FIFA : ETHICS RULE, OK ?

What a surprise ! FIFA, that organisation so wedded to open and honest behaviour, has determined that its former Vice President, Mohamed Bin-Hammam, is guilty of bribery and has banned him from football for life. Given that he is 62 years old, the ban is hardly likley to affect his playing career, though it may stop him from drawing on the vast wealth and patronage that is gained annually by officials of various national footballing bodies.

Bin-Hammam was involved in the controversial bid for the 2022 World Cup from his own minute state of Qatar. The findings of FIFA's Ethics Committe' must surely call into question the validity of both that bid and the voting that was associated with it. Separately, there is a report that the now ex-FIFA representative and Vice President, Jack Warner, handed a caseful of cash to various of his Caribbean colleagues in an effort to bribe them to vote in favour of the Qatari bid; whether or not this is true, coupled with the decision over Bin-Hammam, can the decision to hold the 2022 event in Qatar possibly stand ?

Knowing FIFA, anything is possible. It's more than likely that neither Warner nor Bin-Hammam is guilty of anything that would stand up in a properly consitituted court of law but, in the kangaroo environment of a FIFA court, they have both been covered in sufficient **** to ensure that FIFA emerges as the good guy while they are both condemned as villains. It's also more than possible that voting for the 2022 World Cup will be revisited as no one, other than Qatar, really wants it to be there; given the controversy, this would be a perfect cover for FIFA to look elsewhere without appearing to have been in the wrong, itself, in the first place.

What is most noticeable is the total absence of FIFA's President from the news in the last 3 or 4 weeks; might he be keeping a low profile and hoping that none of this **** sticks to him ? Overall, an entirely corrupt organisation has simply shown itself to be every bit as corrupt as everyone knows it to be, though no one of any power seems really prepared to say so.

BAN KI-MOON : THE INVISIBLE MAN.

The United Nations has re-elected its Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, for a second five year term. Frankly, I wasn't yet aware that he'd served his first term, so little impact has he made on the world stage; yes, I've heard of him and know what position he holds, but he's hardly hit the headlines as a world leading figure.

As a South Korean, this man is little more than a puppet of the USA. His re-election is little more than an affirmation of the continuing influence of the USA over the UN; the USA sees itself as being far more important and significant than the UN and puts up with its existence for political reasons only. In truth, the USA will always do whatever it likes, regardless of what the UN might think or say.

The idea of the UN was a good one, though it was, in reality, a mechanism to enable the western world to control the rest, particularly the Russians. It has developed into a largely impotent organisation, though it now has three major players, with the Chinese joining the USA and Russia as the ones all the rest have to listen to. As with so many world-encompassing organisations, it provides a talking-shop for politicians and civil servants but rarely achieves anything of value.

Mr Ban (or is it Ki-Moon ?) is simply the latest in a long line of largely pointless, impotent and gutless holders of his post, although t always looks good on the CV. Today, he continues to serve the interests of the nations which really run things, the US, Russia and China; in 5 years he will be replaced by another US puppet, unless the Chinese decide otherwise.

EURO-BOLLOCKS

As expected, the Euro-Zone countries have conjured up an agreement to ensure that the Greek economy does not collapse, at least this week.

When the idea of the Euro was first floated, I thought it was ridiculous; when it actually came into existence, I was with those who saw it as simply a political manoeuvre in the drive to create a single European state and one that simply could not work. Today, I am with those who still see it as such, but also now see it as a total failure, a disaster that the governments so intimately involved cannot afford to recognize.

Today, European governments are congratulating themselves on their success in resolving the recent crisis. They are merrily burying their heads in the sand and ignoring the future consequences of the current mess; yes, they have staved off immediate catastrophe but the real achievement is to push back the day of reckoning for a few months or, perhaps, a year or two.

Greece still cannot pay its debts, any more than can Ireland; Prtugal, Spain and Italy are all in trouble as well, all in part due to their involvement in the Euro-zone. At some point, the chickens will come home to roost and, given that Germany cannot afford to carry the burden of all of these economies for ever, the rest of the Euro-zone will eventually start to feel the effects. Worse than this, those EU countries not using the Euro will also bear substantial costs, and that includes the UK.

