tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14106229268576728282024-03-05T08:28:55.139-08:00The Quizzical GazeQuizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-11063670142878441892012-05-28T07:18:00.002-07:002012-06-30T03:27:16.153-07:00Far too good not to broadcastThis, from a <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/mec-s-artwork-splurge-at-mcdonald-s-1.1300819">South African news site</a>, and deserving of a narrower audience:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Gauteng MEC for Local Government and Housing, Humphrey Mmemezi, used his government-issued credit card to buy an artwork worth R10 000 from burger chain McDonald’s. The initial transaction was disguised to indicate the buying of R10 000 worth of burgers. The R10 000 would buy 256 Big Mac burger meals with large chips and a Coke at R38.95 a piece".</i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">MEC is the equivalent of MSP/AM etc</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">).</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the risk of spoiling the story, it would seem that Mr Mmemezi was not acquiring one of those panels showing Ronald McD fighting off Hamburglar, but rather laundering through the joint's business bank account. </span></div>
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<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-70674633072857446412012-05-08T06:07:00.000-07:002012-05-08T06:07:43.623-07:00An antique (1912) Hansard trawl,It's been a while, hasn't it?<br />
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<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1912/may/06/spanish-american-war-cut-telegraph-cables">Those wicked Americans</a>:<br />
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<i>Mr. KING asked what number of claims arising out of telegraphic cables cut in the West Indies were preferred against the United States Government as a result of the Spanish-American war; how long a period elapsed between the presenting of the claims and their final settlement; and what was the total amount of compensation paid.<br />§Mr. ACLAND As far as I am aware, only two such claims were preferred against the United States Government, one by the Cuba Submarine Telegraph Company and one by the French Cable Company. That of the Cuba Submarine Telegraph Company was presented in November, 1899, but no compens<a name='more'></a>ation has yet been paid. It will shortly be referred to arbitration under the Pecuniary Claims Agreement with the United States.<br />§Mr. KING Then may we take it that any claims that arise in the Ægean will take at least twelve years to settle?</i></blockquote>
I imagine the cables were those of what became Cable & Wireless.<br />
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<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1912/may/06/portugal">Plus ça change department</a>:<br />
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<i>Sir EDWIN CORNWALL asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he had received any information lately or at all concerning the commercial condition of Portugal; and <b>whether the political condition of Portugal is such as to cause anxiety to His Majesty's Government?</b>Mr. ACLAND In regard to the first part of the question I have received no special information recently as to the commercial situation in Portugal. <b>The answer to the second part is in the negative</b>.<br />Mr. WATT Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether the condition of affairs is better commercially under a Republic than under a Monarchy?<br />Mr. ACLAND That is rather a matter of opinion.</i></blockquote>
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The possibly less than whole-heartedly monarchist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Anderson_Watt">Mr Watt was a Glaswegian Liberal</a>.<br />
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Those fiendish Americans, when they are not cutting our cables, they have designs on <a href="http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_ladysnows.htm">Our Lady of the Snows</a>?<br />
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<i><br />Mr. SHIRLEY BENN (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Shirley_Benn,_1st_Baron_Glenravel">no relation</a>) asked the Prime Minister whether it was the business of the British Ambassador at Washington to be aware of the fact that the object of the reciprocity agreement between the United States and Canada was to make Canada an adjunct of the United States</i></blockquote>
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Benn was one of a slew of bods<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1912/may/06/united-states-and-canada"> asking the same thing</a>. The PM was rather less alarmed than they were.<br />
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<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1912/may/06/adam-smith-anniversary">An MP seeking an extra holiday</a>:<br />
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<i>Mr. BOTTOMLEY asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the fact that Wednesday, <b>5th June, is the anniversary of the birth of Adam Smith</b>, the founder of the science of political economy, upon which the policy of Free Trade is said to be based, he will consider the question of extending the Whitsun Adjournment for two days beyond the date announced, in order that Members of the House may be afforded<b> an opportunity of celebrating the festival in such manner as they may deem most appropriate?</b></i> </blockquote>
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<i><br /></i><i>The PRIME MINISTER I am afraid I cannot adopt the hon. Member's suggestion.</i> </blockquote>
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<i><br /></i><i>§Mr. BOTTOMLEY Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will reconsider his answer if I remind him that the 5th of June falls on the Feast of Saint Boniface?</i></blockquote>
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Not such a bad idea, is it? I'd rather have that day off than May Day. Those, like me, not entirely up to speed on the lives of the saints might be interested to know that Boniface is that unicorn rare thing, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Boniface">a genuine English saint</a>. He was martyred by Frisians, that is the people, rather than the livestock.<br />
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<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-75502106068850660312012-05-08T02:42:00.001-07:002012-05-08T02:42:45.931-07:00The Boris Effect pt II - with another graph.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While I wait for the <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/londonelects">ward level data</a>, here's a bit more on the Mayoral first preference votes. This graph shows the advance or decrease in the votes for Boris or Livingstone from 2008:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcV1qBa2rPzL3yXtnvN2l-m8GdNbKYVhse-fuJXQdlgJWtcohR9wpjfMr9RrvafEFQ3LdnzjXlw8aXm5lT45oxy3zXZ6DkffPhBlle8CTdXgcbBYmrMmgRFvxMf44oh0Pano-YhQArzE/s1600/london+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEcV1qBa2rPzL3yXtnvN2l-m8GdNbKYVhse-fuJXQdlgJWtcohR9wpjfMr9RrvafEFQ3LdnzjXlw8aXm5lT45oxy3zXZ6DkffPhBlle8CTdXgcbBYmrMmgRFvxMf44oh0Pano-YhQArzE/s640/london+2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
I have not been able to come up with a prettier looking positive / negative chart, but I think this tells the tale fairly clearly.<br />
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First up, note the huge upswing for Livingstone in the London borough of - wait for it, wait for it - Tower Hamlets (and, technically) City and Newham. <i>Quelle surprise</i>. While TH's equivalence to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1960#Controversies">Richard Daley's Chicago</a> for non-traditional democracy is well known, one can also factor in the absence of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_List">Trot mayoral candidate</a> this time. Bar North East, Livingstone did not put as much as 5000 votes anywhere else. What, one wonders did he do to so alienate Merton & Wandsworth? Threaten to cancel Wimbledon and turn Clapham Common into a radioactive tip? He dropped just shy of 10,000 votes from 2008.<br />
