giving

The good people of these great islands (U.K.)dug deep in to their recession hit pockets this past week and parted with not far short of 560 million pounds. It was divided between two institutions of British life, Red Nose Day/Comic Relief and the Cheltenham Festival. Red Nose Day/Comic Relief is a charity event organised by the comic community and promoted heavily in the media culminating with an evening of prime time T.V. entertainment and appeals on behalf of those in desperate need around the world because of famine, draught, war or some such things. The Cheltenham Festival is a four day horse racing event and is the premier National Hunt meeting in the racing calendar. When it comes to investing in projects to help our fellow humankind who are in desperate need or sticking fifty quid on the horses; there is only one winner - so to speak! the horse wins every time. The split was fifty seven million pounds to Comic Relief and an cool £500 Million estimated to have been gambled on the Cheltenham Festival. What does that tell us? Well it tells us that at a starting price of 10/1 the Great British Public are more inclined to fritter away there money on the back of a horse than bother helping their fellow man in his time of greatest need. Perhaps it also confirms to us that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.