The most insensitive decision from a sporting body I have ever seen

The CAF (African Football Federation) have banned Togo for to African Nations Cups and fined their Football Association - This is for bowing to their governments pressure and withdrawing from the recent tournement. Gvernment intervention is against FIFA rules... OK, but come on guys. This team were a VICTIM of an attack. EVEN if one of your rules was broken, the circumstances are very exceptional.

I propose a petition to be signed by as many football supporters accross the world to request in the following terms that the CAF reconsider this decision.

If this is a petition you stand behind, please copyy it into an e-mail and mail with your comments to

ReverseTogoBan@Googlemail.com

If anyone lauches a better circulated petition of similar sentiment I would add my name to it.


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We, the undersigned, believe that the decision to punish the Togo Football Team for withdrawing from the recent Cup of Nations to be a highly insensitive one that shows no respect to natural justice.

We understand that the reason for the ban and fine is the interference of the Togo government which did breach CAF regulations, but we believe that given the exceptional circumstances of the attack on the Togo Team bus, and the responsibility of the Togo government to the safety of its people, that the breach of the regulations on this occasion was wholly understandable.

We also note the failure of the CAF to provide adequate security to a team partaking in their tournament.

We call on the CAF to reverse this decision immediately, with a statement apologising to the dead and Injured for the insensitivity shown in making this ruling in the first place.

Message to Liberal Americans - Back him or lose him

The spate of ducomentaries and reports on the current President of the USA must ean he has been in the job for a year; and the tone of the reports isn't complimentary.

There are two reasons for this:

At least some people who welcomed his election took him to be Superman. I've seen lots of picture of him, and on all of them his underpants are on the inside.

Too much creedance in the reports has been given to remarks from people who want him to fail. On one report, his defeated Republican was damning him with faint praise.. 'Obama could be a great president still, if only...' The If only was something like 'if he followed my policies instead'. then there were lines of Palin supporters queueing to say what a disaster he has been.

Had to be come, I suppose, in the name of journalistic impariallity, but those of us who want Barack Obama to succeed should not be putting pressure on him by listening to those voices, or expressing disappointment that he hasn't saved the world already. His programme of action was always going to involve taking on vested interests, and solving the puzzle/mess of Bush Jr's two wars.

If he has overcompromised in the former, and seemed to dither in the latter, then now is the time that the people who elected him, and those of us in the rest of the world who were so pleased to see him elected, to say 'We're right behind you, so you still can.!

Once and for all

I suppose I should write something for the new year, just to say Hey, I'm still here, to put to bed the rumour that I am not, once and for all.

And those are the four words that stood out at me most from this evening news reports. Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon want a ballot on their leader to settle the matter, once and for all. And they may get their way because if they grandstand like this they will get the publics view on their government, once and for all, really rather soon.

I may be speaking as an outsider to the Labour party (and I am) but surely the time to settle such matter was last summer, or even earlier when GB first put himself forward as PM. Three months before an election campaign. Even this political novice has to ask 'What are they on????'