Who Is Going To Win British Big Brother?

After 11 series on Channel 4, I must admit I was worried that this series on Channel 5 might disappoint. But I'm absolutely loving it, from the great tasks to the interesting mix of housemates.

So who's going to win? Well, let's take a look at the candidates;

When I saw and heard Aaron on the opening night, I thought 'Oh my God, what an absolute tool'. But he's really grown on me, as time has gone on. He's the most interesting of all the housemates, because he's a real thinker - and game-player. He's almost as deep as Marcus Akin, who for me was the most interesting housemate of all time. Make no mistake, Aaron's in it to win the money for his son, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Who does he remind you of, from Big Brother's past? That's right, Nasty Nick. He looks a bit like him, and they've got a lot in common. Aaron has a streak of emotion in him, but almost everything he does is calculated. He learns as events unfold, and changes his act accordingly. You didn't really believe he was ever going home after the thing with Maisy, did you? Like Nasty Nick would have done, he went away and thought about it for a while, and then came back with measured responses for Tom, Faye and others, saying just the right thing to get them onside, and minimise damage. And he made himself the centre of attention for a while, didn't he? He knows that he isn't going anywhere tomorrow night, but the excellent Brian Dowling might make him sweat a bit, before revealing he's safe.

Aaron's clever, and will adapt his game as time goes on. Like Nasty Nick, he's got a subtle mean streak, and is capable of a bit of trickery, later on. But is he entertaining enough to win?

Aden - baseball-capped rap child. He's got an aggressive streak, but behind the bravado is an insecure young kid. Has moped about, since nasty, false Rebeckah left. He couldn't see that she was using him to try and stay in, and she'll use him on the outside too for magazine deals, if he isn't careful. The aggressive streak means he can't win.

Alex, that's her on the left. Quite a nice soul, but a bit shallow, a bit of an airhead. Can't win - is outgunned by the other girls on both looks and personality.

Anton - reformed gang member dude. You have to admire anyone who's chosen a better path in life, but make no mistake, there's a real nasty piece of work in there. As time goes on, he's going to struggle more and more to keep his true confrontational nature in check. I wonder how long he can keep the tape across his mouth? Can't win - too in-your-face.

Faye -  a quiet one, rather insecure too. What on Earth was it all about with Aaron? She was a bit withdrawn to begin with, so he felt a bit sorry for her, and told her that he liked her. She misinterpreted that, as an insecure young girl might, and it was the crime of the century when he kissed Maisy. He eventually said exactly the right things to get Faye back onside, and will use her affection for him to his advantage later on. She can't win - not engaging enough, doesn't do enough, too naive and shallow.

Harry - I disliked him on opening night, but I must admit, he's quite grown on me. He's interesting, and isn't afraid to speak his mind in a non-offensive way. A bit of a dark horse, might up his game a bit, but I don't think that a quiet-ish bisexual fox hunter can win.

Heaven, on the left, there. Will probably be evicted tomorrow. Her spiritualist approach to life does hold some interest, but too much of anything isn't a good thing. Won't last long, even if by some slim chance, she stays in tomorrow night.

Jay - a Newcastle man's man. When I first saw and heard him on opening night, I thought he was going to be trouble. But he's really grown on me. He genuinely cares about people, and has become a leader of sorts. He's a game-player too, and I think he's already cleverly using his Wolf Pack group to pick the outsiders off, by very subtlely encouraging others to nominate a target. I thought Tashie was his first target, because he thought she might be a candidate to win.

Who does he remind you of, from Big Brother's past? That's right, Johnny from Big Brother 3. There's a bit of Jason in him, as well. Make no mistake, Jay's got a real nasty streak in him, but he's shrewd, and will keep it in check to the end.

He swears a bit too much for me, but could win, if he ups his game a bit. Trouble is, Johnny and Jason both finished second....
 

Louise, in the middle, there. A bit quiet, but will come out of her shell more and more, as time goes on. I wonder if she's planning it that way, playing it non-controversial until the field narrows a bit. She's much cleverer than she comes across, and there's something engaging about her. I think she'll emerge as the top girl as time goes on, much in the same way that Kate Lawler did. And if she ups her game, like I think she will, maybe she has the looks and personality to pip the leading boys, like Kate did.

Maisy. Comes across as a tiny bit of a dumb blonde at times, but she's much sharper than she looks. I think her look is self-designed to win the big young vote, including her bottled blonde hair. She's a bit of a game-player too, and will try to use situations to her advantage. I think she did that with the Aaron situation. But she's a bit too quiet, doesn't do enough, and will have to really up her game to make the final.

Mark - clever dude. He's in it to win, he's trying to win. Tries hard to entertain, but a bit too hard at times, makes it too obvious. Thinks his mad inner world will get him to the final. Secretly fancies Aaron, I think, which might eventually be his undoing. Could well make the final, but he lacks a bit of substance, so will have to come up with, or be involved in, something a bit special to have a chance.

Tom - bisexual geek. I quite liked him on opening night, but now, I can't stand to watch him. He thinks far too much of himself, in reality he's immature and naive. What was all that aggression about Aaron leading him on? That's not what I saw.

Tom's a cross between Marco and Sam Pepper, and that's dangerous. He's capable of being spiteful, and will spread lies and malicious gossip to turn people against each other. Eventually, he'll be caught out, once too often. Can't make the final.


So who's going to win?

