Gabby Agbonlahor is a cock

Some footballers have ego's the size of small countries. Aston Villa's Gabby Agbonlahor is no different. He's currently sporting one the size of Belgium.

Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor admits he was non-plussed by his inclusion in the England U21 squad for last night's victory over Wales.
"You never know what's going to happen or how people think," said Agbonlahor.

"You only have to look at Jermaine Defoe - he scored six goals in six games and he didn't even get into the squad (for Capello's first game) against Switzerland.

"And as I'm put into the Under-21s for a game, I have just got to accept it, do a job and wait for my chance. It's Wales and hopefully I will get a few chances to score."

So playing for the U-21's for your country against Wales is beneath you eh? Love you too.

Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest

It seems one of the targets of my posts actually appreciated the 'Dragon's' wit and cynicism.

James Karran has critics!! How cool is that?!

[...]

I've just picked up on the most HILARIOUS blog

Well James, I'm glad you found the 'HILARIOUS'. I wish you all the best in the work you do....just cut down on the trendy vicar in the paper tosh ok? Or you could be in line for the soon to be invented 'Cynical Dragon Welsh Media Whore of the Year Award 2008'.

Albums that changed my life #6

Megadeth - Rust In Peace



Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released by Capitol Records in 1990. A remixed and remastered version, featuring several bonus tracks, was released in 2004.

After being released from a twelve-step program, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine had hired drummer Nick Menza and guitarist Marty Friedman to record Rust in Peace, creating what would become the band's first stable line-up, lasting to 1998. Bassist David Ellefson along with Mustaine were the only members who were not replaced. Rust in Peace was produced by Mike Clink, who previously co-operated with Whitesnake and Guns N' Roses. Clink's job as producer contributed to the outcome of the record, with Mustaine being satisfied with the results. Mike Clink was also Megadeth's first professional producer.

The album's name comes from a bumper sticker that Dave Mustaine, the band's main songwriter, saw on the back of a vehicle.



Not a classic by any stretch of the imagination (I was considering an Anthrax album to replace it in this post actually) but a milestone in my headbanging days. I had the album, the t-shirt, the patches for my sleaveless denim jacket. I was far more of a Megadeth fan than a Metallica fan and that remains to this day as I think Metallica are one of the most over-rated rock acts on the planet.

Freedom of expression or state sponsored propaganda?

Are AM's being censored or are they angry they can't do their smear jobs without public funding?

NEW rules about what politicians can say on their Assembly-funded websites have been compared to Communist-era censorship.

Under new guidance introduced by the Assembly Commission, AMs are banned from using a website for political campaigning if it has been funded from the Office Costs Allowance.

This prevents AMs from attacking the policies of rival parties or seeking the views of constituents on national and international issues. Politicians say the new rules place unjustifiable restrictions on their abilities to communicate with the public.

Leighton Andrews, Labour AM for the Rhondda, believes the guidelines should be scrapped and politicians should be given the same freedom to express their opinions online as they have in the Senedd debating chamber.

He said: “Websites and online interactive communications are an increasingly important form of communication with constituents. I don’t think the new guidance has been thought through properly and it should be withdrawn.

“Guidance should be based on encouraging the best possible use of new technologies.”

“Additionally, the rules governing websites should be no different in practice to what we are allowed to say in the Assembly chamber with the exception, of course, of electoral law and the law of libel.

“We should be free to represent our constituents through strong advocacy both in, and out of, the chamber.”

Alun Davies, Labour AM for Mid and West Wales, said: “I share Leighton’s views. It is ludicrous to attempt to gag AMs and limit our freedoms of speech in this way. I hope the commission will withdraw these guidelines and consult with us on the sort of rules that are required for websites and other forms of electronic communications.”

While I agree that no politician should be censored from their views and putting them on blogs, this seems like a storm in a tea-cup. The AM's involved are claiming censorship but at the end of the day they are simply being restricted from making party political attacks funded by the Assembly Office Cost allwowance. This is perfectly fair. Why should the taxpayer pay for your propaganda?

If you want to attack your rivals, set up a blogger account (it's free) and don't claim any money for running it out of public funds. There you go, you're free to say what you like! Really, say what you like. Easy wasn't it?

Keep your Assembly funded blogs for the basics, you know, like visiting the folk festival in Porth and how jolly a time you had. Or if your a very lucky AM, tell us about the expensive junket you've been on to Taiwan to look at their new system of traffic calming.

Regeneration on the cheap

£10m wouldn't buy a crap footballer these days but somebody somewhere thinks that it's enough to 'regenerate' the valleys. The Bevan Foundation is on the case.

REGENERATION funding for some of Wales’ most deprived areas is equivalent to building only half a mile of motorway a year, a scathing new report warns.

The document, by Victoria Winckler of the Bevan Foundation, claims current levels of funding for the Assembly’s Heads of the Valleys initiative, which targets an area including Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent, are insufficient to drag the area out of poverty.

