Was it my multi-blogged moan?

Was it my multi-blogged moan that un-locked my new blog http://sequels-and-trilogies.blogspot.com/ ?
I know that blogger took the full 20 days to un-lock a blog of a friend of mine. Now his block WAS highly political but there should be no difference.
Perhaps it was my genuine threat to move to wordpress?

Who knows?

Thank You blogger for acting quickly

Bob de Bilde

in reference to: Prequels, Sequels & Trilogies (view on Google Sidewiki)

Bob de Bilde gets his 15 minutes of fame...

on IS A C*NT...

http://isacunt.blogspot.com/2010/01/bob-de-bilde.html

Thanks to GOT & the crew

in reference to: Bob De Bilde (view on Google Sidewiki)

My Disgust at Blogger

Blogger has marked one of my blogs (Prequels, Sequels & Trilogies) as spam...

It will be deleted within 20 days if I do not lodge a review

WTF Blogger... I am seriously considering moving all my blogs to the more versatile Wordpress !

I am reposting this on ALL my other open blogs using the sidewikibar thingy!!!

in reference to: My Sony Ericsson Sucks: My Disgust at Blogger (view on Google Sidewiki)

UK firm slammed over World Cup 'stab vests' for fans

The company plans to sell the vests to fans attending this summer's African showpiece

A London-based security clothing company has been blasted for marketing a "stab-proof vest" for football fans planning to visit this summer's World Cup in South Africa.

With as many as 50 South Africans in the nation of 49 million people killed daily, according to official government statistics, security has been a key issue for tournament organizers.

According to South African police figures there were 18,148 murders in the year ending March 2009 and knives or sharp objects were used in about 52 percent of the deaths.

But the figures -- which show 50 percent of killings were the result of arguments or misunderstandings and 16 percent the consequence of another crime -- do not identify how many tourists were killed.

"We have shown our ability to safeguard events," Danny Jordaan, the CEO of South Africa's World Cup organizing committee, told CNN recently. "In 140 events since 1994 we've not seen a single incident. You could draw up a list of countries with that kind of record and find very few."

But Protektorvest, which sells its protective clothing online, said there was a high demand for personal protective clothing and there is no doubt that the risk is increasing at big events like the World Cup.

"Being a huge football fan I was planning my own journey to South Africa and came across a lot negative stories from friends living in Johannesburg and from the media," said owner Sascha Cutura.

"There was a story where a security company representing the German football team recommended that the team wear bullet-proof vests when moving outside the camp. This got me thinking about a solution for all people who feel extra personal protection is needed."

For around $70 Protektorvest offers fans a customized vest featuring their team's national flag or a slogan such as "Free Hugs." They will even deliver it free of charge to hotel rooms in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

But Mark Perryman of the London England Fans supporters' group, which represents thousands of fans traveling to the South Africa, dismissed the idea as "reckless, irresponsible and ill-informed."

He told CNN: "There's just been a very successful South African tour by England's cricket team accompanied by thousands of supporters and I've not seen a single story about fans being murdered, stabbed or car-jacked.

"Around 35,000 rugby fans also went there last year to follow the British Lions and there were no serious stories there either.

"Of course there is going to be the odd incident at any major sporting event but why is South Africa being demonized like this when it has successfully hosted a rugby world cup and a cricket world cup?

"I live in London which has its fair share of crime but I would be up in arms if an American company, for example, advertised stab vests for visitors planning to attend the 2012 Olympic Games."

He added that England supporters' groups have sought to allay any fears fans traveling to South Africa for the first time may have. "We receive regular updates from tournament organizers about security and are keeping in regular contact with the British Embassy and numerous South African charities involved with the event.

"But let's not forget South Africa has a huge tourism industry. Millions travel there without fear. This is an example of someone trying to make money by playing on people's fears."

The head of the South African Football Assciation Kirsten Nematandani told the country's Times newspaper "it was 'unfortunate' some foreign businesses had a negative outlook on South Africa and the safety and security of travelling fans."