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Boris gained a small uplift in Barnet & Camden, where Livingstone fell back. I think that certain hateful comments about Jewish Londoners did KL no favours. Boris got his biggest upswing in my own haunt of South West. Set against that, note the heavy falls in the Boris vote in Bexley & Bromley and Havering & Redbridge. I'm putting this down to the bone-idleness of Tories in the eastern outer 'burbs rather than anything else. Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-28419062305469521802012-05-05T03:34:00.000-07:002012-05-05T03:34:50.680-07:00The Boris Effect - with gratuitous graphsUntil such time as the London Elects bods get around to providing ward level data and I can go to town on that, I have been fiddling around with 2008 and 2012 data to see how Boris (hurrah for his re-election, btw) fared on first choice votes relative to his ideological confrères in blue.<br />
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Chart one shows the percentage of Boris's vote achieved by each Conservative assembly candidate in 2008 and 2012 and in each case the candidate fared worse than Boris in 2012 than in 2008, or if you prefer, Boris outdid the candidate each time. So, taking <i>a wholly random</i> example, South West's Tony Arbour polled 76,913 votes to Boris's 90,061 in 2008 - or 85.4% of Boris's total. In 2012 the figures were 69,151 to 92,180 and 75%. This gives a Boris Factor or BF of 10.4.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQTPoshtKtvk2IwgngzvKaCQlXvZ56PJpp50IkSZZf7JVcdxpNqGqdAujk1CeBiGShBS9B9W-3wakydp_LWw9sMgGrCh72mlnYIYprGjFerLUW0lV2i4M9YBIcb2q8YQGicTynoOu84s/s1600/chart+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQTPoshtKtvk2IwgngzvKaCQlXvZ56PJpp50IkSZZf7JVcdxpNqGqdAujk1CeBiGShBS9B9W-3wakydp_LWw9sMgGrCh72mlnYIYprGjFerLUW0lV2i4M9YBIcb2q8YQGicTynoOu84s/s640/chart+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The lowest BF is in Bexley & Bromley, at 1.8. B&B is a pretty solid seat, so that comes as no great surprise, and it could be argued that folk were more inclined to vote for the slate than elsewhere. Lambeth & Southwark had a BF of 4.9, suggesting that those poor, benighted souls were sticking with the local Streatham lad made bad.<br />
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At the other end of scale, Barnet & Camden had an epic BF of 24.5, and Brent & Harrow's was 21.6.<br />
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More later, maybe. Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-51768516774136812462012-04-23T02:43:00.002-07:002012-04-23T03:01:29.294-07:00The Front National's vote share - it's a bit more complicated....Judging from news websites and the Today programme, the second lead story on the French presidential election is that Marine Le Pen's Front National scored its 'highest ever share of the vote', at 17.9%. And in strict terms that it is true, if somewhat misleading.<br />
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A little digging in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_presidential_election,_2002">2002 results</a> shows that there was a split in the FN vote between the old poujadiste's original FN, and the Mouvement National Républicain, which split from the FN in 1999. Le Pen polled 16.86% in 2002, while the MRN polled a further 2.34%, for a combined 19.2%. While the MRN is / was a tad more respectable (so to speak) than the FN, there cannot be any serious argument but that the two parties were fishing in the same pool.<br />
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More fun with French stats later, probably.Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-50086541009487212512012-04-18T05:01:00.000-07:002012-04-18T05:01:02.593-07:00Your cut out 'n' keep to London's least talented electoratesThose nice people at <a href="http://www.londonelects.org.uk/electoral-administrators/results-and-past-elections/results-2008">London Elects</a> have been kind enough to make ward level data from the 2008 Mayoral / LA elections available, and <a href="http://www.londonelects.org.uk/news-centre/news-listing/and-theyre">turnout </a>and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/datablog/interactive/2012/apr/12/london-mayoral-election-2008-votes-map">vote share maps</a> having been done elsewhere I've had a go at doing spoilt ballots, council by council.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP2oP_Pk6xuzw9fZs865Ge1IIel40GhHEMhXx-n_VM43XDVoYjJVzPM70PooZN6US-3ZbwWzOTs1hm2dmeETi-2Q9aKdvS8GFsLD_tfiAD0xNyFWs3Hq_7x39SEHL_p_kur224KUpcLls/s1600/boroughmap.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP2oP_Pk6xuzw9fZs865Ge1IIel40GhHEMhXx-n_VM43XDVoYjJVzPM70PooZN6US-3ZbwWzOTs1hm2dmeETi-2Q9aKdvS8GFsLD_tfiAD0xNyFWs3Hq_7x39SEHL_p_kur224KUpcLls/s320/boroughmap.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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Black (hello and welcome, Tower Hamlets) represents 3.2% of all first choice ballots being ineligible through mismarking, no mark etc. Dark grey (Ealing, Brent, Newham and Barking and Dagenham) represents 2.1-3.1% ineligibility and light grey 1.1-2.0%. Very light grey - Richmond - managed a 99% success rate and the City of London 99.6%.<br />
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Ward level data shows that the very worst figure is a 7.08% vote failure in Alperton, a ward in Brent. if Wikipedia is to be believed, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alperton">Alperton </a>is 75% ethnic Indian and 10% ethnic Sinhalese/Tamil, so it would seem that language might be a problem. Also at or around 1 in 20 are are Southall Green (Ealing, 5.9%), Spitalfields & Banglatown (Tower Hamlets, 5.5%), St Dunstan`s & Stepney Green (Tower Hamlets, 5.1%) Whitechapel (Tower Hamlets, 4.9%), Norwood Green (Ealing, 4.9%), Larkhall (Lambeth, 4.9%) and Kenton East (Harrow, 4.8%).<br />
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At the other end of the scale, two out of 1,312 City of London postal voters made a hash of it (0.15%), while the most talented polling station visitors were to be found in Kensington & Chelsea's Royal Hospital ward where 99.43% got it right. Nice that the Chelsea Pensioners are keeping good company, and doubtless providing it themselves. <br />
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Digging a little bit deeper, Alperton leads for blank ballots - 4.4% and while all of the electors of Bromley -Biggin Hill found something to mark. Identifying oneself on the ballot paper seems to be a Lambeth vice, at 2.8% in Larkhall and 1.4% in Oval. Over voting was big in Plaistow South (Newham) - 3.3%, Southall Green (Ealing) - 3.2% and Tottenham Hale (Haringey) - 3.1%Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-41111618699628622512012-03-30T08:29:00.001-07:002012-03-30T08:29:12.041-07:00Pass the brain bleach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We live in dark and terrible times - that man Galloway is back in Parliament, hot sausage rolls are VATable, newsreaders wear horrid ties and so on. And now <a href="http://liambyrne.co.uk/?p=3375">this</a>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZRBgWsWCyqbHoaGxPJ_FYqe6XsZmpsqRovivpRO5-RadaCn4XGP6EJCqeSJfh3WEiWPQyRkbTNAuU4bmQ3t2iaxhG8ajvtDvOmRneHa59Xz4c1YiL_uHww-49wIPC8PlLkauKn8DShk/s1600/byrne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZRBgWsWCyqbHoaGxPJ_FYqe6XsZmpsqRovivpRO5-RadaCn4XGP6EJCqeSJfh3WEiWPQyRkbTNAuU4bmQ3t2iaxhG8ajvtDvOmRneHa59Xz4c1YiL_uHww-49wIPC8PlLkauKn8DShk/s640/byrne.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Clearly spelling is no higher than, at best, his fourth priority.Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-42927966248881649362012-03-10T03:47:00.000-08:002012-03-10T03:47:58.333-08:00Peace, love and understanding - DPRK-styleJudging from this <a href="http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2012/201203/2012-03-09ee.html">article </a>at the KCNA, brotherhood betwixt the two Koreas is along the lines of the brotherhood betwixt most small children:<br />
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<i>"Meetings took place in North Hwanghae and Ryanggang Provinces on Friday at which servicepersons and people vowed to wipe out through a merciless sacred war the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors who hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK".</i></blockquote>
