1738 Sport, Sport and more Sport

This Saturday became a good day, I wanted to write this morning but I did not write well or communicate what I wanted to say. I needed to think through more than the time I allowed myself. I wrote under a self imposed pressure. I had looked forward to day at cricket in the sun but the weather forecast was of rain and cold. It was cold but there was some sun here over the Tyne River mouth but when I checked Riverside play was delayed because of the overnight/ rain with an inspection at 11.30am. There was time to complete the writing, accepting as it was, far short of what I set out to achieve.

I eat lunch, granary rolls, divided, covered with spread, meats and coleslaw, after ironing the hand washed and garage dried shirts and tumble dried tracksuit bottoms I wear in the house. I watched Jenson Button come second in the three stage speed trials of their vehicles. The suspicion is that the Red Bull car had less fuel so as to drive away faster at the start and create a sufficient lead not to lose position when he has to stop to refuel several laps before the two Braun vehicles in second and third position of the grid. The rain affected the games everywhere with the 20 20 match between New Zealand and Scotland restricted to seven overs..

I made my way to Riverside taking coffee and pastry which I consumed on arrival sitting in the coldish sun in corner overlooking the wicket. Durham won the toss and elected to field and for once this proved to be a brilliant decision for with Onions on form an Harmison bowling tight Hampshire lost a wicket and then scored at the rate of one or two an over compared to seven to nine in the 20 20 version. By the time I arrive at he ground Hampshire had lost three more wickets and had been 26 for 4 at one point with Graham Onions claiming three, Thorp the other.

Young Mitch Claydon was brought on and took two wickets with his first two balls. Harmison came on terrifying the lower order in submission taking the last four wicket so that the visitors were all out for 105 with Onion 3 for 22 from 19, Harmison 4 for 43 from 17.4 and Claydon 2 for 20 from 5. Thorp I for 16 from 9. De Vento looked in good touch before he was caught of a big hit straight to a fielder for 7 and then Stone taking the lead with Smith added 70 before Stoneman went for 44 with Durham 2 for 84, only 21 behind and Smith after a shaky start 21. Hopefully tomorrow if the weather is good Smith will overcome the early seam and the strong order to come of Benkenstein, Blackwell and Mustard will be able to take the total into the 300’s.

Having consumed the coffee and pastry on arrival I went for a warm at tea and stayed getting a seat behind glass for the evening session. Attention was diverted from time to time to one of the two TV’s as England were away in a World Cup preparatory league game in Kazakhstan winning 4.0, although they had a poor first half in which the 2.0 lead flattered according to subsequent commentators, but after the Holland humiliation in the 20 20 any kind of a win was a win. However the attention of the many in the lounge was for. On the other screen in which the West Indian Gayle hit 50 of 23 balls including several powerful sixes one out of the ground after hitting the roof of at least 105 metres. There was great delight as they went on to thrash Australia by 7 wickets. To celebrate I enjoyed a cream scone with jam.

Back home I watched Robin Hood before the evening meal of a ham omelette and half the fresh pineapple and coffee. For supper there was a bowl of cereal. The before ten there was the event which made the day memorable form a good. A programme celebrating the life and work of T S Elliot the author of the waste Land, the Four Quartets and the Cocktail Party verse play.

On Sunday although I rose early and started to prepare for the second day at Riverside the focus of my attention was on the Andrew Marr Show and some revealing disclosures by Lord Mandelson, the new First Secretary and effective Deputy Leader and Deputy Prime Minister alongside Harriet Harman the elected Deputy Leader and Leader of the House Commons, but not given the title Deputy by the Prime Minister although she answers Questions in his absence and is in charge of the operation of the House of Commons.

The consequence was that I arrived a little late after play had commenced but was able to get a seat behind glass at the far end of the member’s lounge and with one of the two TV screens at that end of the room . It was cold but sunny when I left the Tyne but within a matter of minutes the skies were full of dark clouds and in the mile leading to the ground it was evident there had been a drenching earlier. It was not the say to sit out in the open if it could be avoided.


Durham followed the pattern of the brief Hampshire Innings concentrating on survival on a difficult wicket with the consequence of an average of two runs an over. What a contrast to the hot sunshine and entertainment of a week ago. It was struggle for the lovers of the game and the knowledge that captain Smith and former Captain Beckenstein were building an innings which could move the game in Durham’s favour. Blenkenstein was out just before lunch for 22 and Durham were 140 for three. After lunch Smith went into his shell as Ian Blackwell, also due a good personal score appeared to take the lead. The defensiveness was his undoing being bowled leg before wicket when he was 80 and the Durham score 191 for 4. Mustard had a short scoring period while Blackwell was steady to his 50 but went when 68 and Durham were 280 for six. Hopes of getting 350 to 400 began to seem distant. Although Claydon made the effort with 10 Durham were all out for 311, some 206 runs ahead on first innings. Although there had been short bursts of sunshine the day remained cold.

At one the Turkish Grand Prix was underway and I missed the start of the race to find that although still on the first lap Jensen Button was in the lead. Whatever plan Sebastian Vettel had been wrecked by him making a silly mistake. He never recovered and finished third to his Red Bull team who came second. His team mate Barichello stalled on the first and then hit another car in his attempt to catch, He retired after 47 laps and the contrast between the fortunes of the two drivers and their respective vehicles is even greater than ever.

As with the previous day there was further distraction on screen. England had to beat Pakistan Africa in their second 20 20 match in order to continue in the competition. However the remaining overs of the day would be crucial if Durham was to win this match. With the first ball Onion had the opening batsman leg before wicket. John Crawley was then out when the total was 13 and one felt the match was over. In fact after a mini recovery and then the wicket fell and then he night watchman also went and Hampshire were again in the more at 52 for four Harmison has added two more wickets, Thorpe I and Onions 1. The England Innings continued.

Bopara was out early, not unexpected as his run of amazing performance could not be expected to continue. Luke Wright continue to make some excellent strokes but he went for 32. It was Kevin Petersen who became the saviour with 58 but he was supported by others with Shah 38 and Collingwood 15, Mascarenhas with 16 and Foster with 14 were not out and the innings closed at 185 for 8.

I had stayed behind with a small group of other members to watch the closing overs while staff packed up around us and cleared the tables also creating an open area in the middle of the lounge. This was for a local brass band to come an practice. I had got into conversation with several new people. It was another good day especially when on returning home Pakistan were unable to get close to the England total and we progressed to the next stage of this competition.

On Monday I also had to hurry to get to the ground but still arrived after the start of play. I elected to pay only for up to four hours. I was amazed that given the uncertainty of the weather and oft he game so many people had arrived before me. There were more members than either the Saturday or the Sunday. In part this suggested that family commitments present members from coming and that the weather had prevented too many individuals prepared to pay the £15 entry for non members, as well as the counter attractions of other major sporting events available on the television.

