Football and politics

Andrei Arshavin, Russia international and Zenit St. Petersburg playmaker, is on the verge of a £15m move to Arsenal but some Russian polititians are not best pleased about it.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the "Liberal Democratic Party" of Russia, thinks Andy is wrong to sell himself to an English club. But why?

"England brings our country only harm. They have incited revolutionary feelings all over the world."

Nothing to do with sporting issues then. Of course, some may put forward a pot-kettle-black argument at this point, and they'd be right. I'd also be the first to admit my country's mistakes in the past though, however irrelevant they might be to this argument. But Vladimir's not finished with England yet:

"Our thieves run there and our fugitive oligarchs who took Russia's money hide themselves there. "

Abramovich anyone? Romanov? Gaydamak?

And of course Dmitry Piterman in Spain.

Vlad's got a final plea though:

"If you've had enough of playing for Zenit, there are a lot of other clubs like Spartak, CSKA, Dinamo, Lokomotiv. Think again Andryusha!"

Myself I'm also against the transfer. Why? A guy called Arshavin joining the Arse - it just sounds too silly.

Sarah Palin: Is Africa a country?

Sarah Palin is the Republican "hail mary" that went wrong!

I'm not surprised, though. Americans are generally completely clueless when it comes to the rest of the world. Add to that the fact that she believes the world in less than 10,000 years old and what do you expect?

The stories of her abuse of power to try and fire her sister's estranged stage trooper husband seem like child's play compared to all this.

Ping Pong is coming home

Boris Johnson - buffoon or comic genius? Whichever he might be, is he really the kind of guy you'd want as your leader?

PC quote of the day

Said John Molony, Mayor of Mount Isa, a quiet mining town in the Queensland outback:

"With five blokes to every girl, may I suggest that beauty-disadvantaged women should proceed to Mount Isa.

"Quite often you will see walking down the street a lass who is not so attractive with a wide smile on her face. Whether it is recollection of something previous or anticipation for the next evening, there is a degree of happiness."

What the fuck is this guy on?