He added: "These people are out of order and should be condemned by their own country's officials. We've never heard of such measures being taken before and there surely is no need for it."

England to face Egypt at Wembley in March

England will play a World Cup warm-up match against reigning African Cup of Nations champions Egypt in March.

The Wembley friendly will give Fabio Capello's men a chance to face a team with a similar style to Algeria, who are in England's group in South Africa.

Egypt failed to reach the World Cup finals after they were knocked out by Algeria in a dramatic one-off play-off.

It will be England's first match of the year, and the first time Egypt will have played at Wembley.

England have faced Egypt twice before, with the most recent meeting coming at the World Cup Finals in Italy 19 years ago when Sir Bobby Robson's side won 1-0.

And Capello feels Egypt, who have won the Cup of Nations six times, will give England some much-needed experience of facing north African opposition.

The Italian is also trying to arrange a friendly with Mexico in May, as a warm-up to the opening game against the United States on 12 June, before playing a final game, likely to be against Japan, at the end of a pre-tournament training camp in Austria.

Aston Villa 6-4 Blackburn

Aston Villa 6-4 Blackburn (agg 7-4)

Aston Villa battled back from a 30-minute horror show to reach the Carling Cup final after an extraordinary last-four, second leg with 10-man Blackburn.

Villa, 1-0 first-leg winners, were behind to a Nikola Kalinic brace before Stephen Warnock powered the ball home.

James Milner's penalty when Christopher Samba saw red, a Steven Nzonzi own goal a touch from Gabriel Agbonlahor and an Emile Heskey strike seemed to seal it.

Martin Olsson and Brett Emerton gave Rovers hope before Ashley Young scored.

Villa manager Martin O'Neill reached the League Cup final three times in four years when in charge at Leicester City but the presumption he would be heading to Wembley on 28 February was tested early on.

The visitors gave warning of their aerial threat when Morten Gamst Pedersen's flighted corner was tipped away by Brad Guzan with Samba lurking menacingly.

The goalkeeper, who has started all of Villa's cup ties this season, looked even more uncertain as the visitors took the lead.

David Dunn's corner tempted the American into an ill-advised attempt to punch the ball and Kalinic, who hit the post twice in the first leg, comfortably outmuscled Warnock to nod home.

Four of Kalinic's five goals since arriving at Ewood Park in the summer have now been in the League Cup and he forced James Collins into a lunging block after wriggling free down the left.

The Croatian then started and finished the move that put his side ahead for the first time in the tie.

After laying the ball into the path of Pedersen, Kalinic continued his run into the box and was on hand to tap home after Guzan had done well to push away Olsson's header.

Villa needed an immediate response to lift their fans and Warnock provided it inside four minutes, ruthlessly dispatching a finish after Ashley Young's cross cleared a tumbling Ryan Nelsen.

O'Neill delighted with Villa team

Blackburn felt that Nelson had been pushed by Agbonlahor before the ball made its way to Warnock, but referee Martin Atkinson allowed the goal to stand.

The momentum was with O'Neill's side and the match swung decisively the hosts' way as Agbonlahor's pace took him clear of Samba in the race for a long ball over the top.

The defender's desperate sliding challenge only succeeded in earning him a straight red card and conceding a spot-kick.

Milner confidently converted the penalty once Atkinson had waved away protests from Blackburn's players.

With Carlos Cuellar and Warnock pushing forward, Villa soon had the depleted Blackburn rearguard stretched.

Samba's absence was notable as his team-mates failed to deal with Downing's inswinging corner and Ngonzi put the ball into his own net just before Richard Dunne could.

Five minutes later, Milner's fierce shot deflected off the arm of the cowering Agbonlahor to beat Robinson's dive and prompt the unfurling of the free flags distributed to the home supporters.

Fuming Allardyce criticises referee

When Heskey was slipped in by Milner's cute pass and rounded Robinson to score, it appeared the tie would then turn into a procession but Olsson's strike kept the encounter competitive.

The young Swede flung himself into the air to send a spectacular overhead volley past Guzan before loudly exhorting more of the same from his side.