The game was won within an hour. The reason was the bowling of Graham Onions where the conditions and the wicket suited him and Hampshire did not know how to successfully respond and in were no mood to attempt to bat themselves in over along period when to get the game over meant they could have an extra day back home with their families. Graham finished with the match bowling figures of nine for eighty runs.

This left with the rest of the day unplanned as well as having the extra day or Wednesday. It would give me time to get up to date in writing and other work if I wished. The weather was different within a distance of a few miles. Cloudy and with a chill wind at Riverside and sunny and warm in sheltered areas in South Shields. I stopped at the Washington service station for a copy of the Journal Newspaper and then eat my packed lunch of three rolls filled with meat and coleslaw. There had only been time for coffee at the game before it ended with Durham winning by an innings and 110 runs. It was one of the most comprehensive victories in the championship of the season to-date and would take Durham to the top of the Championship table for a day or two until the other matches involving Nottingham and Lancashire were complete. Annoyingly the BBC refused to update the table just for one result.

There was one more spectacular development to come as Sri Lanka beat the Australians at Nottingham and thus Australia was eliminated from the rest of the competition. This makes the Ashes contest from July that much more interesting as Australia will be hurting, especially if after England’s tricky start they do well.

There were two irritants which spoiled the rest of the day. I could not log on to the internet from lunch time until late into the evening. According to the service provider there was a maintenance problems which affect the whole town through to Whitburn because of a problem at the exchange. Over a thousand subscribers were affected. I was told the problem was likely to last several hours. Later I was told to try rebooting which meant unplugging everything and leaving for several seconds. This sometimes works with Sky. In this instance it did not and at one point I was told to wait until the morning. However I was able to get online again late evening but when I was too tired to do more than print out the information I wanted on the sporting events and the political situation.

The second is that my super digital car radio CD player as a button which switches between whatever one listening to road condition reports. This is ideal when driving some distance and one wants to avoid traffic hazards and prolonged delays. However it is irritating if one is listening to a disk or radio show. I will take time to learn the system. I had this problem with my mobile where I had pressed the wrong key and put the key board into a predictive writing mood. The result was amusing but irritating until I worked out the problem and cancelled the key in question.

I also watched the last episode of Ashes to Ashes in which a police Inspector has been shot in the head and although the bullet was successfully removed she had developed an infection and had been given a dosage of antibiotics which was hoped would stop the infection but the odds were balanced. She was fighting to live for in school age daughter. In this state she found herself transported back in time to 1981 and 1982 and found herself in a real life office back in time in which she was confronted with a situation of corruption. The focus became the Brinks Matt Bullion robbery which took place in 1985 not 1982 in the TV series. Some £26 million in gold was stolen and never recovered, although some criminals involved were arrested tried and imprisoned. The TV series suggested that senior police and other police officers were involved and stole the money from the thieves who they had set up to do the job. This aspect was subsequently covered up by the police. A young constable, in he film that is, having entered the force full of idealism had been blackmailed into helping out the theft by misleading the good cops about the route taken by the bad cops after they left the scene of the crime having killed both the security guards and the gang undertaking the robbery. It is this policeman who summons back the Inspector through the dimensions of time in order to alter what happened to give him peace. The twist is that in order to do this and bring herself back into the conscious awareness of her actual time she develops a relationship with the detecting chief Inspector responsible for unravelling the situation and he intentionally shoots the Inspector thus facilitating her return to the present time. She wakes up and all appears well. However the Detective Inspector having threatened the life of the Inspector after she told him the truth of her position is accused of her murder and attempts to penetrate her present time consciousness in order to persuade her to come back at that time in order to save him thus potentially leaving her daughter in the present. A new series possibility!

1737 In my end is my beginning T.S. Elliot

In my end is my beginning
T S Elliot

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present to time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all Time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.

These are the opening words of Burnt Norton from the Four Quartets by T S Elliot published by Faber and Faber which I bought for three shillings and as an original paper back edition in the early 1960’s

On Saturday night there was an excellent programme on the life of T S Elliot, regarded by many as one of the great poets of twentieth century, born and raised in the USA but became a British citizen after coming to England and marrying. The programme explained his marital unhappiness because of the instability of his wife and her eventual admission to hospital for nearly a decade until her death. After her death he married his secretary and she devoted herself to caring for him, and then after his death to his work which included to the Anew Lloyd Webber musical production Cats based on his book for children, Old Possum’s book of Practical Cats. The programme related the circumstances of his life including the two World Wars to the subjects of his writings and to the impact of moving from a Unitarian Church background to becoming an Anglo Catholic. For me there are three works which had significant influence on my life, The Four Quartets, The Play- The Cocktail Party, and the long works, Ash Wednesday and the Waste Land.

I cannot remember when or who introduced me to his writings for certain, One of my earliest purchases on laving school was to buy at copy of the Penguin Book of English Verse published in 1946 for four shillings and six pence. It has lost its spine covering and the front and back covers are loose and dog-eared such has been its use over those early years. His poems Gerontion, Ash Wednesday vi and Rannoch by Glencoe, and the fourth of the Quartets-Little Gidding. Although I had successfully studied and passed English Literature along with English Language at Ordinary Level of the General Certificate of Education, and had been reading adult literature from an early age having graduated myself from the Children’s into the adult fiction room while still a school boy and read books with an innocence and naivety which makes me now cringe. I struggled then, as now, with grasping the literary, philosophical, religious and historical references of individual poems and with their intellectual meaning and significance. I loved the music of the words and their emotional resonance with how I felt about myself and life as a late developing adolescent and a young man determined to translate feelings into positive action.

The Penguin Book covered work from the sixteenth century with the work of Milton, Blake, Wordsworth, Bryon, Shelley and Keats, Tennyson and Longfellow being poets I tried to hear, Then there was Walt Whitman before coming to the Beat Poets and William Morris. I still like Kipling and Robert Frost and then in period of What a lovely War, Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen before TS Elliot who can be said with Ezra Pound who befriended him and edited some of his writing before it was published, to have started what is now regarded as “modern“ or the “contemporary” style of writing. Penguin has first published a book of Contemporary verse in 1951 which I did not acquire until 1960, with entries by D H Lawrence, Siegfried Sassoon before T S Elliot’s Sweeney Erect , excepts from The Waste Land and Ash Wednesday and two of his Plays, Murder in the Cathedral and the Family Reunion. There was then Hebert read, Aldous Huxley and Robert Graves; William Plomer’s poem Father and Son and another love John Betjeman- Miss Joan Hunter Dunne.. I paid attention to Lawrence Durrell after an important young female influence in my life had given me a copy of one of his Alexandrian Quartet Novels from which I retain many images especially his eating at a whole tin of olives at one sitting. Whereas it was Elliot who appeared to combine works on spirituality and psychology which fitted like a glove over my dilemmas and growing understanding at that time, it was Dylan Thomas that expressed something of the need to break out, to enjoy waywardness and excess and to express anger at what one could not control, Rage Rage against the dying the light. A third volume bought at the same time was on Modern American verse which includes an article on TS Elliot as well as his work Dry Salvages to illustrate how American his work sounded.

