Miracle on Loftus Road

Next to being an England supporter and a second-class white expat in Bermuda right now, there is nothing more miserable than being a long-suffering QPR supporter, especially when your teamed is rooted to the foot of the Championship.

But lo and behold, miracles really do happen at Christmas: Rangers today announced that the richest man in Britain – steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal – has brought a 20% stake in the club!That means along with fellow shareholder Bernie (Formula One) Ecclestone, those two have a net worth of about $40 billion which officially makes us the richest club in West London by about $20 billion.

It will have no effect on the forthcoming FA Cup tie with Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea next month, of course – maybe they should dispense with the football and throw wallets at each other in the centre circle – but the New Year sure looks a whole lot brighter.

Premier League here we come … and maybe in my lifetime!  

Disturbing power play

I agree with Vexed Bermoothes’ comments yesterday about the Cabinet shuffle. Very disturbing indeed. If Bermudians had any doubts about the direction Dr. Brown seems determined to be taking Bermuda, there can’t be any now. What was that old adage? Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely?

In his interview with the BBC yesterday morning, Dr. Brown indicated that the allegation of corruption at the BHC “will disappear, it will evaporate, now that the election is over.” 

Then, yesterday afternoon, he transferred responsibility for the judiciary and public prosecutions to his control at the Cabinet office. So, indeed, he’s probably correct. 

Rather than reform, we are seeing a consolidation of power. 

For further analysis of the election results, check out these maps of voting trends 2003-2007 by Kevin Mayall of AG Research.