January 5th, 2009
Share a bath in 2009
While one applauds Charlie Brooker’s intent, I’m not sure my next door-neighbour, Spike, will be up for the bath-sharing idea. Thus, stiff upper lippy all round.
UPDATED 15.30: from the Telegraph on corporate debts due to be paid this year
December 27th, 2008
Politicians and the interweb
Via the FT - a story about the Conservative Party attempting to gather online support.
And in a spirit of what the Americans call bipartisanship (or allowing everone to laugh at both sides), here’s a daft story about Labour’s attitude to the web. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham suggests all ‘web sites’ should have a cinema-style age rating to help prevent the corruption of young minds and so on. This story via the Guardian.
It’s difficult to know where to start with dissecting the uninformed nature of Burnham’s kite-flying but the blogging minister and, MP for West Bromwich East, Tom Watson’s comments facility might give you a good place to start. Clearly, there are things which Mr Burnham does not understand. I do hope he can listen and learn.
You’ll recall, the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) ran into a problem along these lines recently.
December 25th, 2008
How to make a cartoonist happy at Christmas
Give them a walking robot pencil sharpener.
December 22nd, 2008
Christmas cartoon
Cover cartoon on a recession at Christmas. Image cross posted at Tribune
December 19th, 2008
Oil and motor cars - cartoon
The PM is unhappy that OPEC will be cutting production of oil (in response to falling global demand) because they want the price to go up again. It is, other than in domestic political PR terms, a pointless complaint he is making, countries tend to behave in economically rational ways ie. to defend their perceived vital national interests. OPEC and its members are going to do what comes naturally to them.
Sadly, for the PM (and us in the UK) this means oil and petrol may start to get more expensive again. We import a lot of it and all this at a time when our own under-pressure currency is buying less and less ‘value’ abroad. You can understand why the PM might lash out at a convenient foreign target.
And in other news, George Bush is ’saving’ the American motor industry (for Barack Obama to sort out.) No idea what this means for Jaguar Land Rover here. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling is said to be resisting pressure from the Trade Secretary Lord Mandelson about any form of financial support for JLR (which is owned by the Indian-based Tata Group.) I wonder what the odds are on the Chancellor surviving long into 2009 are?