It was not until the 1980’s that I bought The Oxford Book of Twentieth century English version chosen by Philip Larkin. This contains the poem which first brought him to public attention, The Love Song of J Alfred Prufuck and the full The Waste Land. There is a similar selection the three volume edition of the Oxford Library of English Poetry, this time chosen by the novelist John Wain. I will watch the programme again on i Player but my work and other interests and activities will mean that will not for the foreseeable future take time to hear again the voice of Elliot in the way that he merits, I hope however his words will sing in the ears of many generations to come.

1736 Mrs Obama for Prime Minister!

This should have been primarily about by new car and indeed Thursday morning and early afternoon was devoted to it. However political events have overtaken with the media dominated by the fate of the Prime Minister and his government whereas for me I see the end of the Labour Party as a significant political force at national and local level for next 25 to 50 years. Only a major natural catastrophe or all embracing war which would result in a national government will prevent the demise of the Political Party having alienated it core conservative vote among manufacturer and industrial workers and then the upper working and lower middle classes attracted by Tony Blair. I appreciate that I am unlikely to be alive to see if my prediction is accurate but it is nevertheless well founded based on my knowledge and involvement with the Labour Party directly and indirectly for fifty years.

First the car. I worked out the timing through the Tyne Tunnel to miss the morning rush out and arrived within a minute of the agreed appointment at 10am. My contact had not arrived from Tax Office because he had discovered that the vehicle had previous been classified for use by a disabled driver and could not be re-taxed in the usual way. It took about half an hour to complete the paper work and then to check out the vehicle.

I drove first to the nearby shopping centre to check that I had understood how the reverse worked and then to get the correct payment for the going through the tunnel. I returned home on what was a cold day compared to the previous ten days and transferred maps and other items into the vehicle. The two main street directories and maps were placed in the driver’s side door and those for the trip to Oxford, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight on the front passenger. There are two netted storage areas in the boot areas and in these I placed those previously kept in the vehicle. Those for Northern in England and Scotland in one and those of the Midlands and the South in the other. Prior to returning home I had called in at Lidl to get some salads and also two inexpensive watermelons. In the afternoon I went to Asda for a stock on tins, beans, pudding rice, sardines and crab meat, some bread rolls and pastry cakes, Coleslaw, a whole bream for Friday. In addition some packet rice and packet soups, The bargain was some packets of ginger. I got some eggs for omelettes this Saturday evening with ham and then next week. I thought I was out of cereal bought two boxes and then found I had one in store, The disappointment was that all the stock of frozen prawns in shell had been sold.

Rather than go home and unpack I decided to get petrol at Morrison’s Seaburn and then found I had a five pound shopping voucher. I could not resist two small packs of blackberries for £3 and to celebrate the new car two apple turnovers with cream, one on Thursday and one for Friday. I forgot to mention the bags of frozen lamb and pork chops from Lidl. I also bought hand washing powder and to further clear the sink draining system of accumulated gung. Rather than use the laundrette investigated earlier in the week I decided to go back to basic and hand wash and then dry in the garage area and then iron. I am sure the energy consumption will be less and the extra activity involved with be beneficial. There is a moral is this note on back to basics!

There was the start of a new season of Big Brother House on Thursday evening and Durham playing cricket at Lancashire. I was looking forward to watching Question Time at 10.40 and This Week immediately after. I had voted the European Elections and wanted to know what the impact would be of the expected collapse of the Labour Party vote in the municipal elections and the anticipated collapse of the vote for all three major political parties in the European Elections.
The media had been fixated on the Departure of Hazel Blears, not that there was universal agreement that her political future should be terminated or that Gordon had appeared to dither over sacking her for the misuse of tax payer’s money to profit from property dealings whether doing so was within the rules set by Parliament or not. The interest was on the position her departure before the polls closed placed the Prime Minister in. The media was at their mischievous and subversive best so that everything that happened was being twisted in such a way to promote mayhem within the Labour Party and bring about the fall of Gordon Brown.

The Party had made a disastrous mistake in appointing him its Leader and Prime Minister, and he and his government had made a series of accumulating disastrous mistakes by not seeking a public mandate for his leadership in the first Autumn of his internal appointment, in abolishing the ten pence taxation rate, in not understanding the inevitable collapse of capitalist banking and market speculation, in taking draconian measures against the failed bankers, in appreciating the significance of the publication of the expenses of Members of Parliament, in taking an immediate robust and ruthless approach to the main offenders and on responding to the request of the Ghurkhas to be able to settle in the UK in the context of having opened our door to middle and eastern Europe. He was unable to say sorry and appear to mean it. He always appeared to say that black was white when the evidence was that it was black or at best a murky grey. However, a year ago the Party funked the opportunity to change from someone else who would inspire in the mould of President Obama than David Cameron and now it was too late. The Government was doomed and major political changes were necessary.

My impression was that David Cameron and the Conservative party leadership having seized the initiative over the expenses scandal and used the opportunity to strengthen his personal position realised that if a General Election was immediately held there was a chance to form a majority government, whereas the longer the Labour government had to regroup and reverse unemployment as well as get rid of those tainted by the expenses scandal and set in motion some electoral constitutional changes, then the best he could hope for was to become a minority Government relying on other parties for legislative changes. The result of the County Council elections proved this to be right and the European elections can be disregarded as a protest vote against both the Labour and Conservative Parties with the United Kingdom Independence Party being the main winners. The Prime Minister who should have been told that he now needed to take a back seat to survive then destroyed the credibility of his Cabinet reshuffle be being called a liar by the leading political commentators in Britain at his hastily called and ill advise media conference late on Friday. He undid the good work of Peter Mandelson, other re appointed or newly appointed Member’s of the Cabinet determined to unite the Party in the face of the combined assault from the media and the public vote.

