Get this, we now own not one but two banks! All of us! Heck yeah! We like, totally own Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley.

Nationalisation.

Stalin would be well proud, isn't it?

Okay, that may seem a touch harsh - I like Linux, when it works, I love open source software and I genuinely thing it's the way operating systems should go.  However, there is a reason why people don't use it and that is because the nerds who make this and who comment on support forums don't speak english, they speak linux and no one else blooming understands it.  I installed Ubuntu - apparently the easiest and most user friendly Linux OS - on my Dell Laptop earlier on.  It looks good, it runs fast, but there is a problem. I can't get my Wi-Fi card working.  Not because it's incompatible, but because nowhere does it tell you, in English, how to get the damn thing installed.  Everyone who writes about it talks endlessly about kernels and what not when the average user is not going to have a clue about them.  This is the problem, it's fine if you're in the know, but if not you stand little chance of getting your system working because of things like this.  I'm fairly techy and it's still all greek to me, so it looks like my old laptop is now an ornament that will never  connect to the internet, solely because linux people are incapable of writing, in English, how to do so. 

Open Source software is brilliant.  But it will never replace commercial software until it becomes user friendly.

I heard a bit of a speech today that referred to how much better the country is since 1997.  It interests me because I hear it a lot, how much better the country is since the Labour party came to power, it's very partisan and I'm not convinced of it's accuracy. I can't be alone in thinking that in many things the country is getting worse?

Yes, somethings have improved, but to what extent is that the result of social and technological progress that would have occurred regardless of who was in office?  Many things, I think, have gotten worse, to what extent is that the government and how much is it an inevitable decline in society?

So my question today is; Is the country better, worse or much the same as it was in 1997? To what extent is this caused by government?

Hoping the Large Hadron Collider fails to find the Higgs-Boson?

Admit it, it would be amusing, right?

"Oh, crap, we've been wrong about all kinds of stuff and wasted our lives chasing a phantom particle.  Oh, and we  kinda' wasted billions doing it."

It's odd being a Sunderland fan these past few days.  On the one hand Newcastle is a club in turmoil, something that always make a Sunderland fan smile, it could well affect their season badly and local rivals are always looking for one up on each other.

On the other hand, I quite like Kevin Keegan, I think he's been treated horribly by the board.  Mike Ashley is an idiot.  The part of me that loves the game thinks this can only be negative, Keegan is a rare thing in football these days - someone with integrity.  He loves the club and was doing his best for it, he was undermined from day one by the chairman and his position was made untenable. 

It's all of the things I dislike about modern football, it's business first, all about the money, no loyalty, no passion.  In that sense I feel sorry for Newcastle fans who've been well and truly betrayed by the board - who should really be offering refunds on season tickets as Keegan was a huge pull for the fans.  I guess for once I feel solidarity with Newcastle fans because football as a whole is what suffers.

That said I still hope it unsettles the team and they finish lower than us!