Tevez sent off

In the 24Th minute as Argentina were beaten by Columbia 2-1
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={B4CEE8FA-9A47-47BC-B069-3F7A2F35DB70}&newsid=509396
That news surprises me, as one of the things that has surprised me since he came to United is as hard as he works and puts himself about, and as much as he gets fouled every now and then, he never seems to even think about retaliating. Maybe he just hasn't been provoked enough yet.

Well somebody has said what i was thinking, partly anyway. Northern Rock was down to decisions that he made in his first couple of years as chancellor, and this Revenue and customs shambles is probably down as much to Gordon Brown getting Treasuryitis and wanting to cut costs all over the shop, as it is to an individual cock up.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/hamish_mcrae/article3179606.ece
This episode has confirmed a lot of my beliefs. Far from us being an over regulated country that just needs to get rid of all the red tape and bureaucracy, and set business free, bla bla as the Thatcherites and their New Labour acolytes would have it, the opposite is the case. One of the main problems in this country is that a lot of our bureaucracy is either understaffed and incompetent, or just incompetent. Anybody who has to deal with the civil service will know how infuriating it is to deal with them. They don't seem to have got too many things right New labour, the minimum wage will be their one real lasting legacy, Tax Credits might have been if they had been made easier to understand and administrate, maybe that was down to under staffing, who knows.
But now when we see how slipshod our civil service is, and maybe how understaffed it is, what is New Labour trying to bring in. I.D cards that's what, A monstrously expensive amount of money to spend on unproven technology, and that hasn't got the best of records over the course of this government has it. Cards that if they are brought in will almost certainly not stop any terrorists, will almost certainly be abused by government and police alike( history shows us it will, whatever well intentioned people say now ) and may prove to be this governments poll tax moment, when people realise what they will have to shell out for them. For anybody progressive or vaguely left of centre the last ten years have been a massive let down

With the the amount of money to be made, and the low chances of getting caught, how much longer will the ludicrous war on drugs continue.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/nov/21/drugsandalcohol.homeaffairs

The most damning aspect of this story is it has happened under a Labour government.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,2214477,00.html

They really haven't learnt the lessons of the cold war, The Russian state may be stronger now under Putin, but it is only on the back of it's natural resources, the underlying bankruptcy of the state hasn't changed. Once the oil and gas disappear, or alternate sources of energy are found so will this illusion of strength. Democracy doesn't appear to come naturally to Russians,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2214799,00.html