What caused this situation has its roots in what has happened since he took over, and before with the embracing of international corporate capitalism and speculation, the exportation of manufacturing jobs after the destruction of the heavy industries, the escalation in property prices and the freeze on the development of social housing and the widening of the gulf between the haves and the have not. There development of Muslim extremism and terrorism and the existence of a significant Muslim population is some areas of Britain commenced the feeling of being threatened from within and then the widening of the ECC resulted in almost everyone feeling overwhelmed by the arrivals from middle and eastern Europe. Another factor has been the growth in higher education and the abandonment of traditional authorities couple with the failures and status of the Monarch apart from the Queen, particularly arising from the death of Princess Diana.

What happened to precipitate the last crisis is that just after 10 pm on Thursday the Minister of Works and Pensions, a Blair loyalist, the relatively unknown James Purnell delivered his Exocet resignation letter to the Prime Minister without warning, having released copies to the Times and Sun Newspaper so they could immediately make the letter headline front page news. This argued that the Prime Minister should go because the party would have less chance to regain public confidence with Mr Brown remaining in power.

100 minutes later the position was summed up with brilliant political accuracy by Michael Portillo on This Week. Gordon Brown had one opportunity to save himself as Prime Minister. He had to immediately contact the core members of his Cabinet and seek their willingness to continue to serve under his Leadership in whatever post he had decided for them given the changed circumstances.

All week the Prime Minister‘s team at Number Ten had been briefing against the Chancellor who it is believed Gordon felt must go because of his involvement in the expenses scandal and the calling for his departure by Vince Cable of the Liberal Democrats. David Miliband went on the record to say he wanted to stay as Foreign Secretary. The rumour mill at Westminster claimed that Ed Balls would become the Chancellor and Peter Mandelson would become Foreign Secretary as his grandfather had been. The Prime Minister was going to attend the D Day commemoration in France at which French Government has snubbed the Queen as British Head of State. He was then expected to reshuffle his cabinet with a team designed to cling to power to the last possible moment. He suggestion was that if the result were as bad or worse demand than anticipated sufficient Members of Parliament would demand a leadership contest although at that moment there was no indication of who would stand against Mr Brown if he chose to contest the challenge to his position.

The advise given by Mr Portillo was in fact what then happened. It is now evident that the Prime Minister immediately telephone Mr Miliband to seek his willingness to continue as Foreign Secretary, Mr Miliband agreed and issued a statement saying that he believed Mr Purnell had made the wrong choice to resign and issue his open letter. It is evident that Mr Darling was confirmed as Chancellor and then the only task was to fill the vacancies that had arisen. Mr Hoon who had trouble with his expenses resigned but was promised various roles in the run up to becoming the British European Commissioner. Margaret Beckett only recently brought back into the Cabinet also resigned, officially it as said because she did not get the promotion she craved but where also questions about her use of expenses had been raised. Carolyn Flint the Minister responsible for the Labour’s campaign for seats in the European Parliament resigned and released a vitriolic letter claiming the Prime Minister was anti female and used those in his government for window dressing.

During Friday afternoon the results of the County Council Elections were announced and Labour lost control of its heartland Counties, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Nottingham and now controls no county council and where four out of five existing labour Members being defeated. The first British National Party Member was elected to a County Council. There was a five point difference between the Labour and Liberal Democratic party although if there was a General election while the Conservatives would have a slim overall majority of under 30 seats, but because of the electoral system and changes to the boundaries of seats at he next General Election the Liberal Democrats were only expected to gain one or two more seats than at present overall despite the five point advantage. In the light of this result I anticipate the Labour Party will be annihilated in the European Elections, getting under 20% of the vote and coming behind the U.K.I.P.

The Prime Minister then decided on a Press conference to confirm that he had no intention of resigning who ever spoke out against him within the former Cabinet and Government or whatever the back bencher’s did. He then pretended that what had happened the previous week had not. The journalists were not impressed and called him a liar to his face and subsequently, and he has no credibility with them or with a section of his Parliamentary Party and the survival plan was unravelling before it had began. Having said that, his performance was courageous, confident and clear. The problem he and his supporters now face is that the British Public do not listen to him any more and here in the North East he has the same level of respect as Mike Ashley the owner of Newcastle United. They may talk of political renewal, of a new Cabinet with a new purpose, of tackling the economic situation and cleaning up politics but no one believes they will do anything different than before except within the Labour Westminster Village and the some party activists. election.

However this does not mean that the Government should yield to calls for a General Election or to now replace Mr Brown unless they could unite behind someone with the communication ability of Mr Cameron and political weight of Vince Cable. Ideally the individual should be female, black and have a Muslim sounding name but be an active Christian and support the Queen. Mrs Obama, are you sure you do not have any British Ancestry? A state visit might help.

1735 The R A F and the Baader Meinhof Complex

Although the Badder Meinhoff Complex is a film it makes an important contribution into understanding the mind set of the international terrorist in the days before the arrival of the self sacrificing fanatic of the past decade. Ulrike Meinhoff and Andreas Badder were two principals in the Red Army Faction or the Red Brigade who carried out some 30 Terrorist atrocities, mainly in Germany but also Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium as well as Hijacking a plane in Majorca. It was odd seeing the initials R.A.F which in the UK continues to mean so much for those of us who experienced the Battle of Britain, albeit as children.

In its broadest terms the group was anti Fascist and pro socialist revolutionary activity from supporting the North Vietnamese, Chez Guevara and against all forms of “imperialism” taking the sides of the Arabs and Muslims against the Israeli State, receiving their training and weapons support in Jordan. The hierarchy opposed attacks which killed “workers” although most of the 34 deaths were “secondary” targets, chauffeurs and body guards. The lesser known Revolutionary Cells conducted 296 bomb attacks over the same period.

I am opposed to the use of violence as a way of settling differences and the worst kind is often that based on ideology, religion and racism because it is indiscriminate and merciless. Having said there are degrees of justification for violence by states when in the interests of the majority of people and by the people when they are enslaved by others. I like to believe that there are only exceptional circumstances when I would attempt to use violence against another human being and then only to protect the lives of others, rather than myself. However it is always difficult to predict how one will behave in a situation of which one has no or little experience.

In 1961 I was picked up and thrown into the air three times by the police when sitting peacefully with other on a landing stage close a Polaris Submarine supply ship moored in Holy Loch. This was the situation where I had resigned my position as a field officer of the Direct Action Committee and where the Principal Organisers had been arrested and I stepped in first to quell the changing mood of demonstrators against the actions of the police and when the service men were ordered to force their way through the demonstrators, and the following a message from Pat Arrowsmith to end the sit downs and for everyone to form into a march to the Police station in the nearest town Dunoon to protest at the arrests.

