The papers are full of end of year reviews and quizzes, I was thinking about what I would nominate turkey and plaudit wise.
Tony Blair is clearly someone who should be stuffed and roasted asap - and not principally for the Iraq war but for pretty much all the other things that he and his labour- lite goverment are responsible for eg the expansion of the gap between rich and poor, the erosion of educational opportunity for all by the introduction of tuition fees, the inability to get to grips with providing a decent public transport system and all the environmental consequences that entails and oh, yes the Iraq war.......
David Cameron and all the other Tory Davids because they must think we are stupid - an Eton man as a PM for Britain hmmm - that seems likely to herald a great new era of equality and prosperity for all...
Anybody involved with commissioning, producing, directing and funding a reality TV programme of any sort - but most particularly those that feature so-called celebrities. I don't care how many of the great British public watch them they are still shit and exploitational shit at that!
Philip Green for trousering huge sums of profits and lodging them tax free in his wifes name in Monaco.
Those idiots stood outside the registry office in Northern Ireland protesting about gay couples getting married - especially since they apparently chastised all the celebrants for being sodomites ...regardless of sex.

Plaudits?
Those people who braved the protesters and the cameras to tie the knot .
Anybody involved in producing decent TV, art, drama, writing and music that engages the intelligence of the great British public - eg. those involved with Bleak House, Life in the Undergrowth, the Wainwright siblings, Razorlight, Zadie Smith, Simon Armitage and lots of others. Thankfully.
(I am trying to think of someone in government who has impressed me and I can't think of anyone which is either a very sad reflection of my politcal acumen or a sad reflection of politics)
The emergency teams involved in the bombs in London - efficiency and humanity.
The English cricket team for producing the best cricket (or indeed sport) I have seen since I watched Botham et al. many years ago, especially Andrew Flintoff for celebrating his teams victory in fine heroic style.

It's actually quite difficult to think of things that made me happy and people I admired - the idiots and the cock-up are much simpler.

Anyway as I shall be tied to the kitchen sink for the next couple of days so I shall wish anybody who reads this a good and enjoyable Yuletide - eat drink and be merry....