Miscellaneous misery

At least there has been some good news this weekend. This is offset by miserable weather. A disappointing Scottish performance in Ireland (although there is still chance for an English success later this afternoon in Paris), and a gradually crumbling English cricket performance in Mohali. And news of an outrageous insult delivered by an elected politician to the father of a survivor of the July 7 bombings. But then, what should we really expect? Deeper reflection on the condition of the world came for BondBloke and myself from the intriguing George Clooney film Good Night, and Good Luck, which is centered around a performance of captivating stillness by David Strathairn, who plays the central character TV journalist and broadcaster Edward R Murrow. This attack upon hypocrisy and the misuse of power in all its guises (whether by politicians such as Senator Joseph McCarthy or by those in the media refusing to face up to and stand up to blatant bullying of the weak and the innocent by said politicians) conveys as many messages about the 2000s as it does about the 1950s.