It is a standard tactic of authorities to find ways to remove the leadership of demonstration and protects movement or undermine their credibility and this then enables the demonstrations to be broken up, often by creating the very violence which then authorities then argue was the justification for them to use force to end. This was the approach adopted by the police, no doubt also communicated in advance or with some understanding of their political masters in central and local government. It is more difficult to do in a democracy than in a dictatorship but is nevertheless a standard tactic. As I shall explain it can also be used by those behind demonstrations to radicalise participants and this can include secret organisations within a country and as will be mentioned by other countries with different or their own agendas. That I had advised the authorities in advance of the action being within the spirit of Satyagraha, the Gandhian approach to non violent action and resistance, and took the action to stop a situation becoming negative with the demonstrators turning to violence was a major factor in which I was approved to hold a top local government office within local government a decade later.

Had I not be there that day the outcome could have been very different. Had someone intent on creating violence been present the situation could have changed dramatically and would have had longer term consequence. This is what happened before the decade ended when violence became a creature of the anti Vietnam war demonstrations. In the early sixties it was evident that while the Communist countries and their supporters world wide were supporting and funding the anti nuclear movements in Western democracies, they made a distinction between the worker’s and the capitalist bomb.

The event when I was given the insight to this was a conference of the Socialist Labour League then under the control of Gerry Healey. Pat Arrowsmith the field organiser for the Director Action Committee Against Nuclear war was invited to address the gathering held in central London. I was invited to manage a bookstall provide by Houseman’s the book and stationery provider which helped to fund Peace News, a weekly paper promoting non violent action and this provided the opportunity to first listen to what Pat had to say and then stay to hear the address by Gerry Healey which followed. He first explained why it was important to support the efforts undermine the British defence deterrent and that held by other capitalist states. However it was important for socialist countries to retain and develop their weapons without which the capitalist would seek to destroy communism. He then went on to explain the political tactic of enterism in which one entered industries and work places, fermented unrest and strikes which in turn would force employers to retaliate and help radicalise the workers. Their next object was to enter the machine tool industry and through this they would be able to exert greater influence on industry and manufacturing in general.

It was some two decades later that we experience a version of this approach by the Militant Tendency and their influence and to some extent control over NALGO the main managerial, administrative and Clerical workers Union in Local government, who along with the National Union of Public Employees represented the majority of staff in Social Services Departments.

Andreas Baader was a young man who appears to have enjoyed the excitement of being a violent criminal as he also gained from stealing and driving fast cars. A school drop he was the only one of the original leadership who did not go to university and appears to have had no intellectual basis for his subsequent terrorists activities. He appears to have been a psychopath.

The brains of the group was his lover, Gudrun Ensslin. and daughter of a German religious Pastor who it is claimed was a descendent of Hegel. She, like Andreas, were born in 1940 and her father was a conventional conservative who had written poetry approved by the Nazi Party. In 1958 she studied for a year in the United States and became at first socially minded and then drawn to the left wing causes of the 1960‘s, particularly the possession and potential use of nuclear weapons and the operation of American bases in Germany. She had a child by a lover.

A specific event tipped her into becoming a terrorist against the German state and its institution, During the visit of the Shah of Persia the Police and undercover security forces initiated violence in order to break up demonstrations by those opposed to the visit. Excessive forces was used and one demonstrator was shot by an undercover policeman in the back of the head. Although charged with manslaughter, the man was acquitted and Gudrun started to denounce West Germany as a Fascist State. In this there was considerable truth as under the American and British control former Nazis were given positions of political and administrative power at every level of government , in he police and armed services. However it was revealed after the fall of East Germany and unification with West Germany that the man was an East German agent who worked for the Stasi, the East Germany secret service.

Gudrun then met and became the lover of Andreas Baader and together with two others detonated two bombs in a departmental store in 1968. The were arrested within a few days, subsequently convicted and given three years in prison but released on bail under Appeal. When this was turned down they attempted to flee but Andreas was apprehended and taken back to prison. It is not unusual for some conventionally brought up upper and middle class young girls to be attracted to DH Lawrence types, which can include the violent criminal psychopath. I observed direct experience of this during the period of my involvement in the peace movement 1959 1961 and during my period at Ruskin College and the Department of Extra Mural Studies at Oxford University. I have written about this period separately and in the future from different perspectives and contexts. Sexual liberation is often the precipitating factor.

Gudrun became determined to break her lover out of prison and the opportunity came when he was allowed to study at a research institute outside the prison and without handcuffs.

According to the film Urika Meinhof arranged to interview him at the institute and once inside arranged for Gudrun and another girl to enter and release Andreas together with masked and unknown individual who had a gun with bullets. The intention was for Urike to remain and express surprise and shock at what happened, However the masked individual used the gun severely wounding the Librarian. Ulrike fled with the rest and became the most wanted individuals in West Germany and became known as the Baader, Meinhoff gang. Her father was an established art historian and ran the Oldenburg Museum who died early on in the war when she was six and her mother also died when she was a teenager. She nevertheless went to university and studied philosophy and sociology and pedagogy and German studies becoming involved in reform movements in the later 1950’s and then was significantly influenced by a Spanish Marxist who later translated some of her writings. She then married the founder of the Marxist left monthly journal Konkret, having become a secret member of the banned German Communist party and in a situation where the journal was financed by the East German Government. She became the writer for the group as well as participating in its activities, bearing twin children who became part of a tussle with her husband when she left the country and went underground and they divorced. She made one attempt to kidnap the children so they could educated in Palestine but this failed and they were returned to the care of their father.

After establishing links with Palestinian and Middle east revolutionaries and terrorists, the group attended a Fatah training camp in Jordan but were asked to leave in part because of their attitude to sex and nudity but also according to the film because they wanted to be trained to rob banks while Fatah was concerned with operations in desert conditions. They however retained links and the group obtained weapons and other assistance.

It was after their return to Germany they engaged in banks robberies and bombings of buildings with several leading to deaths. The three were arrested separately in 1972 and their trial took several year to commence and also lasted a long time with refusals to appear, with exclusions because of their behaviour from the court and various activities of other members of the group who became known as the second generation of the R.A.F. They went on hunger strike over being kept in isolation and because their confinement conditions. Concessions were made and they were able to communicate with each other in terms of the trial.

The film follows the activities of the second generation of the RAF activists. The members along with other revolutionary groups in Germany and in various countries of Europe were trained on the West Bank and Gaza with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and they operated cell structures applying the revolutionary ideas of Che Guevara to city and urban areas. They attacked US Military Facilities, German Police Stations and buildings belonging to the Axel Springer media empire.

