A look back at 2010
by Baron Halpenny, LincsMag Editor-in-Chief.
Date: 01 January 2011
So as we enter 2011, time to just have a look at a few points of 2010...
Key shows in Lincolnshire
Three main events that LincsMag attended and reported on in 2010 were:
Lincolnshire Police Open Day, which was in fact for 2010, two events rolled into one, as Lincolnshire Police was hosting the 50th Police Dog Championships and coincided at the same time as their open day. This event that is free admission and a great day out for families, was a fantastic opportunity for the public to see what the Lincolnshire Police do, as well as seeing other organisations that attended the event.
The Lincolnshire Show was blessed with good weather, if not a little hot on the first day as several caught sunburn. The event went well and though I didn’t mention it in my article covering the event, I was annoyed at the number of stones that were littered around the showground.
As this is a purpose built area, I cannot see the reason for these stones and it caused a few to trip or stumble, even Rod Whiting from BBC Lincolnshire stumbled as he stepped back onto one as I was talking to him. Lets trust that they can clear that up for 2011.
RAF Waddington Air Show was the top event of Lincolnshire as once more it attracted visitors from around the country … and there were no stones to fall over here. The event was a success raising around £30,000 to benefit local charities close to the Lincolnshire air base.
Politics
2019 saw the political landscape change slightly across Lincolnshire as the country saw a hung government and quite simply the system looked a shambles with some no doubt probably wishing that the government could be literally hung (that feeling might become endemic if the economy goes into meltdown and the current cuts destroy services).
With regret the people in Lincolnshire did not back the Lincolnshire Independents, who would have made a real difference and broken the strangle hold of the old boy network … it could be something that they will deeply regret in the coming years.
Judicial joke, but the Public Aren’t Laughing
I warned in my summing up of 2009 that something had to be done about the Judicial system and highlighted in my article (here) the incompetence and corruption of the Judges that are now completely out of control and accountable to no one save their own crowd.
Through out 2010 we saw their perverted rulings and twisting of law to suit themselves, as I have personally seen, and sadly Paul Houston also encountered when Judges ruled that the killer of Houston’s little girl could stay in this country as deporting him would affect his human rights.
This was clear proof that the Human Rights Act was only brought in for the whim of the judicial system and lawyers and has nothing to do with protecting the innocent general public. The Human Rights Act was a tool to make lawyers yet more money and corrupt the legal system. 2011 will only see this get worse.
Snow Joke
Well the much published Lincoln Christmas Market was called off due to the heavy snow fall that affected the country, despite several German traders having made the journey. This snowfall also quickly showed how little prepared the authorities were and more alarmingly, how little money for even basic elements like grit had been allocated.
It begs the question just where is the money going? Especially with large salaries and bonuses being handed out and money found for pointless projects. And this in the face of massive cutbacks that are now being implemented and more being talked about on the horizon.
With all this and increases on fuel, VAT and anything else the government can think of (run by people who themselves are not short of a penny or two and clearly out of touch with the people), this does not bode well for 2011.
National Sport
On the larger front for sport, 2010 saw the World Cup in South Africa and how poorly our English team really is, where they proved they have more money than talent. It also showed the disgusting behaviour of Wayne Rooney who has been shown to think more of his own selfish gain and bank balance, than for the fans and his country.
In contrast the English Cricket Team flew the English Flag with pride, playing well and showing much more sportsman like behaviour, and true professionalism ... something sadly lacking from the footballers.
It’s hard to believe that these two teams were from the same country.
It has also been a good year for Golf and winning the Ryder Cup. Manx rider Mark Cavendish also flew the flag for Britain in the Tour de France. Though not the overall winner, he showed a fine performance and rounded off the Tour to win the final stage, Longjumeau to the Champs Elysees in Paris.
And at last for racing and Tony McCoy, who won the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Award 2010, which if you had read my Look Back 2009 Sport, was my choice for Sports Personality of the Year Award 2009.
I think his Grand National win on Don’t Push It, finally made the Award unavoidable. Congratulations Tony!
LincsMag
For LincsMag, 2010 saw several new Writers join the LincsMag Team and a new Motor Car Review Section with the talented motoring journalist, Tim Barnes-Clay joining our Staff.
2010 has been a very good year for the magazine as it has moved from strength to strength and we had our first birthday. For LincsMag, 2011 will be a good year as we continue to grow.
Overall
All in all 2010 was a mixed bag, but providing plenty of warning signs for 2011.
Politically and economically it does not look good and only a clean sweep of the “establishment” can help us as we clean out the deadwood and make the authorities, especially the judicial system, accountable to the people.
It’s time the incompetent, corrupt and perverted privileged few were purged from the system and their power removed. Will it happen? The answer is simply, no!
And so the train is heading at full speed into the buffers. 2011 could be the year that it ploughs into it! We just have to wait and see. Miracles may happen!
