WAR....What is it good for ? 😥

WAR – What Is It Good For?

Good morning all. I hope none of the Clan are directly caught up in the complexities of war at the moment 😢

War is a terrible thing, though in some cases nations believe it becomes unavoidable. The recent actions involving the USA and Iran will no doubt be debated for years to come. Some see it as an attempt to destabilise a regime; others see it as escalation to WW3 .

Whatever the politics, the reality is that conflict brings serious consequences. One can only hope tensions ease quickly and that the world can return to some form of normality. Sadly, that may be optimistic — war destroys lives, and far too often it is ordinary citizens who suffer most. 🤔

I’m not sure Donald is even aware that the Dubai World Cup and Cheltenham are around the corner!

In hindsight, perhaps the Greenland idea might have been the safer option. We may have lost a couple of Harness meetings from Sweden 😉

The chances of a Peace Prize for Donald look slim now — and the Literature Prize was never really on the cards anyway.

On the Local Front

These endless commissions are starting to drive me mad, and the latest Ad Hoc process feels like something of a farce.

The judicial system appears broken, SAPS remains plagued by corruption, and one can’t help but feel that many of these reports will end up gathering dust — much like the findings of the Zondo Commission.

O’Sullivan eventually managed to escape the saga, though he remains a deeply unpopular figure among many of our so-called honourable Members of Parliament.

Sports

On a more positive note, my Hearts prediction worked out nicely. They’re now back to favourites after drifting out to 7/2 last week.

The Rangers vs Celtic draw also came through, although it was a strange match. At one point I got the impression the teams must have swapped shirts at half-time! 🤣

Local Racing

This weekend’s racing looks excellent.

Friday: Port Elizabeth


Saturday: Classic Day – a cracking card.

I’ll be heading to the races with George, and we have a few runners among friends of ours to cheer on.

Some Early Thoughts

Hoping for a big improvement from Northern European for George at a big price.

World Attraction looks the MDK star in the ATCs.

Hazy Dazy probably sets the standard, but Golden Palm can never be ignored — perhaps it was ridden a little too positively last time and needs held up ?

I’ll stick with Jan Van Goyen, though Trust looks the obvious danger.

See It Again vs Real Prince promises to be a fascinating clash.

And don’t forget William Robertson — a serious horse who must be included in calculations.


Just check the weather and low draws not good in sprints .

Cheltenham Is Almost Here

Just a few days to go until one of my favourite meetings of the year. We’ve opened a dedicated Cheltenham thread on the site and the excitement is building.

Early Notes:

Day One

Old Park Star

Kopek Des Bordes vs Lulamba

The New Lion,
Lossiemouth and
Brighterdaysahead in the Champion Hurdle

Day Two

Final Demand

Stumptown

Majborough vs Il Etait Temps in the Champion Chase

Majborough may be the best horse, but I’ll be cheering for the Hollywood runner.

Day Three

Bambino Fever

Wodhooh

Teahupoo

Fact To File vs Gaelic Warrior

Day Four

Dinoblue

Doctor Steinberg

Galopin Des Champs

Our UK trip might face a bit of disruption depending on flights through Qatar — we may yet end up stuck in the departure lounge for three days! 🤔

Until then, stay safe and good punting 👍

A rather fitting song for the times — sad, but perhaps realistic.










 

It's good for making Trump and his mates money and keeping us normal folk under the thumb when the cost of living goes up

very few wars are fought over idealogies. usually there are commercial considerations behind the scenes.

there are two key issues

firstly iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuculear weapon and clearly they are dangerously close to doing so. they have large amounts of enriched uranium bordering on weapons grade and have to be stopped. back in 1995 fw and mandela toured pelindaba and agreed the five war heads had to go as sa was not in need of them - neither is iran.

secondly the next big thing is energy. when i asked my erstwhile neighbour now in florida about a i a few years ago he told me the issue was every state in the us would need a nuclear power station to keep up with the demand created by the data processing centres. trump was clearly briefed before the election and promised to drill baby drill. having just secured the largest oil reserves on the planet in venezuela he has now moved to secure the only middle eastern producer not in the usa camp. this will leave the usa controlling a massive proportion of global reserves. an additional bonus is venezuelas biggest three customers were china russia and cuba who now need to look elsewhere for oil - ditto iran. putting an energy squeeze on china will cause way more damage to their economy than a few tarriffs and a trade war. so two birds with one stone - secures global energy supply a i needs to function and gives china a real problem at the same time.

Well summed up Jim, and goes with DJT America first promise 👏

Jim, Iran were never going to make a nuclear bomb....the Khameini made a religious Fatwa against nuclear weapons. Secondly, why not get a nuclear bomb.... it makes you safe from aggressors with grandiose designs on growing their Zionist state. Does anyone bother North Korea?

Dave, Industrial Military Complex benefit ALL THE WAY to the bank...every time a missile flies through the air they clap and cheer and sing 'another order , another order'

And as you say the common citizen pays the price.