The Croydonian: July 2007

That's her insurance premium through the roof..

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The 'her' in question being Ségolène Royal, who has just been burgled, again. I'm not sure whether this says more about French lawlessness, Ségo's poor home security practice or who one has to be to get a security detail.

I suppose I could make the old joke about theft merely being DIY socialism, and that she ought to be rejoicing in having inadvertently done her bit for wealth redistribution.

Labels: France, Law and order

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Now who are 'the good Europeans'?

By the look of things: us, the Swedes and the Spanish. And nul points for France, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Luxembourg and Austria.

Being on the side of the angels, we plus our unlikely allies are in favour of a Commission proposal to decouple production and distribution, whereas the villainous sextet are keen on maintaining their 'national champions'.

I am not aware of Luxembourg Electricity or whatever it styles itself being a power in the EU, but let it be noted that EDF owns, inter alia, what were London Electricity, Seeboard and SWEB, and e.on owns what were Powergen and East Midlands Electricity.

I don't think some of our European friends get it, do they?

Labels: EU fun and games

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There's nothing like a Dane

At least if one is a New York City official, looking for bright ideas as to how to tart up Coney Island. Apparently the owners of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen will be acting as advisers. Source.

Can't say I've been to either place, and have very little interest in fun fairs and the like, but what comes to mind is that the Tivoli Gardens supposedly suffer from large numbers of drunken Swedes, which might be more difficult to arrange in Brooklyn than Copenhagen.

Labels: Denmark, United States

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The trouble with statistics....

Monday, July 30, 2007

Greens and sundry other ne'er do wells are not at all happy with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, as the fortunate mayor of that borough, Andrew Dalton, is going to be chauffeured around in one of these:

Nice, isn't it? It is a Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Said Greens etc do not like its tendency to produce CO2, but here is the amusing bit: "Tony Bosworth, spokesman for Friends of the Earth, said: "This car is one of the biggest contributors to climate change of any of the cars on sale."

Right. A little light googling suggests that just under 2000 Bentleys were sold in the UK in 2006. In comparison, Ford sold 444,211 cars and GM Group 328,641 in the same period. Soo, said Bentley pumps out 100,000 times more CO2, does it? And that's even before one factors in that the car is made in Crewe, rather than Wolfsburg, Saarlouis, Detroit or Tokyo....

Labels: Cant, Greenery

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Petition o' the Day

Or the Order of the Broon Nose, with swords, oak leaves and diamonds:

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to keep doing his best well done". I'm not making this up.

And Linda Congdon, the petitioner, glosses thus:

"we thank the primister minister for the long hours he works and his dedication to Great Britain making us simply the best and better than all the rest.making England one of the greatest and farist countries in the world" (multiple 'sics').

Just the petitioner has signed so far.

The only Linda Congdon that a Google UK search throws out is involved with colostomy bags. I'm not saying a mumbling word...

Labels: Attention whores, petitions, The would be Lord Protector Broon

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1st July 5020 - a date for your diary

The Association for Canadian Studies (no sniggering about moose and maple syrup at the back) has been looking at figures for US emigration to Canada and vice versa, and notes: "The number of Americans accepted into Canada reached 10,942 in 2006, almost double the number admitted in 2000. By contrast, the number of Canadians admitted to the United States in 2006 dropped sharply from the previous year, falling to 23,913 from 29,930". Source

By my calculations, Canada will be entirely populated by Americans (assuming the natives stopped reproducing etc etc) by 5020, while the US will have to wait until around the 147th century to have been Canadianised.

Labels: Canada, United States

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Ask a silly question

Saturday, July 28, 2007

You just have to love wonks, don't you?

The IFS has just published a 32 page paper on, get this, "Why home-owners with large mortgage debt work longer hours than those without such debt".

I think Occam's Razor could do with a good stropping.

Labels: Wonks

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For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"

Friday, July 27, 2007

And, alas it would appear that he is no longer "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot".

A profoundly depressing tale of quite what a ghastly place this country is turning into, courtesy of the Epsom local rag:

"Neighbours have launched an offensive over proposals to convert a £1.7million property in Ashtead into a guest house for relatives of servicemen wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq....about 100 local people objecting to the proposed alterations, which include fitting a wheelchair ramp. Their main complaint was that increased noise and traffic would "ruin the special character and appeal" of the private lane. Other criticisms were that the families "would not be welcome" and that their arrival could destroy the "unique charm" of multi-million pound properties".

