Author Archives: johnengland55

Tennis Equality

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The thorny subject of equal payment for male and female tennis players has recently arisen again with words like prejudice, unfairness and inequality being hurled around like balls from a Novak Djokovic serve.

Of course women should be paid the same money as men for doing the same job. What rational person could possibly disagree with that?

At present however, at the highest levels of tennis, women’s matches comprise the best of three sets while men’s are the best of five sets. So clearly, men and women are not doing the same amount of work even if the remuneration is the same.

To be completely fair and just shouldn’t men and women play tennis under exactly the same terms and conditions? Shouldn’t their matches be identical both in size and structure? If so that would surely end all comment and debate.

Turning it Round

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We English must honour the man whose appointment turned a team (and virtually the same team) from disgraced World Cup losers to deserved Six Nations winners, in a matter of weeks.

Well done Eddie Jones, well done – Australian – Eddie Jones and, take note you one-eyed nationalists who expressed doubt and displeasure at his appointment, that success like failure knows neither prejudice nor national boundary.

We must not get carried away with our success however since all England have done is to win rugby union’s second division and we are still a long way behind the world’s best – at the moment.

Having said that, I never thought I’d see the day when an Australian would make me proud to be an Englishman. That day arrived on Saturday, March 19th, 2016. Thank you Eddie!

Jackass

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“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes”

Those words, sadly so accurate, were spoken by Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the USA, nearly 200 years ago. They are both timeless and universal in nature and scope.

It was the anniversary of his birthday earlier this week and if his name doesn’t readily stand out to non-Americans it really should, particularly as far as the British are concerned for it was General Andrew Jackson who led the Americans to a famous victory over the British at New Orleans in January, 1815. Personally, I prefer to think of him as the face that graces the US $20 dollar note, not that I’m a bad loser or anything like that!

Jackson really was a larger than life character, a lawyer, a soldier, a gambler, a politician and a serial duellist. Reports vary as to how many duels the fiery tempered Jackson fought but it was well into double figures and, following one duel in which he killed his unfortunate opponent, he spent the remainder of his life with the man’s bullet lodged in his chest. His nickname, a testament to his tough nature, was “Old Hickory”.

Born in the Carolinas of Scots/Irish parents he hated the British with a passion which wasn’t surprising since, as a 13 year old courier for the rebels in the American War of Independence, he was struck by the sword of a British Army officer, causing wounds to his hand and scarring to his face, following Jackson’s refusal to polish the officer’s boots. His two brothers and mother died in that war.

He did have a softer caring side and was devoted to his wife, Rachel, whose honour he defended in at least one duel and who died just before he was about to be inaugurated as President. It was said that she was buried in the dress she was due to wear at that inauguration. Her loss devastated him and he was once prompted to declare that “Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there.”

He was elected President for two terms and his nickname, “Jackass”, which though clearly intended to be uncomplimentary, was quite agreeable to him since he admired the stubborn and determined nature of donkeys. It is through Jackson that the Democratic Party has the animal as its logo.

His pugilistic nature failed to desert him even in later years and, when a would-be assassin failed in an attempt to shoot him in 1835, with both guns amazingly jamming, Jackson attacked him with his walking cane! He died peacefully 10 years later, aged 78.

As we say in the north of England, a proper bloke!

The Modern World of Sport

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The scene is set and the tension is rising in the majestic sports arena. The crowd of 80,000 expectant fans noisily anticipate the arrival of their heroes on to the field of play. With an explosion of loud and colourful fireworks the teams make their way on to the pitch and the decibels rise to another level. The players slap each other on the back, place a comforting hand on the shoulder of an inexperienced colleague or maybe kick a ball to ease their own nerves.

The referee calls the teams to attention and the military band begins to play the national anthems. The players link arms with their comrades and lustily belt out the lyrics to the well-known tunes. The crowd join in and the whole arena is awash with the anticipation and tension that always precedes such an important fixture. No sooner have they started than the bands are finished and leave the pitch to the players who now focus on what lies before them. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife as the teams turn their attention to their opposition.

The contest is a mere minute away and everybody in the stadium and the millions in front of their television screens in homes, bars and sports clubs throughout the land settle down for one of the most eagerly awaited contests in the sporting calendar.

And then…….and then the scene cuts to an advertisement for a Renault or was it a Citroen, a Ford? Who gives a damn? What the hell is this? We’re psyched up for a game of international rugby and we have to watch this garbage. Oh look, now it’s an advertisement for a bank or building society or whatever.

What has happened to the BBC? Why have they allowed commercial television to get hold of so many sports that for so long were their exclusive domain? Yes, it happened to football a long time ago but rugby, surely not? Surely yes, it’s all about money these days and nothing else matters. This is the modern world and I wish it wasn’t.

Soundtrack to Our Lives

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The news of the death of Sir George Martin, the “fifth Beatle” and the visionary behind much of what the greatest band the world has ever seen (or probably ever will see) was a sad blow to all who grew up listening to their music.

