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Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck – a steamy combination
Jennifer Lopez is mourning her split from former pro-baseball player Alex Rodriguez by seeking solace from actor Ben Affleck to whom she was briefly engaged almost two decades back. Both have had a revolving-doors series of relationships so it may be just be a comfortable old friendship rather than a hot rerun of ‘Bennifer’. … Read more
Israel – the same old, same old with no end in sight
Israel is once again descending into violence after Palestinian anger mounted over restrictions on nightly gatherings during Ramadan and yet more settler encroachment which would evict dozens of Palestinian families from their homes. Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets towards the holy city, the first time it had targeted the city in more than … Read more
Nick Kamen – man of the moment
Nick Kamen, the ridiculously good-looking former model and singer, who has just died, was in the mid 1980s the most famous man in London as his launderette advert stripping off his Levi jeans to Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard it on the Grapevine’ thrust him into the limelight. It boosted Levi’s sales by 800%, made boxer … Read more
Scotland independence – try again, same result
Nicola Sturgeon has cranked up the rhetoric about a second Scottish independence referendum being inevitable despite the SNP not having won an outright majority in the recent elections. They did well but could not manage the final hurdle. Her estimation was for it to be held in late 2023 though it will require a Westminster … Read more
Labour – sent back to the drawing board for a rethink ++
Labour are licking their wounds after a humiliating defeat at Hartlepool and losing control of seven councils to the Tories, who gained 12, though Labour candidates did retain two major Mayoralties in London and Greater Manchester. Capricorn Research tracked back on Labour’s history and indicated the 27 February 1900 chart was the most accurate. … Read more
Prince Michael of Kent – another Royal mess
The Queen’s first cousin Prince Michael of Kent has been accused by a Sunday Times/Channel 4 Dispatches investigation of peddling his royal connection for access to Putin. It sounds an extraordinary tie-up but Prince Michael is a fluent Russian speaker and is related on both sides of his family to the last Tsar, Nicholas 11, … Read more
Tories on a triumphant roll – for now
Boris the boundless is here for an eternity, according to a media over-excited by the admittedly resounding win for the Tories in Hartlepool. They forget, as ever, that a week is a long time in politics and ten years which they are confidently predicting is millions of light years hence. This success showed up … Read more
Liz Cheney – howling into the wind
Liz Cheney is ploughing a lonely furrow in Washington continuing her public criticism of Trump, denouncing his lies about a stolen election and demanding the G.O.P. tell the truth about how his supporters assaulted democracy during the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Her refusal to compromise on principle and truth may well sacrifice her … Read more
The Napoleonic warrior spirit lives on
Old enmities are uncoiling from hibernation as the French threaten to cut electricity cables to the Channel island of Jersey in the midst of an escalating post-Brexit dispute over fishing rights. It ironically coincides with the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon Bonaparte who finished his days exiled and imprisoned on St Helena after … Read more