In Tribute to Winston Churchill. The Greatest Briton of all time.

Today we commerate the 50th anniversary of the State funeral of Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, the man voted by BBC2 viewers as the greatest Briton ever.  As hu-mans go, Churchill was certainly an extraordinarily large figure and as far as this Canine correspondent goes, he deserves all the accolades being heaped upon him once again decades after his death.

For me, born only 4 hu-man years ago, Churchill is somewhat of an enigma, as he is I'm sure to many 21st Century children.  That he is of a bygone age is not in doubt.  Jeremy Paxman has said in today's Independent that he wouldn't get elected today if he were to stand and as polemical as that statement may be, I think I have to agree.  I have read extensively about Churchill, his times and his doings, and have an avid fascination for Churchillian times.  He was perhaps the last great British Statesman and I doubt we shall ever see his like again, but he was a man of his age.  For a Democratically elected PM he was much more of a dictator than any PM could ever be today.  It really was Churchill's way or the highway!  He held views that were already old-fashioned even at the peak of his power.  He was against suffrage for women; he held racist views of many of the peoples, especially Indians, of the Commonwealth and was a raging alcoholic. He was quite simply a Victorian dinosaur, the last of a dying age and when he died the British Empire died with him.  He was, in the end, much more of an iconic British stalwart than perhaps any politician before or since, perhaps associated more with the Empire and it's fading values than even the monarchy itself.

Churchill's life reads like a boy's own adventure and there are many great biographies out there that illustrate that point clearly.  That anyone could be born into such privilege today and still live the life that he led and have the drive to achieve what he achieved seems preposterous; aristocrat, war correspondent, cavalry officer, MP for over 60 years, PM not once, but twice, First Lord of the Admiralty (also twice), Nobel Prize winning author, award winning artist, raconteur, wit and speech-maker extraordinaire, he was a man apart and I for one am proud to say that he was British.  I have no doubt that without Winston we would not be here today and the world would be a very different place.

When Chamberlain appointed Lord Halifax Foreign Secretary with the remit of 'appeasing' Nazi Germany with peace overtures, it was Churchill who stood alone shouting his defiance when all about him were for suing for peace.  Even after May 1940 and Churchill's rise to power, the pro-Nazi appeasers, including Sir Samuel Hoare (latterly Churchill's Spanish Ambassador), 'Rab' Butler, Lord Brocket and the Duke of Bedford among many others, continued to send out peace feelers despite Churchill's direct instructions to Anthony Eden, in his second term as Foreign Secretary (following on from Halifax), that any German approaches be met with 'absolute silence.'

In fact 'feelers' continued to be put out throughout the War from both sides, though how much Churchill knew about any British proposals is unknown, as is whether the many such British 'feelers' were serious offers or merely deceptions designed to forestall Hitler in his ambitions.

Plainly the appeasers didn't get their way.  In Churchill they had found an opponent with a steely resolve, as Britain had found a leader who could inspire and motivate them as no-one else in British history ever had.  In some ways Churchill was as much a dictator as Hitler.  He was firm in his opinions, direct and honest to a fault, and not a man to suffer fools.  But unlike Hitler he was manic in his defence of freedom and civil liberties (as he saw them).  He was also a visionary, speaking as early as 1946 on Europe as a single trading entity, in fact taking his ideas one step further when he envisioned a single parliament for the whole world, something we have yet to see pass, but never say never.  He was a man who said as he found and one always knew exactly where he stood on any issue, unlike many of today's politicians who find it all but impossible to answer a question with candour, directness and honesty.  It was this honesty that many believe led him to defect to the Liberals, returning much later on to his beloved Conservatives, when their collective policies became once again, more closely akin to his own.  That he was a dinosaur is not in dispute.  He never owned a television, in fact never even watched one, regarding the novel invention with a wary eye.  In some ways it was good that he passed when he did, because I cannot imagine him dealing with today's intrusive press corps (though I'm sure he would have been just as devout in his defence of freedom of the press, so much in the news the past few weeks), or with twitter, or the internet.  Without Hitler, there would not have been a Churchill as we remember him today.   And without Churchill there would not be a Britain.  

