‘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 [...]

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Quote for the Day

Civil war is not unlike a fight between lovers: each side knows precisely how to infuriate the other.
– Night Soldiers, Alan Furst.

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Rules: Bend, Break or Follow?

Think for a minute about sport – any sport. Your favourite one. Curling, hurling, kabbadi or soccer – let’s go with that since it’s the most popular. Imagine a player, the best you’ve ever seen, dribbling round the pitch completely unstoppable. A once-in-five-generations phenomenon. Now imagine two teams playing with a ball the way toddlers [...]

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Two quotes

“It is impossible to read the daily press without being diverted from reality. You are full of enthusiasm for the eternal verities—life is worth living, and then out of sinful curiosity you open a newspaper. You are disillusioned and wrecked.” – Patrick Kavanagh.
I find something consoling in this quote – perhaps it’s the solace of [...]

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