The clear result will be that we will all become significantly poorer. Stock markets will rise, but inflation will negate any profits; indeed, inflation will negate any financial gains made by ordinary private individuals in usually accessible, and safe, investments. In due course, the costs of failure have to be borne; the Euro is a nonsense dreamt up by politicians pursuing their own, largely hidden, agendas, and it is doomed to failure. The trouble is that the costs will be borne not by the responsible politicians but by the poor people who never understood what they were being dragged into in the first place. The European Union was created as a mechanism designed to prevent another European war but, in reality, it is much more likely to cause one than not. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the idea of a united Europe may well have made sense; in 2010 it still makes sense that European countries work closely together in a variety of ways, but trying to tie highly disparate economies together in a fiscal and monetary strait-jacket is a policy for total mayhem, which is what we have.

The Greek economy has, effectively, failed; Ireland is in the same boat and Portugal is not far behind. Spain and Italy are tottering on the brink and Germany is currently bearing most of the pressure. Eventually, the German people will cry 'Enough !', and then watch out.

PHONE HACKING : WHO WILL RESIGN NEXT ?

The more I hear and read of the 'phone-hacking' saga, the more I despair.

Ignoring all the sordid details, what is most depressing is to have confirmation that our press are so willing to subvert any semblance of morality for a good story, that our police are apparently so corrupt as to happily sell information to the aforementioned press and, worst of all, that our political masters are 'in-bed' with the leading figures of the same press.

Many of us have probably had a pretty low opinion of all 3 institutuions for many years, however, to receive such damning confirmation of our worst fears is hardly welcome news. What we now have is a news organisation in terminal decline, a police service in turmoil and a Prime Minister so damaged as to be impotent.

News International is surely dead in the water. It's very recently departed chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, has been arrested today, following in the footsteps of the Prime Minister's other friend, Andy Coulson, as well as several other News of the World executives and reporters; it can only be a matter of time before the police come calling on James Murdoch, son of the organisation's patriarch. The scandal seems likely to spread to the US where the Murdoch empire is based and, if wrong-doing is found there, the literal wrath of God will be visited upon it. Not only will the British end of Rupert Murdoch's operations be under threat, but so will his entire life's work. Whether or not any of those currently implicated in wrong-doing will eventually be tried, found guilty and imprisoned is another matter, however, the damage has already been done.

As for the police, the scandal has, today, cost Sir Paul Stephenson, Metropolitan Police Commisoner, his job. Sir Paul made the fatal mistake of hiring a former News of the World employee, Neil Wallis, to be his adviser and he now sees this as a possible impediment to the ongoing investigation. In resigning, Sir Paul will, no doubt, be taking early retirement on a large pension, a significant cushion to the blow of having to give up his job, though he could still find himself embroiled in the ongoing saga. There can be little doubt that some police officers have had various degrees of involvement with the press over many years, not all of it legal, and any proper investigation is likely to produce an awful lot of dirty washing. Sir Paul will almost certainly find himself giving evidence in the future, as will many of his former colleagues.

When we come to the political involvement in all of this, we have to wonder just how far our 'wannabe' leaders have sunk in order to gain power. We all now know that the Murdochs and their upper echelons have been wined and dined by a succession of Prime Ministers and party leaders; we also know that the now suspect Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks are close friends of the family of the current Prime Minister, David Cameron. Cameron has, in fact, continued to try to justify the closeness of his contacts with these, and other, media contacts in the face of mounting criticism. Some of this criticism has been justified and some has been simple political cant; the maniacal tirade from Gordon Brown last week was an example of a man trying to regain some credibility while having no idea of how to go about it. At the same time, the appallingly 'holier-than-thou' attitudes of many other leading figures has been nauseating, and I do not confine my remarks to politicians; many journalists are just as culpable.

As Prime Minister, Cameron has been, at best, mediocre. Since the emergence of this media scandal, he has been seriously weakened and his House of Commons performances have been poor; lacklustre though he is, Ed Milliband has had the upper hand in recent exchanges and has taken the lead over the 'phone-hacking issue. Cameron has, at no point, taken control of the storm that surrounds him; he has, in fact, fed it through his continuing and inexplicable support for Andy Coulson. What this has done is to call into question his judgement, something which, for a Prime Minister, is all-important; the grey suits in the Tory party must now be on alert, wondering if they will soon need to be looking for a successor.

Where will all of this end ? It's anyones' guess but there seems sure to be some changes in media ownership, a lot of hand-wringing in the Met, and some serious rethinking amongst the political elite, before we all get tired of the story and 'business as usual' is resumed.