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The servicepersons and people had their <strike>feelings</strike> dignity hurt by LMB and Co not allowing southerners to attend the funeral of the late and generally unlamented Kim Jong-Il.<br />
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And there's more, much, much more:<br />
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<br /><i>"The speakers branded the Lee group of traitors as human scum worse than rabid dogs, hordes of traitors bereft of elementary ethics and morality".</i></blockquote>
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And:</div>
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<i>They called for uninterruptedly staging the DPRK-style sacred war in an indiscriminate and intensive way till the Lee group of traitors makes an apology for its high treason before the nation.</i></blockquote>
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That dignity is not cheap it would seem.</div>
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<i>The DPRK has the most powerful and merciless striking means and methods which are unknown to the world and<b> beyond human imagination</b></i><i>. </i>(My emphasis)</blockquote>
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One does have to be rather impressed that the DPRK's scientists and the like are able to create means and methods without having imagined them first.<br />
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Anyway:<br />
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<i>"The revolutionary armed forces of Mt. Paektu will shower fire deadlier than what was done on Yonphyong Island and thus blow up not only the dens of such human scum but Chongwadae and other bulwarks of the group of traitors".</i></blockquote>
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Yonphyong was struck with artillery shells last year, which I find fairly easy to imagine. Chongwadae is Seoul's No. 10 / White House. <br />
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Maybe an awful lot of North Koreans had rather bad childhoods and that explains all this acting out.<br />
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<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-50562749517089269592012-03-09T03:25:00.000-08:002012-03-09T03:25:19.153-08:00British and French in 'not arrogant' shockerI am indebted to the lovely people at Pew Global for making their survey on '<a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/11/17/the-american-western-european-values-gap/">the American-Western European Values Gap</a>' available online, so I've picked the best bits and knocked up another couple of charts.<br />
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Asked this question - <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">“<i>Our people are not perfect, but our culture is superior to others</i>” - the polling results look like this:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4E9rrlJx8J9czw5vEFtdmNmUzG_fhn84JKyWSU_mQ5B0YwkGBUf22wWI3Tq-1Q5_UVDJy9tRyBwmtPcbW5M_X9VljeVHJI2tY597WNCKeYRDBjN0Nn4ZtyW3sxo-yFwRlmaNpuEpoUA/s1600/cultural+superiority+by+age.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4E9rrlJx8J9czw5vEFtdmNmUzG_fhn84JKyWSU_mQ5B0YwkGBUf22wWI3Tq-1Q5_UVDJy9tRyBwmtPcbW5M_X9VljeVHJI2tY597WNCKeYRDBjN0Nn4ZtyW3sxo-yFwRlmaNpuEpoUA/s400/cultural+superiority+by+age.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Interesting, no? The supposedly self-satisfied / exceptionalist French are the least confident / arrogant across all age ranges, while the supposedly cringing / perpetually apologetic Germans have the smuggest youngsters (well, under 30s). Our American chums lead in self-belief in the two other age breaks. Meanwhile, what is going on with Britons born between 1962 and 1981? Most of that cohort would have known Thatcher, Major or Blair as the first prime minister of their adulthood, two of whom were not exactly shrinking violets. <br />
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The breakdown by gender is not as dramatic, but is of interest nevertheless:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdHm9cPZOBxn9Nu3fWOkj7f2tptgZJRhM3Ov8Xl74O6NqFlxXaAfSp1ldOxW2qy30rIBNcli13jQORH7-Y2gnZjJKCVUH8Qfny1TT3Bj6c4hyphenhyphen-TxTt4InXVvlEnTYwH09k_Ir8Btgki4/s1600/cultural+superiority+by+gender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjdHm9cPZOBxn9Nu3fWOkj7f2tptgZJRhM3Ov8Xl74O6NqFlxXaAfSp1ldOxW2qy30rIBNcli13jQORH7-Y2gnZjJKCVUH8Qfny1TT3Bj6c4hyphenhyphen-TxTt4InXVvlEnTYwH09k_Ir8Btgki4/s400/cultural+superiority+by+gender.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Taking a wild stab in the dark, I would imagine that women lead in most countries as there are more of them among the older.</div>
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Shame that Pew did not poll the Chinese....</div>
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Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-88971634249895034902012-03-08T06:24:00.002-08:002012-03-08T12:41:56.596-08:00And the Liberals will inherit the earth, or at least a lot of EU CommissionsFor reasons too dull to divulge, I have been mulling on the EU's Commissars and noted that there are <i>rather a lot </i>of Liberals among them. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commissioner">Commissioners take a vow of political celibacy</a> -<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"Having been appointed as a Member of the European Commission by the European Council, following the vote of consent by the European Parliament I solemnly undertake: to respect the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the fulfilment of all my duties; to be completely independent in carrying out my responsibilities, in the general interest of the Union; in the performance of my tasks, neither to seek nor to take instructions from any Government or from any other institution, body, office or entity; to refrain from any action incompatible with my duties or the performance of my tasks.</i></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">I formally note the undertaking of each Member State to respect this principle and not to seek to influence Members of the Commission in the performance of their tasks. I further undertake to respect, both during and after my term of office, the obligation arising therefrom, and in particular the duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance, after I have ceased to hold office, of certain appointments or benefits".</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></i></blockquote>
<br />
To which I would retort, go tell it to the marines....<br />
<br />
Anyway, back at the plot, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barroso_Commission">the current 27 break down thus</a> - nine ALDE (Liberals to you and me) aligned at nomination, Six PES (Socialists), nine EPP (Christian Democrats) and three apparently unaffiliated.<br />
<br />
A pie-chart of which looks like this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpocVl-ELOLI1DmnT-5cWPJkCJhmxbpkErvUhdJr7vLar8af1Abh1idsu7xLjPGWbsKlZHFL8ZETiGMgaJ2_ET-BA8VIrhG3HuaZlKvBvdST8S-GKVxu3TK8eoeeZW2MLguUhFRgVGwI/s1600/EU+C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpocVl-ELOLI1DmnT-5cWPJkCJhmxbpkErvUhdJr7vLar8af1Abh1idsu7xLjPGWbsKlZHFL8ZETiGMgaJ2_ET-BA8VIrhG3HuaZlKvBvdST8S-GKVxu3TK8eoeeZW2MLguUhFRgVGwI/s400/EU+C.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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That's a lot of Liberals, isn't it?</div>
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What would a Commission based on populations currently ruled by each party look like? </div>
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Like this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SsAiS3_8j6iAW05lYD3n0D_LhSQiLoZJDE9gZHHgexGiCdrS2rT_a5SB4S2ot-6WKyvzcFUdmTSsKMIn4zhyphenhyphen27esjqdhHzHhhNxA0Es5K1U5p83wDKuJHE5rPUFtM585Zp4PEdjA5_s/s1600/eu+c+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SsAiS3_8j6iAW05lYD3n0D_LhSQiLoZJDE9gZHHgexGiCdrS2rT_a5SB4S2ot-6WKyvzcFUdmTSsKMIn4zhyphenhyphen27esjqdhHzHhhNxA0Es5K1U5p83wDKuJHE5rPUFtM585Zp4PEdjA5_s/s400/eu+c+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The PEL (blow-dried Bolsheviks) rule Cyprus, but the good people of Cyprus fail to reach 1/27th of the population of the EU by, oh, about 17.8 million so no sinecure for the PEL.<br />
<br />
