WHAT’S THE NEWS TODAY?

Well, it seems that Team GB are winning lots of lovely Olympic Medals.   Andy Murray, Tennis Star of SCOTLAND beat Number 1 Star, Federer !   Can you believe it?   Andy won a GOLD MEDAL and said it was the best performance and the best day of his life.   He is my favourite Scotsman right now.  (Next to Gerald!)

Nick Clegg and David Cameron have agreed to differ about the House of Lords and how this Second Chamber of Government should be composed.   Should they be appointed, these old worthies of the Second Chamber?  (There’s hundreds of them!)   Or should they be elected by the populace of the country, you and me?   Or , as at present should we retain the custom of allowing hereditary peers, unelected and un-appointed be part of our government?    Nick Clegg, Liberal leader and his party, of which G. is a supporter, say that they should all be elected by the people.   But the Conservatives won’t  play ball, and the Labour party stand on the sidelines watching the Coalition disagreeing strongly.  (Amazingly, successive governments have tried to reform the “House of Lords” for a hundred years and have ever only achieved relatively small changes).  The Liberals are accusing the Tories of going back on their contract when the Coalition was formed.   We underlings watch with bated breath to see where all these politics will end.

I took some money out of the Bank of Scotland today in order to give birthday presents to two of my grandchildren.   August is a terrible month for birthdays in our family.   Since I am one of the British citizens who now own much of this bank since 2008 when they were bailed out, I felt quite entitled to take money out.   Why not?

An interesting programme on Radio 4 today when an American man was, I think, reading "Book of the Week" on the 9.45am slot ---yes, he was ( I just looked it up in the Radio Times).   It is called “Tubes” by Andrew Blum.   The internet has revolutionised Commerce, Finance etc., etc. and when a squirrel chewed through the tube to his house which was connected to his computer,  Andrew Blum tried to discover just how the internet got started and when.   The potential was not at first realised.   Leonard Kleinrock from UCLA explains “I thought it was just going to be computers talking to computers.”   But it’s not.   It’s like me talking to you.    They very nearly threw out the rejected old machine discarded by the US Military.   But Kleinrock saved it, recognising its potential.     The book is being read every morning this week.

Also tonight on BBC there is a programme, Horizon, about a US experiment on Fasting and how it can and does improve your brain cells, and lower cholestorel and does other things.   Will watch it to see if I can improve my life chances.  Will tell you all about my Alternative Medicine website another time.   This newly discovered website is also fascinating.   People from all around the world with the same complaint as myself talk to each other, and  suggest possible cures for stiffness, and give helpful hints – that is for Polymalgia Rheumatica.   In other words I am an old stiffy!   But only intermittently.   Three cheers for the INTERNET111