Face Of Fashion

I was at the National Picture Gallery this week and outside on a lifesize giant billboard they`ve got Kate Moss looking like someone in advanced stages of anorexia with the caption`The Face of Fashion`. Pardom me. The Face of fashion? Same Ms Moss of the white powder fame? Im no prude but i do not think Kate Moss has done anything to deserve such appellation. But thats debatable.

What is unassailable a fact is that it is shameful and and ill-advised for the boffins in the National Gallery to be party to such a campaign promoting so gaunt looking a model. What with all the talk about young impressionable women(mostly women) seriously harming themselves trying to live up to the image of beauty as portrayed by the fashion industry. And that is the crux of matter.

To have Kate Moss on that billboard at such a strategic position and at such a respected and well visited institution as The National Picture Gallery looking the way she does and adorned with that caption is a smack in the face for all interested in seeing a way forward and out of the `thin is beautiful`philosophy. All the billboard is saying simply, is you must look anorexic to be considered beautiful. That is not acceptable.

Conservatives And Mayor of London Election.

Two headlines are getting so boringly predicatble to me these days: Another bomb blast in Iraq killing ...... then someone turning down an offer to be the Conservative Party candidate for the next Mayor of London election. The issue wouldn`t have being that risible if William Hague didnt go on television last Sunday professing that the Party was not desperate for a suitable candidate for the seat. Not desperate? William please! Throw another one.John Major just said no this week.

Manchester United Wins The League

Yes United won the Premiership title today as far as im concerned. Chelsea gifted United the title by failing to beat Bolton . We started well enough and so confident was i in the balance of play that i wasn`t the least bothered when Bolton went ahead. Was taking a call from Morag then and i said `Hold on Bolton just scored but go on it doesnt matter we will beat them`. True we pulled one back then went ahead. Only heavens know what Mourinho said to them at the interval. Chelsea were just flat in the second half. Why did he pull Shevchenko off so early like that? It was a different team that came out in the second half. I was even getting embarassed when it seemed all we were doing was sending long balls to Drogba. Completely bereft of ideas.

With three games left in the Premiership season there is no way we can catch United now. A glance at the rest of Chelsea`s fixtures and United`s is enough to quell any fantasy or illusion of turning the tables against The Red Devils. We have Arsenal,United then Everton to contend with while United have ourselves and two of English Football`s finest, Manchester City and West Ham to deal with! See why i said United got the League today?

Personally i think we showed some spirit to be where we are now in the Premiership. The League was lost way back in January. I said so in my post then. Lets hope we play better against Liverpool in the Champions League return leg.

Sarkozy vs Royal As Expected

The French elections result threw up no main surprises. In that Nicolas Sarkozy polled the highest number of votes 31.2% and coming in second place,Ms Royal with 25.9% of the total vote.What is quite remarkable is the high turn out of voters.This indicates that despite widespread disillusionment with politics and politicians people still made the effort to partake in the political process.84% of the voting populace took part in the election. This is quite an enviable figure.

So the dye is cast for a showdown between Sarkozy and Royal on May 6. I think Sarkozy is going to be the man in the Ellysee come May.

Have been following the French Presidential race with muted but ever growing interest.Its twist and turns will make a brilliant backdrop for a political drama. The main dramatis personae being the controversial UMP candidate Nicolas Sarzoky and the gaffe prone but sexy (yes,it has to be said) Segolene Royal representing the PS.Of course there is Francois Bayrou of the Centrist Party. Jean Le penn is still there kicking too. Only recently shot a salvo at Mr Sarkozy labelling him as not being French enough to be the French President.A reference to the fact that Sarkozy is the son of a Hungarian immigrant and a French mother of Jewish and Greek extraction.

Also recently,Nicolas is alleged to have made a pact with Chirac to let the him off the hook with regards to allegations of financial irregularities(fraud in short) if he wins the elections.In return he gets Chirac`s support for the fight for the presidential seat. A suppport that Sarkozy could undoubtedly do with.Even though all indications are that Mr Sarkozy is in the pole position at the moment Ms Royal can not be written off just yet.Come April 22 and finally May 6 all will be revealed.

Des Browne,The Press And The Navy

I have never been impressed by the Defence Secretary Des Browne.The recent fiasco concerning the freed naval personnel taken captive by the Iranians has only underlined any reservations one might have about Mr Browne. It`s now universally accepted that the naval officers were wrong to commercialise their experience by selling their stories to the Press. What has Mr Browne has to say? Not much other than he wasn`t informed before the decision was taking but only asked `to take note`afterwards. What did he do? Er er he did nothing. It was only after it generated so much backlash and disapproval that he thought fit to take action. Now the rule is to be enforced to stop future reoccurence of this inane and banal scenario. It is akin to locking the stable doors when the horse has bolted. On the whole the Defence Secretary comes across as not being in control of his department at all.

Without making light of the harrowing impression that could have been left on the officers` minds by their captivity i think the whole matter has been blown out of proportion.Bearing in mind that thousands of servicemen have lost their lives or been permanently damaged by injury sustained in this phony adventure otherwise referred to as war on terror,operation iraqui freedom bla bla or other nomenclature that catches Tony or Goerge`s fancy.So what has our Tony got to say about it all ? Of course the Prime Minister in his typical infinite self righteous moral highground mode went all rhetorical "Was it a good idea,No.Do i believe it would happen again? No. Were the people acting in completely good faith and honourably as far as the Navy were concerned ? Yes they were." There you go.

The Spanish Armada

Barely a fortnight ago shareholders of ScottishPower rubberstamped the Scottish company`s takeover bid by the Spanish power company Iberdrola. ScottishPower joined the veritable list of British businesses now under Spanish control. Banco Santander took over Abbey National in 2004, 02 the mobile phone company is now owned by the Spanish telecom company Telefonica while the biggest scalp is arguably the takeover of BAA (British Aiports Authority) last year by Ferrovial.

None of these takeovers however evoked more emotions than this latest one. Once the European Union okayed the bid i knew Iberdrola had the deal in the bag. Convincing the shareholders as to the benefits of the bid was never going to be a hard task. When people stand to make immediate gains any other considerations or values tend to take second place. What was on offer was too tempting for the majority of the shareholders.So the overwhelming majority voted in favour. Just as expected i must say.

One wonders what next for the Spanish marauders.