MY ABSENCE FROM THIS BLOG over recent months has been due to a variety of factors, each one as painful as the next. Moving house, excess of work, consequent attacks of stress and an unfortunate mixture of (hopefully helpful) chemicals resulting in hospitalisation were the factors involved. But now I am fine and relaxed again, some events of late have again stimulated my desire to comment upon the more serious of the issues taking place in the wider world.
THE LESS SAID ABOUT THE Football World Cup the better as far as England is concerned, yet one is forced to have an opinion about the unfortunate case of the Liverpool footballer Luis Suárez. Uruguayan Suárez, who, besides being a racist is one of the few cannibals existing in the modern game, has once again caused controversy by managing to bite, dive to the ground, cheat an opponent and the referee, and lie to officials and the press, all in an impressively short period of time.
OF COURSE ONE DOES NOT become a vampire overnight, and the media is full of explanations for his strange behaviour, most of which focus on his "having been poor as a child" (an opinion from, among others, Maradona, and the President of Uruguay, José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano).
MY OWN TOLERANT VIEW is simple, and was also voiced by one of the unwashed locals interviewed by Uruguayan TV in his home town of Salto (meaning, "leap" or "dive" in Spanish) in Uruguay, and which I translate: "He's just a guy who likes biting. Leave him alone."
I WISH THE SAME could be said of David "toothless" Cameron, who today went off to Europe to show some teeth to our European friends and prevent them from electing bibulous Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission. This mission was an abject failure.
YET I CANNOT HELP seeing a certain symmetry in the relative poverty of Suárez as a child and Cameron's wealth in his early days. No doubt it is the silver spoon in one's mouth as a baby that will lead to one having no bite as an adult. It would be wonderful if this convinced anyone that we would be better off in the UK if we elected a Prime Minister who knew something about the life of poor people, but nothing will ever do that.
