A friend’s wife was conducting a teacher training session in Anacostia, Washington DC the other day: “In one of the classes that she worked in there were two children with oddly spelled, and thus oddly pronounced, names. Let’s see if you can figure out how these names are pronounced 1) “Bukat”- hint, the child is
Oh dear. I’m afraid I must take issue with Fraser. He claims that last week’s budget entertainment at the Scottish Parliament demonstrates the weakness of minority government. Maybe so, but I’d prefer to see it another way: minority government protects the public from the worst excesses of parliamentary rule. And where Fraser considers last weeks’
Interesting piece from ABC News about people trying to find kidney donors via Craigslist. This leapt out however: But some families who talked to ABC News say once they find a kidney outside of the traditional organ-donor waiting list system, they have faced hospitals that are suspicious or unprepared to deal with the legal and
The nice people at the Tote would like to give you some money. How else to explain their generous decision to permit you to back Shivnarine Chanderpaul to be the West Indies leading run-scorer in the forthcoming Test series at the odds of 7/4? The “true” price should be, at best, about evens. I also
Ta-Nehisi Coates is encouraged by Michael Steele’s election as chairman of the RNC: I have no idea whether Steele will be any good, but I think his selection marks the start of excising the Obama is a M00zlim contingent of the party. I am, perhaps, being too optimistic. But I maintain that you have to
So Michael Phelps smokes marijuana from time to time. Big deal. What a shame though that he’s released this statement: “I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Phelps said in a statement released by Octagon, his management firm, and posted on his Facebook site. “I’m 23 years old, and despite the
Just like at the mother-blog, many commenters here seem disinclined to endorse my euro-happy celebration of the freedome of movement for labour, capital and goods. ‘Tis the nature of the times, I guess. Still, to put a more professional-seeming gloss on this amateur, possibly muddled sense, why don’t you cast a vote in our exciting
Tim Worstall rightly says this is stupid. I’d go further and also call it wicked. Couples who have more than two children are being “irresponsible” by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government’s green adviser has warned. Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government’s Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and
There isn’t anything in any sport better right now than the rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. This morning they produced another five set epic that was a fitting conclusion to the best Australian Open in years. And, for the fifth match in a row it was the Spaniard who emerged victorious. Not for
Sad news that Bill Frindall has been run out, courtesy of a dodgy call from the non-strikers’ end. From the BBC’s tribute: “These are serious men, who will take up hours of your life if you let them, arguing about whether Fred Trueman lighting his pipe 21 times between lunch and tea was a record
It’s just like old times isn’t it? A Labour government, economic catastrophe and now, wildcat strikes across the country. It serves the Prime Minister right too. His demagogic promise of “British jobs for British workers” has come back to bite him. And deservedly so. Now, as it happens, I have some plenty of sympathy for
At an Economist roundtable, Tyler Cowen makes a bold suggestion: First, to the extent that the real problem is fear, this militates in favour of placebo policies. By that I mean initiatives which appear bold and have great symbolic value, but which don’t necessarily cost us very much. I haven’t seen us make a major
Oh dear. Jonah Goldberg has been in Britain and he doesn’t like what he sees. Fair enough, there’s plenty to deplore about the present government. But what Goldberg is most afraid of is that the Republican party might learn something from David Cameron’s Tories. This, it seems, is the very last thing the GOP should
The old line de mortuis nil nisi bonum has been joined, these days, by a convention that vanquished politicians respect the verdict of the electorate and mumble something nice about the victor while wishing them all the best and so on. Happily they do things differently in France. Segolene Royal has a new book out
Meanwhile, away from the budget ballyhoo comes a reminder of one of the problems afflicting Scotland: the teaching unions. Today sees the publication of an eminently sensible report from the think tank Reform Scotland that advocates, essentially, a voucher system that draws on Swedish and Dutch educational reforms and would, if ever implemented, dramatically increase
Well, that didn’t last long. The entertainment (see yesterday’s post) at Holyrood seems to be coming to an end. As predicted by Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting, there seems every chance that the revised Scottish government budget will, far from precipitating the excitement of an issue-free* election, result in the budget being passed unanimously. Everyone
Arizona’s John Kyl had this to say about the Republican attitude to the stimulus package: “They can cram down a stimulus package without Republican support,” said Kyl, “but if that happens, then when, as we believe, in six months or so, when the American people say, ‘Wait a minute, we’re not better off. In fact,
The stimulus bill working its way through the Congressional sausage-grinder contains “Buy American” provisions that are, unsurprisingly, resisted by American companies that like selling things overseas. Not unreasonably they fear this sort of (questionably legal?) manoevre may lead to other countries retaliating in kind. So, this is going to be a wee test for the
So, what to make of yesterday’s drama at the Scottish Parliament? First things first: it’s good to have some actual drama. Secondly, the failure to pass a budget marks the first real defeat for Alex Salmond’s minority administration since the SNP squeaked a victory in the 2007 elections. Mr Salmond’s many enemies will revel in
At long last, the long national nightmare is over. From a fun NYT piece on Obama’s looser White House regime: If there is one thing Mr. Obama has not gotten around to changing, it is the Oval Office décor. When Mr. Bush moved in, he exercised his presidential decorating prerogatives and asked his wife, Laura,