The AECR is the Euro grouping cobbled together by our own dear PM, and those four Commissariats represent the population of these parts plus the Czech Republic.<br />
<br />
The PES would get one seat - losing five - based on the populations of Austria, Denmark and Belgium all of which are currently groaning under the red wheel. <br />
<br />
The ALDE slides from nine to two, courtesy of Romania, the Netherlands and Estonia.<br />
<br />
The technocrat governments of Greece and Italy are taken to be neutral.<br />
<br />
And the big, big winner is the European People's Party, which jumps from nine to 16, aided by France, Spain and Germany.Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-39690444628504769362012-01-12T01:36:00.000-08:002012-01-12T01:39:46.178-08:00In a pique on Darien<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Joke stolen from Flann O'Brien)</span><br />
<br />
Imagine, if you will, that an indigent friend comes to you asking for just under £400,000 having gone bankrupt. Being a generous soul, you agree to the sum, but as a condition the friend agrees to enter into business with you. Some way down the line, the friend decides to exit the business. Might you, perhaps, want your money back, compounded?<br />
<br />
This is roughly what has happened with our Caledonian neighbours, who we bailed out in 1707 with the Act of Union, their having blown rather a lot of money on their attempt to build an empire in what is now Panama in the quite extraordinarily ill-fated Darien Scheme - see <a href="http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Scotland-History/DarienScheme.htm">here</a>, <a href="http://www.kinnaird.net/darien.htm">here</a> or the inevitable <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=darien%20scheme&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FDarien_scheme&ei=LKcOT866J4r38QOOgdGGBA&usg=AFQjCNG_XibRcW2EhMRa6k50u0Ttkzq_Nw&sig2=xFoiiZOPBM0Q3i4xtWUuIw">Wikipedia link</a>. <br />
<br />
Anyway, £398,085 (and the all important 10 shillings) in 1707 terms would be worth rather more now, and the rather nifty calculator at <a href="http://www.measuringworth.com/">measuringworth</a> suggests £52m based on RPI or £725m based on average earnings.<br />
<br />
I look forward to Alec Salmond including this sum in his next budget.Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-51800703423158738732011-12-22T01:44:00.000-08:002011-12-22T01:44:48.882-08:00Pyongyang follies revisited - now it is getting /really/ silly.This from the <a href="http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201112/2011-12-21ee.html">KCNA</a>. I am not, repeat not, making this up:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br /><i>A natural wonder was also observed around the statue of the President standing on Tonghung Hill.</i><i>At around 21:20 Tuesday a Manchurian crane was seen flying round the statue three times before alighting on a tree. The crane stayed there for quite a long while with its head drooped and flew in the direction of Pyongyang at around 22:00.</i><i>Observing this, the director of the Management Office for the Hamhung Revolutionary Site, and others said in union that even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong Il born of Heaven after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him."</i></blockquote>
Here's a Manchurian Crane, possibly grief-stricken:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTdmQEU_LvHms8FTFmGEyqRnreYo38JzvY3ohoxmOUZQZTEpWGEcOxFVHvMzpX6nnpUYYNliU0e5DMVXLGYeH-CTOOiall27AyL4TF5WdDJjypxxF1_7rVjjjv90UF-obhSlCM32XDxw/s1600/M+Crane.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTdmQEU_LvHms8FTFmGEyqRnreYo38JzvY3ohoxmOUZQZTEpWGEcOxFVHvMzpX6nnpUYYNliU0e5DMVXLGYeH-CTOOiall27AyL4TF5WdDJjypxxF1_7rVjjjv90UF-obhSlCM32XDxw/s320/M+Crane.JPG" width="256" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
There are also tales of lake ice cracking, temperature drops and strong winds, obviously all related to the death of Kim Jong-Il.<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-20589697785635856402011-12-19T01:35:00.000-08:002011-12-19T08:29:13.777-08:00Kim Jong-IlI'll give the first word to <a href="http://www.verse.fr/show.php?table=poems&id=264">Hiliare Belloc</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>"Here richly, with ridiculous display,</i><br />
<i>The Politician’s corpse was laid away.</i><br />
<i>While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged</i><br />
<i>I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged".</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
In terms of what comes next, his son's taking up of the reins is by no means as clear cut as the media is making out at the moment. At present, <a href="http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm">the KCNA English language service</a> is not even reporting the death, let alone the succession Whoever ends up being the face of DPRK will be utterly beholden to the military - as was Kim Jong-Il. As such, expect more money to go the military, perhaps a few mortar rounds will get lobbed at the South and possibly something a little more spectacular. However, I would rule out a full scale invasion of the South, for while the North has the numbers, its equipment is utterly outdated - it has some 40 Mig 29s, with everything else much, much older. Equally, the West <i>would </i>defend the South, but I doubt that Beijing has the stomach for a fight, and the DPRK does nothing that goes against Chinese vital interests. <br />
<br />
However, whatever we think, Koreans have their own way of doing things, evidenced by this from 'The Dragon and the Foreign Devils': "<i>In 1866, nine French priests had their heads cut off by the Koreans. The French Asiatic Squadron under Rear-Admiral Pierre Gustave Roze put a landing party ashore and proclaimed a blockade of...Seoul. The Koreans refused to take any notice of them, let alone negotiate. The baffled French withdrew to China, having accomplished nothing</i>". <br />
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<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-57168669529587941012011-11-11T02:11:00.001-08:002011-11-11T02:28:36.924-08:00Pyongyang follies - the comebackI spotted this at the <a href="http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201111/2011-11-10ee.html">KCNA </a>today:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Football Expert Expects DPRK's Good Results in Match with Japan"</i><br />
<br />
<i>"The DPRK and Japan, both belonging to Group C of the Asian regional
third-stage preliminaries for the 2014 World Cup, will have a match in
Pyongyang on November 15.<br />
Prof. and Dr. Ri Tong Gyu, a football expert and researcher at
the Institute of Physical Culture under the Academy of Sports Science,
is of the view that the two teams will have a hot match"</i>
. (<span style="font-size: x-small;">No sniggering at the back</span>)<i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>"A total of 16 matches have been held between the DPRK and Japan,
including a preliminary match for the Asian Football Championship held
in June 1975, in which the former defeated the latter 1:0.</i>
<br />
<i>
The two teams had three matches in Pyongyang. They drew 0:0 in
two matches and the DPRK beat Japan 2:0 in the Asian regional
preliminaries for World Cup held in June 1989".</i></blockquote>
<br />
Might there be something that the KCNA is not telling us? <i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
Yes, there sure is.<br />
<i><br /></i><br />
In the last game twixt <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_national_football_team">Samurai Blue</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea_national_football_team">Chollima</a><i>, </i>played in September this year, Japan won 1-0.<i> </i>I have been able to find <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Japan_national_football_team_results">results going back to 2005</a> - any additions would be welcome - and these show three wins to Japan, one to the DPRK and one draw.<br />
<br />
However, onwards to the <a href="http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201111/2011-11-10ee.html">Kumi Inlet</a><i>, "..in the southern part of Ryongyon County, South Hwanghae Province</i>".<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>Near the inlet there are rich marine resources like sea cucumber, launce, gizzard shad, oyster, short neck clam and tangle</i>".</blockquote>
<br />