Robinson made superb saves from Heskey and Agbonlahor before Emerton's apparently harmless volley found its way past Guzan to breathe life into Blackburn's faint hopes with six minutes remaining.

However, the required onslaught never came and Young curled a finish past the outstretched Robinson to put Villa into their first final since the 2000 FA Cup.

Tragic Description

Happier times for Moustapha Salifou

We've all done it before, and described a defeat as a disaster, a calamity and worst of all - a tragedy. Well shame on all of us.

Those descriptive words are often thrown into match reports and terrace chats to explain losses. With the events of the past few days, it is easy to understand why so many people think they are inappropriate when discussing sporting matters.

Fans are understandably sad for a day or two after a heavy loss but even if you're a hardened supporter who takes every bad pass to heart, you're still back for more in the following days and weeks.

But try explaining the latest "devastating" defeat to the families of the murdered Togo team members. It's fairly obvious what response you'd get.

The horrific incident on that Angolan road has shocked the world - an assistant manager, press officer and coach driver gunned down as they travelled with their national football team to a prestigious tournament. It beggars belief.

One minute you're discussing tactics, briefing the media or simply getting your road bearings and the next you're breathing your last breath. Give me a missed penalty any day.

What must Moustapha Salifou - a squad player at Aston Villa - have been thinking when the bullets reined in on the coach. As he explained in his own words over the weekend, it was like being in a movie.

Despite being a crowd favourite, 'Daddy Cool' Moustapha has been on the fringes of things at Villa park. He's impressed in cup games in claret and blue - notably the 1-0 victory over Slavia Prague - but is yet to start a match in the Barclays Premier League.

Now I'm sure there have been times when he's probably been frustrated with his lack of first team action. But I guarantee his appearance record is of no consequence at the moment.

Instead of burying a chance, he's burying his friends.

It was the great Bill Shankly who once said football was more important than life and death, but he was wrong.

At the end of the day football, no matter how much our petty rivalries escalate it, is just a game.

Those events in Angola pale football, or indeed any sport, into insignificance when compared to the value of a life.

Togo head home as Africa Cup of Nations gets under way

Mali's players observe a minute's silence ahead of their 4-4 draw against Angola

Togo's footballers flew home from the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday as the tournament got under way in Angola.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) confirmed the team were leaving after Friday's gun attack on their team bus which killed three people.

Last-ditch efforts to persuade Togo to stay and play on came to nothing.

As he boarded the plane in Cabinda on Sunday, team captain Emmanuel Adebayor said: "We have to mourn our dead. We go back home to do this."

Togo sports minister Christophe Padumhokou Tchao, who accompanied the team home, said three days of mourning had been declared in his homeland.

"We can't be in a period of mourning and at the same time be in a festival of sport," he said

But even as hosts Angola prepared to play Mali in the opening game, reports claimed that negotiations to keep Togo in the tournament were continuing.

However, as that match kicked off at 1900 GMT, the team were heading for the airport, and their flight to Lome took off at 2040.

Togo's prime minister Gilbert Houngbo had repeated his insistence earlier on Sunday that the team should quit the competition over security fears.

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos condemned the attack in the tournament's opening ceremony in Luanda, and a minute's silence was observed.

Angola were 4-0 up against in the opening match but Mali fought back to claim a 4-4 draw.

The attack on Togo's convoy in the northern enclave of Cabinda killed an assistant coach, press officer and bus driver, and injured several other players.

Striker Adebayor, who plays in the Premier League with Manchester City, had previously said the team thought that life should go on and they did not want to be seen as ruining the tournament.

However, following further consultations with Togo government officials, he accepted the authorities' wishes.

He said: "This Friday at 1430, we were all dead on that bus. We sent our last messages to our families. We called our family to say our last words. I told myself: 'If you're still there on the ground in Angola, why not (play)?'

"The authorities decided we should return (home), so we will return."

Adebayor also revealed he spoke to members of the Ivory Coast and Ghana camps, two of the three other teams in their group - Burkina Faso being the fourth.