Aden, Alex, Anton, Faye, Heaven, Harry and Tom can't win. So that leaves Aaron, Jay, Louise, Maisy and Mark. Jay's the biggest personality, and will entertain. Aaron's the clever one. Louise is going to emerge from the pack. Quiet, non-controversial girls who make a bit of an effort at the end can win, look at Rachel Rice and Sophie Reade. I'm not sure that Jay could have won on Channel 4, but he might on Channel 5, especially in the year Paddy Docherty won Celebrity Big Brother. So at the moment, I've got;

1. Jay.
2. Louise.
3. Aaron.
4. Mark.
5. Maisy.

For updates on this story, please visit http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/10/whos-going-to-win-british-big-brother.html and http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/10/british-big-brother-nominations-update.html

Ed Miliband Slates Big Brother - What Is He Doing?

I just heard from two sources that Labour Party leader Ed Miliband openly slated British Big Brother on Radio 5.

To be honest, I had low expectations for the new series of BB, after it switched from Channel 4 to Channel 5. But I'm glad to say I'm loving it, from the great tasks to the interesting mix of contestants. So much so, in fact, that I'm going to start blogging about it soon.

Why would a political leader slate a popular reality TV show, especially when in opposition, and chasing votes? This can only lose him a few million votes, rather than gain any. What on Earth was he thinking about? And I wonder if his big brother David would have done it?


For a discussion on the credibility of the British Labour Party, check out http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/09/are-british-labour-party-credible.html

Are The British Labour Party Credible Anymore?

Ed Miliband - he seems like a nice guy, and knowledgeable too - but I thought his brother David had more depth and charisma. Ed's currently speaking at the British Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. It's taken him a year to start saying what he might do if he were in Government. They're going to be frugal, apparently, and manage money better, in a brand new economy.

But here's the problem. Twice in my lifetime, Labour has been in power.

In the 1970's, Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan presided over borrowing from the IMF to bail Britain out, sterling being devalued, the miners' strike, the power cuts and the three day week. Then Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government sorted it all out, in what proved to be the greatest boom in prosperity for both the middle and working classes.

And then, starting in 1997, Labour had another go. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown eventually left us crippled with debt, using the same tax and spend policies that Wilson and Callaghan used. And now, David Cameron's Conservative Government is left to try and pick up the pieces.

Although I do appreciate that the global economy played its part, you have to ask yourself a question. If you employed someone twice, and they messed everything up, would you employ them again?

Of course you wouldn't. And that's why the British Labour Party just isn't credible anymore. I don't believe a single word they say. Which is a shame.


And for a shocking update on Ed Miliband, check out http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/09/ed-miliband-slates-big-brother-what-is.html

Updated Review of 'Intrepid' by Rick Friedman (James Mason Community Book Club)

Here is Rick Friedman's updated (and astonishing) review of my novel 'Intrepid';

'BRILLIANT AND THRILLING AND SO WELL WRITTEN, Intrepid is not your typical thriller - Steve Stone proves that he is many notches above your average writer with his superb plot - very well constructed characters and locations that jump right out at you - a must read series.

Quite an ingenious plot - but can the book live up to the promise? The answer is a resounding YES!!! Steve Stone has produced a novel so full of superb characters, unique locales and gadgets, and most important - characters so finely drawn that the reader is literally plunged into his world. And what a world it is! The immense skills of Mr. Stone allow him to combine so many elements to create ..not so much a novel ..but an experience.

Lance Tucker and especially Jack Nelson are two characters so original and memorable that they serve as the anchor for this must read adventure. One can only be grateful that this is the first in the Intrepid series - as the world created by Mr. Stone is one any reader will want to return to!' RICK FRIEDMAN, FOUNDER, THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB

My Review of 'On The Run With Buddha' by E.N.J. Carter

Dante Carpenter - armchair Buddhist and family-inspired wannabe Hells Angel, turned relief worker - is on the run for a crime he did not commit, after a situation at a brutal post-Vietnam refugee camp goes wrong.

From Manila, around the Pacific Rim to the sordid and often dangerous streets of Bangkok, Dante lurches from crisis to crisis, surviving when perhaps he probably shouldn't. Back in America, a group of super-rich, power-mad businessmen are hatching a plot to wreak a terrible revenge on Japan for old war crimes, and the competitive cost of the emergence of the Japanese economy. As world events overtake him, Dante slowly realises that he is being implicated in that plot. As half the world's police forces, intelligence agencies and ruthless bounty hunters join the chase for his blood, only his student understanding of Buddhism keeps him going.

But then remembering his past, Dante begins to fight back. In the end, his friends and enemies converge, in a vast concurrence of causes and conditions, as everything threatens to change and pass away.........



Carter's character development is as outstanding as his fantastically detailed knowledge of the locations involved, and the politics of the region. I was left wondering if it is any coincidence that 'Carpenter' is a product of the words 'Carter' and 'pen'..........

Review of 'Intrepid' by Rick Friedman (James Mason Community Book Club)

Check out this review of my novel 'Intrepid', by Rick Friedman;

'BRILLIANT AND THRILLING AND SO WELL WRITTEN, Intrepid is not your typical thriller - Steve Stone proves that he is many notches above your average writer with his superb plot - very well constructed characters and locations that jump right out at you - a must read series.' RICK FRIEDMAN, FOUNDER, THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB

For an updated and more detailed review by Rick, please visit;
http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/09/updated-review-of-intrepid-by-rick.html

Review of 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', by S.J.Wist (Fantasy Cookie).

Check out the review of my novel 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', by Fantasy Cookie's S.J. Wist;

'The stages for The Two Storms are set. One is a political one when the Russian and American Presidents are shot, the other is a devastating hurricane.

'As with reading any sequel I always set the bar higher, and for this one I wasn't disappointed. The characters all fall into place and are easy to keep up with. Confronting a hurricane with a neutron bomb from a B-2 Spirit gets serious cool points as well. Going against mother nature comes with an awesome sense of class this round. But first the Intrepid crew will have to survive another attempt at time travel to get behind the storms with enough time in their hands to prevent them.

