Things I want see and hear less of in 2008

As 2007 draws to an end, there is much to reflect on. It’s been a rollercoaster year with uncertainty surrounding the many aspects of life here as well as the state of the world in general. Personally, there have been few highs for me this year. The year did end with one piece of good news which helped to soften the blows I have endured in the past 12 months. (Read my review to find out what it is).

Here are some of the things that have annoyed me most in 2007 and I am hoping that I see or hear less of these things in 2008. However, I suspect my wishes will be in vein as the depressing rollercoaster that is the 24-hour news media will ensure that these people and stories will feature quite frequently in our radios, newspapers and televisions.

Gordon brown has used every excuse in the book to distance himself from things that have gone pear shaped since he took over. Initially Labour people wanted us to look at GB from June because they were keen to draw a line on the Blair years. Given what had gone on since then under his watch, they are probably wishing Blair was back.
What we know is that Brown was an integral part of everything Blair did and he can’t just sweep the horrors of the Blair administration under the carpet and pretend he had nothing to do with it.
Time for some substance now Mr Brown.

Please spare us from those self-appointed Muslim leaders who are frequently called on by the media to give us their views of Muslims and issues effecting Muslims.

Less about Madeline McCann please! As much I feel for the loss of this girl, I have always suspected something is not quite right about this. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it's all a bit strange.

Less talk about climate change please! We are not stupid and if people don’t stop exaggerating this matter to the point where we will not be able to breath without a tax being added in the name of change, fewer and fewer people will care about what is a serious issue. We understand that things need to be done and habits need to change but taxing us out of our pockets is not the way forward.

No more repeats on TV, especially the BBC. The licence fee is one of the biggest stealth taxes and I am not paying it anymore. Mind you, repeats of ‘Only Fools’ are well worth it even after all these years.

The return of the dreadful 5 has been lauded in some quarters but I see nothing in them today that I failed to note during their nauseating years 'singing' some awful songs that still give people nightmares. They have become completely irrelevant for many reasons not least because ‘Baby Spice’ is at least 10 years older, ‘Scary’ is a nightmare, ‘Ginger’ is…a ‘minger’, ‘Posh’ is anything but that and I cant even remember what the other one is called.

God help us all if the clueless and controversial Channel 4 chose to run any more of the mind-numbing tedium that is the Big Brother show.

Less gas from Chelsea fans. Your constant moaning and excuses are wearing thin. Who cares about your injury list and players going off to play in the African Nations Cup. You have spent hundreds of millions of pounds in recent years, damaging the football economy with your inflated prices for mediocre players. You know you can buy your way out of trouble and given that luxury, you have little to moan about. Shut it in 2008.