football is not a matter of life or death...

I witnessed a scene in the streets of Funchal last sunday that resembled the euphoria of a world cup win. Traffic jams, incessant chanting, a sea of red swept the streets! And all because Benfica had won the championship!!! More than half of the madeiran population supports Benfica. It is estimated that nearly 6 million portuguese support Benfica. According to The Guinness Book Of Records, Benfica has the highest amount of paid up members in the world. Over 200,000 at the last count. Incredible, for a team that has had little or no success for 20 years, but there you go.A local paper has published a list of benefits associated with this win, here are some;

1- The morale of the country will reach unseen heights
2- Productivity will soar and interest rates will fall
3- Domestic violence will stop completely
4- Priests will stop chasing children

As Brian Clough once said, "football is not a matter of life or death...it´s much more important than that"

PolitRicKs and football...

.........hummm, what is tactical voting?


Election fever has gripped the UK!!! Hordes of public relation exercises, constant selling pitch, all for the few undecided votes. Well, the one party scraping ahead, is Cameron´s conservatives. Great promises,great sales pitch, they have moved to the centre since the Thatcher years, but the electorate should still remember the bad old times to trust them fully. They were in charge for donkeys years before the present lot and, if my memory serves me right,gave us a boom and bust economy with yuppies jumping off buildings, the Brixton race riots, the closure of the coal mines and effectively the demise of all the mining communities across the country,took the free milk from the primary school children, sextupled the cost of prescriptions and.., oh yes, and gave us "black wednesday"! Hummm!?!? But now they say they are the ones who know best how to run the economy?!?! And then there is Clegg´s lot, the LibDems,vibrant,fresh and full of energy (they haven´t had a proper job in years so can´t be tired)full of good intentions, intentions... don´t put food on our table or pay the bills.They are actually very nice,not at all dictatorial, but, somewhat inexperienced.Then of course Labour, trailing in 3rd place and looking downcast (like the leader´s chin).Lets face it, how can they possibly win with Gordon as leader? They didn´t before, so why gamble this time? He is not exactly "Blair Material" is he? If Labour lose it will be because of Gordon. They have been the guardians of this great land for 13 years and as such,have the experience, but with Gordon at the helm? No way, it´s like Liverpool with Benitez only slightly more predictable. Roll on summer, get the election out of the way and see the back of Benitez as good measure...not all bad it seems
As the old joke goes, "how do you know when a politician is lying?... his lips are moving"