Grump, grump, grump

Lots of grumps today.

The Times, in its main story, is lamenting the fact that Britain's "Olympic heroes" will be scrambling for handouts - oh, sorry, "funding" is the current polite expression for scrounging.

Does the signal a switch from lamenting the soaring cost of the London Olympics?

If people want to play sport, good luck to them. I don't understand
why we should be pouring money into their pointless hobbies, while people are dying of cancer because the NHS says the drugs that will save them are too expensive, and others are dying of kidney failure because we don't have enough dialysis machines.

Should old folk who can't afford to heat their homes properly have to scrimp to pay their taxes, in the hope that it will help some guy from Willesden to cycle round a track faster than another guy from Pyongyang?

What's next? Well I see that David Beckham's
publicity people are managing to place him in some impressive locations. Becks to lead Olympic handover, Becks coaches toddlers, etc.

We're probably being softened up for the news of his knighthood.

What sort of message does that send to modern youngsters? How can we make a role model of a tattooed buffoon? Should we really telling young people that it's praiseworthy for them to deform themselves?