A Trawl Through The Uk National Dailies – Episode Two
Published by Jackie118 on May 13, 2010 in World Politics-
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Another look at the good, the bad and the ugly in the national press.
Today’s flick through the UK papers has been a little sparse on the more unusual articles. As you’d expect, it’s dominated by the general election – the resignation of Gordon Brown as Labour leader; the coalition of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats and now we have to go through the rigmarole of the Cabinet selection which, no doubt, will be followed by a whole host of articles on what David Cameron/Nick Clegg have got lined up for us by way of changes in policies. Still, it was nice to see that President Obama was quickly on the phone to 10 Downing Street inviting Mr Cameron over (presumably with his missus!) but I wonder if he’d banked on getting two for the price of one – Nick Clegg and his wife!! But I’m sure he has a spare bedroom in the attic to squeeze in four guests instead of two!!
I’m going to start with a somewhat bizarre news item which comes from Norway. Certainly it seems that prison life has moved on apace since Dickensian times! Long gone are dungeon style cells housing several unwashed bodies that slept on straw strewn stone floors and ate gruel, mouldy bread and the odd jug of stagnant water!
The latest prison to be built in Norway to house some of the most dangerous prisoners boasts en suite bathrooms, works of art and no barred windows. I have to say that the accommodation looks decidedly more upmarket than my own bedroom and bathroom!!
My next weird article is related to the recent election – it just couldn’t be avoided I’m afraid!!
A local council in Sussex sent out a voting registration letter to one of its constituents, Blossom Grant – nothing unusual in that – but this was a voter with a difference; it wasn’t actually human!
Once we get the formation of the government out of the way I suspect the next news dominator with be the Football (Soccer) World Cup to be held in South Africa.
As per usual a lot of people over here in the UK will be hanging out their national flags and, provided we eventually end up getting something resembling summer weather so we can have open windows, no doubt the streets will be resounding with cheers, jeers, oohs and aahs and, ultimately, after a few days our national teams will be out of the running and the cheers and jeers will stop and flags will be taken in and stored on top of the wardrobe to gather dust for another four years.
Things have certainly changed since England won the World Cup back in 1966 when diet wasn’t an issue – fried food, beer, sickly desserts etc were perfectly acceptable fare. It seems that our England squad will be having a very strict diet this time around and the link below will show you just exactly what they’ll be dining upon!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article7123420.ece
It’ll be interesting to see if it has any great effect on our boys but I have a feeling it’s going to take more than a bit of spice and five fruit and veg a day to get them going! Having said that, although I dislike football, I do wish them well. It’s always good for the morale of us peasants here in the UK if we actually win something!!
And continuing on a culinary theme, over here in the UK rhubarb is now coming into season. I love rhubarb and each year end up with a load stuffed into the freezer. This is normally stewed to be eaten as is with custard, put into crumbles, sponges, tarts, or, if I’m feeling particularly inspired, rhubarb and ginger jam, so it was with some delight that I found these recipes by one of our TV chefs, Antony Worrall Thompson. Definitely worth a look as it throws up some extremely interesting savoury alternatives!
And from the earth we now take to the air!
I read today that a new unmanned spy plane is in the process of being unleashed. Named the Phantom Ray, it was recently unveiled by Boeing at a ceremony in St Louis. The link below gives more details and some photos, but even I, as a mere female, have to confess it looks pretty sexy!!
Once again, hope there’s something amongst this lot that interests you as much as it’s interested me.