'After that, saving the world from a Cold War comes down to taking on street gangs to get to bottom of who The Chinaman is, and just as importantly, who he is working for. I was left right up to the very end trying to figure out the mysteries of identities here. I will read on to Intrepid - Revelations.'

S.J. Wist.
Fantasy Cookie.

For a further review of 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', see; http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/martin-ince-review-of-novel-intrepid.html

This novel is the second in a series of four. 'Intrepid - Revelations' is due out Jan 2012.

For reviews of 'Intrepid', the first novel in the series, and a top 100 Kindle bestseller in science fiction, military and war, see; http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-novel-intrepid-by-martin-ince.html, and http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-of-intrepid-by-sj-wist-fantasy.html

If you're interested in acquiring the 'Intrepid' books on paperback or electronically, you'll find all the purchase links at the top of this blog.

My car radio nightmare.....

I thought I would share this funny personal story with you, that has a weird connection with my novels;

A couple of months or so ago, I finished writing 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', the second novel in my four-book series. Amongst other challenges, my protagonist Commander Lance Tucker has just twelve minutes to solve a riddle and obtain a four-figure code, or face certain death.

Just after the novel was released, I took my Rover 75 Classic to the garage for its British M.O.T. test. During the test, they disconnected the battery for safety reasons, thereby cutting power to the car radio. To hear the radio again, I had to input a four-figure code - but have lost the piece of paper the code is written on.

I'm currently trying to remember the code, and have had many attempts at inputting it. I know the code has a 4 and a 1 in it, but can't remember the position of these figures, or which way round they were.

Isn't it weird that I now face the same challenge as my protagonist? No riddle to solve, of course, or certain death outcome, and I have a lot more than twelve minutes to find the right code....

Magic Mourinho Plays Real Madrid Friendly Game - Against 109 Kids!

I have to say that Jose Mourinho is probably the best football manager in the world. I'd love to see 'The Special One' as England manager, one day.

On a pre-season tour, his current side Real Madrid have been consistently demolishing Chinese League opposition, so he thought he'd set his players a new, and very different soccer challenge - a friendly game against 109 kids!

Many of the Real players looked bemused, as they battled hordes of youngsters for the ball. The kids forced three saves out of the keeper in the first half, but Real led 2-0 at half-time, courtesy of a great free kick, and a shot from a good cross, which was deflected off a poor kid's face. The kids got one back in the second half, but Real won the game 2-1.

Sheer magic - check out the video highlights at http://t.co/LoywHEB

What do we reckon about........ Derek Acorah?

He's informative and entertaining, I'll give him that. Who could forget his legendary rant, whilst allegedly possessed at Manchester's Brannigans night club, during his run on Living TV's 'Most Haunted'. "My name is Godfrey Parks.... my name is Godfrey Parks.... I will damage you!"

During his tenure as a medium with 'Most Haunted', he was probably the main influence in turning me from 95% sceptic in 2000, to 95% believer by 2010. But does he really possess a gift enabling him to communicate with the other side, or is it all just acting? Do those names, and the facts and figures he couldn't possibly know come from Sam, his alleged spirit guide, or from research and hearsay?

On 'Most Haunted', he regularly came up with a mass of information related to places, and people associated with them, allegedly without knowing where he was going in advance. But the bubble burst during the sixth series of the show, when he became possessed by Kreed Kafer (at Bodmin Gaol), and Rik Eedles (at Prideaux Place).

It turned out that the names had been made up by the excellent parapsychologist Ciaran O'Keeffe, and fed to Derek prior to filming. Kreed Kafer is anagram of 'faker Derek', and Rik Eedles is an anagram of 'Derek lies'. And during a ghost hunt I attended with my wife, Debi at Avebury's Red Lion Inn, Mark Webb of ITV's 'Haunted Homes' told us in no uncertain terms that Derek knew where he was going, prior to the visit of 'Most Haunted' to the location.

Sadly, Debi stopped watching 'Most Haunted' after that, but I continued viewing to the end of the final series in 2010. You see, I still believe that Derek Acorah does indeed have a special gift of some sort - so many of the predictions he has made in magazine columns have come true, and numerous of his historical insights are very difficult, or even impossible to find in the public domain. So why did he make up the two 'possessions' above?

The answer lies, I think, with my late friend Leo 'The Hat' McMackin. Leo was a fantastic 8-ball pool player, he gave exhibitions all over the country, and played for the Northern Ireland pool team for over 20 years. But as wonderful as his exhibitions were, now and again things didn't go so well, and Leo once confessed to me that if he felt under pressure to perform, he would "cheat just a little bit...."

I can't say fairer than that.




If you enjoyed reading this, please take a look at my science fiction adventure novels, via the links at the top of this page.

Check out the multiple choice 'Intrepid' quiz on Goodreads! You could win a special prize!

Go to http://t.co/eDjmIb3 to begin the 'Intrepid' quiz. There are 25 multiple choice questions. Most are general knowledge, some are intuitive, and the answers to one or two are contained within free downloads of the 'Intrepid' series of novels, available from Goodreads at http://t.co/0AUkZCe

The highest score, subject to tiebreaker rules if required, will win a free signed copy of the third novel in the series 'Intrepid - Revelations', including free home delivery. Highest score to the date above is 14/25.

The first question is reproduced below - do you know the answer? 

Like all of the space shuttles in the now retired fleet, the futuristic space shuttle 'Intrepid' is named after a well-known....?

 Airship
 James Bond movie
 Sailing ship
 Geological Moon feature 

The worst jokes in history................ worse still?

Alex Shaw and I warned you that the jokes would deteriorate still further if you didn't buy our books.

