Fresh?

I read this morning that there are already a few people willing to sell their vote in the forthcoming British general election to the highest bidder on e-bay. I suppose this is an inevitability. My initial thought was that it is irresponsible to sell one's vote. Then it occured to me that this could in fact be seen as a sort of protest against the state of British politics in general. I will not be voting for a party that I want to see in power. I will be voting for the party most likely to damage Blair. That's almost the same thing in a way.

According to the BBC website, selling one's vote is actually illegal and an offense against the "Representation of the People Act". It strikes me that it would be very difficult to prove that one had sold a vote. I suppose that going to the polling station with someone else's polling card is something of a giveaway. But one can quite legally nominate a proxy, as I have done. You can also vote by post, though postal voting in Briatin is generally deemed to be unreliable, open to fraud, and basically a disaster all round.

It seems that the Taiwanese president is to attend the pope's funeral. Apparently the Vatican, which is a state in itself, recognises Taiwan as a nation, which upsets China. If I understand correctly, China broke off diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1951 in protest. China is likely to be jolly angry that Taiwan will be represented at the funeral anyway. They will also be annoyed that Italy has granted a visa to the president. They had to do that so that he could get there.

So many people want to see the pope lying in state that the Vatican authorities are trying to limit numbers. How are they keeping the pope "fresh"? Is he refridgerated?

Also in today's news I note that a pair of "Sun" journalists are congratulting themselves for managing to smauggle a box marked "bomb" into Windsor Castle grounds. How many more times do we have to endure this sort of cheap, pointless journalism. Anyone can get a weapon onto a plane, or a Eurotunnel train if they try enough times. Anyone can drive a car close to a member of the royal family. Having a box marked "bomb" in the back doesn't make it any more difficult does it? This kind of journalism really pisses me off. Sack these people and hire someone that can write news.

My God I'm tired.