On Question Time tonight, David Davies MP said that instead of applying a minimum tariff, for the sake of argument 40p per unit, they should think about simply hiking taxes and using the extra money for public spending. The problem with this is that it doesn’t address the alcohol problem, it merely provides more money for the government, something which they haven’t been shy about doing in the alcohol sector in the past. The real problem isn’t the price of alcohol, but the price of alcohol in the supermarkets. There, a 2L bottle of Diamond White cider can be bought for £3.07 which is roughly 14 units of alcohol. If a minimum price per unit was implemented at 40p, the supermarket would then be forced to sell at a minimum of £5.40. In the local pub, a typical pint of Strongbow Cider would cost £2.60, which contains 2.8 units of alcohol and rounding up would require a minimum price of £1.20.

What this all means is that the tariff measures affect supermarket prices only, and the advantage to this is that this is where most of the harm with alcohol abuse occurs. With most respectable drinking establishments, the bar staff and/or security and door staff will be vigilant about identifying those who have drank too much and ensuring they cease to consume alcohol. They also remain continually vigilant with ensuring people are of drinking age. As an anecdotal example, I was with a 26 year old friend who managed to coax her way past the door staff with no ID (she’s one of the lucky young looking ones) but at the bar she was checked again and this time there was no way of persuading the bar to believe her. With those who consume inside their own home, there is little to no monitoring of age, consumption or general drunkenness. This then exacerbates the problem as the likelihood of damage being done to the person themselves and their surroundings increases in this environment.

By reducing the gap in prices between supermarket and public houses, you take away the main advantage of drinking at home – to save money – and as a knock on effect, increase the well being of those who are drinking.

He is then hired as little more than a mercenary, and found in a battle in Japan, where he is supposed to be aiding the training of troops in support of the Meiji Restoration and Imperial Japan, lest it not be forgotten Imperial Japan was later to be a major enemy of America in World War II. While there, he enters battle and kills a samurai warrior, but is soon injured and captured for the winter as the local mountain passes are impassible for the winter months. He then lives in the house of the widow he created, acting as a father in place of the one he killed, and reacting angrily to the man who spared his life when he could have so easily ended it.

Yet this is not the most fantastical part of the story. Algren then undergoes a transmogrification of sorts, and becomes one of the samurai warriors he was initially sent to destroy, essentially suffering from an odd form of Stockholm syndrome. He learns to fight like a samurai, live like a samurai, and eventually seduce the wife of the samurai he killed. Which, really, is just rubbing salt into the wound if you ask me.

So in short, Algren may not be the most evil man ever created in fiction, but he may just cover more bases than anyone else ever has.

Recently, I read an article that required someone with “pizzazz” for a writing position, which immediately makes me think of a pizza with extra toppings. Actually, I suppose a pizza with extra toppings is never a bad thing when I give it some thought. I just wonder sometimes if these people are doing their best to stand out from the advertisements, just as I’m trying to stand out from the other applicants. This type of behaviour isn’t such a problem – more an amusement. If you’re sad like I am.

But applications that have the title “Temporary Data Clerk” and then specify the contract as being “Permanent” are the ones that really have me wondering why these people have jobs and I don’t. If you can’t differentiate the difference between the two time scales, then I deserve to have your job until you go back to school and get a proper education in the use of English.

Here’s to someone pointing out a punctual or grammatical error in my entry.

Boris Johnson knows what I mean, just look: “I hope Londoners will imagine the Thames in place until it reappears on the maps, and will not forget their beautiful river.”

I hadn’t actually thought I’d ever forget the river, but I guess I might. If I don’t see an image of it every day on the train, it’s one of those things I might just forget about with time and then it feels like it doesn’t really exist any more. Like Wales. Or mysticism.

In other news, I felt this blog was getting too sport heavy, so you can check out any sport related news from now on at thesportschronicles.wordpress.com, while everything else multi topical will remain on here, thanks!

For many, Barcelona are still the team to beat, and favourites to relcaim their trophy, a feat which would make them the first since the advent of the Champions League in 1992 to be crowned champion in successive years. Their campaign to do just that began with an away game against one of the other favourites, Inter Milan, about whom England manager Fabio Capello was heard to comment, “they must win the Champions League, they are made to win the Champions League and will be really competitive”, something which incensed current manager Jose Mourinho. The game ended in a 0-0 stalemate, but it was far from a dull affair. Barcelona had several chances to take an away win back to the Nou Camp, but failed to capitalise on their dominant possession, and Mourinho will be glad to have got out of this game with a draw.

The other game in Group F saw Dynamo Kiev come back from a goal down against their unfancied Russian opponents Rubin Kazan, who are making their first appearance in the Champions League. The game ended 3-1 to the home side following some late strikes from Yussuf, Gerson Magrao and Gusev.