Some of you still haven't coughed up for our masterpieces, so here is the latest, as tweeted between us;

Steve: Why are all Exxon price rises the same?
Alex: I do not know, Steven, why are all Exxon price rises the same?
Steve: Because they are all oil-hike.

For my top 100 Kindle bestselling series of science fiction adventure novels, from just $1.99 (or £1.20), please use the links at the top of this page.

For Alex's series of special forces thrillers, please visit http://alexwshaw.com/

Please buy our books now, before the jokes make this year's Christmas stocking, and EVERYONE sees them....

And for the original worst jokes in history, please visit
http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/worst-jokes-in-history-even-worse.html and
http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/worst-two-jokes-in-history.html

What do we reckon about.... Barack Obama?

You've got to admit it, he's really got something, hasn't he? What is it that makes him so special?

It's not his electric smile. It's not his liking for classic suits. It's not his crisp collars, and sharp ties.

It's the way he engages people. He's on a very short list for the greatest orator of all time. I'm an English guy, and I don't sit with his political alignment, but I was absolutely  transfixed by his electrifying inauguration speech, glued to the television in a way that I hadn't been in almost 14 years - and he's a better communicator than even the late Johnnie Cochran.

I was equally captivated by his wonderful speech in Dublin. When he speaks, you feel you've got to put your cup of tea to one side, sit down, and listen. It's not just about his style of communication, it's about technique as well. Have you ever noticed that when he's making a key point, he starts a few sentences in a row with the same words? It's a technique that secures your attention. It's a technique that conveys authority. It's a technique that adds power to his message....

When I consider Barack Obama, I sometimes think of him as the modern-day John F. Kennedy, who was also a highly gifted orator. Like Kennedy, Obama came to power at a time of economic challenge, global security concerns, and a tough foreign policy agenda. Like Kennedy, his message is one of eternal hope, for the American people, and for all the peoples of the world. And like Kennedy, he isn't afraid to take risks in pursuit of his goals, and his engagement of the masses.

His risk acceptance isn't just about the incredibly brave decision he took when Osama Bin Laden was eventually found - a judgement call that will almost certainly see him re-elected. I remember in Dublin, when he strolled amongst the crowd - his security men looked as though they were having kittens, but he shook lots of hands, and found the time to talk to a girl's mother on a mobile phone. What a great touch that was, and he took the risk of mingling with the crowd to convey his strongest message of all - he's Barack Obama, with the people, for the people. Come to think of it, that might make a great 2012 campaign slogan!

He makes you feel that he's willing to take any action, accept any risk, if it will make the world a better, safer place. And he makes you feel that he's trying to bring the peoples of the world closer together.

There can be no greater goal. Can we endorse him?

Yes, we can....



Now like me, Barack Obama is a writer. If you enjoyed reading this, please take a moment to look at my series of science fiction adventure novels, through the links at the top of this page, and at http://steven-stone.blogspot.com/

What do we reckon about.... rising fuel and energy prices? Lights out - a shocking update

A quick update to my original post on this, blaming collusion between the major petroleum and energy companies for artificially high prices.

This week, my local Borough Council put signs up on many major roads, announcing that street lights were being permanently switched off, to 'save energy'. Yellow-jacketed men soon appeared on the roads, opening up the metal panels on the lamp posts, to pull the plug. Major connecting roads from the local motorway, and routes running through housing estates and supporting facilities are unaffected, but many tree-lined roads linking local populated areas are now dark.

The local Council took the action in response to the latest round of price increases (16%, following an increase of 7% at the end of 2010!) by the record profit-making electricity companies in England. Surely it can't be right to allow these companies to do whatever they like with prices that directly impact road safety? Already, many people, young and old are looking forward with trepidation to the coming winter, wondering how they will be able to afford to keep themselves warm. Already, many people are wondering how they are going to be able to keep their cars on the road, in the face of mushrooming fuel prices. Already, many people are considering giving up their jobs, because the cost of commuting is too high.

Isn't it about time David Cameron and Barack Obama stepped in, to put the consumer before the shareholder, and force the fuel and energy companies to reduce their prices, and accept a reduction in their monopoly profits?

For my original post on this subject, see http://t.co/3tpQOmW

Review of 'Intrepid', by S.J. Wist (Fantasy Cookie).

Check out the great review of my novel 'Intrepid', by Fantasy Cookie's S.J. Wist;

'If you ever dreamed about being an astronaut and seeing the stars, in 2017, Intrepid is the space shuttle to take you there.  But when Lance and his crew inadvertently become part of the reason for a devastating nuclear war on Earth, there stands one chance for Intrepid to set things straight and save a lot of lives.  It includes time travel, but it's not going to be easy and the cost of what they will have to sacrifice is set high.

'Steve Stone adds a vivid touch to detail in this story and real characters you want to follow. He brings this ride right along speculative fiction, making you feel as if you're right there and a part of the thrill of it all.  Lance will do what is necessary against the weight of his conscience, while keeping hold of it as well.  With the help of the teenager James, both will keep you emotionally bound to the humanity of it all. Even as their mission is ultimately turned into that of playing god to save a lot of people.

'The second book, Intrepid - The Two Storms, looks to be an equally good read that I will be looking into in the near future.'

S.J. Wist.
Fantasy Cookie.
http://fantasycookie.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-of-intrepid-by-steve-stone.html

For a further review of 'Intrepid', a top 100 Kindle bestseller in science fiction, military and war, see; http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-novel-intrepid-by-martin-ince.html

For reviews of 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', see; http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/martin-ince-review-of-novel-intrepid.html, and http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-of-intrepid-two-storms-by-sjwist.html

The two novels so far released are the first in a series of four. If you're interested in acquiring the books on paperback or electronically, you'll find all the purchase links at the top of this blog.

What do we reckon about.... rising fuel and energy prices?