A spokesbod from Mole Valley District Council hits the nail squarely on the head:

"The objectors clearly don't understand what it feels like to have your life changed in a second by a bomb blowing up in Basra."

Labels: Truly the Apocalypse is upon us

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"No, unhappy the land that needs heroes".

My opposition to the honours system is repeated on a regular basis, and I am appalled that the Irish Republic, having managed without one all these years, now seems to be intent on inflicting the whole ghastly system on its blameless citizenry. Source.

The amusing bit is that it seems to be in part informed by sundry Irish nationals having been given baubles to play with by British politicians - "Increasingly what we are seeing is [that] the British are now honouring Irish citizens. There's been a number of them in the last five years" reckons Bertie Ahern. (The paper namechecks Michael Smurfit, Tony O'Reilly, Bono and Bob Geldof).

Perhaps someone should have a word in his shell-like and point out that this was not an attempted land grab by the British on Irish business and entertainment types, but rather part of a bi-annual nonsensefest whereby honours are dished out to party supporters, time servers and those likely to catch the eye of the average newspaper reader.

Don't do it Bertie - it is not too late to save the Irish from this horror.

Labels: Ireland

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Just what has the Foreign Office been telling Pakistan?

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Miliband Major is in Pakistan at the moment, and an anxious nation holds its breath, awaiting his return. So far, so very dull indeed. However, a report on this momentous event in Pakistani newspaper Dawn is remarkably telling:

"Foreign Secretary David Miliband at 41 is the youngest to hold the office in Britain in 30 years. A graduate of Oxford, he is said to be ‘a rising Labour star’ and is seen as a possible future Labour Party leader. His appointment as foreign secretary is perceived in some quarters as a likely shift in British foreign policy to one in which criticism of the US and Israel is not off limits.

Mr Miliband, who earlier served as the Environment secretary in Blair’s final Cabinet, was opposed to the Iraq war and within the Cabinet also criticized the Israeli attack on Hezbollah last year".

Opposed to the Iraq war? Really? Theyworkforyou.com has his voting record, and rates him as having 'voted very strongly for the Iraq war'. I can find no trace of any speeches in the Commons either for, against or firmly on the fence .

Maybe young David only informed other Milibands of his opposition, or maybe the Foreign Office has been feeding a line to a lazy hack who cannot be bothered to check his facts....

I'm off to Doughty St shortly for a bit of political chat, I'm in the 10-11 slot.

Labels: Iraq, South Asia

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And the point of this exercise is?

Say hello to 'TRAFFIC RADIO'.

Apparently the AA, RAC, local radio, internet sites, ceefax etc etc are failing to keep the nation informed about tailbacks at the Talgarth roundabout and so on, so at who knows what cost, the Highways Agency has unleashed a digital / internet only traffic radio service.

This being a state initiative, the emphasis is on the joys of the road and fun, fun, fun: "It offers regional traffic news, depending on which part of the country people are listening, as well as national headlines. There will also be short infomercials, for example explaining our Traffic Officer service, safety advice and tips about planning your journey".

I do not expect that programme ratings will be that impressive, especially given that DAB radios are hardly ubiquitous.

Labels: Media

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Setting the bar a little too high?

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Malyasian Deputy PM is none too impressed with that nation's bloggers, and had reminded them of section 121b of the penal code: "Section 121b deals with offences against the authority of the king, ruler or Yang DiPertua Negeri and carries a maximum penalty of life in prison".

He added "In the name of freedom, these websites allow the broadcast of slander, lies and swearing, the use of harsh, degrading language and racial slurs without regard for the reader or those concerned". (Good job nothing like that happens on this side of the planet, eh?)

However, it is what the Deputy PM thinks blogs should be doing that is the interesting bit: "We want blogs to be clean, a place to obtain accurate information, a reference point for honest opinion, not a platform to abuse and slander people".

I would wish him good luck, but for the fact this seems to be more about attacking freedom of speech than trying to raise the tone...

Labels: Blogging about blogging, Internet, Malaysia, Media

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And to think some folk think Prince Charles is a crank...

He would appear to have a fight on his hands for the title of European 'Royal' with the oddest worldview, as Princess Martha Louise of Norway "is launching an alternative school aimed at training students to contact angels". Yes, really. She is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne, and 65th in line to the British throne. Should anyone fancy the course in angelic communication, it is a bargain NOK24,000 (circa £2,000) per year.

All makes talking to one's plants seem quite harmless.

