‘Shut up!’ Spanish king tells Chávez

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2209420,00.html
Juan Carlos, the Spanish monarch, could take no more. He flashed a withering look at the president and uttered five words likely to go down in diplomatic history: “Why don’t you shut up?”
Perhaps he’s forgotten that Venezuela hasn’t been ruled by the Spanish monarchy for almost 200 years?
Chávez complained of disrespect by a hereditary [...]

Read Full Post »

Breath of the fresh stuff, breath of the stale…

A little bit of back-bone shown by XL Airways:
‘An important part of the Government’s immigration policy has suffered a serious blow after a leading airline announced it would no longer carry failed asylum-seekers who were being forcibly removed from the United Kingdom.
XL Airways, which has a fleet of 24 aircraft, said it was opposed to [...]

Read Full Post »

Britain’s last WWI veteran

An interesting article about Harry Patch, Britain’s (the world’s?) last surviving World War One veteran, whose life story has just been published. It seems like he hasn’t entirely forgotten his training:
To help jog his memory, a young major in his party fumblingly demonstrated how to change the magazine. ‘I said: “Major, you’d have to [...]

Read Full Post »

Deer and cows interbreeding

A few months old but still as funny as ever. I urge you all to go here, scroll halfway down and  click on “Deer causing havoc in county Clare”. This is an Irish councillor who is convinced deer and cattle are interbreeding, because the cattle “look very alert”.
Hilarious stuff. The interviewer can’t keep his face [...]

Read Full Post »

Haven’t we been here before?

Arming that nice Saddam Hussein in his war against the bad guys springs to mind. Or those lovely guys in Afghanistan struggling under the Soviet yoke. http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2138472,00.html
Ms Rice, who was visiting Egypt with the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, denied the arms sales were a move to ensure the support of states including [...]

Read Full Post »

‘Islamic Rage Boy’ a misnomer?

‘Islamic Rage Boy’ is a cartoon character from a conservative website, which is based on a guy called Shakeel Ahmad Bhat, a persistent protester from Kashmir. The site markets cartoons of his face on T-shirts, mousemats etc, the joke being that he always looks angry.
Today, a British newspaper carries an interview with him. He comes [...]

Read Full Post »

Police ‘Gestapo Tactics’

“The wife of Downing Street’s former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, has lifted the lid on the private fury felt by Tony Blair’s inner circle over the cash-for-peerages inquiry, accusing the police of ‘Gestapo tactics‘.”
Hmm. Picture it. Germany, 1938. The Gestapo call at the door of a prominent local rabbi, and ask him to accompany [...]

Read Full Post »

Preservation of Hemingway’s house hindered by sanctions

American organisations prevented from helping preservation work.
“…much of the rest of the estate remains in disrepair. An impressive tower next to the house is closed, Hemingway’s fishing boat is shrouded in scaffolding, and red tiles are sliding off the roof of the termite-infested guesthouse. More importantly, the original manuscripts and books, which contain thousands of [...]

Read Full Post »

Tintin racism furore

A campaign to have a Tintin book withdrawn because of racist content has possibly backfired quite spectacularly. From The Guardian:
“A spokesman for Borders confirmed the book would be moved to the adult section but it would not be withdrawn, adding that the company stood by its commitment to let customers make the choice.”
What better way [...]

Read Full Post »

Classic Northern Ireland paranoia

The head of the Orange Order says the Royal Family are being used by the dirty tricks department of the government.
“The last time we had so many Royal visits, a few weeks later the Royal Ulster Constabulary was disbanded.” (Of course, it wasn’t really. It got a new name.)
Still. It is good [...]

Read Full Post »