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How to lose friends and alienate people

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
(Title borrowed from Toby Young's book. Said book is very funny)

I suspect that Politicshome need a small lesson in e-mail etiquette, as I have just received an e-mail that goes to all the movers and shakers in 'Fleet Street' - with many non-corporate e-mail addresses - plus much of the blogosphere, with ALL the names in the 'to' box, and not as BCCs. Hey ho....

Anyway, 9 out of 10 of PH's panel of journos and so forth reckon the Dour One is a liability. No, he's a catastrophe. The story was penned by Andrew 'General Urko' Rawnsley, so maybe the blame will attach to him.

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posted by Croydonian

How the United Kingdom is governed, part 46

Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Want to influence the government's foreign policy? Easy - be a film star, or find someone who is a film star to front your campaign:

"Gordon Brown has called for swifter progress on Darfur following a meeting with actor and activist George Clooney in Downing Street".

I happen to agree with George on this one, but would the actor pay any attention to the Dour One's interpretation of Stanislavsky(1) technique?


(1) I started reading 'An Actor Prepares' a while back and it is unintentionally hilarious. Significant Other, who has crept the boards, agrees.

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posted by Croydonian

Eight for 2008

Saturday, December 29, 2007
It is meme time again, and His Grace the Archbishop Cranmer has invited me to have a crack at an eight part wish list. This will call for further mulling, but I will start with the big one:

1 - Gordon Brown to resign the prime ministership, and to apply to be the Steward and Bailiff of Her Majesty's Three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham in the county of Buckingham (The Chiltern Hundreds). Further he will offer a lengthy apology to the nation and to the better man (yes, I did just write that) he plotted and connived against for years, refuse a pension, any offers for his memoirs and then disappear from public life. By way of making amends, he will then do something at least harmless and possibly useful, perhaps along the lines of starting a sheep farm on an uninhabited island somewhere in the Outer Hebrides, while - naturally - forswearing any agricultural subsidies.

2 - The cancellation of the 2012 Olympics

3 - The End of History, pt II, this time featuring the final triumph of liberal democracy, free markets and the rule of law in China, the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere.

To be continued.

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posted by Croydonian

It isn't just Dismal Gordon who thinks he's abolished the economic cycle...

Monday, December 24, 2007
"Russia will become the world's fifth largest economy by 2020, if its GDP continues to grow 6-7% per year, the Russian economics minister said on Monday.

"If we maintain GDP growth at 6-7% per year, we'll join the group of the world's five largest economies. We are setting ourselves this goal," Elvira Nabiullina said". Source.


Much though I wish the Rodina and its inhabitants every economic good fortune, it is not going to happen, lady.

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posted by Croydonian

Erm, not *quite*

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
A screengrab from the BBC site's newsticker:

I have attempted to re-size it and have failed, but it says - get this - "Gordon Brown says the option of privatising Northern Rock has not been ruled out".

Now with added visibility, C/O the Dizzmeister:


Which also makes the point that this was a subbing error by the BBC. Friedmanite sleepers at their web operation, perhaps?

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posted by Croydonian

A new front in the war on Brown opening up?

Thursday, November 29, 2007
As though the weinidog does not have enough on his plate, now he has irate Paul O'Grady / 'Lily Savage' fans to contend with.

First the dull bit:

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Honour the Television Presenter Paul O Grady in the New Year Honours List"

So far so very run of the mill and the typical of petitions to Number 10. But, the full text starts with WITHOUT PREDJUDICE (sic).

Those with a legal background will get the significance, fully paid up members of humanity might not now that "Using 'without prejudice' in a dispute means what you say can't be used against you if the dispute turns into court proceedings, but only if you use it properly. Commonly, you use ‘without prejudice’ if you are making an offer to settle a dispute that you don’t want used against you in court as an admission, or as evidence of what you are prepared to pay as compensation, if the other side refuses your offer". Source

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the litigation.


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posted by Croydonian

A new definition for serendipity

Monday, November 26, 2007
Serendipity:

'the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for'.

'Exchanging notes with another blogger and discovering that the Welsh for Prime Minister is 'Prif Weinidog'. Yes, really. (Please, Welsh speakers, do not spoil it by confirming that it is not pronounced Whiny Dog')

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posted by Croydonian