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Broon: "It's not what I do, it's what I say"

The Lord Protector is not at all happy that the Conservatives may vote against elements of his anti -terrorism laws, and his this to say in The Sun :"I would urge David Cameron to put party politics aside and look at the national interest. We are in a new world".

Could this be the same Gordon Brown that sat on the opposition benches in the 80s and 90s when Labour used to vote against the Prevention of Terrorism Act? I do believe it is.

Labels: The would be Lord Protector Broon, war on terror

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Canada being less than culturally sensitive

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Not really the place I would expect this sort of thing to happen, but folk with the surnames of Singh or Kaur cannot emigrate to Our Lady of the Snows unless they change their surnames.

Rather than this being a Canadian exercise in Sikh bashing, the rationale is explained by a spokesbod thus: "I believe the thinking behind it in this case is because it is so common. [With] the sheer numbers of applicants that have those as their surnames, it's just a matter for numbers and for processing in that visa office".

One might note that the use of those surnames by Sikhs is not a mere passing fancy: "In 1699, the Sikhs adopted the name "Singh" due to the wishes of Guru Gobind Singh. Every Sikh male bears the name Singh, whilst the female equivalent is 'Kaur', meaning 'princess'". Source

I think our Sikh friends have every right to be less than chuffed about this, and if a google.ca search is anything to go by, there are an awful lot more Smiths, Joneses etc showing up there than Singhs.

Labels: Canada, India

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Fixed term Parliaments

Yesterday's Hansard carries a fairly desultory exchange on this topic, with the shocking news emerging that "The Electoral Commission advises me that it has not held any recent discussions on fixed-term Parliaments".

My instinctive reaction is that no matter how irritating it sometimes is that an incumbent PM can choose his or her time to go to the country, enforcing fixed terms would be unwelcome in that we could end up with hobbled and useless minority administrations. However, a cut of a year in the electoral cycle to render de jure the current de facto four year term has the makings of a half way decent idea.

Meandering a bit, the Chartist demand for annual parliaments used to make me stretch my eyes, and I cannot help but wonder at some of the oddities that might have thrown up - an SDP administration in the early eighties perhaps, a Hague administration if an election had happened during the fuel strikes and so on. It is worth noting that all of the other Chartist demands became law eventually, although there are times when I wonder about equal sized electoral districts, given the substantial advantage Labour derives from out of date constituency boundaries....

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How not to impress as a prime minister in waiting

Monday, July 23, 2007

The likely next Prime Minister of Belgium is Yves Leterme, a Flemish speaker. About 1.18 into the clip below he is asked by a reporter if he can sing La Brabançonne, the Belgian national anthem. He declares that he can, and even those readers with no knowledge of French, and little of national anthems will be struck by what he decides to sing. Anyway, enjoy.

And this is what he should have been singing:

"O Belgique, ô mère chérie,
A toi nos cœurs, à toi nos bras,
A toi notre sang, ô Patrie !
Nous le jurons tous, tu vivras !
Tu vivras toujours grande et belle
Et ton invincible unité
Aura pour devise immortelle :
le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté !
le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté ! (2x)"

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Polyhymnia has deserted me

A bit of rootling around makes me think that Polyhymnia is the nearest thing to blogging's muse:

"Polyhymnia ("the one of many hymns"), in Greek mythology, was the Muse of sacred-poetry, sacred hymn and eloquence as well as muse of agriculture and pantomime.

A very serious woman, pensive and meditative often depicted holding a finger to her mouth, dressed in a long cloak and veil and resting her elbow on a pillar. She brings fame to writers whose works have won them immortal fame. Polyhymnia is also sometimes accredited as being the muse of geometry, mime, meditation, and agriculture".

More on the muses here.

So, think of this as an open thread.

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More on road fatalities and the like

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Continuing on from 'on drink'.

I've found some data on road fatalities which I am too lazy to format and type out in the comments, so here is a C&P job:

	Road fatalities	Deaths per 100,000 pop.	Motor vehicles per1000 pop.	Deaths per 10,000 motor vehicles	GNP per capita ($USD)
USA	41,967	15.8	787	2	29,339
Japan	9,942	7.9	669	1.2	38,264
Germany	8,758	10.7	559	1.9	28,335
France	8,080	13.8	524	2.6	26,409
Italy	6,198	10.8	617	1.8	20,224
Spain	5,483	14.0	488	1.9	14,509
UK	3,598	6.1	408	1.5	20,946
Canada	3,082	10.3	573	1.8	19,856
Portugal	12,100	21.1	436	4.8	11,024
Greece	2,068	19.7	497	4	11,688

Note that this is including pedestrians, but the point made about the horrendous driving habits of our Gallic chums is borne out

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Lèse majesté in Madrid

A Spanish satirical mag has got itself in trouble with Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia (better known in these parts as crown prince Felipe), by publishing a front page cartoon (no, I'm not posting the picture here) of said prince getting intimate with Princess Letizia. More here.

