"Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and in the end Germany wins." Gary Lineker

On your marks, get set...

Now the real race begins.

The Dark Heart of Eurovision

At my weekly tennis game with my Russian friend Vlad, I congratulated him on his country's Eurovision win. With some relief, he said none of the songs were the sort of music he listened to.

But at least you didn't have the humiliation of coming last, I said.

"Your song could never win", he replied. "East Europeans would never vote for a black person."

Then it struck me, it's not bloc voting that is Eurovision's problem, it is a mild undercurrent of racism. Andy Abraham was the only black artist on the night.

Historically, Eurovision doesn't fare much better. No black lead singer has ever won the contest. The only possible exception is Dave Benton who came first as part of a duet in 2001.

But it's unlikely to change. Balkan nations and former Soviet republics have an unenlightened attitude to race. An extreme example of this is Zenit St Petersburg, a football club that refuses to buy black players.

This year's winning entry also included an Aryan public relations masterstroke. Alongside the singer Bilan - who frequently flashed his white bare chest - was the blond Olympic figure skating champion Yevgeny Plushenko, who pirouetted on artificial ice to the song. An odd spectacle even by Eurovision standards.
But the final word goes to my tennis partner Vlad.

"Then again" he said, "the British song was so bad it would have failed whoever sung it."

We Are The World

Mildly diverting Youtube clip.

Centre right party is dead, long live the party of the centre right

Political earthquake? I don't think so.

Cameron's Conservatives replace New Labour in Crewe and Nantwich. Same party, different colour.

The centre right party is dead, long live the party of the centre right.

Sports day... before the earthquake

Here are some moving images of sports day in Beichuan middle school.
The pictures were taken the day before the earthquake.
Beichaun was close to the epicentre - 1,300 puplis and teachers from the school were killed or are missing.

The photos were taken from a Chinese teacher's blog. The site has now been blocked by Chinese authorities but it's still available on Google.

China earthquake vs Hurricane Katrina

Natural disasters are never easy. One week on, the destruction of the Sichuan earthquake is still only now being understood. Yet criticism of the Chinese government's response is growing.

Some of the criticisms are justified. It took two days for China to agree to international help. Painful, especially as aid agencies say the first 72 hours are the most important.

However, the Chinese government took the disaster seriously from the start. Fifty thousand troops were sent on the first day. Another 30,000 were deployed within 48 hours. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was on the scene on day one and President Hu Jintao got there 5 days later.

Compare that to America's response to Katrina. It took 36 hours for the hurricane to be declared an "incident of national significance". National Guard units were unable to be deployed because many of the men were in Iraq and President Bush only made it to New Orleans two weeks after the hurricane hit the city.

Hurricane Katrina and the Sichuan earthquake are different beasts and comparisons are almost impossible. But in terms of government response, China has outshone America.

Kids wanna rock

Mildly diverting YouTube video.

Crewe & Nantwich: Why Gordon's in trouble

"I have always been a Labour voter, but never again. I will vote Liberal."

(Retired railway worker Joseph Thorley) fiddles in his pocket and produces a piece of paper. "Look. For the last 12 months I got £257 for my pension. Now, because of Gordon Brown and his taxes, I get £248.98."

Read the full article.

Banksy doesn't wear this