I'm not much of an icthyologist, but it turns out that the gizzard shad <i>is </i>known to <a href="https://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1ACAW_ENUK434&q=gizzard+shad&btnG=Google+Search">non-DPRK science</a>. Not sure about 'tangle' though.<br />
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<i> </i>Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-15771583265805036652011-11-10T08:31:00.000-08:002011-11-11T02:28:36.931-08:00Would you dig down the back of your sofa for £3.86 bn?Tough call isn't it?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=ECA/11/37&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en">This</a>, from the EUPravda, more specifically the European Court of auditors:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<br />
<div class="A_Standard_P3">
<i><span class="A__T23">"The ECA concludes that the 2010 </span><span class="A__T24">accounts </span><span class="A__T23">present
fairly the financial position of the European Union and the results of
its operations and its cash flows for the year. <b>However, the </b></span><b><span class="A__T24">payments </span><span class="A__T23">underlying
these accounts were still affected by material error, with an estimated
error rate of 3.7 % for the €122.2 billion of EU spending</span></b><span class="A__T25">. </span><span class="A__T23">The
error rate is not an estimate of fraud but reflects the ECA’s
estimation of the degree of non-compliance with the rules governing the
spending, such as breaches of public procurement rules, ineligible or
incorrect calculation of costs claimed to EU co-financed projects, or
over-declaration of land by farmers.</span><span class="A__T25"> </span><span class="A__T23">The </span><span class="A__T24">control systems tested across the EU budget </span><span class="A__T23">were still only partially effective in ensuring the regularity of payments". </span></i></div>
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<span class="A__T23">I make 3.7% of €122.2 €4.52 bn, or £3.86bn. Or not a million miles away from what we have budgeted for the prison service next year - £4.6 bn. And more than we will be spending on foreign military aid, a surprisingly high £3.6 bn. </span></div>Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-9579535625720179032011-11-10T06:19:00.000-08:002011-11-10T06:19:32.762-08:00What - Me Worry?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(With apologies to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Neuman">Alfred E.Neuman</a>)</span></div>
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I have just laid eyes on a <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_372_en.pdf">eurobarometer survey about global warming</a>, climate change, a new ice age or whatever they are calling it this week, which - in the main - is a dull as one would expect. However, there are some broader questions involving what folk regard as the leading threats to humanity, and it is with this that I will attempt to make hay.</div>
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So, guess which country's population has the highest percentage considering international terrorism to be '<i>the single most serious problem facing the world as a whole</i>'?</div>
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Well, Bulgaria - <i>obviously</i>. Doubtless Al Qaeda, Continuity IRA, the Sendero Luminoso, Al Shabbab and the Red Army Faction are all planning on unpleasantness in Plovdiv even as we speak. Alternatively, maybe the Bulgars think that little bit bigger than certain other countries - I'm talking about you, Hungary and Greece. Adjusting my liberal hat, perhaps the Greeks have other things to worry about. Anyway, the figure for Bulgaria is 53%, 21% for Greece and 19% for Hungary. We are third behind the Czechs, at 46% and 47% respectively. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15074485">A paper published in 2003</a> has this to say <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>'</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i>The Republic of Bulgaria...has little experience with terrorist acts. During the past 20 years, only nine terrorism-related events have been recorded in Bulgaria, and no unconventional weapons have been use'. </i>Let us hope that the Bulgars, and the rest of us, stay safe.</span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Here's a chart of the findings:</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAhhM4WBnqfI6EQ-vB71o1O0JZe0GkxKtjK8Q03Ovx94QnQwaPXCuuVvFIeHJdEP3OsiM2iVvXHDTZeIeisQGX0ty6hnnNnJOpv8XUQMJ3411cvmXawLsdDeuGpVezS9UORM4NCdhjRTw/s1600/terrorism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAhhM4WBnqfI6EQ-vB71o1O0JZe0GkxKtjK8Q03Ovx94QnQwaPXCuuVvFIeHJdEP3OsiM2iVvXHDTZeIeisQGX0ty6hnnNnJOpv8XUQMJ3411cvmXawLsdDeuGpVezS9UORM4NCdhjRTw/s400/terrorism.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i>(The first 'SL' above should be 'SK') </i></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Another possibility is 'the increasing global population', and what a miserable bunch of neo-Malthusians the Swedes turn out to be - 45% cited it. The Dutch are not much better at 39%, and the 30% + club is entirely made up of Northern countries. At the other end of the scale, the Bulgarians are fairly sanguine at 8%, likewise the Italians, while Malta (6%), Portugal and Poland (both 5%) are doing the Pope proud. </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YztstVWM_YnWineaspFH5kQXhUEcGc3LHvIQ_CDe5Da-E9P5fTo1zp2-7fBFYKn9zHeVaYptFRx04NUtlu1W2YI9Z6BUi4SHyjmdTzr65eopovgjPvdifBqaN-WlGqUL3V_VlHdDrcE/s1600/population.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YztstVWM_YnWineaspFH5kQXhUEcGc3LHvIQ_CDe5Da-E9P5fTo1zp2-7fBFYKn9zHeVaYptFRx04NUtlu1W2YI9Z6BUi4SHyjmdTzr65eopovgjPvdifBqaN-WlGqUL3V_VlHdDrcE/s400/population.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Elsewhere, the Greeks are most worried (or were, the research dates to June) about the economy, and the Swedes the least, while the Swedes buy into global warming the most and the Portuguese the least. We are the least worried about the spread of disease and the Czechs and the Slovaks the most. Being of a cynical bent, I imagine that alarmist TV documentaries do rather a lot to skew these figures. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-72021267729983211782011-11-03T06:40:00.000-07:002011-11-03T06:40:25.331-07:00A 1911 Hansard trawlIn which, as so often, a mirror is held up to our times.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1911/nov/01/italy-and-turkey-bombardment-of-tripoli">Fighting and looting in Tripoli</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><cite class="member author entry-title unmatched-member">Mr. POINTER</cite>
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he
is aware that, consequent upon the hasty departure of Maltese colonists
from Tripoli, the property which they were compelled to leave behind was
pillaged by Arabs and that the harvests of the Maltese have been reaped
by natives.</i><br />
<i>....</i><br />
<i> The UNDER-SECRETARY for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. F. D. Acland)<br /><br />His Majesty's Government have been informed that, on the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from Tripoli, the country people pillaged a number of shops and stores in that town. I have not yet been informed how far Maltese were affected, but will inquire. I am not aware that the harvests of the Maltese have been reaped by natives. No claims for compensation have yet been received; but if any are received they shall be considered on their merits.</i></blockquote>
<br />
I don't suppose the 'country people' found quite so many ornamental fly whisks, hats and other entertaining things in the Bey's dressing up box. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1911/nov/01/old-age-pensions">Unhappiness concerning pensions</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mr. C. BATHURST Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that under this new Old Age Pensions Act a male pensioner, although he may have a large family, upon the death of his wife, loses not merely his wife's pension but his own pension as well? Does he think that fair?<br /><br />Mr. McKINNON WOOD If he has the amount which is put in the Act as income I do not see any unfairness.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Does seem a bit rum, does it not?<br />
<br />
