Hi,
I hope all is well with you.
The referendum on Scottish independence took a new turn this week, with one poll putting the yes campaign in the lead for the first time. When you consider that the no campaign was maybe 20% ahead less than 2 months ago, that’s a massive build up of momentum for the yes campaign.
I have been watching some fascinating programmes about the pros and cons. Did you know there is a country in Europe, population 5 million, which owns 2% of the entire stocks and shares in the world, and that fund is worth £400 billion? The fund is owned by the people, and the government only spends 4% of the annual interest. More on that later.
After that weekend poll, the no campaign came out and said they will be publishing a timetable for possible new powers for Scotland if they say no. Hmm, the yes campaign say that is desperation, the no campaign says it isn’t.
To me it looks like it is rather desperate, because it’s only dealing with ‘possible’, and when asked why they are saying this only 10 days before the vote, and after many thousands have already voted, maybe as many as 200,000, there is no real answer.
The vote will be close, with every possibility that Great Britain will be broken up, because if Scotland vote yes, what do you think the Welsh will be thinking about next?
I don’t get a vote, which may seem a bit odd, but the vote is not whether to kick Scotland out of the union, rather whether they want to leave. I’d find it more odd if I were Scottish living in England, as many of my curling friends are, because they don’t get to vote either.
The Great North Run took place at the weekend, and the half marathon race in the north east of England became the first mass participation road race to have a millionth finisher.
Joan Rivers died during the week. She deserved it.
Well, actually I don’t think that, but the coverage of her death has featured her comments that Palestinian civilians ‘deserved to die’.
Some people say that one episode cannot be used to remember or judge a woman who pushed the boundaries of comedy, and the boundaries of women in comedy, women on tv, and did so by being outspoken and controversial for decades.
The other side of that argument is that yes, many comedians build their act around being offensive, and have no barrier as to who they offend, including themselves, but her those particular comments were not her act, they were her actual views.
Yes, she was caught on the hoof, and although she later said she was quoted out of context, I think the video shows the context quite clearly.
I reckon that she would have been tearing into anybody else if they’d said it, and would expect others to be tearing into her for it.
Another quickie – long time readers will know I have a problem with tennis grand slam finals in the women’s game not being umpired by women, so I was pleased to have someone point out there was a British woman in the chair for the final of the US Open.
Serena Williams won her 18th Grand Slam title. That’s a phenomenal total, a result of years of hard work. I’m not a fan though, I’ve written before about what I see as a lack of sportsmanship from her, which is a shame.
Ok, I’ll finish back at the Scottish referendum. That country of 5 million with the £400 billion investment fund? Norway. That’s a result of investing their money from North Sea oil, and the yes campaign says Scotland can do exactly the same. Fascinating.
Ooh, I nearly forgot – the NFL season started this week, and the story that made me smile the most was…the new jerseys for the Philadelphia Eagles. Or the lack of them.
Their famous green home jerseys aren’t ready, and won’t be for a few weeks. The colour is a custom Reebok colour, and apparently Nike can’t get it ready on time, so the Eagles will be playing their home games in white for a while. Merchandise is a big part of the NFL money machine, so it’s no small change, and no surprise that the white jersey is being promoted as limited edition ‘platinum’ – ha!
Ok, that’s it for this week, do let me know what you think,
‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. Don’t forget my free report: FB Passion Profits – The Basics!
We are Eagles fans here and the white jersey was weird! My son didn’t understand why we had on one color and they had on another! We still ate nachos until we burst though!
Joan Rivers…yes, super outspoken and definitely pushed the envelope on quite a few matters!
Thanks for the news updates…I learned more from your blog post than from yahoo.com! You cover the great stuff! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Goldi,
I’ve always loved their green, had a richness to it, but it seems the ‘new’ green won’t even be quite the same as the old one?
Glad you enjoyed the post, I do like to pick the things that catch my attention 😉
cheers,
Gordon
Joan Rivers wasn’t just a comedian. She was authentic and real. That’s why people loved her.
Dorit Sasson
Giving a Voice to Your Story
she was groundbreaking at a time when it wasn’t the done thing to talk about the things she talked about. I do think in her later years she became somewhat of a parody of herself, being shocking almost for the sake of being shocking?
cheers,
Gordon