The underlying joke is that the Spanish government is offering a €2,500 subsidy for any child born after July 3rd, so Felipe's speech bubble runs thus: "Just imagine: if you get pregnant, this will be the closest thing to work I've ever done".

The mag itself has been pulled and will presumably be pulped, with the web site reckoned to be in the firing line too, and those involved at El Jueves face prison terms of between six months and two years. I have seen plenty of cartoons and the like subjecting the dysfunctional family Battenberg / Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to similar indignities, but at least they have had the sense to avoid litigation.

Labels: Media, Spain

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I hope 'Al Qaeda' lacks a maritime capacity

Because our snus-loving friends on the other side of the North Sea (and the Skaggerak) are sending us a rather sizeable consignment of weapons grade plutonium next month.

Turns out the Swedes (for it is they), had a weapons programme in the 50s and 60s, which they gave up circa 1970. Had they gone all the way, they would have beaten India, Israel etc to be the sixth nuclear armed state. Anyway, it looks as though the Swedes are not too worried about the Norwegians, Estonians et al and have decided to send it to Sellafield, as "Andreas Carlgren, Sweden's environment minister, said that the government had no choice but to export the waste, as Sweden has no facilities for processing it at home".

Greenpeace are none too happy about this development, as they have misgivings about ~~Windscale~~ Sellafield, which I suppose shows a lack of parochiality in its approach.

Labels: Greenery, Sweden

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'Happy Feet' meets '300'

This is really rather good:

Labels: Light relief

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On Drink

Friday, July 20, 2007

(Click for legibility...)

Given the rumbling about raising the driving age from 17 to 18, because teens are supposedly more likely to drink/drive/crash, here is a rather entertaining map courtesy of drinkingmap.com

Must say the 25 mark in India (or parts thereof) seems a little stern, and the prospect of a Belgrade bar filled with 14 year olds does not appeal.

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Man of the day

Is Brian Jenkins, MP for Tamworth, and a Socialist. Yes, I'm a bit surprised too.

A fairly routine discussion on supermarkets and their 'monopoly' power opened up by Keith Vaz, with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jonathan Shaw saw this intervention from Jenkins before he was cut off, for no apparent reason:

"Does my hon. Friend recognise that we live in a capitalist system? Does he recognise that some of these supermarkets produce the most efficient delivery systems for foodstuffs in the world? Does he recognise that to try to change that philosophy is probably a bit more than he and his Department are capable of? Does he recognise that free trade—".

Well done that man.

Labels: Sane economics

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They do things differently in...

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Thailand.

"The Committee for Teachers and Education Personnel agreed in principle on Thursday to toughen penalties for teachers and education personnel who commit adultery or have an extramarital affair, [Education permanent secretary Jaruayporn Thoranin] said....If a disciplinary inquiry deemed a teacher guilty, punishment could vary from dismissal from the service - with or without pension - to the revoking of a teacher's vocational permit, she said....The spur for increased punishments stemmed from the fact that every time the committee met to discuss disciplinary measures, the issue of teachers' adulterous affairs was raised. Thus the committee felt tougher punishment was needed to stop such offences occurring".

I would that this was the leading problem in education in these parts, frankly. I am yet to discover whether the Thais are similarly harsh to other public sector workers in parallel circumstances, whether all the swingers in Bangkok want to hang out by the blackboard, or whether teachers are reckoned to have a particular obligation to be morally upright.

Labels: Thailand

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Chris Bryant failing to walk it like he talks it. Dismally

From yesterday's Hansard:

"Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab): What steps he plans to take to consult the public on a British statement of values. [150197]

The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Mr. Michael Wills): In the coming months, we will be starting a series of consultations, using a range of formats, to involve the British people in the formulation of the statement and to give them a decisive role in the process.

Chris Bryant: I warmly welcome the Minister to his new post, and his appointment is long overdue. Recent opinion polls suggest that the British public think that the most important British values are a sense of fair play, a respect for minorities and the belief that everyone has the right to say precisely what they think. But has my hon. Friend watched “Little Britain” recently? Does he believe that one of the most important British values is our ability to laugh at ourselves?