"They expressed their support by saying they were ready to leave the competition if we did," he said.

"(But) at the end of the day, we realised that they were ready to continue. It is still a continent where a World Cup will take place in South Africa.

"If we speak of the dead, the competition should have been cancelled. But the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has decided otherwise.

"We're going back and we wish good luck to those who will remain, especially to Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Ghana.

"What I have told their leaders is that they may be attacked at any time in Cabinda. I hope they will be cautious."

Team-mate Thomas Dossevi said part of the players' motivation for wanting to stay was to honour those killed, and French paper L'Equipe quoted another player Alaixys Romao as saying the team would not "leave like cowards".

Earlier, Houngbo said while he understood the feelings of the players and believed the competition should go ahead, the government stood by its decision to call the team back to Togo and had sent a plane to collect them.

"We took into account their last-minute change of mind," Houngbo told the BBC. "Up to midnight last night, they were all unanimous that they wanted to come back."After the delegation that we sent to visit them left, then they had another meeting and all of a sudden they changed their mind and we do respect that.

"But we explained to them through their captain, Adebayor, that in memory of those who had lost their lives, we also need to take into account what the families also think is the best way to pay tribute to them."

Houngbo criticised Caf, claiming it had not given Togo any information to assess the security situation after the attack.

"So far we did not even have a single call, even a call of sympathy, from Caf," he said.

"We do not even have information that will allow us to have an assessment from a security standpoint, taking into account what has happened."

Togo were due to play Ghana, who have confirmed they will remain in the tournament, in Cabinda in their first match on Monday.

The Togolese government has demanded Angola explain why it was not warned of the dangers of travel in Cabinda, where the bus was ambushed.

Angolan officials had earlier expressed surprise that the team had travelled there by road from their base in the Republic of Congo.

Togo's stance changed several times amid intense negotiations, with Dossevi quoted as saying that the players wanted "to show our national colours, our values and that we are men".

Caf had already said it understood Togo's initial decision to withdraw, but that the six other matches scheduled to be played in Cabinda would go ahead.

In Friday's attack, gunmen opened fire on the team bus shortly after it had crossed from the Republic of Congo into Cabinda.

Togolese officials said the driver had died at the scene, while media officer Stanislas Ocloo and assistant coach Amalete Abalo died later in hospital.

Reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale, who was shot twice, was flown to a hospital in South Africa and remains in a critical but stable condition.

The separatist rebel Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (Flec), which has fought for independence for several decades but entered into a ceasefire in 2006, claimed responsibility for the attack.

CAF president Issa Hayatou said he had received a guarantee from the Angolan government that security would be increased for all teams and at all venues.

Hull manager Phil Brown wants African players home

Hull boss Phil Brown has led calls for Premier League players at the Africa Cup of Nations to return home after the Togo bus came under gunfire in Angola.

The coach driver was killed in Friday's attack, while two Togo players were also shot and injured.

Hull's Gabon striker Daniel Cousin and Nigerian midfielder Seyi Olofinjana are among numerous Premier League players in Africa for the tournament.

And Brown told The Sun: "I have two players on duty and I want them home."

Defender Serge Akakpo and reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale were hit in the sustained attack while several other players required hospital treatment and were later seen with bandages on legs, hands and faces.

Togo captain and Manchester City striker Emanuel Adebayor, who was on the coach but emerged unharmed, says the team is considering whether to withdraw from the tournament, although organisers insist the competition, which begins on Sunday when host nation Angola play Mali, will go on.

But Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who does not have any players at the tournament, said: "It's frightening. It's worth considering calling the whole thing off. We can't just sit around and wait for the next shooting."

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill expressed his shock at the incident but was relieved his midfielder Moustapha Salifou was not among the injured.

"The club have been in contact with him and he has reassured us that he is okay but he is extremely shocked and upset, which he would be in these circumstances."

Portsmouth have four players at the tournament and club spokesman Gary Double said they had sought reassurance from the English Football Association and world governing body Fifa about their players' security.

"Our players' safety is paramount and if that can't be guaranteed the players should be sent home," he said.