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A sample from a nice publication Friday 14th October Oh crumbs, what shall I annoy thee with today? Oh I know, let's begin by mentioning that it has been a bad day for Foxes. The Dr Liam variety has run out of breath after being hounded by the press pack for the last ten days. Basil Brush must be turning in his grave. As a consequence, the good doctor has done the honourable thing and handed in his resignation and David Cameron is resigned to accepting his resignation. That should keep The Guardian happy for a day or two. Their pursuit of the poor (or rich) little Fox has been oh so merciless. Meanwhile Dr Liam will shortly be appearing on Stars In Their Eyes, performing a rendition of “Don't cry for me Britannia, the truth is I never loved you...” Elsewhere in Satan's kingdom, Silvio Berlusconi has survived his umpteenth vote of no confidence. The Italians do possess their fair share of male, middle-aged berks from Berlusconi to Claudio Ranieri to Fabio Capello. Julius Caesar must be spinning in his grave. Further afield, the resistance to the Libyan resistance grinds on in Sirte. It is only a matter of time before Gaddafi's last die-hards do indeed die hard, but flip we were saying that a few weeks ago. Oh well, the delay is at least enabling the cowardly dictator to pack his belongings and gather his passport for a life of luxurious exile. In the Middle East, the Syrians continue to dish out brutal treatment against the regime's dissidents. Fortunately for President Assad, the West is war-weary and bankrupt, so all we can do is stand idly by and feel a sense of disgust at the reactionary repression. Yeah, the collective tut-tutting of the West ought to persuade the Syrian regime to behave itself.....not. Oh well, the time is fast approaching for what is being hyped as the most important rugby match in the history of Wales. Sorry to be such a party-pooper folks, but 'Allez France!' I reckon that a World Cup triumph for the Welsh would be almost as unbearable as a global victory for England. Oh I am such a generous-spirited young man. Come on France. Don't let me down. Tonight I have just sent a latest book of mine in PDF form via email to selected Members of Parliament and a couple of academics and several BBC broadcasters. It would be good to receive endorsements. Will they entertain my latest literary offering? The pending publication is called The Celtic Fringe: The Westminster Elections in Scotland And Wales, 1970-2010, A Complete Record by Grant Toway. Born on this date: Roger Moore (1927); Cliff Richard (1940) Died on this date: Erwin Rommel (1944); Errol Flynn (1959) Saturday 15th October Gosh that was a titanic tussle this morning between France and Wales in the first semi-final of the rugby union World Cup. The latter succumbed by the narrowest possible margin of nine points to eight. We are not exactly being treated to high-scoring points bonanzas in these matches, but the sheer drama was on a par with any imaginable cliff-hanger. The Welsh can claim to have been harshly treated, after the referee saw red and sent off the Welsh captain Sam Warburton for a bad tackle, leaving France with a one-man advantage for the remaining hour. Peculiarly, this disadvantage galvanised the Welshmen, perhaps a result of what seemed a bit of an injustice. In the event, the French had to rely on three penalty kicks from the ever-reliable place kicking of Morgan Parra. Their Welsh counterparts by contrast fluffed their lines from place kicks as James Hook failed to land two penalty kicks and then his replacement Stephen Jones hit the posts with the conversion after Mike Phillips' customary opportunism had yielded five precious points. In truth, it wasn't the dubious refereeing decision which ruined Wales' chances, it was their failure to convert their kicks that condemned them to the heartbreak of a one point defeat. Quite frankly, kicking three points is not going to win anyone a rugby match unless one happens to be running in about four tries as well. There we have it then, France stagger into their third final. They were far from dynamic going forward. The formidable Welsh defence refused to give way, but France in their defence were also uncompromising in the tackle. They will however have to take their game onto a higher level if they find themselves confronted with the All Blacks in the final, as it simply won't do to soak up pressure from New Zealand for eighty minutes and emerge unscathed. The French will have to offer a lot more then. Yet that is the French for you. They are a Jekyll and Hyde team, capable of brilliance, equally capable of mediocrity. Today they did the bare minimum to get themselves over the finishing line and into the final. Warren Gatland was correct in observing that it was all very well his young team excelling at this tournament, but the proof of the pudding is whether they can kick on from here and dominate European rugby over the next few years. I suspect not. England, France, Ireland, and Wales will each continue to produce good performances and bad ones too. None of these teams is head and shoulders above the others. Greatness only beckons for the team that masters the art of consistency. Born on this date: Didier Deschamps (1968); Andy Cole (1971) Died on this date: Pierre Laval (1945); Hermann Goring (1946) Sunday 16th October In this morning's Southern Hemisphere semi-final at the rugger World Cup, the All Blacks defeated the Aussies by the comfortable margin of twenty points to six. This sets up a re-enactment