And to all his many detractors today I say that this is the man who is largely responsible for their ability to be able to criticise.  Without the freedoms he fought for on our behalf we wouldn't be able to say our piece, to come and go as we please, to take our holidays whenever and (mostly) wherever we wish.  Of course, he didn't do it single handedly.  Without the millions who laid down their lives, perhaps inspired to put themselves in harm's way by Churchill himself, we would not be living the lives we do today.  There would have been no swinging 60's or hippy 70's, no punk rock, no modern cinema, no contemporary literature, no X factor on a Saturday evening.  So when we espouse the freedoms we cherish so dearly today in the West, and quite rightly so, we should do well to remember that without Winston Churchill none of them would have come to pass.  

Rest in Peace.

Winston Churchill 1874-1965

Bibliography

Hess, Hitler & Churchill; Peter Padfield, 2013
Churchill; Roy Jenkins, 1988
The Churchill Factor; Boris Johnson, 2014

Tweet to @nn11pwb

Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain. Is this where we are headed? All this & mid week Sports as well...

Negrito here with a mid-week Sports Special from Melbourne.  I flew in last night after more than 24 hours in the air and boy! my arms are aching (boom boom!) but it was all worth it!  Whilst Andy Murray's semi-final at the Aussie Open wasn't the best contest I've ever seen just being here in the sunshine puts some extra sheen on his victory for me.  Tomas Berdych began strongly, looking imperious in his first 3 service games, not dropping a point and it seemed the odds against a Murray victory were widening.  At the same time Murray was struggling to retain serve with each of his service game going to at least one deuce.  To be fair I'm not overly familiar with Berdych other than being aware that he was perhaps a bit of bogey player for Murray on the circuit, and there was a bit of extra edge with Murray's school friend and ex-assistant coach, Daniel Vallevrdu, now being retained on team Berdych.  However, even as he fired himself into a first set lead it was Berdych for me, who looked the more precarious of the two players.  In the second set it was Murray who finally found his feet as he stormed through the est 6-0 to even the match up.  

As the match continued neither player seemed able to maintain any sort of consistency with unforced errors peppering the play of both Berdych and Murray.  But it was Murray who gradually applied the pressure as Berdych appeared to falter psychologically, his play and his demeanour seeming ever more fragile to me.  In the end Murray triumphed to put himself into a 4th Aussie Open Final.  As yet his opponent is unknown, the second semi taking place tomorrow morning between Stan Warwrinka, last years winner, and World No.1 Novak Djokovic.  Murray must be hoping for a repeat of their last two meeting here which both ended being marathon contests.  With an extra day's recovery Murray must be feeling pretty good about the final whoever he plays, but he will need to be much more consistent than he was today if he wants to come out on top on Sunday.

Make sure you don't miss it on BBC1 08.15am.  Be there or be ....absent.

Now over to my sissy, Lola, for something completely different!

_____________________________________

Here in Spain we are heading towrads elections this year in May, the same month as they happen in the UK, though in neither country have manimals achieved suffrage, something I would certainly put right if I gained power!!  In the meantime we shall express our opinions publicly and hope that in time things change for the better!

Our in depth knowledge of Spanish politics is, in truth, not in depth (not least because of the Boss's imperfect Spanish) but that doesn't stop us having an opinion and getting involved.  Since Franco died in 1975 Spanish party politics has been largely dominated by either the Popular Party (PP) or the Socialists (PSOE) with the PP currently in power with Mariano Rajoy (commonly known as 'the Tramp' in this household) as their party leader and Head of State.

When the PP swept to power almost 5 years ago Spain was in a horrible mess; high and rapidly rising unemployment, a massive budget deficit and an economy in deep depression.  Now, as the next elections draw close things are marginally better.  Last months unemployment figures showed the biggest drop since the current financial crisis began but remains high at just under 24%, whilst the World Bank have set a revised growth forecast for the Spanish economy next year at 2%, interestingly a fraction higher than that forecast for the UK.

