There are times when you read the paper and just think there are so many issues to blog about, it’s best just to go through them one-by-one and get it all out, so here goes:

• The £12,000 payouts in Northern Ireland. Truth and reconciliation was the watchword of healing South Africa’s divisions. In Northern Ireland, truth is certainly needed. But reconciliation cannot just be announced from a podium or in a report, it has to occur down the generations in people’s hearts. But as for moral equivalence betwen the victims of a terrorist outrage and a terrorist - as the payments of £12,000 imply – there can be no such thing.  The sum itself is derisory, but the insult lies in the implication of moral equivalence.
• The recession in the UK will amongst the deepest in the world according to the IMF. House prices have shrunk 16% in a year – suddenly my property is worth less than I paid for it. A sobering thought. Thanks, Gordon. Shame you can’t admit to the fact that this is now a ‘bust’.
• Barack Obama is a leftie. Maybe that isn’t a surprise – he is a liberal after all. But I am a leftie too. By this, I mean left-handed. I was amazed to read that 5 of the last 7 presidents were left-handed. Does this mean we’re all destined for greatness. I’m also amazed that some 10% of the UK population is left-handed, but only 4% of the Japanese.
• I am pleased the Arts Council has finally pulled the plug on the £63m The Public arts centre in West Bromwich. This is not because I dislike the building – I’m a great defender of modern architecture, and enthusiastic supporter of the Twentieth Century Society. But the whole project has been mismanaged, and a complete waste of public money as it has failed to do what it was intended to do. Investment in the arts is fine, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be held to the same degree of account as other spending programmes.
• The first of 6 Type-45 destroyers was launched yesterday, the same day as Vosper Thorneycroft, who made her, finally gave up making ships. Six are planned altogether, but I wonder how many will survive the defence cuts?
• Can’t wait to see the filmed version of Revolutionary Road, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio. It’s one of my favourite novels (published in 1961 and written by Richard Yates) so I am almost scared that the film will let me down. Let’s hope not, as it has two quality actors.
• Why can’t we just have an elected upper chamber?  That is the option I would vote for. I would like to see two Senators elected for each historic county for a total of 8 years, with fixed elections every 4 years for 1 of the 2 senate seats. The American Founding Fathers picked on a Senate model to ensure that the equal distribution of seats in the House of Representatives was balanced by a Senate which, whilst democratically elected, had an unequal mandate so it could not overshadow or claim superior legitimacy to the lower house. That is why California has 2 senators but 53 congressmen, and Wyoming 2 Senators but only 1 in Congress. And on that model we would have an upper chamber that was democratically accountable and need not include such clowns as Lord Taylor from Knott End. I suspect he’ll be spending a lot more time in Knott End from now on.