It was while the Principals were in prison that the second generation commenced to kidnap in order to try and secure the release of those inside. In 1975 a candidate for a mayor was kidnapped and the authorities did agree to release those not accused of murder in exchange. Then later that year the German Embassy in Stockholm was raised and hostage taken, two of whom were killed but this time the demands were not met. A Federal prosecutor was gunned down. The Head of the Dresdner Bank was murdered in a failed kidnap attempt. The President of German Employers Association was kidnapped in another raid and subsequently executed after over a month as a prisoner. Then supporters of the Palestinian cause kidnapped a German holiday jet from Majorca to Frankfurt demanding the release of the Principals who had now been convicted and sentenced. The three Principals were said to have committed suicide following a pact after the hostages were released from the plane. There are those who believe that the three were executed by the state to prevent further attempts to free them and according to the Wikipedia there are legitimate questions about the deaths. This would not be surprising

The R.A.F continued its terrorist activities into the 1990’s despite the collapse of the soviet union but these are not covered in the film, The group stated that it was disbanded on 20th April 199 and since then the German government has accepted requests for pardons by some of those still in prison.

The Wikipedia article is excellent because it attempts to set the socio political scene in which the Red Brigade and other similar groups flourished in Germany in particular. Those involved were born during or immediately after World War 2 and the defeat of Nazism and the exposure of its genocide against the Jews, the disabled, other ethnic minorities such as gypsies and Nazi dissenters. They lived in a divided country with the Communists police state in one half and a right wing government full of former Nazi’s on the other. Berlin was full of spies and double agents for half the countries in the world.

Britain had initiated mass protests with the Suez debacle in 1956 and hen with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Direction Action Committee against Nuclear War in the early 1960’s. There was the student revolts in Paris and France and in the USA and hen the anti Vietnam War protests. There were hundreds of thousands of idealistic young people who rejected the mass army and weaponry development of both sides in the cold and not so cold war and saw both camps engaged in imperialist activities to harm of the poor and the worker classes across the globe. There was a belief that things would only change through world wide revolution and a violent one. There was a philosophic school in Germany with Habernas, Marcuse and Negt with Marxian philosophers and political theorists. They made the mistake of forgetting that in general people are not prepared to volunteer their lives in mortal combat unless they are starving, the bread riots before the French Revolution or the effects of invasion and war losses as with the success of Communism in Germany and Fascism in post First World War Germany. People do not revolt for secular ideologies as they will do not in defence of their religion.

1734 Blears Revenge

The day commenced as if the fine weather would continue so I made up a boxed salad and planed to take it across to a seat overlooking the River mouth and then have a walk on the sea front after posting a DVD, The year’s’ subscription has ended and I will end the service towards the end of the month after returning from the trip to the Isle of Wight. However having decided to first watch The Daily Politics Show I then found that the sky had clouded over and remained so for the rest of the day. Similar clouds commenced to surround the continuing Premiership of Gordon Brown who I predict will either step down within the next two weeks or will call an early General Election. The present situation cannot continue and his option of re-shaping his Cabinet in order to rid of the most embarrassing expenses manipulators and other potentially disloyal individuals or threats to his person position was being removed from him as the day progressed with the announcement of the decisions not to stand at the next Parliament of Beverley Hughes, the weak Children’s Minister who failed Baby Peter, then of the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith with questions over her use of expenses, and of three others Members, including a Junior Minister ended the day with newspapers able to rightly describe the government in meltdown, of rats leaving a sinking ship and a Prime Minister having lost all apparent authority.

Worse was to come because a few hours before Prime Minister’s Question Time, the dishonourable Blears revealed her true nature by announcing her resignation from the Cabinet, significantly as Minister of for Local Government a day before the County Council elections. This was move designed to harm the Prime Minister who had probably intended to sack her from the government in his reshuffle and the same applied to Jacqui Smith. By announcing that she does not intend to contest the her seat at the next election she is given a face saving way not to be appointed to the Government in the reshuffle. Blears probably was given the option but refused to give up her seat and retaliated in as damaging a way as possible. There is now a belief that back bench Members of Parliament are gearing to obtain the requisite signature to force an election of the leadership, subject to the results of the county and European elections being as bad as feared when they are officially announced on Sunday although I assume the media will be undertake exit polls. The one thing that is certain is that there will have to be a miracle to stem the tide against the replacement of he Prime Minister and a General Election at which the Labour Party will cease to be the majority Party in the House of Commons
It was a slow start and ten am on Tuesday before I decided to tackle the kitchen flooring so lovingly put down last year. It was not necessary to take it all up, just sufficient to be able to remove the washing machine if it cannot be repaired and to also move the fridge freezer. The morning was productive in that I also booked up coaches travel for my trips to London in July and August. I will travel on the afternoon coach which gets in late and back on the 1pm. It seems a lot to travel two days for only three or four full days in London, but I prefer this given the need to water the plants, the cricket and the free summer festival events together work the ongoing workload. Having to sort out the kitchen is a bore but I shall make the effort.

In the afternoon I did go out to the post and then visited the laundrette in Harton Village to find out about services and prices. Over the next ten days there are eight days of cricket at the riverside and eight free music concerts, four evenings and two on Sunday afternoons and two on a Saturday Morning. There is 20m 20 World Cup cricket and a new car to used to as well as preparations for the trip. Although it means kitchen chaos and no washing facilities the decision is defer making arrangements until I return and the cash in from the Premium bonds has been transferred to my bank account.

I watched a Dalziel ans Pascoe previously seen before and the seventh episode of Ashes to ashes after listening to a radio interview with the male star in the afternoon and which involves a science fiction time travelling alternative dimension detective adventure series. Apart from this aspect it is a conventional series!

I also watched England defeat Ireland in an impressive 20 20 performance at Nottingham. It did not auger well

1733 The comeuppance

It is difficult to sit at the desk and work when the sky is perfect blue and temperatures warm to hot and very hot throughout the day and evening. My mind is back to days in Southern France and Northern Spain and Greece, Greece, The isle of Greece beckon along with Italy.

I ventured out in the afternoon to the post box and then down and along Ocean Road and across to Azda when I could not resist an offer on a whole pineapple for £1, some strawberries also at £1 a carton, coleslaw, a lemon and Milano salami at £1.07 100grams compared with the packed at £1.37. The best deal was with shell on prawns where there are 500g frozen packs for £2.14 compared with £1.24 for 200g and which works out at under 87 pence for the same quantity. I will divided into two 250g portions for £1.12.

On the return journey with the weight of the food I was tempted by the taxi bus from Market Square. However there was over half an hours wait so I made my way to the station lift which I hate using because it is fully enclosed, small and temperamental but it cuts out the first steep part of the hill now that the Azda escalators are no longer available. I was soon joined by four others who all had mobility problems and the delay suggested it was not working and then I heard an announcement that a cleaner was required to go to the South Shields lift. There were some Youths overlooking from the platform above as I made my way back to King Street to trek home but as I had not seen anything from the below I resisted the temptation to go up an challenge them. I walked slowly and eventually made it home but the walk back was not enjoyable.