This, let us recall, is the man who goes to quite extraordinary efforts to prevent websites showing that photograph of him in his underpants, used to promote his charms on a gay contact site. And showed a major sense of humour failure over the Guardian publishing a spoof diary in his name. Which they had to apologise for.... Guido has had some fun at Bryant's expense too.

Meanwhile, isn't making a statement of values the kind of half-witted idea a failing board comes up with when a company is on the skids and desperately casting around for a way to look modern? Doubtless Bryant wants a rebranding of the nation as TUK, a new flag, and almost certainly a mission statement.

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Holding back the Mediterranean with a mop

This from the TUC's website:

"TUC unites with Tunisian unions to tackle globalisation".

And it gets better, "TUC spokesperson Sally Hunt [General Secretary of the University and College Union] said: 'Despite our different cultures and economies, our basic situation is the same. Globalisation can do enormous damage to manufacturing - such as the textiles industry - and can lead to unemployment, social breakdown and popular discontent. But with trade unions involved, globalisation can be shaped to deliver huge benefits - increased trade, decent work and more growth - which we can and must share.'

Meanwhile, globalisation would appear to be the friend of the man and woman on the Tunis omnibus, as "Real growth averaged 5.0% in the 1990s, and inflation is slowing. Increased trade and tourism have been key elements in this steady economic growth". Source

Perhaps Sally would like the good people of Tunisia to go back to subsistence farming. However, fairness requires that I point out that she (2.2 from Sussex in international relations.) is not all bad: ""As I said at our congress, I simply do not believe that the majority of UCU members support an academic boycott of Israel or that they believe it should be a major priority for the union," she said. "When I speak to members, they tell me they want their union to focus on pay and conditions." Source

Labels: Sane economics, Unions

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Group of old politicians make desperate plea for attention

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Let me introduce the soi-disante 'Elders', "a group of leaders [convened] to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackle some of the world's toughest problems". Source, registration required.

And now for the fun bit, a little light fisking of the track records of some of these elders:

Nelson Mandela - who is now 89.

Graça Machel - Happens to be married to Nelson Mandela, and one time minister in the one party state that was Mozambique on her then husband's watch.

Desmond Tutu - Given to less than nuanced comment on Israel.

Kofi Annan - A conspicuous success as UN secretary general....

Ela Bhatt - Indian woman involved in micro finance.

Gro Harlem Brundtland - Former Nowegian PM, who apparently 'suffers' from "electrosensitivity or electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) - ...a condition in which a person experiences physical and/or psychological symptoms that they report, against established scientific and medical opinion[citation needed], to be aggravated by electric or magnetic fields (EMF) or other electromagnetic waves at exposure levels tolerated by the general public".

Jimmy Carter - Words fail me.

Li Zhaoxing - A Chinese Communist.

Mary Robinson - Former Irish President

Muhammed Yunus - also involved in micro finance.

(Spot the Elder who could conceivably be described as *not* being on the Left)

I would not expect much even by way of pious bromides from this group, as "In 2001 [Peter] Gabriel and [Richard] Branson [took] their idea to Mandela and Graça Michel. Mandela is immediately enthusiastic...sets about bringing together the people you see today". So, it took six years to round up the other elders, and put out a press release. Very dynamic.

Labels: Attention whores

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Well London

This, I imagine, will make everyone squirm with embarrassment, starting with the horrible and presumably intentionally 'street' name for the venture:

"Lottery funding worth £14million was today granted to fund a major campaign to make Londoners happier.

Tens of thousands of people will be shown how to improve "wellbeing" by growing vegetables in window boxes, becoming more optimistic and taking more exercise".

Imagine the reaction of most Londoners to a 'Happiness Commissar' rolling up at the doorstep when said Londoner is watching TV, having a chat with the other half, blogging etc and declaring 'I'm from the government and how can I make you happier?'. I imagine the commissar would be fortunate if the response was as mild as 'going away would be a very good start'.

What with recycling being all the rage in quango etc circles, perhaps the programme could be renamed 'Strength Through Joy'.

Meanwhile, in a wholly unconnected development the Spanish Publishers Federation and the Culture Ministry is paying out of work (presumably) actors to dress up as Don Quixote etc to wander around Spanish beaches berating the populace for not reading. You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think, as the great Dorothy Parker once put it.