Her report, called Rethinking Regeneration, said the Wales Millennium Centre would have taken 10 years to build at the rate of funding allocated to an area that tops Welsh tables of deprivation and disadvantage.

She said: “The most important thing about the report is a call for the Welsh Assembly Government to do more.

Victoria, people have been calling for that for ages, without success.

F-Up Pompeii

This is why I love icWales.

It's the perfect website to represent the Western Mail. It sums up the main Welsh newspaper perfectly.

Patagonia facing threat of Pompei-like disaster

THE Welsh colony of Patagonia was last night facing the immediate threat of an earthquake after geologists warned that the enormous Chaiten volcano in neighbouring Chile has a 50% chance of imploding.

There were also fears that an earthquake could cause the region’s San Martin reservoir to break its dam, releasing millions of gallons of water towards the town of Trevelin, which has a population of around 6,500.

Should the volcano collapse, Patagonia would be left in a state of “permanent night” for several days.

Residents of the South American region, including several people from Wales working there, have been told by officials to stockpile tinned food, bottled water, batteries and candles in case of such an occurrence, which has been compared in a worst case scenario to Pompeii, the Roman city destroyed in AD 79 by Mount Vesuvius.

So let's start at the beginning.

a) The headline misspells the Pompeii

b) A dam being breached causing flooding is not comparable to a town being covered in volcanic ash and molten lava. Just because there's a volcano involved doesn't make it so.

However, despite this sensationalist and badly written piece my thoughts and prayers go out to the people in the affected areas and I hope they get all the support they need.

To contribute to the appeal, please send a cheque to: Mentrau Iaith Cymru, Y Sgwâr, Llanrwst, LL26 0LG. Write “Ysgol Gymraeg yr Andes” on the back of each cheque.

Co-operative in sleaze

Does this sound a bit dodgy to you?

The Co-operative Group is bidding to build an eco-town called Pennbury on land it owns between Stoughton and Great Glen in Leicester.

However, objectors are circulating literature pointing out that Labour received £500,000 from the group in 2005/06 and has a £13.5 million overdraft with the Co-operative Bank, an offshoot of the group.

The Co-operative Party, which supports the Co-op Group’s activities, sponsors 22 Labour MPs, including Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary. Mr Balls is married to Yvette Cooper, who announced the eco-town project to find 15 sites for environmentally friendly towns last year when she was Housing Minister.

Phil Hope, the minister for the East Midlands – which includes Pennbury – is also sponsored by the Co-operative Party.

Is it any wonder that people have lost all trust in this government? It's not as if they haven't got any 'previous'.

How low can the media go?

I'm no fan of the left-wing 'no platform' concept. However the media have to use their brains when it comes to extremists. From not taking racist fascist cash for election ads to allowing a terrorist organisation propaganda space on your websites

So, how low can the media go?

I suppose giving a platform to a senior official of a terror group which regularly carries out terrorist attacks on civilians, promotes violent homophobia, tortures and kills 'collaborators', supports the oppression of women, teaches children the glory of suicide bombing, spreads centuries old conspiracy theories, cracks down on press freedom, persecutes journalists, sabotages it's own supply lines, hero worships Adolf Hitler is pretty low even by the Guardian's standards.

Reasons to hate New Labour #1,000,001

It seems that New Labour, not content with keeping the voting public in the dark are now attempting to curb the freedom of the press.

Communities secretary Hazel Blears called on councils to keep track of who is living in their area and be aware of potential “hot spots”.

The guidance also says local authorities should be aware of what “triggers” local tensions and urges they work with the local press to ensure reporting “does not exacerbate tensions”.

In other words, if their in a minority and their doing wrong, don't report it.

Reality bites

The BNP are racists!

I know, I know, I couldn't believe it either.

BRITISH National Party members elected to a town council have resigned from the party.

[...]

Haulage worker Mr Harley, 62, from Penrhyn Bay, who was elected to the Dinerth ward, said: “When I joined the party I did believe that the party had changed from its former image.

“I felt the same after attending meetings where racist views were not expressed but in the past few weeks I have found out more about the party and I am not happy with what I have found out.

“I have always maintained that I was not racist, but individuals that hold racist views remain.

I applaud Mr Harley in his now principled stand in resigning from the party, but feel the need to ask wether he'd actually read up on or spoken to anyone other than the odious bigots of the BNP before the election?

Reasons to hate New Labour #1,000,000

This just makes my blood boil.

Gordon Brown will not receive the Dalai Lama in Downing Street in an effort to avoid confrontation with China over Tibet, The Times has learnt.

The Prime Minister will, instead, see the Tibetan spiritual leader in Lambeth Palace, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, enabling him to claim to the Chinese that he is receiving the Dalai Lama in a spiritual rather than political capacity

For fuck's sake stop pussyfooting around the Chinese regime.

The 2012 London Olympics isn't a good enough reason to kow-tow to these brutal human rights abusers. Make a stand and stop acting like a spineless miserable loser. I'll admit that he is one but as PM he could make an effort to appear leader-like.