Lying politicians:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<i>Mr. KELLAWAY asked the Prime Minister if his attention has been called to the verdicts in the series of libel actions arising out of the last General Election; and whether, with a view to increasing public confidence in the administration of the law in such matters, the Government proposes to introduce legislation?<br /> </i><br />
<i>The PRIME MINISTER The Government are not prepared to introduce legislation on this subject.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Purts me in mind of the old Lyndon Johnson 'I want to make him deny it' story. Detail <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_09/009566.php">here</a>, but it includes a rude word and a reference to an illegal, not to say unhygienic, sexual practice. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1911/nov/01/boxing-matches">A curious one</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mr. BURGOYNE asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the action which his predecessor felt compelled to take in connection with <b>the abandoned boxing contest between Jack Johnson and Bombardier Wells</b> has had the effect of causing ground landlords and lessees of many halls in London to refuse to allow legitimate boxing matches to be decided at their premises<br /><br />Mr. McKENNA ....The law on the subject of boxing contests is well established. My predecessor was advised by the Law Officers that, <b>if the object and intent of the combatants is to subdue each other by violent blows until one can endure it no longer, the contest is illegal</b>; and that, on the other hand, a sparring match in which the object is to win by skill and not by the severity of the injuries inflicted is lawful.</i></blockquote>
And the clouds part to show the true sky:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mr. W. THORNE Does the right hon. Gentleman think that if there was any possible chance of Wells beating Johnson there would have been any talk about the matter? </i></blockquote>
<br />
For those not up to speed on historic pugilism, Jack was the first black heavyweight boxing champion.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1911/nov/01/intoxicating-liquors-india">Temperance bores</a>, again:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><cite class="member author entry-title unmatched-member">Sir HERBERT ROBERTS</cite>
asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether his
attention has been called to the continued increase in the consumption
of intoxicating liquors throughout India</i><br />
<i>...</i><br />
<i> The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Herbert Lewis)The Secretary of State does not accept the view, which is not substantiated by facts, that the consumption of intoxicating liquors is increasing throughout India.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Mine's an IPA, please.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1911/nov/01/competitive-musical-festivals">Competitive music festivals</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><br /></i><br />
<i><cite class="member author entry-title unmatched-member">Mr. WORTHINGTON-EVANS</cite>
asked the
President of the Board of Education whether his attention has been
called to the effect of the competitive musical festivals carried on by
private enterprise in many parts of the country upon the standard of
musical training in schools</i></blockquote>
<br />
Hmm, and there was I hoping that it might be something like the scene in one of the Wodehouse novels where an incompetent minstrel band has one of its members declaring, 'ha, ha I finished first'. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1911/nov/02/africa-readjustment-of-boundaries">And so to the perfidiousness of the French</a>: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Sir GEORGE WHITE asked if His Majesty's Government have taken, or will take, the opportunity presented by the readjustment of territorial boundaries within the area of Africa covered by the Act of Berlin to recall to the Governments concerned in that readjustment the stipulations of the Berlin Act with regard to freedom of trade between the natives and the outer world, which stipulations have not been adhered to by the French Government.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<br />
<i>Sir E. GREY It would be undesirable to complicate the negotiations proceeding between other Powers by raising other questions than those now under discussion between them.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Brussels (so to speak) interfering in economic acts between consenting parties:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mr. LOUGH asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can now inform the House what was the precise claim put forward by Russia at the recent meeting of the Brussels Sugar Convention; what decision was arrived at; what action the British representatives took with regard to it; when he hopes to be able to lay Papers on the subject; and what is the earliest date at which it is possible for His Majesty's Government to withdraw from the Convention?<br /><br />Sir E. GREY The proposal submitted by Russia to the International Sugar Commission was that she should be permitted, during the period of 1st September, 1911, to 31st August, 1912, to export 400,000 tons of sugar in excess of the amount of 200,000 tons allowed to her under the Protocol of 19th December, 1907. The Commission decided to agree to the Russian proposal in principle, provided that a satisfactory arrangement was arrived at in regard to the conditions under which Russia would continue to be a party to the Convention.</i></blockquote>
<br />
I cannot help but think that the Brussels Sugar Convention sounds like a prog rock band.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1911/nov/02/motor-cars-imports">The vexed issue of imports</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mr. COOPER asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that of all the motor cars of different makes and power offered for sale in this country only 37½ per cent. of cars are manufactured in the United Kingdom; and will he consider the advantages to British industry and British labour of imposing a substantial import duty on motor cars and accessories? </i></blockquote>
<br />
37 1/2%, eh? If I've interpreted <a href="http://www.am-online.com/new-car-sales-figures/">this </a>correctly, 0.06% of the UK car market, as of the end of August, was made up of sales of cars by UK-<i>owned </i>manufacturers. The share of UK produced cars woul be rather less anaemic. <br />
<br />
Sticking with economic nationalism, what about <a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1911/nov/02/boycott-of-irish-products">this</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mr. BOLAND asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been called to the threatened boycott of Irish products, with the exception of linen from Ulster, on the passing of the Home Rule Bill; and whether he proposes to take any, and if so, what steps to safeguard the normal development of trade relations between Great Britain and Ireland?</i><br />
<br />
<i>Mr. ROBERTSON</i> <i>I do not think that this suggestion (of which I had not previously heard) need be seriously considered.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Mr. BOLAND Is the hon. Gentleman aware that publicity was given to this statement in a letter published in "The Times," on October 31st, and has he calculated the effect in increasing the cost of living in Great Britain if farming produce to the extent of £35,000,000 a year was kept away from England by purely political prejudice?</i></blockquote>
Very silly.<br />
<br />
If not quite as petty as <a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1911/nov/02/pillar-letter-box-essexford">this</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Captain CRAIG asked the Postmaster-General whether he received a communication from the inhabitants of the parishes of Killany and Inniskeen, South Monaghan, through the medium of the rector, requesting an evening collection about 6.15 and the erection of a pillar box on the public road near the railway station; whether he is aware that such a pillar box at Essexford would convenience not only residents in the county Monaghan, but also those on the border in the county Louth; that the pillar was half built and the box about to be placed in position, when the postal authorities suddenly ordered the work to be stopped; can he state why their decision was reversed at the last moment; and will he give instructions to have the scheme completed that the residents may enjoy postal facilities to which they have been looking forward?<br /> </i><br />
