In case you hadn’t noticed there’s a major world event taking place. It’s all about football. I’ve never hidden my feelings towards football, or every other competitive event that goes under the misnomer of ‘sport’.
I’ve nothing against two people who like to kick a ball around a field, or hit a smaller ball over a net, or an even tinier ball into a hole in the middle of a field. I do object when what are recreational activities, take over the media and plunge important news stories into a brief sentence or two at the end of a broadcast, or the last line of a website, or back pages of a newspaper. Meanwhile, the emblazoned headlines announce that so-and-so scored the winner in some football match on the other side of the world, organized by probably the most corrupt organization on the planet, namely FIFA.
More than 10,000 bodies, possibly as many as 14,000, are buried under the rubble in Gaza and Israel has refused to allow earth moving equipment into the Strip to help with the excavation of 61 million tons of debris . Rescuers are forced to use shovels, pickaxes and other rudimentary tools, including their bare hands. Meanwhile, relatives and loved ones wait, and hope. Maybe they’d like to console themselves by watching the football, if only they had a television, or the internet, or the electricity to run either. Perhaps after years of living in fear, despair, grief and malnutrition, football doesn’t have much appeal anymore.
It’s a tiny little commune in the Calvados region of Upper Normandy, France. It has a population of only 1,900. When the US Secretary for War, Pete Hegseth was due to visit there during the commemoration of the D-Day landings on June 6th, the local resident’s association of Langrune-sur-Mer made their feelings clear. Hegseth was not welcome.
Immediately prior to the visit Hegseth spoke at the US military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer:
“…Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies, he said, “Beaches in Spain, in Italy, in Greece, and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late? I pray not…. “ Remarks that prompted a prominent historian to accuse him of “grotesque stupidity.” (Guardian)
(The earlier link reveals the full speech by Hegseth. You are advised to keep a sick bag at the ready).
The denunciation of this US politician by little Langrune-sur-Mer rapidly went viral causing Hegseth to run, tail between his legs, back from whence he came.
Why is it that a tiny village in France could stand firm and achieve what our lily-livered European political leaders are too cowardly to do?
No-one mentions Ukraine anymore. Surely that’s a match deserving of full media attention. David, the underdog, bringing the mighty Goliath to its knees despite taking a pounding in the process. There’ll be nothing to match it in the coming weeks of soccer for action, glory, but oh so many innocent dead Ukrainians.
One final thought before the football occupies every braincell of the 40 billion Homo sapiens who it’s said will be glued to their screens for the next…well, the gods only know how long.
Today is the 80th birthday of the President of the United States of America. Let us celebrate this day by echoing the words of the environmental campaigner, Greta Thunberg:
“My initial thought was to give you a one-way ticket to The Hague as a birthday gift, but that comment would probably go above your head. I will instead give you a can of alphabet soup; the sentences you poop out will be more coherent than anything you have ever said. Now you can finally take part in meaningful public discourse.”
And now we’re taking you back to the World Cup where a player somewhere has just kicked a ball into a net…