Tim Harford in Slate reports on how you can get a good coffee in Starbucks – a previously unknown phenomenon.
Month: January 2006
Show some respect
Repulsive self-publicist George Galloway, the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, has shown exactly what he thinks both of his duties as a Parliamentarian and of his constituents by becoming a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother.
Celebrity Big Brother lasts for 23 days, during which time the citizens of my former constituency will be without a representative in Parliament, whose sittings resume on 9 January. It’s more important for Galloway, it seems, to hobnob with Dennis Rodman, and grub around for text message votes, than to serve either his constituents or his country. I bet they’re sorry they voted for him now. If they’re lucky, they’ll get Oona King back next time.
And Galloway grumbles that politics has a bad reputation – with oily egoists like him in it, it’s not hard to see why!
Perhaps with a bang, or a whimper
Exit Mundi looks at all the ways the world could end – right now!
Ave, Vicipedia!
Wikipedia is available in many languages, including Igbo (Nigerian language, 18m speakers, 2 articles), Muscogee (1 article), Venetian – the local language of Venice (33 articles), Cornish (600+ articles), and Catalan (23,000+ articles).
My favourite: Latin!, which astonishingly has more articles (4,000) than either Welsh or Irish.
Death to Kingswest!
Excellent news in today’s Argus – the City council are planning to redevelop Brighton’s main shopping area, extending the Churchill Square shopping area to give shoppers more of a sense of being near the sea and – joy of joys! – knocking down the Kingswest and Brighton Centres to replace them with something worthy of a prime seafront location in one of England’s up and coming cities.
Nuclear option
Does Russia’s action in restricting gas supplies to the West strengthen the case for nuclear power? A Fistful of Euros discusses.
No fizz
An interesting article on A Fistful of Euros discusses how some Spaniards are boycotting Catalan cava, as the row over Catalunya‘s autonomy statute rumbles on.
Football crazy
Norman Baker, Lib Dem MP for Lewes, has just made Lewes DC’s ridiculous campaign against Falmer Stadium even more ridiculous. Apparently, because John Prescott has gone to see his team (Hull) play at Withdean, and has been given lunch by the directors, he should now recuse himself from every planning decision taken in relation to Falmer.
Apparently three warm prawn sandwiches and a glass of cheap red are going to influence the Deputy Prime Minister in deciding on Falmer’s fate. I used to have a lot of respect for Norman Baker, but I have to say, if that’s all it would take to bribe him, perhaps we’re lucky he’s a Liberal.
Happy New Year
and prosper all our plans for 2006.