However, from where we sit in the 'campo' (or countryside) things still look pretty glum.  In the UK profitability, jobs and prosperity return to London first after crises and from there filter down to the rest of the country. Eventually!  In Spain it seems things run a similar course.  Speaking last year with some monied Londoners over on holiday they were only too happy to tell us how their daughter and friends were 'doing so well' working in Madrid for a Spanish TV company and they seemed to be under the wholly mistaken misapprehension that Spain was booming!  I was laughing (ironically) because it amazes me sometimes how well money insulates those who have it from those who don't, but even so these were not what I would have said were stupid or unusually naive people.  They merely pull the blinds down, as they most likely do at home in London, to the suffering and poverty around them.  "Oh I say, but my daughter says everyone in Spain is doing terribly well!"  Yes, maybe, but your daughter goes to expensive bars and restaurants where the vast majority of us wouldn't even get over the threshold let alone be able to pay for a starter!  As hu-mans you mate and socialise assortatively (i.e. we marry and socialise within our own social and economic register) so your daughters chances of meeting an unemployed tractor driver in some fancy bistro in Madrid are practically zero.  So, if you have a job, you tend to mix with others who are similarly employed.  In the same way if you're unfortunate enough to be out of work, you tend to hang around with others in a similar predicament.

Here in the hinterlands of Valenciana I know only a hand full of people who actually have jobs.  Everyone else loiters around the village bars (God alone only knows how they can afford it, but they do!  But, in truth I can't ask God, cos I don't really think he exists, but if anyone knows then he would know....if he was real), drinking the occasional terceo (bottle of beer), carajillo (brandy & coffee) or just plain old coffee if funds don't run to the brandy!  And they are all hopelessly pessimistic about ever working again.  Something I touched on last week (see blog entry 18/1/15 'Children are our future, so blah blah blah') was high youth unemployment all over Europe and here in Spain the problem is no different.  The Spanish nuclear family, traditionally so strong, is collapsing because for the first time the U25's are leaving home, leaving their families to go abroad and find work.  And what's more, they won't come back, or if they do, they won't come back the same.  Discontent is rife and widespread, and to be honest, it's a shame!  Hopelessness is the new by-word for what the future holds.  But it's not just Spain.

In Greece they now have the newly elected Syriza, a coalition of ultra left-wing parties that have swung to power on the back of promises to end the severe austerity imposed by the country's huge to debt to the EEC and the IMF.  Now for me, as a political initiate and relative non-entity, it beggars belief that a nation can so publicly announce their intention to snub what they owe.  The Greeks wish a return to the good times.  They are not alone.  But when push comes shove someone's gotta pay, and it seems that Greece and Syriza are looking to all of you non-Greek hu-mans to pay for their excesses.  And it seems, not just for their excesses yesterday, but for todays, and for the future as well.  I just cannot understand how such things can even be contemplated let alone be enough to get Alexis Tsipras's feet into the slippers of power in Athens!

In the run up to Syriza's victory we saw Pablo Iglesias, leader of Podemos in Spain, drumming up support (in Greek, which I must say, impressed me no end) for Tsipras.  Two years ago Podemos didn't exist. Iglesias is no doubt a visionary and a very capable, if not unusual politician (his ponytailed look is a bit of a departure I feel from the norm) and he is mobilising massive support from a disillusioned and lost populous. Podemos is the sister party of Syriza, an anti-austerity party winning much acclaim with the latest polls putting him 3rd behind the PP & PSOE, but only just.  And whilst I understand the appeal, especially from the disillusioned young and unemployed, I find it difficult to fall in line and swallow the message because I just cannot see how it can work.

Come the election in May we may well find Podemos winning out.  I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised. But why is it that Iglesias and his supporters, like those of Tsipras in Greece, feel that they, above everyone else, deserves to live the high-life, earn the money, avoid the taxes (because that's largely how the Greek and Spanish economies have got into this mess) and get everyone else to pay for their health care, pension funds and infrastructure?  Instead maybe they should be concentrating their energies on putting a stop to the Black economy and the innate corruption found in Mediterranean politics, because making a nation pay their own way, as they do everywhere else, is surely a much more profitable exercise than reneging on what you owe and giving those who have supported you the finger!