While Dynamo Kiev managed to impress with late strikes to come from a goal down to win the game at home, it was Arsenal who stole the headlines as they took the fairytale comeback of the week in Group H coming from two goals down against Standard Liege to win the game 3-2 away from home. Arsenal were unfortunate to go down two goals so early in the game, with Eduardo at fault for the first with an unwise attempt at trickery on the edge of his own box, while Gallas then gave away a penalty to make it 2-0 before European debutant goalkeeper Vito Mannone had even managed to make a useful contribution to the game. The game from then was all about Arsenal as they continued to pour forward in search of goals, ending the match with 11 attempts on goal to their opponents three. Nicklas Bendtner clawed one back before the break which gave Arsenal momentum going into the second half, momentum which was almost passed away by Alex Song as he gave the hosts a golden opportunity to score a third, an opportunity they did not convert. The second Arsenal goal was contentious as it was seen to come off the arm of that man Alex Song, but none of the officials spotted it and Thomas Vermaelen’s goal stood. With momentum now fully behind them, Arsenal kept coming for the winner and just three minutes after equalising, Eduardo da Silva managed to atone for his early mistake by scoring the winner with his left knee.

The other game in Group H was between Greek side Olympiakos and AZ Alkmaar, which ended 1-0 to the host side with a fairly late goal from defender Vasilis Torosidis separating the two teams. Oympiakos are returning to the competition after an absence last year as they failed to qualify past Cypriots Anorthosis Famagusta, while Dutch champions AZ are making their first ever appearance.

In Group C, Europe was given its first opportunity to see the worlds two most expensive players in the forms of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo line up for their new club Real Madrid and ran out impressive 5-2 winners against FC Zurich, who managed to give the Galacticos a minor scare coming from 4-0 down to make it 4-2 inside two minutes. Ronaldo was on song to score twice himself, while Raul, Gonzalo Higuain and substitute Guti rounded off the scoring. The other game in the group saw 2007 champions AC Milan complete a routine 2-1 victory away from home against Marseille with Filippo Inzaghi scoring both goals.

In Group A, Juventus will be disappointed to have started their Champions League campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to French side Bordeaux, particularly having taken the lead through Vincenzo Iaquinta. The other group game saw Bayern Munich defy their league form with a convincing 3-0 scoreline against Israeli outfit Maccabi Haifa, although they had to rely on two late goals from Thomas Muller to make the victory secure.

In Group B, German champions Wolfsburg provided the most impressive performance with a 3-1 victory over CSKA Moscow, with Brazilian striker Grafite continuing his fine goalscoring form from last season leading the way with a hat-trick on his European debut. In the other groups game, 2008 champions and last years defeated finalists, Manchester United, managed to eke out a 1-0 win away to Besiktas thanks to a Paul Scholes goal.

Group D contains three strong teams in the form of Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Porto and although Chelsea will be favourites to top the group, there will be little room for mistakes. They managed to begin their campaign with a business-like 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge thanks to a goal from Nicolas Anelka. In the group’s other game, the group “minnows” Apoel Nicosia managed to cause a stir by holding Atletico Madrid to a 0-0 draw in Madrid.

In Group E, things remain very tight following Liverpool and Lyon both beginning their campaign with 1-0 victories against Debrecen and Fiorentina respectively. Dirk Kuyt was on hand to settle the nerves for the Merseysiders, while Miralem Pjanic settled things for the French side. Lyon and Fiorentina were drawn in the same group for last year’s European campaign, where Lyon managed to take 4 points off their opponents, and Fiorentina will hope to fare better when they turn out against Lyon again on 24 November.

Finally in Group G, Sevilla managed to close out a 2-0 victory over Champions League new boys Unirea Urziceni, who were crowned Romanian champions for the first time last season, thanks to goals from Brazilian pair Luis Fabiano and Renato. In the other game, Rangers managed to come back from 1-0 down against a superior Stuttgart who could and should have given themselves a more dominant lead, and in the end Rangers will count themselves unlucky to come away with only a draw having hit the post in the closing moments of the match.

But the US Open this year has highlighted what most already knew, which is that the womens game is not the powerhouse it once was. Kim Clijsters has recently returned from a more than two year retirement from tennis, and in her third event since her return, she has managed to win the US Open for the second time in her career. What is more astounding is that on the way to the title she lost only two sets, and one of those was in the fourth round to Venus Williams. She managed to take out the other Williams sister, Serena, in a heated Semi Final, and between the two sisters they hold 18 Grand Slam titles across all four majors. So why was a player able to come back from such an extended break, and defeat all that was put before her, including these two seemingly exemplary players?

