Caught the X Factor this week to see what all the fuss was about. The Jedward thing is all the rage apparently. It’s fact that they can’t sing. they can look good on stage but flattery can deceive, and it clearly has with them. I understand that they have ruthlessly gone back on singing agreements with other contestants to make them look bad, and even Cowell hopes that they won’t win.
He clearly wanted to stoke up interest in the programme (successfully) and had the chance to get rid of them last night. They quite clearly were abominable, while the other girl sang (which I thought was the point of the programme), really sang her heart out. Like Strictly, it’s quite clear that the so called entertainment factor is what is being looked for rather than real talent.
Cowell needs to get some backbone and get rid of the rubbish rather than strategically getting rid of the real talent. He didn’t want the blame of taking out the trash.

Politicians are a devious and nasty bunch at times.
Charles Clarke remains quiet in the press until the Government has a little front page news coverage and seems to be in bother. At which time, he opens his mouth with pronouncements that only serve to undermine colleagues and raise his own profile. The man seems to personify all that nasty and untrustworthy about politics at the moment. Or am I the only one who sees through his posturing ?

Come on Beeb. Let’s have a bit more thought about the quality of guests on your programmes. The Turner Prize winner (which should have been a warning in itself) looked quite ridiculous on Have I got News for You as well as on the Newsnight Arts section.
The more bizarre you are seems to give you entry to the Beeb at the moment….

Without wishing to give any credibility to the BNP by giving them publicity, for Nick Griffen to talk about the ‘bear pit’ after appearing on the programme speaks volumes. He has been exposed as the non-thinking racist bigot he is and what he stands for is anathema to democracy. He cannot have it both ways, as he clearly wants to. Had he an ounce of integrity, he would have walked away from the programme and said nothing.
Was the BBC right to have him on ? Technically no, because his party doesn’t currently have a constitution so they didn’t qualify. Had they done so, then the Beeb had their hands tied.
They can surely get a better quality guest than the BNP. And a huge cheer for Bonnie Greer who had their number very early on and treated them with the contempt they deserve.

I’ve become more aware in recent times of the effects that a previous ministry can have of your own ministry.
My predecessor but one had a ministry philosophy that could be summarised thus… if it moves, baptise it. If there are two of them, marry them. If it doesn’t move, bury it. An inclusive kind of ministry that sadly took no notice of parish boundaries or of the very basic set of church rules.
The consequence for me is that I am increasingly finding people who claim a ‘live’ church connection that in fact was a link to my predecessor and they have never darkened the door of ANY church since.
It makes a mockery of my kind of ministry that tries to follow the church rules and by giving proper respect for colleagues and their ministry. And it isn’t a case of simply following rules, before anyone thinks that. It is about personal intregrity and about respect for colleagues. It certainly is not about turning down funerals, although I have had to do this because of the generally ignorant viewpoint of some people in the parish. That isn’t a perjorative statement by the way, they genuinely don’t know what to do and think they can pick the minister they want. It doesn’t work like that.
I’ve even had a situation where the decision to approach me was really based on a latent racism.
What’s the solution ? Any ministry has to take into consideration the ministries that will follow. An open view of ministry, as my predecessor clearly had, has meant an unacceptable workload increase that is unjustifiable. Some will view these as evangelical opportunities (which they are) but for all the wrong reasons.

Well done to Jenson Button in winning the F1 championship. It will be very interesting to see what happens next year, though.
To talk of the drivers championship, it really boils down to a good car. It still has to be driven, (obviously), but the car can give you a head start, as it clearly did this year.
Brawn were very much ahead of the game (credit to them) but I wonder what would happen if all the cars were exactly the same ? Who would win then ?
There is little doubting Schumacher’s skill, but if not in the Ferrari of the day, what then, I wonder ?
It will be curious to see next year’s racing given that the opposition had clearly caught up with Brawn ingenuity.
No taking it away from Jenson Button though. Well done.

Looking at the headline paraded on the BBC this morning, it seems that the Sun has deemed the Prime Minister unworthy of its support. Listening to an interview with one of their journaists, it is clear that the decision was made at the highest level.
When interviewed, the PM stated his belief that it was the people who decided elections, not papers. I hope that turns out to be correct.
Having listened to two party leaders so far, the only one with gravitas is the PM. He may not have the shiny charisma of the Tory leader, but he’s got big standing worldwide as someone who has led from the front in the current economic situation. It’s a great pity that the media seems intent on hounding Gordon Brown out of office. Having listened to him at two General Assemblies of the church, he came across as a genuinely moral man trying to stand by his principles in a parliament that seems to have precious little of them. The politicians have a long way to go to restore any kind of moral credibility.
On the other hand, so has the press. The standard of journalism in certain tabloids is questionable to say the least. As was quoted in Yes Minister, the readers of the Sun don’t care who runs the country as long as their chest size is large.

It seems that when big money speaks, the authorities buckle. Uefa have overturned the decision to ban Eduardo for a blatant dive in the Arsenal Celtic match. The reasons given are that the referee and assistant didn’t think there was enough evidence against him and in the interests of ‘fairness’ they lifted the ban.
So, the outcome is that a cheat gets away with it and all that serves to do is encourage yet more ’simulation’ and gives the wrong message to youngsters playing the game.
It’s a pity that Eduardo didn’t take a leaf out of Arshavin’s book when it came to honesty.
Shame on Eduardo, but more shame on Uefa for crumbling.

I coming up to a weekend of very mixed emotions. It happens to be my wife’s birthday (glad I remembered) but it falls in a weekend of three funerals. On the Sunday I have the Girls and Boys Brigade dedication service, normally a happy event.
The tensions I speak of are the emotional ones where there is so much deep sadness (and one of the funerals is particularly so) and so much happiness. The emotional yo-yo will be very stressful and I wonder how many people appreciate that their minister often has this phenomenon to deal with.
Quite often there is a normally weak criticism thrown in to the mix that on weekends like this strike home and hurt deeply. Why do people do this ? Or, because they are unaware of these tensions, should I cut them some slack ? Or will I be a grumpy old man and assume there is some calculated malice ?
I wonder how many other professions/vocations have such tensions ? And how many get to know they are appreciated ?

I’ve had the opportunity to confer with some colleagues about my last sermon topic. Was Kenny McAskill right about the compassionate release of Magrahi ?
I tried to find a Biblical perspective to it all and came to the conclusion that whenever justice is explained in Scripture it is always mixed with mercy and compassion.
I spoke with one friend who pointed out that America doesn’t have a leg to stand on on this with the treatment meted out at Guantanamo Bay for one thing, and as I pointed out, the death penalty in the US is equally disquieting to us as the Magrahi compassionate release is to them.
Any way, as a friend also said, I’d rather be wrong and compassionate, than wrong and heartless.
I think Kenny got it about right. It’s good to see a politician who actually acts and speaks about compassion. This world could do with a lot more of it. Maybe if there was more compassion we could rise above the hatreds that scar the world today.