Recipe for disaster

This sounds like a jolly good idea for any budding state wanting to exert its power over its citizens.

Under the plans, mothers who successfully claim they deserve more money for child support will also be able to claim a share in any profits their ex-partners make from selling assets – even those acquired long after the divorce. And authority will be given to civil servants to raid the father’s bank account and withdraw lump sums.

Doesn't that sound dandy?

Doesn't it sound a touch authoritarian?

Would you trust civil servants to raid your bank account?

What planet do these people live on?

The age of self-promotion

Following on from Lembit's shameless celeb stylings, I happened to pick up a copy of the South Wales Echo today and wasn't surprised to find another Welsh self-promoter doing his thing.

James Karran, who is the minister for Ararat Baptist Church was in the news again, this time for 'using' Doctor Who to sell his religion of choice. What's shocking about this? Nothing really, it's just that I've grow sick of seeing his smug, happy-clappy face staring back at me from various Welsh media publications.

You see James Karran has a history of this, whether it's holding church services in nightclubs (although Clwb Ifor Bach didn't get much out of it), pubs and anywhere else that'll have him to telling the story of Christ through The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix or Chronicles of Narnia.

Again, there's nothing wrong with this, but there is a point at which that his shameless self-promotion, his grinning smile, that oh-so-cool leather jacket and the 'Jesus was a dude' line gets tiring and smacks of a 'special relationship' with certain journalists.

This 'special relationship' is also known as a slow news day.

Reasons to hate New Labour #999,999

Would using your wife's miscarriage as a PR stunt to cover up bad news about Iraq be wrong? To most people, yes. To New Labour's architect Tony Blair it's just another opportunity for spin.

Here's an extract from Cherie Blair's new book.

"I couldn't believe it. There I was bleeding, and they were talking about what was going to be the line to the press. I put down the receiver and lay there staring at the ceiling as the pain began to grip," she wrote.

Discussing the press angle whilst your wife is in pain, bleeding and emotionally devasted is the true sign of a complete and utter bastard.

Lembit Öpik's quest

It seems Lembit Öpik has a problem.

Not enough of the general public,

a) Know who he is

and

b) Know who his fiancee is

Therefore he is resigned to stunts like this.

The words sad, pathetic and idiot really don't do this man justice.

I shouldn't really relate the gossip I've heard about Lembo from various hacks but let's just say this is nothing new. Perhaps he should concentrate on his politics rather than his celeb profile and his penis.

Oh, and another thing, how come icWales can manage to get the Germanic umlaut over Öpik correct but consistently fails to get the Welsh circumflex on Glyndŵr right?

Holy cows!

The blasphemy laws have finally been abolished.

Good news for anybody with a belief in freedom of expression, liberty and freethinking.

Unfortunately blasphemy is chic in the Islamic world. Apparently, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference is advocating a worldwide blasphemy law, although the EU recently ruled out such legislation.

Nice to see the EU acting responsibly for once.

Two points

1. How about this for a non-story?

2. You'd think that they'd be able to spell Glyndŵr correctly by now.

I mean how hard is it to get the software right on the website of the 'National Newspaper of Wales' to allow Welsh circumflexes?

Guilty Pleasures

Sorry for the lack of posts, I'm still on my deathbe.....sickbed. Man-Flu is a bitch.

Anyway here's a peek into my musical past, which I'm embarrassed about and proud of in equal measures. Who knows perhaps other people were listening to the same stuff back in the day.

Quote of the day

British footballers are generally regarded as idiots, managers don't fare much better. Foreign coaches however are seen as professorial and genius-like. If only this was true. When they open their mouths the same crap comes out.

And, for me, that is a big club, a club that comes out of people's desire
to respect values. Look at our whole history, it's clean

That was Arsene Wenger, speaking about AC Milan and Silvio Berlusconi after their capture of Mathieu Flamini.

A name for you Monsieur Wenger.

George Graham.

An ill communication

OK, so I'm full of a cold. My partner is full of a cold and my five month year old daughter is full of a cold.

As you can imagine I'm feeling crappy. Reading news items like this makes me feel even more crabby.

So here you have a shit list. Things that are really annoying me in my state of sniffy, sarcastic misery.

1. Labour: Tighter new rules for skilled foreign workers - Yep, because skilled foreign workers are the problem. We've taken a kicking in the local elections, let's take it out on Johnny Foreigner....actually, no, let's take it out on the easiest target. Johnny Foreigner who's actually contributing to British society. The Sun and The Daily Mail editors must be cheering like retarded demons.*

2. Boris Johnson - Aren't Libertarians supposed to be for personal freedom?

3. Prince William - I don't care that you've learned how to fly a helicopter, I just wished you'd stop charging us for flying to your social functions. Oh, for the use of a S.A.M......

4. People who commit crimes like this

That's all for now. I'm off to bed to carry on my recuperation.

Clarification: *The editors of The Sun and The Daily Mail are retarded demons.