George W Bush’s malapropisms aren’t really terribly interesting anymore. (And, to be fair to the President, he’s a much better speaker now than he was eight years ago.) Still, this one seems especially unfortunate given that he was speaking to Lt-Gen Ray Odierno, the former commander of the multinational corps in Iraq: “I appreciate the
Selkirk on the attack during Saturday’s tough 8-0 victory at Falkirk in the Scottish Cup. The club’s reward is a sixth round tie away to Haddington. (Away again!) (Photo credit: Falkirk RFC’s ghoneyman)
Thought I’d try out a new look; let me know what you think. Good? Bad? Better? Worse?
It’s late on a fiercely cold evening with the rain lashing and the wind howling down the Yarrow valley. Obviously, then, it’s time for an exciting new Debatable Land series! Readers possessing elephantine memories may recall this post in which I confessed – nay, revelled! – in being a cricket geek. I’m not alone in
The British political and media classes are, naturally enough, obsessed with and fascinated by the American presidential election process. That leads to the temptation (always yielded to) of trying to find parallels betwene American politicians and their British counterparts (I also do this, obviously). Sometimes, however, this has comical consequences. Thus this morning, Benedict Brogan
It would be something of a stretch to compare Hillary Clinton to Napoleon Bonaparte and Barack Obama to the Duke of Wellington. Nonetheless, as this campaign has progressed and Hillary has struggled to find an effective counter to Obama’s organisation and tenacity (to, er, say nothing of the hopes of millions of democrats who hope
Wise old man* says: In the forthcoming volume of his Smoking Diaries (not out till April, but I’ve been reading a proof copy) my old friend Simon Gray makes a brave admission. Well, he makes a number of these, but this particular one struck me. ‘I haven’t read him [Henry James] for years. I don’t
I’m not sure they make publishers like this anymore. Alas. As is so often the case we may count on the Daily Telegraph’s exquisite obituaries page to provide the details. Sic transit gloria mundi and all the rest of it. Anthony Blond, who has died aged 79, was a gentleman publisher from an age when
A defence* of Royalty: Prince Harry in Afghanistan. Oddly stirring stuff, actually. Good for him and, amazingly, good for the MoD and the media for ensuring that the Prince’s comrades were not endangered by his presence on the front line becoming a matter of public knowledge until now. UPDATE: Fraser says some of the most
It’s easy, of course, to mock actors and pop stars and their worthy pretensions to saving the planet. But whatever else one may say of her, I think it’s true that Angelina Jolie takes her role as a UNHCR “ambassador” more seriously than most. Anyway, she has an interesting and persuasive op-ed in the Washington
On the other hand, some actors really are loopy to the tonsils. To wit, alas, the lovely Marion Cotillard, who is, it seems, a pretty keen conspiracy theorist: Marion Cotillard : J’ai tendance à être plutôt souvent de l’avis de la théorie du complot. Xavier de Moulins : Un peu parano ? M. C. :
Mike Crowley tracks Hillary’s latest desperate cry for help: “Democrats, the majority of whom have favored Hillary in the primary contests held to date…” Mike wonders how she can claim this given that Obama has won more votes than Clinton so far: but of course caucus states don’t count. Besides “primary” of course, the key
If you need a quick explanation for why Hillary Clinton is about to lose to Barack Obama, consider that her chief strategist is Mark Penn and that he boasts of this: I have won about 70 major elections around the world, including many presidents, and I devised the simple message for Tony Blair in his
Ah, the great Tiger Woods vs Roger Federer debate continues. Muttblog suggests most scribblers taking part in this Slam-Fest plump for Woods as, comparatively speaking, the greater of the two. He highlights this Steve Sailor post which makes some salient points. The fact that each sport contains four majors each year allows for superficial but
Further to this and this, I see, thanks to Mr Worstall, that no fewer than 72 Members of Parliament have put their name to this Early Day Motion: EDM 982 FIDEL CASTRO 20.02.2008 Burgon, Colin That this House commends the achievements of Fidel Castro in securing first-class free healthcare and education provision for the people
Mike Crowley has a very droll piece in this week’s TNR on how white supremacists seem a) resigned to a President Obama and b) relatively OK with that. It’s a testament of sorts to Hillary Clinton that, by virtue of her cartoonish image as a leftist man-hating shrew, she manages to arouse more vitriol among
If it’s fine for Kosovo to declare its independence from Serbia, should it be OK for Montana to secede from the United States of America?
Megan notes that there are now more than three million Britons living abroad and argues: I assume this has something to do with the fact that it is very easy for Britons to go to wealthy, English-speaking countries, and also that there’s a relative lack of migration opportunities in Britain. If you’re American or Australian,
Looking at Americans’ desire to elect a 72-year old John McCain president, David Harsanyi digs up the story of William Henry Harrison – the President who one may fairly say obeyed the First, Do No Harm principle. True, Harrison neglected to look after himself but his administration did less damage than any other in American
Commenting on this post about Fidel Castro’s welcome retirement, a reader wrote, quoting part of my argument: “If conservatives – on both sides of the North Atlantic – were too ready to turn a blind eye to Pinochet’s crimes, left-wingers have been equally credulous with regard to Castro’s Cuban dictatorship.” When Pinochet died, Jonah Goldberg