It is highly unlikely that the Beatles would have evolved the way they did without his guidance, imagination and musical genius. Who ever heard of a rock and roll band using orchestral strings in their music before George Martin did just that when he arranged and produced Lennon/McCartney’s (but mainly McCartney’s) “Yesterday” in 1965?

Musicians, music journalists and music experts from all over the world have paid tribute and continue to do so to George Martin and there is nothing much that we ordinary folk can add. Except perhaps gratitude that this gentleman, allowed those four boys from Liverpool, England to write the soundtrack to our lives. For that, we can be eternally thankful.

Carve Up

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I recently read an interesting article on countries unlikely to survive due to the artificiality of their borders. Several countries were mentioned but three stood out namely, Iraq, Syria and Libya.

In the last two centuries Africa and the Middle East were carved up by European colonial powers, such as France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Great Britain.

Tribes and groups of indigenous peoples, thousands of years old and with no cultural link were pulled apart or lumped together with no thought other than profit and how they would look on a map.

Iraq and Syria were created after the end of the First World War in 1918 by France and Britain and groups such as the Kurds, Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims were forced to live together whether they wanted to or not.

Libya formerly consisted of three separate regions called, Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. In the early 20th century Italy invaded North Africa and arbitrarily lumped the three regions together to form the new nation.

None of the peoples in any of those three countries wanted nationhood and until recently all were held together by brutal dictators, Saddam in Iraq, Gaddafi in Libya and Assad in Syria. The first two were removed by Western action and the last, Syria, is in turmoil as Assad desperately clings on to power with Russian backing.

What a mess.

 

 

No Middle Ground

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Like many Britons, I have been following the US presidential race with great interest and, in fact, probably more than most since I spend between 3 and 4 months of the year in the States.

I’m in the USA now and was fascinated by the reaction to Donald Trump’s latest success in the Republican Party’s presidential nomination contest and that of Hilary Clinton’s with the Democrats, earlier this week.

A significant number of Americans seem dismayed that their choice of president could very well boil down to one between Trump or Clinton and it seems to me that we have a similar situation in the UK.

In our country the choice is between a privileged former public schoolboy with little understanding of the wants and needs of ordinary people and a communist garden gnome stuck in a 1960s Soviet Union-inspired time warp!

If only there was something in between. How unfortunate that the choice is limited to that between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

If ever there was a time for a common sense, middle ground, political party now is surely that time.

Shake It

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Today is February 29th, a rare day occurring once every four years, in what we know as leap years. Evidently adjustments have to be made to the calendar due to the time taken by the Earth to revolve around the Sun, or something like that. That’s all very well but what about the poor folk who were born on February 29th? They only get to eat birthday cake every four years.

One person with a February 29th birthday was a young Manchester woman called Ann Lee, who, in 1770, apparently following a vision, broke away from the Quaker church to form a new religious movement called the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. It was based on sexual equality, pacifism, a communal economy and celibacy. They were nicknamed the “Shaking Quakers” (sounds like a 1960s pop band to me) due to their ecstatic dancing, singing and shouting when at worship.

In 1774 Ann and her followers relocated to the USA (where else?) and the church exists to this very day but under the more recognisable name of the “Shakers”.

It all sounds fair enough if you like that sort of thing but one thing puzzles me. If all Shakers are celibate how have they been able to increase their membership and how come they are still in existence 250 years after their founding?

The Wealth of Nations

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On the back of the English £20 note is a picture of Adam Smith, the famous 18th century Scottish economist, philosopher and author, whose book “The Wealth of Nations” radically changed the way people thought about wealth and national prosperity.

Smith was a great believer in free trade and the economic and social benefits that it could bring to a nation and its people. However, he once remarked that –

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest”.

A statement worth bearing in mind when we hear of certain leaders of big business urging the UK to remain in the over-regulated European Union.

We must never forget that capitalist self-interest outweighs all other interests, including democracy and freedom, time after time.

Referendum at Last

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So now it’s official, we will have a referendum on June 23rd to determine whether or not our country remains a part of the European Union.

The Common Market or European Economic Community (EEC) seemed a great idea back in 1975, when the last European referendum took place. What could be better than trading openly with your neighbours, free of national trade barriers or tariffs and allowing goods to pass easily and speedily between trader and customer? Such an opportunity for British business.

It was all a trick though, all smoke and mirrors, because it was never just about trade, it was about the creation of a federation, a United States of Europe, and laws passed by an unelected and undemocratic European Commission based in Brussels, leading to an inevitable loss of national sovereignty.

We were never consulted on political union and, when the word “Economic” was dropped and the EEC became the EC (the European Community) followed by the more ominous sounding EU (European Union) alarm bells began to ring.

We were told that it was too late and we could do nothing about our nation’s seemingly inevitable drift into membership of a European Super State. We could do nothing about the bureaucratic bungling and incompetence, the appalling waste of natural resources and the corruption of overpaid and unaccountable Eurocrats.

Well, now we can and we must grasp the opportunity with both hands because it may never arise again.