Earlier I had another bonus when booking to take the car to Isle of Wight. The standards fare is £92, but there was on offer a reduced short stay fare of £65 for three nights which I had nearly booked before deciding to investigate changing the car. The delay was fortunate because of a new special offer which reduced the price to £45. I will travel over at 11.30 and return on the 10am as there is some distance and a visit before the overnight stop.

I made a mistake in believing that the World 20 20 competition started on Monday when what is happening is a number of warm up games. Sky TV are showing all four games with a choice of two from Lords and Nottingham. I enjoyed the last moments of Ireland against Holland. The scores tied and therefore what happens is called the golden Over in which both teams try and score the most runs without losing more than three wickets.

In the evening I watched an entertaining adventure as long as critical judgement was suspended. The Contract stars Morgan Freeman as a hardened contract killer who is now free lancing after years of service on behalf of the USA government. The plot requires considerable stretches of credulity. Morgan employs four ex army colleagues on his latest assignment which is to assassinate a reclusive figure who is for or against stem cell research, it does not matter which. For some reason the assassination involved killing the son in a fake accident and then killing his father when he attends the funeral of his son. This is the first stupid plot component

Unfortunately for everyone concerned Morgan has a car accident beforehand and goes to hospital which leads the authorities to finding that out who he is and being taken into custody by the local police who are asked to hand him over to National agents, one of whom appears to be a high level female part of Homeland security with her own agenda and comes across as just as ruthless as Morgan willing to sacrifice innocent civilians and go to any lengths to protect the fact that the government may be involved in the operation as she has contact within of the team and at one point orders the execution of Freeman. Still with me, For someone as skilled and successful as Morgan it is beyond belief that his cover story could so easily be penetrated and that under US law he could be taken into custody without having committed any offence

The four members of the hit team stage an elaborate fake roadside break down in order to free Morgan from the police but the rescue attempt goes wrong and the vehicles plunges down in to a river where Morgan survives although handcuffed after killing his captor. It is never clear why a team of five is needed for the kill plot and why the transfer of Morgan from the police to homeland security is undertaken so badly. Then story become ridiculous

A former policeman turned school sports coach is trying to cope with the loss of his wife three years before from cancer and an unhappy teenage son who blames him for promising that his mother would recover. The son is brought to father by the local cops after being caught smoking pot and in order to try and re-establish meaningful contact father takes his son on a camping trip and they are crossing a bridge at the start of their trip when they spot Morgan and the policeman in the water. So far this is credible but then Morgan gives the father good advice to let him go and for the father and son to continue on their way. The father played by John Cusak decides to take the man prisoner and walk to the highway to get a phone signal and call for help.

On reaching the highway the son is asked to go to ahead and contact a state vehicle seen on the road but before he does witness the killer’s support team gun the vehicle driver down. This is odd because the driver is heard to say that he has phoned through seeing the wrecked police car in the river. What is the point of the killing other than to warn the lad not to proceed to confirm that the group are ruthless killers.

The trio head then head off into the wilderness where fortunately the son has experience through a previous field trip and further long the river bank they encounter a young couple at the river side. The girl is the practical one who has hated the idea of the camping trip and the boyfriend is a panicky wet. Eventually he is persuaded to accompany the trio rather than continue in the direction of the Killers team.

The five survive torrential rain, getting down a cliff side and crossing a ravine on a dodgy bridge which they then destroy. Unbeknown to them the killer’s team have got hold of an official police helicopter. The police in these films are always stupid. The reason why the Killer’s team tried to rescue Morgan and out themselves in danger is because only he has access to the bank at which their fees will be paid. This makes them as stupid as the police for entering into the contract without ensuring payments especially in the event of their deaths. Such men never appear to have parents, brothers, sisters, wives, girl friends or children who need to be taken care of. This is an important component because they have to die without anyone in the audience caring about what happens to them and their families.

Given this it is not clear why they then agree to kill Morgan on the orders of the homeland security woman. The team then kill the boyfriend and the remaining four take refuge in a cabin where they are tracked down by surviving members the killer’s team and fortunately by the police after the father manages to overcome and force the helicopter to crash land. In the fracas Morgan takes the son hostage and somehow manages to get him into a motel and bound and gagged while he goes off to complete his assignment. The ultimate completer finisher which I understand only too well. The police however believe the target is the President who is addressing a rally nearby but only the father appreciate who the target is after watching a TV news bulletin about the funeral. He goes to find Morgan and his son and his intrusion enables Morgan to realise he has become the target. The kill is aborted and the son is found but is this not the end of the tale. Morgan, proves that he is really a nice guy as he catches up with the Homeland security woman who warns her to leave the son alone. Father and son attend a social barbecue back at home at which the widowed fiancée is also invited with the prospect of a relationship as the girl has the son’s approval. And would clearly make a great substitute mum. They listen to news where the death is announced of the original assassination target. Wow three cheers for the state assassin. The big bad world continues as before

I bet British politicians wish they were in now in a Hollywood film. They are going to get their comeuppance soon, especially the Labour Party ones.

1732 The Casino Fixers

I love the hot sun even though my age and physical condition means that I have to take care. The past few days we have had had Mediterranean weather and on Sunday there was 20 20 cricket at the riverside. I followed the over night plan of going to the ground as early a possible to get a good car parking place and to enjoy the weather.

Before then I watched in disbelief as the Prime Minister on the Andrew Marr show appeared to be attempting to disassociate himself from his party political colleagues in the House of Commons, portraying himself as a moral man above the behaviour of Members of Parliament In general. It was evident he is out of touch with the mood of the people and is planning a Cabinet reshuffle after the debacle of the European and county council elections in order to crush the expected challenge to his leadership prior to a General Election. Hopefully the majority of his Cabinet colleagues and sufficient back benchers will persuade him that without his departure and a new Cabinet all hope of the Party surviving to form a credible opposition will be lost. I agree with the Labour Peer, Lord Desai that the Party is facing political extinction in terms of holding office if it is beaten into third position and fails to form the official opposition in the next Parliament.

