I don't normally blog about serious stuff but I just wanted to get a few things off my chest about these murders.

1. Most of the meda reports insist on refering to the victims as prostitutes. Whereas this is undoubtedly true, is it really neccessary to keep repeating the fact? I have an uneasy feeling that at a subconcious level, some of us regard prostitutes as less deserving of basic human rights. If they all happened to be plumbers say, would every report refer to 'the deaths of the plumbers' instead of 'the deaths of the women'?

They are women, or girls even. They were probably life's victims before these things happened. Surely we can give them some respect in death at least.

2. It takes a tragedy like this to bring home the obvious fact that in this day and age, people who wish to ply their trade in the sex industry should not be forced to do it in darkened streets. Licensed brothels make so much more sense from a safety and health point of view. And who would object to this happening? That's right; religious types. They should not throw stones from their glass houses.

3. When this person is caught, what's the betting he says he did it because he was getting messages from God?

(this is about football* scroll down for non football articles)

For about a week and a half, Sunderland have been on the same points, same goal difference and same goals scored as Sheffield Wednesday. The two teams even tied in terms of alphabetical order of the first letter. Sky Sports have thus been presenting the Championship table as Sheff Wed above Sunderland by dint of them having a better second letter than us.

The BBC, fine upstanding organ that it is (see my several blogs on the subject), had us higher that Sheff Wed on the grounds that we've won more games (obviously we've lost more games as well but let's not digress). Clearly the BBC are right; I mean this is the BBC - they always check their facts (so long as it doesn't get in the way of a good story).

Before Sunday this was merely a point of interest but then West Brom's draw at Barnsley pushed one of us into the bottom half. This may still seem slightly trivial but Sky Sports news scroll through the divisions, half a division at a time for 24 hours of every day. We were being publicly denounced as a bottom half team every 6.5 minutes of the day and night.

Anyway, I emailed them. And although they didn't acknowledge my email, today they corrected the table and we are in our rightfull position of snapping at the heals of the promotion contenders.

I'm dead proud

*Soccer

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-3836/btnResultSort.x%3d19/btnResultSort.y%3d8.aspx

You might not think you want an mp3 player but remember you can use them for more than just music. I download The Now Show from Radio 4 onto mine for instance. It can also be used as a data stick thingy. You won't get one cheaper than fifteen squid..........

...or will you?

Details of the claim have now been served on the bank in question. They have 14 days to respond or I win by default. That gives them until Dec 24th.

Tune in on Christmas Day and share in my victory!(*see disclaimer)

*Metaphorically speaking, no funds will be shared with blog viewers

I think.....

Bottom 5 professions most disreputable business type:

5th worst : Advertisers
4th worst : Insurance companies
3rd worst : Banks
2nd worst : Estate agents
Very worst: Banks

Yes indeed, banks are so scummy that they deseve two mentions in the bottom 5. If you've ever been charged an enormous sum of money for going a piddly amount overdrawn, you'll know what I mean. You should read on....

Tonight I had the great pleasure of suing a bank for three £25 charges it applied to my account earlier in the year. Bank suing is all the rage in the UK at the moment; some people have managed to relaim thousands of pounds. It is thought that no customer has lost a case yet.

My own claim is only for £75 + interest but I see this as a bit of a trial run for the main event because I'm also in the process of claiming back what should amount to a few grand for family members.

There's a great site which will guide you through the process:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1141050760,24632,

It takes a bit of time and perseverance but it's not too tricky and I'm pretty sure it'll be worth it. Go on....sue a bank!

I've got a toothache

There; doesn't that put all of your trivial problems into perspective?