Whether it's electricity, gas or petroleum, it often seems that barely a few weeks pass, before we hear yet again that suppliers are putting their prices up. In today's expectations-driven world, it seems that the slightest economic shock is sufficient to produce a hike. Here in England, gas and electricity prices rose by around 7% at the end of 2010. And now, rises of 18% and 16% respectively are in the wind for August. The price of petrol at the pumps also continues to soar.

All of this is happening in a recession-dampened environment, where the British Government's target CPI inflation rate is running at around 4.5%, and the oil and energy companies continue to make enormous, record profits.

My wife Debi is disabled, and to be honest, it makes me angry that these everyday essentials seem to be the subject of sheer greed on the part of these faceless organisations. After all, they aren't so quick to put their prices down, once the latest shock has passed.

I remember phoning my current gas and electricity supplier Southern Electric, when towards the end of the last decade, oil prices reached a record high. They increased prices by 25% in response to that, and I asked them why their prices hadn't been reduced, when the cost per barrel of oil slumped, just a short time later. 'Well, Mr. Stone,' the adviser began, 'the current legislation from the Government regulator means that we can increase our prices when we need to in just one day, but we can only reduce prices once per year. We are planning to reduce our prices by 9% in the forseeable future.'

Some months later, Southern Electric did indeed reduce their prices, but what happened to the missing 16%? It fuelled their quest for ever-exploding monopoly profits, of course. Don't the energy companies know that people, young and old are struggling to keep themselves warm each winter? Don't the oil companies know that on either side of the pond, they are driving people off the road? Don't they know that many people are actually being forced to give up their jobs, because the mushrooming cost of commuting makes it simply not worthwhile anymore - you read examples of this on Twitter all the time.

So what's the answer?

Well, the truth is that the oil and energy companies are colluding with their competitors to keep prices high, so they can share out the booty. When one supplier raises prices, its competitors follow suit. When a supplier lowers its price, the competition tend to tag along. Perhaps the collusion is active, in that they're actually talking to each other about it. Perhaps it's passive, and they're just reacting to developments.

Either way, it doesn't matter to the poor consumer, who is forever lining their Scrooge-like pockets of gold. It can't be right that an effective monopoly between a small number of large, powerful organisations means that they can do whatever they please with the price of such important products. This is particularly true in Britain, where the regulator seems powerless to act, and actually appears to help these companies achieve their selfish goals.

On either side of the Atlantic, it's high time David Cameron and Barack Obama took action, to force the fuel and energy companies to manufacture their products for the people, rather than for the benefit of the shareholders. In Britain, the whole matter should quickly be referred to the Competition Commission - not necessarily to break the industries up, but to make sure they operate in the interest of the consumer. Any action would of course need teeth and speed, rather than bluster and delay....

For a shocking update on this story, please visit http://t.co/g9gLyD3

And if you enjoyed reading this, try my posts on the recession;
http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-do-we-reckon-about-recession.html
http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-do-we-reckon-about-recession_27.html
http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-do-we-reckon-about-recession-final.html

Also, please take a look at my series of science fiction adventure novels, at http://steven-stone.blogspot.com/. These great time travel stories are available from just $1.99=£1.20!

For further information on my novel 'Intrepid', a top 100 Kindle bestseller in science fiction, military and war, see;
Premise - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid.html
Review - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-novel-intrepid-by-martin-ince.html

For further information on the sequel 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', see;
Premise - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid-two-storms.html
Review - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/martin-ince-review-of-novel-intrepid.html

The illustrative graph used in this post was sourced from http://www.whatgas.com/

The best poker player on the planet is....?

Well, there are a few candidates from the professional ranks;

Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, perhaps? He's probably the best judge of any given situation. He always tries to make "the right poker decision," i.e. call, raise or fold. And based on his cards, his chip stack, the community cards in the middle of the table, and his analysis of opponents' betting patterns, he usually gets it right.

Doyle Brunson? He's almost 80 years old now, and played a large part in putting poker on the map. A true legend of the game, he famously won the World Series of Poker Main Event twice with his trademark hand, 10-2. Sometimes seems to play for fun these days, invests chips in too many hands that he really shouldn't be playing.

Phil Ivey, maybe? Tournaments apart, I heard he'd grossed more money from cash games than any player in history. But I also heard he's been bankrupt twice - perhaps he's living proof that if you play predominantly cash poker, bad luck will always catch up with you in the end.

Steve Stone? Definitely not, although I do enjoy tournament play, and managed to win a gold chip in 2010 for finishing top of the LPPL Central England League. You'll find a link for LPPL on the right-hand sidebar of this blog.

Phil 'Unabomber' Laak? Quickly exploded onto the poker scene. Who would have thought a gimmick based on Timothy McVeigh could prove so popular? Wild player, but brilliant. Fun to watch, particularly when playing against his mate Antonio Esfandiari. Plays all sorts of hands, and mostly, even the pros can't work out when he's bluffing. The best chip management player around - behind his bluster, he's calculating risk, based on his chip stack.

How about Phil Hellmuth? 11 wins in World Series of Poker tournaments is tough to argue against. The 'Poker Brat' gets really up tight now and again, and is famous for his outrageous outbursts. Trouble is, he goes 'on tilt' all too often afterwards, trying to bluff unbluffable situations. Underneath it all, I think he's a really nice guy, and he's done an awful lot to promote poker, including some wonderful charity work.

Or maybe Gus Hansen? My goodness, his play is so wild, he sometimes makes Phil Laak look sensible. But he's almost impossible to read, and much of the time, he leaves even the pros wondering what he's doing, or going to do next. A fantastic poker player.