<i>Mr. HERBERT SAMUEL The facts are as stated. The erection of the box was suspended because of local opposition to its substitution for an existing box near its site. The matter was fully explained to the rector by letter on the 16th August.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Good grief, a parliamentary question about a post box. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1911/nov/02/nonconformist-teachers">And wrapping up</a>, where the past is a foreign country:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mr. LEACH asked the President of the Board of Education if it is his intention to introduce legislation to prevent Nonconformists teachers being excluded, on religious grounds alone, from head teacherships in State-supported schools?<br /> </i><br />
<i>Mr. J. A. PEASE I am aware of the difficulty at present existing, referred to in my hon. Friend's question. I regret I do not see my way at present to the introduction of legislation to remedy this particular grievance. The proper time to deal with it will be when the Government introduces legislation to deal with the other difficulties created by the Act of 1902.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Baptists today, Papists tomorrow and before you know it, Parsees, Israelites, Mussulmans and Hindoos.....Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-53096117905643903772011-11-03T05:41:00.000-07:002011-11-03T05:41:07.709-07:00The most annoying napkin. Ever.One of the unexpected pleasures of middle age is that one feels that one has carte blanche to carp, bemoan the collapse of civilisation and generally be a grumpy old man. So, exhibit A, spotted at a nameless coffee shop chain that does a good line in free wi-fi, and come to that, coffee:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwV90X2BiznH1rHEdP0HK8owUe0GebxJ1qIWrrmiueQBbEjMPDo-IQguJno66GaCAi97b6BveYfYgbyxAiSDpArp1gCnZqw_H6a499thBV3Qmnr0rVob-ELEYb2Y9c-O1UuOgeFuGA5ys/s1600/IMG_20111103_120207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwV90X2BiznH1rHEdP0HK8owUe0GebxJ1qIWrrmiueQBbEjMPDo-IQguJno66GaCAi97b6BveYfYgbyxAiSDpArp1gCnZqw_H6a499thBV3Qmnr0rVob-ELEYb2Y9c-O1UuOgeFuGA5ys/s400/IMG_20111103_120207.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The use of 'less' where the correct word is 'fewer' never fails to grind my gears. And then the trees as a finite resource error. Those priggish e-mail footers declaring <i>'think of the environment before printing this e-mail</i>' make me want to interface my head with the nearest flat surface, not that that would do any good. At one point I had an e-mail footer along the lines of '<i>the trees used to make paper are a crop and are no more endangered than wheat, so feel free to print this if you fancy</i>', although I doubt it won many hearts or minds. Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-31483171598792915152011-11-01T05:48:00.000-07:002011-11-01T05:48:52.882-07:00Something the EU is really quite good at.<a href="http://iservice-europa.eu/presscorner/enlargement/">Stylised cartography</a>:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JvXK3aQnzXP794nduz0hObj7tOh9WPH3KAr_94pdy7HPaI0NTbaB0P4ekO2modhx9bWV5hp81UXRTL3vekOIJAv_0ZhdDgft9CFMoVOjnvIF9CwuzcT-cyEelhdA2MdQvvxfwvvC1os/s1600/EU+ENLARGEMENT-+MEDIA+CORNER_1320142980220.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JvXK3aQnzXP794nduz0hObj7tOh9WPH3KAr_94pdy7HPaI0NTbaB0P4ekO2modhx9bWV5hp81UXRTL3vekOIJAv_0ZhdDgft9CFMoVOjnvIF9CwuzcT-cyEelhdA2MdQvvxfwvvC1os/s400/EU+ENLARGEMENT-+MEDIA+CORNER_1320142980220.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I do not think that either Italy, Portugal or Turkey lend themselves to being rendered as spheres, but it works quite well for France and Poland, inter alia. I rather like our subsidiary blob for Ulster, but do wonder why Iceland - less than half the size of the UK - is the size it is. There's also something a bit dodgy about the colour allocations for the countries with - yawnola - three equal stripes. A bit of rooting around has not turned up any amusing symbolic meanings for the colours in the flags of our nearest neighbours bar the RoI, which from memory is green for Celtic / Catholic Ireland, Orange for - <i>oh go on, guess</i> - and white for a desire for peace between the two. There's an awful lot of orange on the Irish blob, so maybe the designer is a Unionist. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://croydonian.blogspot.com/2009/01/strange-map-o-day.html">Here's another one</a> from a few years back:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC57y2q-LBqrHsny4CyO-w1-nGP24Je93eq3rbtdYKBZyw6ATMpEVkdUJruiZhVLYy_QnLa4hR8km5CEWwgjKJNuGTnyNuBSNYYm4ZO1xrCYKke4RRG2r5MHHBHwI-y5IKKaHWzFSgevs/s1600/eu+map+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC57y2q-LBqrHsny4CyO-w1-nGP24Je93eq3rbtdYKBZyw6ATMpEVkdUJruiZhVLYy_QnLa4hR8km5CEWwgjKJNuGTnyNuBSNYYm4ZO1xrCYKke4RRG2r5MHHBHwI-y5IKKaHWzFSgevs/s320/eu+map+1.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-67574644991195507702011-10-31T09:21:00.000-07:002011-10-31T09:21:25.527-07:00Helpful photo caption o' the dayFound at <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/photo/photoDetailsNews.cfm?sitelang=en&rid=6754#9">EuroPravda</a>:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLbCbOiyb08R6a5CuHJqS_DCFKCRzYyOwAqWWZVfQW9t7Ptj7hAelrAhK6KpZVGdyyTzcmR2gCXh6j159Ck11PyKkbst2RS35nqX_gdMityGUevJaUEYh8rhXnBbm-vbU0GLdO4GxBQ4/s1600/EC+Audiovisual+Service+-+Photo_1320077765082.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLbCbOiyb08R6a5CuHJqS_DCFKCRzYyOwAqWWZVfQW9t7Ptj7hAelrAhK6KpZVGdyyTzcmR2gCXh6j159Ck11PyKkbst2RS35nqX_gdMityGUevJaUEYh8rhXnBbm-vbU0GLdO4GxBQ4/s400/EC+Audiovisual+Service+-+Photo_1320077765082.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Good job they cleared that one up, eh?<br />
<br />
And then this:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayCOH-oimWn51nh9TkCZazLlTeEB0heJnvljcAlP15BOLuHcUf9tXEyv-YF5fLGjERMUEypC5QHLXBAxDfLAYPbXhcGyAKYQLr5vAmftjloglAQm_hHaa8Ffup-QxRGbZCM7nY5DLSMg/s1600/p-019767-00-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayCOH-oimWn51nh9TkCZazLlTeEB0heJnvljcAlP15BOLuHcUf9tXEyv-YF5fLGjERMUEypC5QHLXBAxDfLAYPbXhcGyAKYQLr5vAmftjloglAQm_hHaa8Ffup-QxRGbZCM7nY5DLSMg/s320/p-019767-00-01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
In this photo it looks to me as though the 'Baroness' is soliciting with the classic "ten pee for a cuppa tea, guv" approach. However, maybe I am being A - uncharitable and B - ungentlmanly.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrL6Ceoc8IQ7BwIh8bQK40aS8SyHaS5pphjQgSwAP2WegRSjx0tUkuZdhJwtiStwP2CtCYWYimarQEpureyOZ-99vajoBYs6j6ifjIusSCN17lakG7tn1L7vEzQ4UmbOaOhEE1FaN1yw/s1600/p-019767-00-08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-40054574634318217462011-10-31T08:26:00.000-07:002011-10-31T08:26:10.742-07:00English as she is spoke...Readers might have heard of a classic of unintentional humour, '<i>English as she is Spoke</i>' - a disastrous Portuguese - English dictionary from 1855. Supposedly the writer had a Portuguese - French dictionary and a French - English dictionary, but no English per se. More of the story can be found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_As_She_Is_Spoke">here</a>, along with links to vanilla texts. The classic is '<i>Esperar horas e horas</i>', rendered as '<i>to craunch the marmoset</i>'. A google translation of the Portuguese give '<i>expect hours and hours</i>', but the writer has half converted the French phrase, '<i>croquer le marmot</i>' - an idiom for waiting around.<br />
<br />
Anyway, all of this came to mind when looking at a hotel site the other day, which gave out these gems (all very, very sic):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Zakia, our Head Chef initiated her journey in the midst of savours at a
tender age surrounded by the soft odours in the kitchen of her mother
and her grandmother, large cooks at the La Mamounia".</i><br />
<br />
<i>Coiled up in the deep club armchairs or pt your feet up on the majestic
cushions laid on marrow, pleasing settees.