Lola Lush
Political Correspondent NN

Are Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) more or less social than your average MP (Homo sapiens rhetoricus)?

My remit here at NN is to be the Social Correspondent reporting on red carpet events such as movie premiere's, social gatherings and wot-not.  However, January in the Spanish mountains is not exactly a whirlwind of social engagements and high brow conversation!  Trying to discuss the do's and don't's of dining etiquette with a wild boar who has come down from the high mountains looking for, and I quote, 'a bit of scram,' is an exercise in futility!  These old boars have no table manners whatsoever!  And what's more trying to get the Boss to splash out and send me the Oscars is a similarly redundant exercise!  So, I'm a Social Correspondent without any parties!  What is a girl to do?

Nevertheless, one is a resourceful little pussy, if nothing else!  And if there's a good time to be had, then I'm just the girl to sort it out!!  But I find myself in somewhat of dilemma.  Social Correspondent I may be, but I'm only a year and half old so Dad (that's the Boss to you and me!) worries inordinately about me when I am out and about.  I can hear him sometimes calling me in for brekky (he's just got up....whilst I've been up all night doing....doing.....ah ah......and here we reach the crux of the dilemma) and I feel sort of obliged to attend and eat some fish or meat, just to be polite...you know how it is.......when the truth is I've been gorging on raw lizard, mouse souffle, mantis ettoufe and chilled rain water all night, but if I told Dad....sorry, the Boss.......if I told the Boss that he'd do his nut!  And why?  Well, hang on........I'm just checking if he's about!

Nope!  He appears to be having his nap!  Poor old boy!  So....come a bit closer....I'll talk quietly so as not wake him up!  This is the general routine when it gets close to bedtime.  The Boss shuts down all the office PC's, brushes his teeth, then gets us all ready for bed.  The Canine manimals go to their pen and us Feline manimals settle down on sofas, cushions, spare beds......as us pussies are want to do.  And then as soon as Dad's asleep I'm off....out the window, party gear on under my PJ's and I'm off looking for fun till I hear the old man calling me in for brekky!  If he asks I feign innocence, "What me?  No, no!  I just woke up early and wanted some fresh air!"  Of course, I purr like mad and rub round his ankles, and he believes anything I say.  "Sorry, what's that Dad?  No, no!  I wouldn't be able to stay awake all night.  I'm still a kitten-manimal, honestly!"  And this is why I have to find out of the way nooks and crannies to sleep in during the day!  If asked, I'm searching for inspiration for my column......on the inside of my eyelids!!!! lol

So with no social engagements to report on I'll spend my time anyway drawing up a comparison table between the behaviour of British MP's during PM Q's and my low brow friends from above, the wild boar!!

The first time I saw PM Q's I was stunned by the social depravity on show; all that jeering, shouting down and generally raucous behaviour reminded me of a dinner party I'd attended one night.  As you can guess, it was Vinnie and Shazza, our resident boars who'd invited us round for a bite.  And to be fair, that was all there was for us......I mean I'm always keen to try new things but once you've had one almond, you've pretty much had them all!  And on the evening in question, it was almonds for starters, main and dessert!  My sissy, Dijon Dudette was on the verge of tears...not because she was hungry....but because she couldn't stop laughing at the noise Vinnie, in particular, made when attacking his food.  "Sounds like an old fashioned hoover, but it (i.e. the food!) disappears up his snout faster than dust up a Dyson!"

Nevertheless, comparisons abound....so here we go!

Table 1.  Behavioural and Social Compatibility Comparison between Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) & domesticated Politicians (Homo Sapiens rhetoricus).  Each behaviour or social correlate is scored out of 10, the lower the rating the higher the Sociability Index.

	Boar	MP’s
Ability to eat food without snorting	9	7
Dinner conversation subject matter	7	7
Frequency of bitch-slapped marital & public partners	8	3
Question avoidance & bullshitometer reading	2	9
General believability when speaking	3	8

Well, the evidence doesn't lie!  With a Sociability Index (SI) of 6.8 MP's are significantly less agreeable socially than wild boar (SI 5.8).  On most categories the boar and the MP's scored pretty evenly.  For example the ability of both subjects to rouse an interesting dinner conversation from scratch was poor.  No surprise there I'd say!  

