Friday, August 23rd ....

So Bradley Manning has now declared that he is a woman and wants to be known as Chelsea. What are we to make of this? Bradley said he gave the secret stuff to Wikileaks to start a discussion about some of the behaviour the US gets up to in the name of fighting terrorism. Boy, I'll bet he didn't anticipate the lack of humour shown by the Pentagon, or the very fine print of the First Amendment which takes all the fun out of criticising big government. Maybe, when that proved to be a disaster, he is trying to foment another conversational topic.

And why Chelsea? Sure, he can pick any name he likes, but why Chelsea? I googled Chelsea and found that it is a name which grew out of the 1960s and is growing out of favour in every country except USA and Australia. I found the following analysis of the few people in the world who are called Chelsea.

. Your first name of Chelsea has given you an expressive, diplomatic (?) and refined nature.

. Although you have a good appreciation of material values, business ability, and skill in organizing and managing others, your success is restricted by a lack of self-confidence and initiative.

. You have very expensive tastes, and your desires could well exceed your initiative in providing for them through your own efforts.

. Personal appearance is important to you (did you see the picture of Bradley/Chelsea in a blonde wig?)

. You are always well-groomed yourself, and you judge others by your own standard.

. You do not like to rough it or use much physical energy (he was in the army, for goodness sake)

. Through your diplomatic ways you are able to call on the assistance of others to avoid such matters (you'll need all the diplomacy you can muster to survive 30 years in jail)

. You have good business judgment but lack the confidence to carry out your own ideas unless assisted by an associate (is the associate's name Julian?)

. From a desire to eat too many rich foods, your health could suffer through kidney and generative troubles or any problems affecting the fluid functions of the body.

I don't want to make fun of Bradley. He must be an extraordinarily brave person to become a whistleblower but it is really bad luck that he did it in America. If he had tried the same caper in Australia and changed his name to John Gay, he might have got away with a few hours of community service.

By the way, does he now go to a Women's Prison?