of the 1987 final avec France. If all goes according to plan for New Zealand, the score will be fairly similar. In the Korean Grand Prix, Deutschland's Sebastian Vettel was 'uber alles' again. Lewis Hamilton was the second driver to see the chequered flag, followed by Mark Webber. The latter is another Australian hard luck story on this day. Perhaps the Antipodeans are concentrating their energies of late on producing awful soap operas instead of reproducing their customary excellence on the sporting field. Scotland's greatest-ever tennis player (or should I say, Scotland's only-evertennis player) Andy Murray won the Shanghai Masters, his third triumph in as many weeks. Happy-go-lucky Andy has now climbed beyond Roger Federer and into third position in the men's tennis world rankings. It must nearly be cause for a smile, eh Andy? In the English soccer Premiership, Arse-nil narrowly overcame the potential banana skin of Sunderland. The man who yet again was called upon to rescue the misfiring Gunners was their prolific striker, Robin Van Persie. That other once-great norf London giant, Tottensham Coldspur, managed to collect an away point at improving Newcastle United. Also, in the black country derby, West Bromwich Albion defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers in this glamorous fixture by two goals to nil. In London a crowd of protesters laid siege to the St Paul's area as they expressed their disgust at the greed of the top financiers and politicians. There is a growing development of worldwide street demonstrations of angst against the selfish capitalists. Bravo, I say. The dust has perhaps temporarily settled on the furore arising out of Foxy's surrender to the news hounds. However, a report is still due to be published about the whole sorry affair. The Labour Party is calling for a statutory register of lobbyists. I second that. Personally I would have taken the bold step of moving the new young MP Rory Stewart to the portfolio of Defence Secretary. Mr Stewart has an army background and experience of the conflicts in the Middle East. An alternative might have been to re-direct Ken Clarke away from the Justice Department, as he and Theresa May appear to be the best of enemies. Born on this date: Bill McLaren (1923); Terry Griffiths (1947) Died on this date: Ross Davidson (2006); Deborah Kerr (2007) Monday 17th October Tonight I went for a five mile run in the pouring rain avec my dear friend John. Oh you just cannot keep a good man down. The trouble is that if we all had to take part in another world war, I would imagine that the yoof of this country would be saying 'Look, I don't mind fighting for my country, but I'm not doing so if it starts to rain.' Oh I fear the worst. At Westminster village, it has been reported that the coalition forces are delaying their promise to clean up the stinking corruption of lobbying for favours from MPs. David Cameron was adamant before the last election that this great taboo needed to be addressed. Well, he is reneging on the need to confront and slay this dragon. Whilst lobbying persists in its present form, then the British body politic will be far from healthy. Also in British politricks, Chris Huhne, the energetic Energy Secretary was advising all and sundry to shop around for the best available tariff on their energy consumption. However, there appears to be only six companies to choose from, so it is scarcely a case of www.gocompare.com. Meanwhile back at my pauper's penthouse, I have been scanning through websites for a potential literary agent. Gosh these agencies are so strict, pedantic, and thoroughly unlikeable. Some don't want submissions via email and some don't want the would-be author to be sending 'blanket submissions' to lots of agencies at once. Instead, they want one to fork out the expense of compiling lots of printed sheets for hard copy, paying for the postage of this manuscript, and then enclosing a stamped addressed envelope for return of the material. In the mean time, they are liable to spend many weeks before they finally get round to issuing a response which will be some cryptic crap like 'good luck elsewhere'. Oh these agencies are as bad as some employers. They are horrible people who completely disrespect the poor souls out there who are desperately keen to improve their lives. The government talks a good game about how good it is to see individuals using their energy and
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Bishop Ken Clarke was elected Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh by Electoral College on 13 November, 2000 and was Consecrated in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh on 25 January, 2001. He was installed in the Cathedral Church of St. Fethlirnidh, Kilmore on 18 February, 2001 and installed in the Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin and St John the Baptist, Sligo on 25 February, 2001. He grew up in Holywood, County Down and went to the Sullivan Upper School before studying Arts at Trinity College, Dublin. Ordained deacon in 1972, he has served in parishes in Magheralin, Dundonald and Dublin and also in South America. Before becoming Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin & Ardagh, he was Rector of St. Patrick's Coleraine and served the whole diocese of Connor by being Archdeacon of Dalriada. He is married to Helen and they have four daughters and four grandchildren. Bishop Ken is a keen sports fan. He enjoys watching rugby and is a passionate Manchester United fan.
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