So who is the best poker player on the planet? For me, it's;

Antonio Esfandiari. So cool, and laid back, nothing phases him. Loves to play the game for what it is, not just for money. Very shrewd, the best reader of an opponent's behaviour around. On an episode of Poker After Dark (NBC), he made the best read of an opponent's hand I've ever seen. Antonio had A-Q, and not a mountain of chips. His opponent declared 'All-In' before any community cards were shown, which was an expensive call for Antonio. After two minutes of study, Antonio said "..you've got Ace King," and folded his hand. The opponent took the pot, shook his head, and turned over.. A-K. Maybe Antonio secretly thought his opponent had a low pair - but what a great read.



Now this blog post has been about candidates for the best poker player on the planet. On that basis, maybe the best player of all-time was;

Stu Ungar, who sadly left this planet in 1998. He won three World Series of Poker Main Event titles, and I heard he won almost 30% of all the games he ever played in.

I think that winning any Texas Hold'em poker tournament involves about 35% skill, and 65% luck. It's how the pros use the 35% that sets them apart from the rest, and it's the 65% that explains Phil Ivey's double demise - if you play cash poker for long enough, the last card over will always get you in the end. But Stu Ungar played in many big tournaments, so to win three out of every ten games played was quite remarkable....



If you enjoyed reading this, please take a look at my series of sci-fi adventure novels, at http://steven-stone.blogspot.com/.

For further information on my novel 'Intrepid', a top 100 Kindle bestseller in science fiction, military and war, see;
Premise - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid.html
Review - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-novel-intrepid-by-martin-ince.html

For further information on the sequel 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', see;
Premise - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid-two-storms.html
Review - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/martin-ince-review-of-novel-intrepid.html

"Now that's what I'm talking about." ANTONIO ESFANDIARI.

What do we reckon about...... O.J. Simpson?

Most people ask just one question about O.J. Simpson - did he really do it? My quest for the truth follows, including photos of a meeting with O.J. trial judge Lance Ito, and pictures of a journey to Nicole Brown's condominium;

In 1996, my wife Debi and I enjoyed a wonderful summer tour of the Los Angeles area. Apart from the Sun, the movie industry and the theme parks, one motivation for visiting was our fascination with the criminal trial of O.J. Simpson, who was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown, and her friend Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994. We watched almost the entirety of the trial live from the UK, on the excellent Sky News channel.

One night, we dined at a Black Angus restaurant in Orange County, and struck gold. Sitting on the very next table was one of O.J. trial judge Lance Ito's court stenographers. The trial was still pretty fresh in everyone's minds, and she was talking about it with some friends. I introduced myself, and before too long, the stenographer had organised a personal appointment for Debi and myself - with Lance Ito.

That's me there, outside the Courts Building, and then in Lance Ito's office - Debi took both photos. For a couple of tourists, it was an amazing meeting - the oak door of his chamber, the red carpet, the tea and biscuits, with arguably the most famous judge in history. He couldn't talk about the trial, of course, but it was an incredible twenty minutes. He concluded by saying that the photo on the right might be worth a lot of money one day - well, I'm not sure about that, any bids please to stevestoneintrepid@live.co.uk...... I'm joking, of course.

What I am sure about is that one of the key defence arguments during the trial was timeline. On the evening of June 12, 1994, O.J. had to fly from Los Angeles, for an appointment the next day in Chicago. Taking into account his known movements, a time window of around 45 minutes was available for him to drive from his Rockingham mansion to Nicole's condominium on Bundy Drive, commit the crimes, and then return to meet his limousine taxi to the airport. 

One lunchtime during the trial, the jurors were taken on a bus trip, covering the key locations. It took the bus a long time to navigate the traffic between Rockingham and Bundy, raising the question of whether O.J. could have really got it all done in such a short time window.

We hired a red Dodge Stratus for our trip to LA, so I decided to put the timeline to the test;

I drove between Rockingham and Bundy, one busy Thursday lunchtime. I went a little over the speed limit, on what for an Englishman was the wrong side of the road, and completed the distance in exactly...... 4 1/2 minutes. That leaves 36 minutes of the time window unaccounted for, and if O.J. was at the house in the right-hand photo on the night in question, he would have driven the route on a quiet Sunday evening.

Debi is known to talk a lot, but when we arrived at Nicole's place, we got out of the car, and spent almost a full minute in silence, looking through the front gate. A feeling of sadness overwhelmed us. Then I decided to drive around to the alley at the back. It was secluded, with not much in the way of visible street lighting. Parking up, I noticed that vegitation in the nearby gardens meant that not many of the surrounding windows had a clear view of the rear of the place. 

There was a tall gate beside garages at the back of the property. Getting out of the car, my highest jump granted me only a fleeting glimpse of what laid beyond. So to Debi's amazement, I climbed onto the hire car, and got a clear view of the front gate, down the side of the place. She begged me to get down, but I stood on the car for almost a full minute.

Again, an overwhelming feeling of sadness engulfed me. But then the possible truth of what really happened that evening in 1994 hit me. Why did an old guy testify at the trial that he thought he saw O.J.'s white Ford Bronco outside the front of the place, but couldn't quite be sure? Why would someone up to no good park up at the front, when there's a quiet alley around the back? Even on a busy Thursday lunchtime, it was a full fifteen minutes before anyone came along that alley.

If O.J. was there on the night in question, maybe the old guy wasn't sure, because what he really saw was just a flash of the Bronco, on its way around the back. Maybe O.J. didn't go there to murder anyone, maybe he was really on a spying mission - it's no secret he was a jealous guy, and it wouldn't have been the first time. Maybe he pulled up at the back where I did - at night, it would have been an ideal location to sit, with the intention of observing. Maybe O.J. entered from the back, not the front, as has always been widely believed. Maybe he scaled the back gate, or quietly let himself in under the cover of semi-darkness - he owned a key to the gate, and it was also suggested in Chapter Six of his book 'If I Did It' (Beaufort Books, 2007) that the gate was broken at the time.

