Only the most London-centric (and I’m a Londoner) will be most surprised at Manchester’s winning the super casino. Manchester has a proven track record of making convincing bids for major event and leisure driven regeneration projects that are delivered on time, within budget and leave lasting legacies.

The industrial revolution started here in Manchester, enabling Britain to become the workshop of the world. Manchester is also first to deal with the hangover now that party’s over. East Manchester still has a long way to go; it lost 60 per cent of its jobs between 1975 and 1985; today 52 per cent remain benefit dependent; 20 per cent of its housing lies empty; many who bought their properties under right-to-buy now find that what they own is worth less than the mortgage they owe.

A few thousand miles away in China, the world’s workshop today, graduates struggle to avoid factory jobs because they’re better than that. In truth, we wouldn’t want to go back to being an industrial nation working long hours in poor conditions for low wages. So hurrah for the super casino and the lottery win it represents to east Manchester… but spare a thought for Blackpool.

Having said all that, I always thought Blackpool was a dead cert and they’re justifiably gutted. The town’s regeneration strategy is now in tatters – ‘“a huge blow” which leaves the ageing resort facing “an uncertain future”’ reports the Blackpool Gazette – and it’s hard to see what they’ll do now.

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A rather slow action thriller that runs away from its own occasional (and very clumsy) attempts to ask if it’s ever okay to do a little evil to stop a bigger evil or how easily the followers of such a doctrine might be corrupted by it. As with Schindler’s List, Munich shows Spielberg should stick to special effects.
A rather boring 4 out of 10.
Director: Steven Spielberg……Starring: Eric Bana…… Daniel Craig
Nick Broomfield’s Ghosts……Babel

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Silent Jack was never going to win Celebrity Big Brother and has nothing to say on Big Brother’s Big Mouth.

Some may think him brave to be here at all, given the anti-Goody sentiment. A tear may have formed in his eye at a demand he leave Jade. But I think he’s genuinely bewildered, with little idea of what’s going on.

After all shouldn’t he be comforting Jade in her safe house?
This posted via mobile via Flickr. Click the pic to see it large (there’s an ‘all-sizes’ tab for really large).

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I’m not easily moved to tears, but Nick Broomfield’s Ghosts did that trick. They were tears of shame. It’s a film that shows that imperialism is alive and well and that the relatively luxurious lifestyles we enjoy come at a high price to be paid by those born into foreign poverty.

These illegal Chinese immigrants did the jobs British people would rather not, for wages British people would not accept. They found themselves in meat factories (and we’re reminded that cruelty extends well beyond our treatment of other human beings); tempted into prostitution; working the land. Always they are treated with contempt.

Just days before 23