As fighting escalates in Ukraine, the EU leadership (Merkel And Hollande making their position clear) paid a flying visit to Moscow in an attempt to broker a ceasefire.  Their discussion remains under wraps.  Two points emerge.  The first, that Cameron wasn’t perceived as having anything to offer, the second, that it was immediately followed by a tough speech from Putin about attempts by the west to sideline Russia.  The Russian leader seems determined to walk the tightrope, continuing to deny that he is supplying equipment and support troops to the separatists, to disbelief from the rest of the world.   Obama and Cameron have hinted at the supply of weapons to the Ukrainian forces, a suggestion that can only make Putin dig his heels in further.  The supply of weapons to the Ukrainian army would be like fighting a war by proxy, both sides supplying the means, while watching from a safe distance – safe at present that is.   We almost have precedent for that.  The US supplied mujahidin in Afghanistan when the Russians were fighting them and what goes around comes around.  When the Brits and Americans attempted to remove the Taliban from Afghanistan, they faced many of the weapons they’d supplied.  It’s time for substantive talks before Ukraine drifts into full-scale war.   

    It didn’t take long.  About 1000 hard line Muslims demonstrated against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in London at the weekend.  We have no problem with that, supporting freedom of expression.  Sadly, the demonstrators showed no similar belief, waving banners that stated, Absolute Freedom of Speech- no such thing.  You can’t have it both ways!    

    Labour MP, Stella Creasey, has dropped a brick with her comment about Lego being old fashioned.  Most of us have built copies of every object under the sun as we’ve played with children and grandchildren.  In fact, we can’t remember any toy that has kept our youngsters interested and involved for longer periods.  It’s not just the economy that Labour is out of touch with!

    Fads move through time like sine waves, new disciples swearing by the latest guru’s utterings.  We’re interested to see juicing resurfacing as the panacea for a healthy body.  It must be almost twenty years since it last peaked.  Lakeland report a 4,000 per cent rise in juicer sales in 2014, so converts must be everywhere.  Abraham Lincoln springs to mind – you can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.  If social media had been around in Abe’s time he may well have modified his thought inducing comment.  The juicing guru of gurus, Jason Gale is self-taught, what a surprise, but has sold a staggering 3,000,000 books.  Asthma, psoriasis, eczema and hay fever are just some of the conditions that legend says may be improved by juicing.  But what are the facts?  Like homeopathy, there are none, anecdotal evidence only.  Stress is said to be a major problem in today’s world and I’m planning to become the new guru in relieving the condition.  Based on experience and supportive anecdotes from friends, I can state with certainty that the weekly consumption of a few pints of beer, topped up by wine with meals, relieves stress.  My new book, JUST SHORT OF LEGLESS, will be published shortly.

    Fascinated to see an article on line that suggests women’s complexions can benefit from regular shaving.  I guess we can expect a whole new range of women’s shaving products in the not distant future.  If shaving makes the beard stronger, Conchita Wurst may face some serious competition from real women in the next Eurovision Song Contest.  One hint from a regular shaver, never use the same blade for the face and the Brazilian as the latter blunts blades very quickly.  That information is second hand!  

    Miliband’s latest ‘big idea’ is one month of maternity leave for new fathers.  Only a man who had never worked in the real world could come up with that one.  Small businesses, and they make up over 80% of the businesses in this country, don’t have spare heads.  Fortunately, most of the people who work for the small businesses realize that and will ignore these idiotic ideas. As the old saying states:

Never trust big ideas from a man in trouble.