Maybe O.J. secretly carried a knife in the Bronco for his own protection. Maybe he kept a pair of tight-fitting driving gloves in the car. Maybe he saw the view of the front gate that I did. Maybe he saw something that enraged him. Maybe he thought the contents of the envelope Ron Goldman had for Nicole contained a romantic gift, rather than a simple pair of eyeglasses - it must have happened when Ron was handing the envelope to Nicole, because the envelope was found by police at the scene, still containing the glasses.

But the jury at the criminal trial didn't see it that way. The defence team did a marvellous job, it has to be said. DNA analysis was in its infancy at the time, and expert Barry Scheck did a great job of discrediting the almost undiscreditable. But the late Johnnie Cochran was the real star. I was transfixed to his twenty-minute summing up, right at the end of the trial. When he was talking about O.J.'s glove, who could forget the famous phrase, "....if it doesn't fit, you must acquit." I stared at the screen for a full hour and a half after he had finished speaking - that's how long it took me to re-convince myself that O.J. was indeed guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt. It would be over 13 years before an orator had me glued to the television in such a manner - it was Barack Obama, in his electrifying inauguration speech.

Perhaps it was poetic justice that O.J. Simpson was later found legally responsible for the deaths of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, in a civil trial. Maybe it was also poetic justice that many years later, O.J. was jailed on an un-related charge. Not full justice for the victims' families, perhaps, but although I'm in little doubt that O.J. did indeed do something terrible on that night in 1994, maybe we should remember that he has also achieved some good things in his life - he was 1968 Heisman Trophy winner, film actor and entertainer, sports commentator, and above all, he did a lot of work for charity.

So perhaps a small part of me wishes O.J. Simpson well, when he gets out of jail, for what will be the last few remaining years of his life. I can't say fairer than that.

What do we reckon about................... the recession? A final word.

The main thrust of this thread has been that any definition of recession based on quarterly economic growth figures is misleading, and furthermore that politicians use these numbers to talk things up, when perhaps they shouldn't. My previous posts on this can be found at http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-do-we-reckon-about-recession.html and http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-do-we-reckon-about-recession_27.html

I think I can prove just how misleading these definitions can be, and demonstrate why they are so dangerous in terms of their effect on decision-making - from personal experience.

You'll see above that I used to own a snooker club. It was situated in a busy town centre in England. A lengthy period of good trading was observed around the middle of the last decade. Then, in early 2007, I noticed a decline in business. At first, I thought that people were just being cautious after excessive Christmas expenditure, but in March 2007, things got a little worse again.

And then I learnt something, during a phone call with the local Borough Council. They employed people to analyse CCTV footage of the local shopping centre that surrounded the club, and reported that 30% fewer people were visiting than the month previously, a fact that was mirrored by decline in their revenue from parking meters. During the same week, British media for the first time began to talk about the 'credit crunch'.

Putting these two things together, and looking out of the windows, I could feel that a recession had begun, and I thought it would be a deep one. You can only cut overheads so much, and there was the added fact that the British smoking ban was due to commence July 1st of that year. I quickly began formulating an exit strategy, and before too long, I sold the club on. Thank goodness I did that - the club eventually closed in February 2010, with rather significant debts.

You can imagine my surprise when, based on three consecutive quarters of negative growth, the British Government finally announced a recession had 'officially' begun - in October 2009. And there's your proof.....

The worst jokes in history...... even worse?

The latest, as tweeted between Alex Shaw and Steve Stone;

Steve: My mate, Sam is a property developer. Why are all of his apartments the same size?
Alex: I do not know, why are all his apartments the same size?
Steve: Because they are Sammy-lair.

Buy our books - or the jokes continue....

For my top 100 Kindle bestselling series of science fiction adventure novels, from just $1.99 (or £1.20), visit http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/oh-my-god-steves-gone-mad-hes-offering.html

For Alex's series of special forces thrillers, visit http://alexwshaw.com/

And for the other jokes in this series, please visit
http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/worst-two-jokes-in-history.html
http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/07/worst-jokes-in-history-worse-still.html

The best football team in the world is........?

I promised you an update on Kingshill Warriors' progress in the UEFA Champions League, on the excellent 'Let's Make a Soccer Team!' for PlayStation 2 (for the team, the full story on this, and my thoughts on Barcelona please visit http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/best-football-team-in-world-is.html);

Latest results;

Champions League Quarter-Final - Lyon 0-2 Kingshill Warriors, Kingshill Warriors 0-0 Lyon. Kingshill Warriors win 2-0 on aggregate.

Champions League Semi-Final - Kingshill Warriors 1-1 Gelsenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen 3-2 Kingshill Warriors. Gelsenkirchen score in injury time to win 4-3 on aggregate, denying Warriors a trip to the Final on the away goals rule.


Good news, however. Warriors secure their 14th English Premiership, and have made the following signings for the next Champions League campaign;

Giggs (Wales), Vieira (France)

Perhaps next season will see Warriors crowned European Champions for the first time!

What do we reckon about.................. the recession? A response to Tim Cavanaugh's 26/06/11 article in Reason Magazine (USA).

In Reason Magazine (USA), within his article 'Opposite Sides Agree on Recession/Inflation Bogosity', well-known columnist Tim Cavanaugh talks about my earlier blog post on the recession. Showing the link to my post, he writes;

Can you still believe anybody in this crazy, hill-of-beans, overstimulated, double-dipping world? From the United Queendom, Steve Stone's Keynesian take on the mismeasurement of recessions is getting heavy #recession-hashtag rotation, and while it's not especially deep or broad, it's got a kernel of truth: 

A recession now only 'officially' exists in an economy if there are three successive quarters of negative growth, and as soon as that's no longer the case, it's 'officially' over, and we can all look to the future.

