"Who are ya??"

I've just witnessed a cracking week of football.. a week where Arsenal did the 'double' over Man Utd ("Manure"..?). In what was the "blockbuster" weekend in the Premier League, Arsenal and Liverpool pulled off what they would call invaluable results. How Liverpool actually manage to win games really baffles me. They are just a richer version of Bolton with a Steven Gerrard. That's about it. How Arsenal continue to perform well against the top 3 and still remain 4th baffles me even more! This time, Manchester United showed the lack of concentration which I've only seen Arsenal possess in games against Sheffield Utd, West Ham and Bolton.

The biggest news of the week though, would be the announcement of the new President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) - Michel Platini. The French legend's helm is sure to be a stormy one, with reforms in the Champions League being promised. He also wants to impose salary caps - how that will be possible with players like Lampard, Ballack, Terry, Cole (Aren't they all at Chelsea?!) earning over a 100g (pounds) per week is really the big question. The main debate will be about the Champions League though.

Platini wants to trim the number of participants from the major nations (England, Italy and Spain) and trying to increase the number in the so called minor ones (Poland, Bulgaria). As far as I'm concerned - the current format is alright. If teams from Poland and Bulgaria start competing in the group stages, the knock out rounds will become down right boring. There will be no intrigue left in the competition which is really the best in terms of quality of football played in the world. The whole idea of "Champions League" will be spoilt. Teams which are weaker will be easier to play against for the big guns and in all honesty trying to reduce the number of 'big guns' will only reduce the quality of football.

The format of the Champions League already provides enough space for upsets to happen. We, as football fans really want to see Barca vs. Arsenal, Man Utd vs. Inter and Bayern vs. Liverpool - not Sparta Prague vs Wisla Krakow or Slovan Liberec vs. Legia Warsaw! Platini should consider other alternatives to improve football - not decrease the value of the Champions League. The teams which participate from England, Italy and Spain are top class, period.

If this proposal does get ratified, who knows what the G-14 of teams would do? Start a new competition for themselves? He better look at all these consequences before he pushes for such a radical change in European Football.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to all the Arsenal players who played against Man Utd. They never gave up and in particular Rosicky and Fabregas were outstanding. Van Persie made a huge impact and he really is the new 'Van the man'. Henry scored with his head, which is a really rare occurrence! The Arsenal fans were magnificent and after the 94th minute, they were chanting to Manchester United and their fans -- "WHO ARE YA?!" and rightly so!! We beat the Red 'Devils' twice this year and we deserve to celebrate 2 magnificent results!

A New Year.... Many New Problems....

When it was the 1st of January 2007, many people actually wanted to forget their problems and brush them under the carpet - under the illusion of a "new year". The end of last year was eventful - the beginning of this year seems like it's going to trump last year in terms of happenings in the world. That is just down right frightening.

I'm not one for politics - but unfortunately, politics does have its impact on society! So, then I have to discuss this particular issue. Capital Punishment.. the debate probably has been going on for decades. When a certain dictator was subject to this on 30th December, the world yet again opened this unfinished chapter. He probably deserved it at the end of the day, but the way things were carried out were not supposedly in the best of interests of all parties involved.

It is very peculiar this - when I thought the US had caught him, they would send him off to The Hague. That's what happened to Slobodan Milosevic. Instead he was tried by a court in his own country, which was inexperienced in dealing with such cases and was sentenced to death. Consistency in law is something every human deserves and I don't know why 2 dictators were dealt with so differently. They both were accused for genocide, weren't they?

Capital punishment still exists in 69 countries. Some countries have imposed a moratorium, some have abolished it altogether. Is it wrong? I don't think so. It should be used in the rarest of rare cases and must be used when a certain individual deserves it no matter what.

Laws are so strange in the sense that a man who has raped a woman and killed her might not be sentenced to death, but a man who has smuggled drugs into a country might be! That was a very very general statement because only a few countries actually do the latter. I remember watching a certain case on TV, where the man had raped and killed 40 odd women and he got a 'plea bargain' and didn't face death. That, in my opinion is the hypocrisy of law itself. Capital punishment should have been used in this case, and it wasn't.

A person should be sentenced to death for 2 things essentially:
1) For the extremity of his/her actions (obviously, against law) and
2) To show others not to try anything of that sort. Those are what I can say as a layman, I'm no lawyer. Abolition of capital punishment unfortunately is impossible. The EU has this rule wherein a country cannot become its member unless it scraps capital punishment. That is rather absurd.

Capital punishment should and probably will exist. The frequency and reasons for which it is used must however be correct. The consistency of the application of law also should be done properly. As far as I'm concerned, capital punishment should exist - but the frequency of its use should be restricted. Human Rights Activists can harp all they want about their facts, but how can a person live in a society which he has caused considerable damage to according to law?

About my title - every new year we make resolutions, resolutions which are supposed to change our lives and our society. We end up not doing anything and within a week feel "Ah, I might do it next year". Violence is on the rise, bloodshed is on the increase. Every time I turn to a news channel I see murders, mass murders and so many things which end up disturbing me. New Year? What New Year?

On an optimistic note though.. I hope everyone's New Year is prosperous. 2007 will be a great year for most of us.. as long as we don't watch the news often!