The chief media targets over the weekend were the Chancellor of the Exchequer who flipped his home four times in four years in order to make full use of his allowance and hired a tax accountant at the public expense to minimise his payments all within the then law of course and how on earth can the man ever lecture anyone about the excesses of the bankers or those who engage in taxation avoidance ever again. It appears that he offered to announce he would stand down at the next election but was persuaded against because of the damage it would do to the Party prior to the elections. It is evident that the advisors are so besotted with their power and position that they have failed to understand that the public mood is such that only several high profile cabinet scalps might save the Party from political power oblivion as it hard core will never forgive the combination of giving reign the financial sector and bonus culture and the abolition of the ten pence taxation band and now only admitting the abuse of power in the use of taxpayer’s money for dodgy expenses without he information being “stolen” and released in the media/ One wonders about which Papers were offered the same information and refused and why?.
Mind you the Conservative Leader also had significant egg on his face when it was revealed that shortly after gaining his seat he did a financial transaction, paying off a mortgage in order to be able to claim mortgage allowances from the taxpayers. Thus it is that the top leadership is as tarnished as the rest. Hopefully the general public will not be impressed by the continuing manoeuvres to cling to office or Parliamentary position by persuading some to announce they will not stand again at the next Parliament, claiming their salaries and allowances, severance and pension payments in the process and with some assuming they will gain peerages and help the Parties through positions in the House of Lords, or escape other sanctions by making payments back of amounts which although within the rules were always questionable, even without the fraudulent bankers and speculators on both sides of the Atlantic. The Westminster stench had become even more nauseating.

On Sunday I purchased the Mail as I had purchased the Saturday edition, on the way to Riverside where I was allocated a place in the first area of the first car park. I eat a crab salad with fingers having forgotten to pack a fork, followed by a banana and a can of cold coke. I left the car windows and door open. I then made my way into the ground where the steward of the bag search asked if I had travelled far, perhaps thinking perhaps I was supporting the midland team because of my lack of North East accent. When I said the “The Lawe Top” overlooking the mouth of the Tyne he knew it well, living in Jarrow and asked if I had seen the giant Cruise liner which was docked across the River Tyne from Shields. I had seen the vessel and planed to take a photo if it was still there on return. He had seen it swing round the previous evening in the widest part of the river. It is an extraordinary sight not just because of its height but because of its extraordinary length, several times the size of the cross channel ferries and significantly larger than the QE2.

As on Friday I was able to get an aisle seat on the Member’s lounge balcony and enjoyed an hour reading the paper, sipping coffee and the salami and mustard rolls I had brought for tea, as I was still hungry after the salad and banana. I then went on walkabout first to see where my allocated seat was situated and then for an ice cream and then to view from the back of the terraces until close on starting so I could identify somewhere to sit in the sun. I had my new hat but left the bag and the cold water on my balcony seat. Around the stadium every effort had been to entertain the children with a bouncy Castle, a game of cricket, donkey rides, a fire engine and home safety vehicle and the local dance school. There was also a form of quick cricket competition from various school teams from around the county. A young man was selected to replace the university job who had who had won the prize of the best seat in House and the university rabble were not evidence suggesting this was to be a one off disaster in the clubs misguided attempt to increased public interest. There was an exceptionally good crowd however and for once the majority went home happy. Durham lost the toss and were sent in to bat. They struggled to score runs at a good rate at first but managed to increase to over 8 and a half. Unlike Friday the total came from consistent good batting with confident big hits throughout the innings although I thought the final tally was about ten to twenty light given the conditions.

At the interval between innings I returned to the cool of the balcony after sitting behind the boundary fence overlooking the bowlers run ups to the wicket. Nottingham had a shaky start and fell behind the required run rate but still had the look of a team which could claim victory . I was right in so far that three sixes plus other runs were hit off the penultimate over so that ten was required by the visiting team of the last over. Fortunately Collingwood was off with the England Team preparing g for the World 20 20 cup so there was no risk if him claiming the chance to redeem himself after messing up in the last game. Mitch Claydon who continues to impress took the last two Notts wickets in two balls with only one ball left. The win means that Durham now joins three other teams with two wins while Lancashire have four out of four and Durham will need to beat them home away and then home if they are to have any chance of not only qualifying for the last eight but gaining a home tie as last year. First they are away to Yorkshire on Tuesday evening who will want to avenge the home loss of last year Given the continuing fine weather I am tempted to go but it would mean a later return as it is an evening game and there is till so much to do.

I again had a brilliant getaway and collect my camera to photo the Holland America Line cruise liner from the bridge over the old coal line to what was the east docks basin and now converted into a yuppy residential area as well as housing the infamous call centre.

In the evening, for the third time of asking I finished the three hour Martin Scorsese film Casino. I found the subject boring and the approach of Scorsese distinctly amoral in what appears to be is lifelong devotion and adoration of the homicidal gangster. So here are the bare bones of the story. The film is set in Los Vegas when the Casino’s were owned by gangsters with managers placed to front the enterprises and a team of people to ensure as much money was taken and then filtered to the mobs outside the required booking keeping and taxation requirements of the law. Everyone involved was on the take one way or the other and as were the large number of professional gambler, tricksters and fraudsters who attempted to take the money leaving only the American people and overseas visitors, the mugsters, to spend, spend, and more than they can afford to lose.

There are three outstanding actors in the film. Sharon Stone plays a drug and drinking tart who sleeps with anyone who will keep her in the lifestyle to which she has become accustomed. Robert De Niro is sent by the New York Mob to be the unofficial boss of a Casino where he puts his years of skilled gambling to use in spotting those who attempt to beat the system, albeit a crooked one. His misfortune is to want Sharon Stone to be his wife and mother of his children, Unsurprisingly give her attractive body and calculated sexual skills De Nero wants her to love him and as an inducement trusts her with the keys and rights to a security bank box contained two million dollars and a similar value of jewels. He realises she is just a greedy drug and drunk who ties up their one only child when the baby sitter does not turn up and she wants to go out whoring with his best friend of thirty five years he tries to throw her out but she manages to get hold of the money which she then blows on low life scum and ends up dead from an over dose at the hands of one of them.

This brings us to scum of scum played by Joe Pesci, A ruthless gangster who enjoys torturing and killing anyone who comes in is way or required by his gang bosses. He is sent out to Vegas to watch the back of De Niro who is turning in such great profits that Pesci is able to mount his own local operation and still hand over more that the mobsters had received before the De Nero stewardship.

Then all goes wrong and the FBI begin to move in and mobsters get scared. One early victim is Pesci and his brother who are savagely beaten before beating buried alive in the desert. De Nero survives a car bomb because of ant bomb protection beneath the drivers seat. Wonder why the troops out in Iraq and Afghanistan did not get the same protection until recently! De Neo goes off somewhere and returns to his former gambling prowess to rebuild his life and wealth. Meanwhile the international corporations move to Vegas and demolish the told style Casino‘s and create new family holiday centres to ensure that the USA public and international visitors spend an even greater proportion of their new wealth in the 90’s and early millennium before it all came crashing down. Meanwhile the Party Politicians continue to try and fix their game.