But in 2 categories the MP's suffered badly (see Table 1) and these 2 scores are the main reason why the MP's SI is higher than that of the boar.  The first category is that of Bitch Slapping frequency.  To be clear here we're talking about verbal bitch-slappings and not physical abuses.  The data shows that in a domestic situation MP's are no more likely than a wild boar to chastise their respective partner/families, but once those data are combined with that from a public arena the degree of MP bitch-slapping rises dramatically, largely I would suggest because of the hooliganistic and juvenile behaviour they tend to exhibit during PM's Q's! Further, one can also see quite clearly from the Table that the area your average MP suffers most by comparison to a wild boar is on 'question avoidance' and the amount of bullshit they have to espouse in order to sound remotely believable.  The wild boar by contrast scores highly in this category and 3 times less likely to try and bullshit you.  The general feeling was that if you asked a wild boar a question they were likely to hit you straight back with a direct answer. For example, when asked how they deal with delays at Medical Facilities (Vets or Doctors) the boar replied unequivocally, "I'd head butt the f****r!  Problem solved!" Your average MP when confronted with the same question tended to waffle, quote irrelevant statistics, knock the opposition and generally try and attempt to baffle us with bullshit.

So there we have it!  Quite a shock I know for some of you, but the facts are that a wild boar is infinitely more agreeable than an MP.

  

Belated Weekend Sports Report with Negrito

Hi Folks!
Negrito here with all your Sports News.  And what a weekend it was!  Full of footy shocks, tennis tales and cycling woes, we've got a story for everyone!

We'll begin with Friday nights woeful performance by Manchester United in their 4th round FA Cup tie at Cambridge United's Abbey Road stadium.  The Boss, as you may know, is an MU fan and he was not a happy bunny, I can tell thee! United set their stall out from the first minute and a sparsely furnished affair it was, the ball being pushed impassionately along the midfield line, before it patiently came back the same way again a few minutes later, no forward ground having been made.  And so it continued, LVG going for the Squarest team award which he should win hands down with what seemed to be no more than handful of forward passes during the whole 90 minutes.  Appreciating that the big teams don't want to be embarrassed by getting their bums kicked by lower division sides, but United just looked paralysed with fear, giving Cambridge the impetus, much as West Ham did against Bristol City on Sunday afternoon.  The United players were static throughout, expecting maybe to pass their way through a well organised Cambridge side who pressed the big names hard from the outset.  Only late in the game when Ander Herrera replaced Fellaini was their any attempt at link-up play between the far-from united factions of defence, midfield and attack.  But even then, when Herrera made a run, either the player on the ball ignored the run, or, if the ball did come then it was invariably too late and too slow.  And who was running into space created by Herrera's run?  Nobody, that's who!  The whole team seemed to be wearing leaden boots.  No-one was prepared to make a run or bust-a-gut to win a 50/50 ball or to latch onto a quickly slipped through pass.  The movement from United was non-existent, their play too laboured, too slow and too predictable. Without wishing to take anything away from Cambridge, the MU players are plainly of better quality, but in terms of wanting the win the boot was firmly on the other foot!

And on to Saturday when the fairies obviously sprinkled some magic dust on the ties and we saw PL teams eating humble pie on numerous occasions.  It really was a whacky weekend when form counted for nothing and league positions were forgotten, then turned on their heads.  MOTD highlights don't really show enough of the match to be able make any in depth analysis, but even so I loved seeing Jose Mourinho's Chelsea get their gold-plated arses badly tarnished by League 1 Bradford City.  What a treat!  Bradford took their goals superbly and by all accounts took the game to Chelsea, in the end fully deserving their amazing win. Big congrats to them and Saturday's other giant killers Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers who all disposed of PL opposition.  Fantastic!

