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Some redtops called it 'Anarchy in the UK’; others described it as a tragic breakdown in the British social fabric. Yet others asked 'how bad can it get'. I am, of course, referring to the cold-blooded murder of 11 year-old schoolboy Rhys Jones. Rhys, from Liverpool, was shot in the back of the neck as he walked home with two friends after a game of football. A youngster on a bicycle casually rode up to the young Everton fan and opened fire. As the boy lay dying in a pub car park in Croxteth, the killer calmly rode off into the nearby estate.
Once again Britain's gun culture was front page news. Another senseless death underscoring the rising tide of lawlessness in some of the nation's largest metropolitan areas. Despite billions of pounds being thrown at the problem, new laws, ASBOS and promises to bring respect back to the streets, things have, on the contrary, spiralled even further out of control.
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The latest death - an 11 year-old boy with no links to gangs or drugs - brings into focus the rotten core of the British state. An imploding society seemingly at war with itself. A crippled society unable to turn the tide of gun and knife violence among its young. No amount of money has been able to alter anything. No carefully considered actions by posturing politicians or theoretical models from do-gooding neo-liberals have made any difference to this epidemic of British street carnage. ‘Hugging hoodies does not work’, Mr Cameron and ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ has a hollow ring to it Mr Blair. No one seems to have the answer to Britain's apparently unstoppable slide into gun anarchy. Meanwhile innocent young kids like Rhys Jones are gunned down. Life is cheap on Britain's increasingly mean streets.
No More Bull on State TV Francisco Rivera, also known as Paquirri, was once the 'David Beckham' of the Spanish bullfighting world. Paquirri, however, only became legendary after he was gored to death on live television while fighting a bull called Avispado at Pozoblanco, Cordoba in 1984. Indeed, televised, live bullfighting has turned many of the modern era matadors into household names. Men like El Cordobés, Jesulín de Ubrique and José Tomás (who came out of retirement in June and was almost gored to death in Malaga recently) have all benefited from exposure on television. Like it or loathe it, live bullfighting has proved very popular on Spanish TV. All of which makes the decision by the national broadcaster TVE to drop it from its schedules all the more surprising.
This, of course, does not mean that there will be no live bullfights on television. There are now more channels than ever and most will see this withdrawal by TVE as an opportunity for them to increase their viewing figures. In the meantime the national broadcaster will continue to show highlights of bullfights and, in addition, will continue to cover the bull runs in Pamplona.
The government defended its action by saying that it was acting on behalf of Spanish children to safeguard them from violent scenes on television.
Some groups, in response, have applauded the decision to withdraw bullfights from the live television menu of TVE. Others have reacted angrily at the decision accusing the Zapatero regime of being anti-Spanish and of undermining the nation's culture. The government, they claim, have capitulated to the anti-bullfight lobby.
Controversial as it might be in the modern world, bullfighting is ritualistically carved into the soul of the Spanish. It is, undoubtedly, part of its 'branded' culture. The symbol of the charging bull says 'Spain' and its popularity remains strong among Spanish viewers. Top matadors can easily attract up to 25% of the viewing public to live broadcast bullfights.
Perhaps the removal of this brutal spectacle is in itself symbolic in modern Spain, signifying the present government's disapproval of a very Spanish contest.
In A Time of Hate
In the increasingly complex world of Russian political posturing, xenophobia is reportedly on the rise. The increase in race-hate culminated recently with the posting of an execution video on the internet. The video shows two immigrants, identified as being from Tajikistan and Dagestan, kneeling in unidentified woodland in front of a Nazi flag. Both men have their arms and legs bound. A man wearing a mask and black gloves appears and beheads one of the men, while the other man is shown being shot in the head.
The National Socialist Party of Russia, an obscure little known group, has since claimed responsibility. Police, however, acted quickly and arrested a student in Maikop, the capital of the tiny republic of Adygeya. The 20 year-old man admitting posting the video but denied any connection with the deaths. He claimed he had received the video via email.
The student was reportedly involved in the formation of a nationalistic group, and said he had met with an organisation known as the Adygeya Union of Slavs. A claim denied by the Union, a group formed to protect 'the rights of the ethnic Russian' people.
Many prominent nationalist groups have distanced themselves from the disturbing video.
(My thanks to Andrew McChesney of the Moscow Times for information supplied while writing this segment)
Hits From The Bong
If you've noticed that more people than usual have been wandering around Sevilla with eyes like saucers recently, then you won't be surprised to discover that police have made a record-breaking marijuana seizure. The value of the crop, farmed in a 1000 metre plot at Dos Hermanas, Sevilla, was estimated to be worth over 1 million euros. Four men have subsequently been arrested while a fifth is being sought.
Why is my dog Buster reclining in my armchair with a strange smelling cigarette in his paw, a grin on his face and wearing a Nike baseball cap? Why is the dog giggling? Buster? Bus...? | 
