Psychedelic Pill. This is excellent - especially if you appreciate the long, lead-guitar improvisations he gets into when playing with Crazy Horse. His guitar - a 1953 Gibson Les Paul ("Old Black") - has never sounded better!

Finally found a copy of Ill Met By Moonlight at my local library. It's one of just a few films by the interesting British film-makers Powell and Pressburger ("The Archers") that I haven't seen before. It's set on Crete during WWII, and tells the true story of the kidnapping of the Nazi general who commanded the German occupying troops. It features Dirk Bogarde and Marius Goring.

These are all from BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs [fascinating to hear what music people will pick - and the conversation is always interesting] Great Lives [even though I find Matthew Parish annoying] In Our Time [even though Melvyn Bragg can be seriously annoying!] Books and Authors Coast and Country Thinking Allowed Play of the Week I download these to my ipod on the weekend and listen to them in my car (an hour-long commute to and from work every day).

Our tradition is to go out as a family to a local Christmas Tree "farm" about two weeks before Christmas and cut our own tree down - about 6-7 feet high. When I was a kid growing up in Hythe my parents always put up all the Christmas decorations (including the tree) on Christmas Eve. And then took them down on Twelfth Night (Epiphany).

Yeah, why be an optimist and feel good, when you can be a pessimist and feel bad?

Come on, Saints!

Interesting parallelism of thought. It's this sort of all-or-nothing, black-and-white attitude that is part of the problem. There are extremists on both sides using religion and historical grievance as a justification to terrorise and abuse those on the other side. But, ultimately, it is primarily the Palestinians who have been dispossesed of land and property. And the religious fundamentalsim of the settlers, who believe that God gave the land to them, regardless of historical realities, is a major obstacle to peace between the two peoples.

A two-state solution seems the only conceivable option. Israel must cease to occupy the West Bank area of Jordan and abandon a large portion of the illegal settlements there. The long history of terror perpetrated by both sides has completely poisoned the region. I feel sympathy AND disgust for both sides.

Recently watched The River, directed by Jean Renoir. Filmed in Bengal in 1952. Fascinating film.

Thanks for this. I'm a big fan of radio 4 podcasts, but wasn't aware yet of this series. I'll definitely tune in to these!

I'm half-way through an excellent biography of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons. It's called I'm Your Man. A must-read if you're a fan!

Obviously, abortion is a delicate moral issue. Both parties involved in the pregnancy ought to be involved in the decision, but ultimately it is the women's right to choose - especially since she is often left alone to deal with the problems of an unwanted pregnancy (i.e., the man abandons her). Other thoughts: There needs to be a time cut-off - a stage in the pregnancy beyond which abortion, in most cases, ought not to be allowed. Abortion should also not be used as a form of gender-selection. Those who say that people use abortion as mere contraception have probably not faced the situation. Regardless of one's religious or philosophical view on the issue, getting an abortion is not a pleasant experience. People can get pregnant even though they use contraception carefully. Those who argue that life begins at conception, and that life is sacred, are bound to argue, therefore, that rape victims, or victims of incest, must be obliged to continue their pregnancies to term.

3x + 1 = 16 3x = 16 - 1 3x = 15 x = 15/3 x = 5

Smokin' at the Half Note (1965) - Wes Montgomery (guitar) with the Wynton Kelly Trio. On Verve Records.

No. I reckon he's got at least to the half-way point in the season to show a significant change in our fortunes.

There has not been a larger gap, surely, between expectation and reality than Augustin Delgado. Rudi Skacel was a major disappointment, too.

I agree that there are huge differences in domestic policy - obviously. But my point was about foreign policy. US foreign policy is not dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It is not established by individual administratons - it is governed primarily by long-standing geo-political considerations. If you look at the post-war (WWII) period, US foreign policy followed the doctrinal world-view of George Kennan, who established the doctrine of "containment". This theory set the scene for the entire Cold War period - the US worked to contain the spread of communism. Didn't matter if it was a Democratic administration (Kennedy tried to invade Cuba, provoked the Cuban Missile Crisis, and escalated the War in Vietnam, etc.) or a Republican administration (Nixon used the CIA to depose the Allende regime in Chile, Reagan armed the contras in Nicaragua, etc.). Administrations of both stripes have also been staunch supporters of Israel and suppliers of arms to regimes of all sorts around the world - democratic, semi-democratic, and tyrannical (as long as they were anti-communist). Despotic regimes have been supported surreptitiously by both Democratic and Republican administrations. In the post-Cold War era, there was a brief period of opportunity to establish a "peace dividend" - but the events of 9/11 allowed the military-industrial complex, and its philosophical enablers, to use the threat of Al Qaeda-type terrorism to establish "a war between civilizations" scenario to dominate the geo-political discussion. Obama, for example, (who got a premature Nobel Peace Prize, remember) has not eliminated the un-constitutional aspects of Homeland Security. He hasn't eliminated the facilities at Guantanamo Bay. And he has escalated state-terror in the Middle East, engaging in illegal assassinations on foreign soil. What I'm saying is that there are deep layers of hidden policy and doctrine that constrain and impel presidents to pursue foreign policy goals, regardless of their own political stripe.

Hey, explain the irony.

No, it's not "more or less unanimous" that you can call someone a c*nt just because they hold to a different political opinion.

You're calling for respect, but think it's OK to call someone a cu nt because they have a strong opinion of their own on the issue - an opinion they know is going to bring them lots of grief? Can't you respect that? And you're calling for respect, but think it's OK to call someone a cu nt because they express the opinion that he has the right to hold to his own (unpopular) opinion?

Me, too - so frustrating!

Come on, Saints!

Me neither. (Except my wedding ring.)