A Nudge on the funny bone

You either love these snappily titled American social science books—The Tipping Point, Blink, Freaknomics, Th!Nk and the one that the Cameroons are all reading: Nudge—or you hate them. Having just read Anne McElvoy’s review of Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler’s Nudge in Standpoint, I can guess which camp Anne falls in. But even as a bit of sucker for these books, I have to admit that her conclusion is hilarious:

Of course, I could just stop carping, get with the programme and contribute some sequels. A new philosophy for the Blairmeronian

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My top five hates at the opera/theatre/concert/cinema

1.   Sitting beside a foot-tapper beating time

2.   Sitting next to a person who texts throughout a performance

3.   Sitting next to/behind/in front of a snorer/fidgeter/cougher/sniffer/whisperer

4.   Sitting behind over-tall people and those who wear hats

5.   Sitting beside an obese person who spills over into my seat

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What's in a name?

I just stumbled across a site called Anagram Genius, which turns famous names into amusing anagrams. Here are a few of the political ones I found:

The New Prime Minister Gordon Brown = Men now noted - wrong British Premier!

David Cameron = Dave? Minor cad

David Miliband = I'm livid and bad

The Deputy Prime Minister John Leslie Prescott = Hits, injures. (Hot-tempered, completely inept, sir)

Barack Hussein Obama = Bush, I can break Osama.

Tony Blair = Tory in Lab

Yes, ok, I have cheated a little with the names, but do CoffeeHousers have any alternatives?
 

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Another by-election nightmare looms for Brown

The death of John MacDougall, Labour MP for Glenrothes since 2001, will trigger yet another nightmare for Gordon Brown. No other word will do. Glenrothes in Fife is on the PM’s very doorstep and – after Glasgow East – looks distinctly vulnerable. In the 2005 general election, Mr MacDougall polled 19,395 votes, well ahead of the SNP’s John Beare on 8,731. But Labour’s majority of 10,664 accounted for only 28.5 per cent of the vote. In Glasgow East, Labour’s 2005 majority was larger in absolute terms – 13,507 – but accounted for more...

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What the West should do now

There are two things that the West should now do in relation to Georgia. The first is to help preserve the fragile truce that now exists between Georgia and Russia. That means that Western policymakers have to be involved, encouraging and prominent. They should not shy away from using the carrot and the stick, in the form of incentives and sanctions. And they should consider deploying a peacekeeping force in the region, and what its role would be. So far, the French have lead by example. Hopefully, that example will be followed...

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