While Russian forces invade Georgia...

...the silver and bronze medallists of one of the Olympic gun competitions not only shook hands, but hugged and did everything in their power to demonstrate the deepest love for each other. The silver medalist was Russian, the bronze Georgian. The BBC commentators were all over this like white on rice, calling it a wonderful display of the power of sports to bring people together.

I find it revolting.

The proper word for it is collaborationist. It is, traitorous. It is, quisling. Sorry, but if your troops have just invaded my country and killed hundreds if not thousands of my people, I will NOT shake your hand and I will NOT act as your friend. There are too many dead between us. I hope the Georgian woman is chased out of her country by popular rage.

On a different subject...

...if there is anyone in the wreckage of a collapsing Labour Party who really looks to me like a possible rising star, it is housing minister Caroline Flynt. Shoved up to be the face of Government in one of the most difficult and thankless fronts of the long collapse, she has been demeaning herself with cool intelligence, not much of the usual repetitious turns of phrase and answers-that-do-not-answer which are the stock in trade of New Labour, and with a certain intellectual authority which reminds me of Vincent Cable, the Lib Dem economics spokesman who is by far the most interesting and intelligent politician in Britain. And Ms.Flynt is also young and remarkably good-looking, which nobody would say of Mr.Cable. One hopes she does not lose her seat in the coming electoral catastrophe, because she has, in my view, more of the stuff of a leader than any of the no-hopers who are being touted as Brown's possible successors.