The London Daily Telegraph reports how they are just waiting for word that the wedding has been held so celebrations can begin: The Yaohannen inhabit a remote corner of Tanna, a small island that makes up part of the nation of Vanuatu, some 10,000 miles from Britain. But they are linked to the Windsors through [...]
READ MOREApril, 2011
Don’t worry about the wedding, what about the snooker?
The popularity of the royal wedding proved too much for the BBC website which crashed on Friday under sheer weight of traffic. Users reported on Twitter that they were unable to watch live streaming of the ceremony from Westminster Abbey. It also affected some of the corporation’s other online offerings, such as live coverage of [...]
READ MOREDanger money deserved for teachers
A rather frightening report on the BBC news: as many as one-in-10 head teachers has been physically assaulted by a pupil’s parent or carer. According to a survey by the NAHT school leaders’ union, incidents reported by the 1,362 heads surveyed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland included being punched, spat on, kicked, head butted, bitten [...]
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The Canadian election race gets closer
The Conservatives in Canada enter the closing stage of the national election campaign still favoured to get the greatest share of the vote but the prospect of them not ending up continuing as the government is increasing. Over the last fortnight, the left leaning New Democratic Party (NDP has gained considerable support. The latest figures [...]
READ MOREThings not really as different as Lindsay Tanner suggests
So Lindsay Tanner suggests that Kevin Rudd might have survived if he had been operating in the climate of the mid-1990s. In a profile piece plugging the new Tanner book Sideshow in the Melbourne Age, Michael Gordon picks out this quote from it: ”The removal of Kevin Rudd as prime minister had very powerful echoes [...]
READ MORENot a good look from the ABC
The ABC has been refreshingly free of late from criticism for having an anti-Liberal/National bias. The main complaint I have noticed is from the opposite direction – commenters on sites like Crikey bemoaning the influence that the pro-conservative Murdoch press (especially The Australian) is having on the selection of ABC news items. Personally I doubt that [...]
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Has the US no shame?
For a while there I thought the United States was preparing itself for a lecture from the Chinese about the atrocious disregard for human rights shown at Guantanamo Bay. “Discussions,” said the official statement, “will focus on human rights developments, including the recent negative trend of forced disappearances, extralegal detentions, and arrests and convictions, as [...]
READ MOREForget the decanter, get out the blender
From a Der Spiegel interview with Nathan Myhrvold, 51, who served as the chief technology officer at Microsoft during the 1990s and has just published his enyclopedic tome “Modernist Cuisine” covering every facet of modern cuisine — from the physical basis of cooking right up to the art of molecular gastronomy. SPIEGEL: You also recommend [...]
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Queen celebrates her birthday and the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen a winner
It somehow seems appropriate that on the same Maunday Thursday Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second celebrated her birthday that a rare recording of God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols was named the most valuable vinyl disc of all time. To commemorate the occasions:
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How does an interest rate from a government of 23.1% for two years sound to you?
Feel attracted? Then hop into a few Greek government bonds. That was the yield this evening as midnight approached. And if it seems too good to be true it probably is. The signal seems to be clear. Greece is about to renege on its debts. The country will not be able to pay. Tonight’s trend [...]
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