Labels: Common sense? What's that?, London

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A terrible blow to France's amour propre

How will the man in the Deux Magots cope with the news that sales of Gauloises and Gitanes cigarettes will shortly be making profits for a British-based company? This is courtesy of Imperial Tobacco having bought Franco-Spanish company Altadis.

I look forward to the Gitanes woman being replaced by a morris dancer, and perhaps Boudicca would look good on the Gauloises packet. Anyone fancy joining in a bid to takeover Pernod-Ricard?

Le Monde seems remarkably unconcerned about it all, by the way.

Labels: France

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A joke

I would tell this to my mother, so I think it passes the safe for work test:

"A couple made a deal that whoever died first would come back and inform the other of the afterlife. Their biggest fear was that there was no afterlife. After a long life, the husband was the first to go, and true to his word he made contact,

'Mary. Mary.'

'Is that you, Fred?'

'Yes, I've come back like we agreed.'

'What's it like?'

'Well, I get up in the morning, I have sex, I have breakfast, off to the golf course, I have sex, I bathe in the sun, and then I have sex twice. I have lunch, another romp around the golf course, then sex pretty much all afternoon. After supper, golf course again. Then have sex until late at night. The next day it starts again.'

'Oh, Fred you surely must be in heaven.'

'Not exactly, I'm a rabbit in Troon.'

With thanks to my fellow UCL alum Helen.

Labels: Light relief

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Harriet Harman's ability to reason

Speaking on her priorities as Minister for Women:

"This first strand of work will also include pressing forward with the Government’s commitment to tackle the pay gap between men and women—a gap that is not only unfair in principle, but which plays such a large part in the unequal division of labour in the home, preventing fathers from playing a more active role in their children’s early years and preventing women from fulfilling their opportunities at work". Source

What on earth connects pay levels to the willingness or otherwise of a father to spend time with his progeny?

Labels: Battle of the sexes

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Internet crash 2007

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

This is really rather good:

Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Labels: Internet, Light relief

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Move to Liverpool or resign. The choice is yours....

Civil Service Network reports that Whitehall HSE bods are a tad flustered about the prospect of a move to Merseyside, and have even gone so far as to "[take] part in a small demonstration".

I await a furious response from the Echo and the usual rent-a-quote scousers that emerge from the wainscotting whenever the 'pool is criticised, however obliquely.

I would have thought that the prospect of escaping a London commute and having money go heaven knows how much further on property while keeping one's job and presumably the same pay would be quite appealing.

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The Open Society and its Enemies...

A title I stole from a better man, but it seems remarkably apt given this news in the Jerusalem Post:

"A number of delegations that have visited Syria have delivered messages from the Israeli prime minister by which he is seeking peace. One even came during the Second Lebanon War. We consider this a positive step but our official policy is against a secretive channel of negotiations," [said] Syrian President Bashar Assad".

Given that Syria is hardly a liberal democracy, there is a fair amount of chutzpah in this call for everything to be out in the open. And then the grandstanding: "Furthermore, he stressed, any peace negotiations would be based on Israel returning to pre-1967 borders. Such conditions, said Assad, would need to be made clear by any "serious" peace envoys".

Not going to happen, is it?

Labels: Cant, Israel

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The EU answers a straight question. For once

And there it is, near the top of the press room page:

Europe's cultural heritage only a click away?

Clearly not, as it is a dead link.

Doubtless the link will be fixed at some point, when quite possibly further mockery will ensue.

Labels: EU fun and games, The arts

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Democracy Moscow-style

The Russian Constitutional Court has just upheld "a law requiring political parties to have a minimum of 50,000 members". The appellant, the doubtless deeply odious Russian Communist Workers' Party-Revolutionary Party of Communists, can muster 35,000 members.... Source

The rationale for upholding the law is that a party needs "at least 50,000 members to represent a segment of society". Converting 50,000 into a UK equivalent of about 21,000, how many UK parties would fail to pass that threshold?

The Greens - 7,110
UKIP - Official figures are not easy to lay hands on, but I've seen 11-12000 suggested. Source.
Respect - 5,739
SNP - 10,85
Plaid Cymru - ? Cannot find anything.... However, Istanbul Tory reckons 10,000, for which thanks.
Sinn Fein - Also a mystery, but it would include members in the Irish Republic...
Ulster Unionists, Democratic Unionists, SDLP - also a mystery.
BNP - unknown

Labour stands at circa 200,000, the Tories 290,000 and the Lib Dems 70,000 ish.

Corrections, fuller details would be most welcome.

Labels: Mother Russia

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