The definition is of course a load of old tosh. If it were true, the long and deep British recession of the 1970's was barely a recession at all - there was just one case of three successive quarters of negative growth, 1973-4, see GDP changes since 1955. And yet I lived through the miners' strike, the power cuts, the three-day week, and the 1978 Winter of Discontent....

Stone concludes by urging readers, "If you enjoyed reading this, please take a look my series of time travel novels," which you should definitely do unless you live in China. But his imagination fails him when he predicts based on past econometric models that "without doubt...the number one indicator of economic activity is house prices."

That may have been true once, and it may be true again, but at least on this side of the pond we're still working our way back through nearly four decades of well-above-CPI real estate inflation. And although, as Reason's Anthony Randazzo is diligently showing, our rulers have come pretty close to nationalizing the industry, real estate markets are still subject to a vast number of distortions by local busybodies, planners and property tax laws. If your predictive measure is the recovery of a market that still needs double-digit percentage price declines just to get back to historical inflation, you should get a new measure. 


Well, I would firstly like to thank Tim for his constructive comments. And it's good to know I'm getting heavy rotation across the pond.

I'd like to say that I was trying to put the argument across in a way that would be palatable to the large majority of readers, not just those people that read The Economist or The Wall Street Journal. What's definitely true is that House Prices are by far the number one economic indicator of demand, so if House Prices are heading upwards, then so will monetary sales of the large majority of common consumer products, such as food, drink, telecommunications products, and many other non-food items. Yes, of course there are many other factors at play, such as unemployment, seasonality, local influences - but if you put a good House Price Index into your econometric sales forecasting model, it will generally stand out from the others as an explanatory variable.

That's really important, because it's consumer sales that ultimately drive us in and out of recession. I think the importance of House Prices as a driver of demand, and thereby a key driver of the level of economic activity, comes from the fact that they are most people's number one 'feelgood' factor. Many people have large mortgages, and movements in House Prices are regularly reported on news stations. If the price of a guy's house is going up, his equity position has improved, and he may well feel more confident going out, and spending his money. If House Prices are going down, he worries about his equity position in the context of the other important things in his life, and might well choose to stay in with the DVD player. And people who don't own their homes also keep up with the news, and know whether the value of their nation's property is going up or down.

Coming out of a recession isn't about "working our way back through" the past, it's about getting to where we need to go. That's why the economies of Britain and America won't truly recover until their housing markets pick up. "That may have been true once, and it may be true again...."

Tim's article continues with an in-depth discussion of how recession might be best defined. Should it be based on two quarters of negative growth, three quarters? My central point is that you can't define the beginning or end of a recession, based on these numbers. But you can feel a recession - it's when there isn't as much traffic on the road as you remember, when there are less people in the local shopping centre than before, when yet another of your local shops or pubs closes down, when sent CVs don't even get an acknowledgement, when another of your friends loses his job, when he can't sell his house anymore for the price he needs to move on.... and yet, courtesy of any quarterly-based growth definition of recession, the politicians can use the numbers to talk things up, and tell you that everything's going to be all right, just around the corner.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. In today's expectations-based world, talking success can often breed success. But when the politicians say that the recession is 'officially' over because of a small positive growth figure one quarter, it's a lie, and a lie that some people will base important decisions on.

Finally, I'd like to thank Tim for plugging my top 100 Kindle bestselling science fiction adventure novels. You can view or buy these great time travel adventures by visiting http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/oh-my-god-steves-gone-mad-hes-offering.html.

I guess time travel is one sure way of getting yourself out of a recession....

Oh my God, Steve's gone mad....! He's offering his top 100 Kindle bestselling series of science fiction adventure novels for just $1.99 (£1.20)!

Yes, that's right, folks. You can now acquire the science fiction adventure novels 'Intrepid' and 'Intrepid - The Two Storms' for just $1.99, or £1.20. Yep, you read it right - $1.99 or £1.20. These great time travel adventures are just one click away - http://steven-stone.blogspot.com/

You can still buy the slightly more expensive paperbacks, if you prefer. And you can still download the books to Kindle reader, Kindle for PC, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, or Blackberry.

For further information on 'Intrepid', a top 100 Kindle bestseller in science fiction, military and war, see;
Premise - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid.html
Review - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-of-novel-intrepid-by-martin-ince.html

For further information on the sequel 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', see;
Premise - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid-two-storms.html
Review - http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/martin-ince-review-of-novel-intrepid.html

Martin Ince - review of the novel 'Intrepid - The Two Storms'.

'Steve Stone works at the tough but exciting interface between the thriller and the hardest of hard science fiction. In this second part of his four-book series, we find spaceflight, gangland violence, high politics and a clutch of plot twists. Based on deep research and imagination, this series has delivered plenty already and the final two volumes promise much more.'

MARTIN INCE, SCIENCE JOURNALIST.

Martin is freelance now, see http://www.martinince.eu/. He previously worked for the London Times as science correspondent, news editor and deputy editor, and has made over 100 TV and radio appearances. His review appears on the back cover of the paperback.

The four novels in the series are;

'Intrepid' (released 2010) - see http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid.html Achieved top 100 Kindle bestseller status in science fiction, military and war
'Intrepid - The Two Storms' (released 2011)
'Intrepid - Revelations' (coming 2012)
'Intrepid - Regression' (coming 2013)

To view or buy my novels, check out http://steven-stone.blogspot.com/

And see http://stevestonechat.blogspot.com/2011/06/premise-for-novel-intrepid-two-storms.html for the premise of 'Intrepid - The Two Storms', and more information on the book.