The World Cup finally came to an end, with general agreement in The Duke that the best team won, not to downplay the Argentinians who were worthy opponents.  As Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles echoed round the Maracana stadium, Paddy remarked that he hadn’t heard it sung with such passion since he was a kid!  He doesn’t have a forgiving nature.  After the blip in the German economy last month, Angela Merkel must have prayed for this result.  Even so, as the goal went in, both Mutti Merkel and President Joachim Gauck celebrated like fans, not politicians, genuine delight writ large on their faces.  The only person to out-Merkel Merkel was Rihanna, from that great footballing nation Barbados.  Rihanna’s name got blank faces from four of the lads who don’t have grandchildren the right age to worship at the feet of pop stars. By the pictures on Twitter, Rihanna became a naturalised German, for one night at least. That said, we doubt her next release will be a version of Deutschland, Deutschland, though we’d pay to hear that. We assume that David Cameron applauded the result politely, teeth gritted, knowing he won’t get to reprise Angela even if he stays in power until he retires; an event as unlikely as England winning another World Cup.

    Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury raised more than eyebrows with his comment last week that ‘it would not be un-Christian to legalise assisted suicide’.  The lads have frequently talked about euthanasia, since death enters your life with increasing frequency when you reach our age.  Two of us have watched parents disappear into the never-never land of dementia, misnamed as life simply because the body still has certain active functions; not that life in any worthwhile sense defines the patient’s situation.  When the parents involved eventually reached the medical definition of death, we shed no tears, instead feeling a sense of relief for them.  We’ve said that given the option, we would have agreed to a happy relief, easy when you don’t have to make the decision.  We’ll be interested to see how Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill gets on at its second reading this week.  All the lads say that they hope someone will take pity on them and end their existence if dementia becomes their lot.  The difficulty, as always, is the decision you are forcing on a third party, maybe your children. 

    The opinionated Stephen Fry jumped in with both feet while hosting a recent Labour fundraising dinner.  He lambasted Operation Yewtree, the police enquiry into historic sex abuse, on the basis that less than half those investigated have been convicted.  His comment that people are innocent until proven guilty would get no dispute, or that those who invent claims should be equally open to prosecution.  The celebrities that have been investigated and found with no case to answer have undoubtedly suffered immense stress and damage.  In fairness, their accusers should be named and investigated just as thoroughly.  But Fry seems to have forgotten that several of those investigated are now serving prison sentences for the abuse they committed on the young and vulnerable.  Their victims are every bit as important as the celebrities who thought their position put them above the law.  Perhaps the most significant lesson is that we hear too many rants from so called celebrities.  It may be time to take away the oxygen of publicity and allow them to fade quietly into the background, the ultimate indignity for most of them.      

    NICE are telling us how to live our lives again.  Even sticking within the safe alcohol guidelines, 2 units a day for women, 3 for men raises the risk of future illness.  Apparently GP’s will soon be advising us not to share a bottle of wine with a friend in the evening.  Sam already says he wouldn’t dream of sharing one if it was a decent year.  Having lived many years of our lives with rationing in place, a similar period might offer the country a solution to all these health problems.  Introduce rationing for 20 to 45 year olds, animal fats, sugars and alcohol only available with a controlled number of coupons.  At a stroke, the health of the nation would improve. It takes age and experience to come up with the solution like that, so the politicians won’t.  Eat you hearts out NICE and while you’re considering our idea, Ben can get the next round in.

    Backpainhelp.com have released a survey that suggests that housework is the most common activity that people give up because of back pain.  Fewer give up sex or driving.  There’s a surprise!