</i><br />
<br />
<i>"True echo with the thousand exhaled scents, grabbed with the liking of a
dawdling in the varied succession of the universes landscapes".</i><i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"In the centre of the corridor hang enormous antique wrought iron lamps suspended by pompous silk strings".</i><br />
<i> </i><br />
<i>"Lampions in finely engraved and studded border the alleys. The spectacle
improvised by the fine north wind, plunges the house in a velvety
atmosphere of unfathomed magic, where fairyhood becomes only protagonist
of a roundly carried out scenario".</i><i> </i></blockquote>
<br />
Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-44647599379336635042011-10-24T01:44:00.000-07:002011-10-24T01:44:09.644-07:00He said what?This:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbsY1DqdSvPfS4C4d0d7pN-bd4-XggOCFWHrdb-t_OHrv-OB-HHGBvZtKI9R9dqZjZ7n1f8XX-YvuBm3AZL0J3mI9YibnNszbEP-kZFzPgiaqQBr8hPrnNofhjHxy7QIqAV5w4Yad1ww/s1600/IMG_20111022_162207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXbsY1DqdSvPfS4C4d0d7pN-bd4-XggOCFWHrdb-t_OHrv-OB-HHGBvZtKI9R9dqZjZ7n1f8XX-YvuBm3AZL0J3mI9YibnNszbEP-kZFzPgiaqQBr8hPrnNofhjHxy7QIqAV5w4Yad1ww/s320/IMG_20111022_162207.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Not convinced that is fighting talk? Try rolling it around in your mouth for a bit, and then spit it out at - depending on where you sit in the food chain - an underling or a superior. Or for that greater <i>frisson </i>of danger, a passing Millwall fan.<br />
<br />
And if that was not bad enough, a bottle of cava with a bit of an attitude problem:<br />
<br />
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<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-77185465248541217082011-10-19T08:43:00.000-07:002011-10-19T08:43:38.251-07:00Fancy being hectored by the EU?Well, today is your lucky day. Anyone who can make sense of it is welcome to contribute their thoughts.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vw-Upkkp4m8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
I hate to think what versions in other languages might be like.Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-5233268859177219222011-10-18T04:22:00.000-07:002011-10-18T04:22:53.274-07:00The trouble with Scottish independence......is that it will make a right mess of rather a lot of flags. My being a unionist is well documented, but rather than dwell on that, I present some aesthetic reasons for maintaining the union, based on my less than l33t skeelz at image manipulation:<br />
<br />
So, the Union Flag, in all her glory. Readers might have seen this before.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloFuMNrzluqOyuHuKy0g81fQzPyc2H_g1SiR4SR-NP1ixsdTUy5YkM7f0lgRHy1wkPkK04mmQSRMrhsjWc2Zi404v2PYGFePfjSnr46eXH83NrVUagAhKHjZlMUxH0Nb4QAaf-cAhMFc/s1600/UNKG0001.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloFuMNrzluqOyuHuKy0g81fQzPyc2H_g1SiR4SR-NP1ixsdTUy5YkM7f0lgRHy1wkPkK04mmQSRMrhsjWc2Zi404v2PYGFePfjSnr46eXH83NrVUagAhKHjZlMUxH0Nb4QAaf-cAhMFc/s320/UNKG0001.GIF" width="320" /></a></div>
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Something of a design classic, it is generally reckoned. Josh Parsons, in his <a href="http://www.otago.ac.nz/philosophy/Staff/JoshParsons/flags/ratings.html">outstandingly entertaining flag ratings site</a> gives it 70/100 and a B grade, reckoning it a little busy. Do look at his site, but please come back.<br />
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What happens if we just remove the blue?<br />
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This:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8qL8XDYaE-TxOEZp0yEKGDB-1AF2KfqQxpJHB-j_heIZH2DNXHtCaDq-km24S274K0ED-DEzTh1dGWHj1lm0ZIrRJNhOQuL4KjJ-CyjNMsxh1Hk2rZkXpDkAuHo2TB1qino6An8x6pQ/s1600/ex+scotia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB8qL8XDYaE-TxOEZp0yEKGDB-1AF2KfqQxpJHB-j_heIZH2DNXHtCaDq-km24S274K0ED-DEzTh1dGWHj1lm0ZIrRJNhOQuL4KjJ-CyjNMsxh1Hk2rZkXpDkAuHo2TB1qino6An8x6pQ/s320/ex+scotia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Not great, is it?<br />
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<br />
If the St Patrick's cross is widened and re-centred we get this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRYbT77glJCbjBsIlS8EvmI8sTRpg8E7hBYF_Ks7nZ1Nn4iO6Bv9C-k-UpeyXXae2qUGdno4kV7shCtag6uRMOUpQLpPhNLlzO64NptXjKAuUmrQqcYxvSJZycWq_86xZeskkmmDwz0I/s1600/uk+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRYbT77glJCbjBsIlS8EvmI8sTRpg8E7hBYF_Ks7nZ1Nn4iO6Bv9C-k-UpeyXXae2qUGdno4kV7shCtag6uRMOUpQLpPhNLlzO64NptXjKAuUmrQqcYxvSJZycWq_86xZeskkmmDwz0I/s320/uk+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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If anything, even more ghastly.<br />
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When that is applied to our <strike>colonies</strike> overseas territories the horrors really begin:<br />
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The British Antarctic Territory<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQdVWds_K7_jv8qSXj_5F9cATP0SbouuA4OJZIYb2fNWPO8tUEsVEEP2RRwS2R-xo-YgvV2YKWqxegEEf9jMyz2gnBVrniwo36NcXR5Ggc7CXO7e1bDgaBziOzgcpHNSa7ciruZfYg0g/s1600/Antarctic+ex+scotland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQdVWds_K7_jv8qSXj_5F9cATP0SbouuA4OJZIYb2fNWPO8tUEsVEEP2RRwS2R-xo-YgvV2YKWqxegEEf9jMyz2gnBVrniwo36NcXR5Ggc7CXO7e1bDgaBziOzgcpHNSa7ciruZfYg0g/s320/Antarctic+ex+scotland.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Not good. Nor this, Bermuda:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSS62IZLBakRKyeKXANgIQOBLTMSHtex11m7M2VO63Lf5irjOE2GEuBTbNxaLrylX7GiD7wgv34MF7lWiXZu6WSe1viqtChuLGBdJs_YNT3knBkSE3nS7Bkev9-AcYoQ6I2KBvOCYHYU/s1600/bermuda+ex+scotland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSS62IZLBakRKyeKXANgIQOBLTMSHtex11m7M2VO63Lf5irjOE2GEuBTbNxaLrylX7GiD7wgv34MF7lWiXZu6WSe1viqtChuLGBdJs_YNT3knBkSE3nS7Bkev9-AcYoQ6I2KBvOCYHYU/s320/bermuda+ex+scotland.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This, by the way, works on the presumption that we English types get to keep those assets during the divorce. If the Scots decided they wanted the Falklands while we got to keep the cat and the furniture, this might be the Falklands' new flag:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NSO0TyNOYwJzuvC5Bzxu_jiRXB_FqGsRXcDKGnd8UZSRlbMf3rvrgriHzanmE7bqh_Yo3JUrlOZiqkzHUIgVDXpGpY93DTuW_oiGqW0Qg6iMaTdw_pq16xgTNRSF-fTIQVBZC4kG2t0/s1600/Falklands+to+Scotland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NSO0TyNOYwJzuvC5Bzxu_jiRXB_FqGsRXcDKGnd8UZSRlbMf3rvrgriHzanmE7bqh_Yo3JUrlOZiqkzHUIgVDXpGpY93DTuW_oiGqW0Qg6iMaTdw_pq16xgTNRSF-fTIQVBZC4kG2t0/s320/Falklands+to+Scotland.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ignoring my technical problems with shades of blue, that's quite nice, isn't it?<br />
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There are also problems for our Antipodean friends, which are easily imagined - should they update the Union flag, keep it as is, or add a St Andrews Cross? Vexing problems indeed.<br />
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Another possibility is that we do what the Czechs did after the Velvet Divorce and keep the old flag, even though they agreed that they would not... Yet another possibility is that some po faced Edinburgh leftie will campaign for a new flag on the grounds that one with a cross is insufficiently inclusive, does not represent 'the New Scotland', is a colonial relic etc etc, thus sparing us these difficulties. <br />
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<br />Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1410622926857672828.post-70664174826886831432011-10-09T03:35:00.000-07:002011-10-09T03:35:53.871-07:00Far too good not to shareLadies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, I present the Libyan One Dinar note:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22zOjxfip_1vZmY1SSivEmdED-RANixoHpi2ccxkyHTYPWWJuc0ED13tEFuG_a8YiH_kNCoCR4hVTaUMTmNZsxhlGPUcccN3GamYml34uPHWqdJxZ6mRMzz5CB7QrhGX_5kyZz5MY4V0/s1600/MG+1d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22zOjxfip_1vZmY1SSivEmdED-RANixoHpi2ccxkyHTYPWWJuc0ED13tEFuG_a8YiH_kNCoCR4hVTaUMTmNZsxhlGPUcccN3GamYml34uPHWqdJxZ6mRMzz5CB7QrhGX_5kyZz5MY4V0/s400/MG+1d.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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What <i>was </i>he thinking?Quizzical Gazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04136071498139319800noreply@blogger.com2