  

The weekends second live game on the BBC was the West Ham vs Bristol affair mentioned above, but it was once again the team from the lower division that took the game by the scruff of the neck.  The spell cast over the big names of Premier League football this weekend was finally broken when Sakho came off the bench to knock in yet another header this season to end brave Bristol City's cup run.  But the first half had hinted at yet another upset as once again the big names showed nothing and Steve Cotterill's bright looking Bristol set the early pace.  For us watching at home it seemed as if yet another PL side started the game with fear of losing at the forefront of their minds, rather than believing in themselves and playing their normal game. Luckily for Big Sam (Allerdyce) West Ham finally got their foots on the ball and managed to scrape past Bristol, much to their relief.

Weekends like this past one are what footy is all about for me.  The PL big names shot through with self-doubt as the underdogs came on, baring their fangs, drawing blood from their blue-blooded opponents as they subsequently staggered, stumbled and finally lost their footing completely.  I have no doubt that if MU or West Ham had been up against other PL opposition that they would have performed to their usual high standards, which inevitably leads to the question 'why do the big names struggle (year after year) to put the minnows to bed?'  And I can only think it is fear.  Fear of losing, but not just losing, it's losing to opposition so far beneath them that even the very thought of losing beforehand is just not an option, and yet year after year we see the tables turned.  You've gotta love it, but in truth it shouldn't happen....ever!

Watching the expensively assembled MU team hesitate, fumble and finally fail against a Cambridge side put together for less money than Wayne Rooney tips the waiters at The Ivy, I couldn't help thinking that they were so scared of humiliation and defeat that they became physically paralysed, unable to make even the shortest of passes effectively.  That fear seeped into their everyday play rendering each and every one of them impotent whenever they had the ball.  The lack of imagination and creative play was quite shocking.  This wasn't just a bad performance; it was truly horrible!  But it would be unfair to say that United, Chelsea, Man City and the PL's other FA Cup strugglers were poor solely because they were scared; I have no wish to take credit away from the so-called underdogs by undermining their achievements with excuses for the big knobs.  Without exception the lower division sides came out to play football and to try and win.  They were under no illusions but came out attacking nevertheless, hoping to win the game, and if not to win, then to put on a good show for their fans and followers.  It's just such a shame that the cream didn't float to the surface, preferring instead to languish and curdle the mix, leaving many fans wondering what happened.  I can tell them.......it was the 4th round of the best Cup competition there is!  Bring it on!

Moving onto tennis, Andy Murray and his aerodynamic Adam's apple (see blog entry 20 Jan 2015) have moved smoothly though all challengers to the Australian Open semis with the loss of just a single set.  With Federer (knocked out early on by Murray's defeated quarter final opponent, Nick Kyrgios) and Nadal out of the way (beaten by Murray's next opponent Tomas Berdych), and Djokovic and last years winner, Stan Warwrinka, in the top half of the draw, Murray must thinking he's in for a really good chance of taking this title.  At the end of 2014 Djokovic was peerless, but he hasn't started 2015 in anything like the same manner.  With both Stan's and Djokovic's quarters yet to begin, Murray must try to concentrate on his own game, but with yet more big names set to tumble out (Nishikori and Raonic are up against Warwrinka and Djokovic respectively) the urge to get carried away must be immense.  Murray is, however, an avid footy fan and he would no doubt be aware of the FA Cup giant killings this weekend and must be hoping that a similar fate doesn't await him.

And finally, Team Sky's Richie Porte secured 2nd place just 2 seconds behind BMC Racing's Rohan Dennis in the Tour Down Under, the UCI's first world tour event of the 2015 season.  In Argentina Cav also took his first win of the year in the Tour de San Luis, but for me at NN perhaps the biggest cycling news of the past few days is that Lance 'Lack of Charmstrong' reckons he's served his time and should be allowed to compete once again.  Mind you, he must be about 64 years old by now ("Hey, no problem man!  I got a drug for that!"), so I don't think Chris Froome will be losing any sleep at the possibility of Lack of Charmstrong's return.  Apparently Lack of Charmstrong trains on his own now!  Quelle surprise!  Wonder if he's figured out why that is.......we digress!

See you soon Sports Fans