The most popular view would be that the modern female tennis players do a lot more than simply play tennis, and this is often typified with a reference to Anna Kournikova, who many view to have not reached her potential before becoming distracted by off court temptations. Indeed, she was voted WTA Newcomber of the Years in 1996, sandwiched right between Martina Hingis and Venus Williams, both multi-Grand Slam champions, but was often idolised for her beauty rather than her forehand. Many female stars of today have their own clothing range, or their own fragrances, and spend a lot of their time off court concentrating on developing that aspect of their lives. By way of example, Serena Williams said in a BBC interview that she was busy penning a sitcom she hoped to get aired in the future which is not something many, if any, of the male tennis stars have said they are planning to do themselves.

While male stars do involve themselves in activities off court, it is not to the extent that the women do it in most cases. As a result, the womens game has suffered, and so players with a good level of natural talent like Kim Clijsters are able to walk into Grand Slams and go on to win them, while players like Federer, Nadal, Murray and soon del Potro would stand in the way on the mens side of the game. Even outside these four men, there would be a long list of players expected to take on and beat someone who had only come out of retirement three tournaments earlier. As a result, the mens game is experiencing a golden age, and enjoying what is possibly one of the greatest rivalries to ever grace sport. Tiger Woods has no peer in any shape or form. Michael Schumacher dominated F1. Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times in a row without a Nadal in sight. In tennis, we have Federer and Nadal pushing each other to new limits, new highs, and providing some of the most exciting tennis in history. Even behind these two greats, there are players capable of carrying the mantle when they fall from their peak.

Even before the game began, Adebayor was seen dancing through the Arsenal half with a total lack of respect for their pre-game preparations, and while this was enough to draw unwanted attention towards himself, it was only the first and mildest in what became a series of events. In the second half, Adebayor was seen to have made contact with van Persie’s face with his boot following an unwise challenge from van Persie. Replays show that Adebayor looked down at van Persie before contact was made, which suggests it was more than a mere accident. Treatment was needed for the wound to van Persie’s face, and while some suggest his eyes could have been damaged, it’s the suggestion that he maliciously hit another player in the face that is the real crux of the issue. If the FA find this to be the case, then he deserves a lengthy ban for dangerous conduct.

Not satisfied with showing disrespect to Arsenal before the game, and then allegedly stamping on one of their players, he then scored a goal which put Manchester City 3-1 up with ten minutes left to play, but it is his celebration which caused the next piece of controversy. He ran from one end of the pitch to the other in order to celebrate in front of the traveling away fans, which incensed them to the point of objects being thrown onto the pitch. The result was a match steward being admitted to hospital after being struck by a thrown object, and while I cannot excuse the person who made the throw, it would never have happened had Adebayor had the sense not to celebrate in the manner he did.

I’ve read a few articles on this matter, but Jonathan Pearce of the BBC has written one that screams of idiocy. The opening gambit refers to Hitler, of all people, and World War II, and he says that people need to keep things in perspective, but to refer to Hitler in a sports article shows that he is the one who is losing perspective on the matter.

He further goes on to mention that “a three-match suspension would satisfy current regulations on serious foul play” in reference to the tackle on van Persie, citing that “any other outcome from trial by TV would set as dangerous a precedent as the highly suspect Uefa ban for Eduardo’s ‘simulation’”. Pearce seems to have forgotten the time that Ben Thatcher was yellow carded for a foul on Pedro Mendes that left him unconscious, but in the aftermath he was issued with a 12 game ban in total, as well as a further 17 game ban on suspended sentence. This tackle was not as horrific as that offence, but it shows that i) it would not be setting precedent, and ii) the worst tackles going around can be subject to more than the standard three match ban that comes with a red card.

Pearce says that we should “expect occasional hot-headed reactions from young men who, because of 24-hour coverage of the sport, are living in a goldfish bowl”. This is an absurd comment. Since when was violence and actions that could incite violence excused due to youth? Worse is that he says it is not just because they are young men, but also because they play in a game loved and followed around the clock. Pearce’s comments lay the blame at the feet of the fans, but what he and footballers should always realise is that the terrace scum who mar the game with their own mindless violence are in the minority when put against the genuine fans. Youth is not an excuse, and Adebayor deserves everything the FA throws at him.

Arguably, Britain lost its power the moment it began shedding its world colonies, either to others or back to the local people. However, the real blow came during World War I when the Empire was crippled by loss of life and the cost of supporting a war on a scale never before seen. Britain entered the war as the world’s leading overseas investor, and left it merely a shell of its former self. It lost just shy of 1 million people as a direct consequence of the war, or 2.2% of its population, while the USA lost 120,000 or 0.13% of its population. Added to this was that America entered the war in 1917 and suffered almost no damage to infrastructure, while Britain had fought since 1914 and fought hard. This extended war destroyed Britain as a global power, and paved the way for the rise of the USA superpower.

Today, the same mistakes are being carried out by the existing superpower that brought Britain crashing down in the early 20th century. America is fighting two prolonged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and their debt has risen from 5.6 trillion dollars in 2000, the year before the war in Afghanistan began, to an estimated 12.8 trillion dollars this year, which would be 90% of the American GDP. With two wars to support, and no quick way out, the economic crash could conceivably couple up to bring America down from its superpower perch.

When looking at potential countries to take up the superpower mantle, they are countries who are not currently embroiled in a war far from home with no end in sight. China and India are exploding economically, thanks largely to their immense populations providing a solid foundation for high production levels.

But can the world survive without a superpower? It’s rare that two equally sized powers can co-exist with no tension between the two. Even the USSR and America spawned the Cold War and intense suspicion on both sides, even if physical attacks were never initiated. Power vacuums generally result in one of two things – a replacement, or a military struggle to be the replacement. History has shown us that on more than one occasion, and only time will tell if America is doomed to repeat the mistakes of their British predecessors, succumbing to war debt at a time of economic uncertainty and ultimately losing its comfortable status on the world feeding chain, and watch on helplessly as the next power takes its seat on the world stage.

It may sound disparaging, and premature even, to criticise Murray’s lack of a Grand Slam win considering his age and talent, but it is not the fact that Murray is losing in Slam tournaments that is so worrying, but the manner in which he is losing them. Murray has been a top ten player since early in the 2008 season and since then he has played eight Slam tournaments, losing to Nadal and Federer once each leaving six occasions when he has been eliminated by lower quality opponents. This has been a situation more galling since the US Open Final loss in 2008 to Federer because he has shown the ability to go all the way – and yet has lost to Verdasco, Gonzalez, Roddick and now Cilic in the four Slam tournaments this year.

In reference to his age, while he seems young being only 22 years old, if he is to become one of the greats that he wants to be, he needs to be winning Slams now. Of some of the men on tour who have won a Slam already, Nadal won his first Slam at the age of 18, Federer at 21, Djokovic at 20 and Roddick at 21. Murray is already older than all of those and yet to win a Slam. Even if we look at the first Slam win for some of the greats across history such as Sampras 19, Agassi 22, Wilander 18, Becker 18, Borg 18, and the list goes on. In reality, Murray is entering the twilight of his career in tennis in terms of becoming one of the greats.

There are other players younger than Murray advancing impressively through the ranks, the stand out ones including Juan Martin del Potro (20) who is already a top five player and Sam Querrey (21) who has advanced from World 61 to World 22 since May this year.

Simply put, it’s 2010 or never for Murray.

Caster Semenya has been accused by some of not being a female in the context that makes her eligible to race in the womens 800m as she did in Berlin – a competition she went on to win in 1:55.45. This is an amazing time considering she is only 18 years old, this is her first major championship at senior level, and the world record is 1:53.28, a record which has stood for over 26 years. The problem for people, though, is that she bettered her personal best by over seven seconds earlier in the year in the span of one race. Since then she has improved by a further second. How can someone improve by this margin in such a short period of time?

At the time the information was leaked, the IAAF rightly came under huge criticism for allowing details of their intention to investigate the background of her gender come to light not just before the final, but at all. This is a sensitive subject, one that could be hugely distressing for someone who appears for all to see to be an introverted person who just wants to race.

The story has become more complex since the championships ended. It has come to light that the IAAF asked South Africa not to send Semenya to the championships. It has also come to light that tests were carried out on Semenya that shows she has three times the normal level of testosterone expected to be found in a woman – but it should not be forgotten that this is something that can occur naturally. Despite this, testosterone doping is not uncommon. Dutchmen Maarten Ducrot, Steven Rooks and Peter Winnen admitted taking testosterone, in 1978, 1982 and 1986 respectively. Others have tested positive such as Dutchman Gert-Jan Theunisse, Dane Michael Skelde, Italian Francesco Casagrande, German Uwe Ampler, Frenchman Laurent Roux, Americans Tammy Thomas and Kirk O’Bee, Swiss Stefan Rütimann and so the list goes on. And this is just from the annals of cycling. It remains to be seen whether the results from Semenya are as a result of being doped up or are a natural occurrence within her own body.

The real issue for the moment is the handling of this whole event by the IAAF. No matter what the results of any tests carried out are, the initial investigation revolved around the gender of the athlete in question, and the IAAF were not nearly careful enough in keeping this information as hidden as possible from the media and the public. All we can do now is wait for the results to come through.