[zaftig type quiz] spot the blogger

Ruthie is running a little "pop" quiz over her way and you have to spot where she is in the photo. Always the copycat, I'm going to do the same now.

In the photo below, spot which one you think might possibly be me:

[musings] the route to la concorde

Have you ever looked at a photograph and mused about it [and I don't mean that type of photo]?

I was looking at this one, which is Sarko's hotel preparing for him that evening. Couldn't help thinking - if I'd been in his position, I wouldn't have supped like that.

I would have brought in some grandmother to prepare a meaty soup and a chunk of bread, washed down by a fresh Eau de 2007, then I'd have taken my best girl, we'd don our disguises and amble on foot along to le Place de la Concorde and mingle.

Then I'd mosey on over to the podium, suddenly throw off the disguise and get into all that political stuff.

The essential thing is that you don't want your dinner repeating on you when you have to give a zillion speeches, do you?

[country spread] the spread of countries

In response to the thousands of e-mails entreating me fervently to show one of those "long as your arm" lists I mentioned here, here is one.

Sadly, I must announce that this will be the last time for a long while that such a list will be posted - I know, I know, but all good things must come to an end.

[venice] through the farrer lens

We all like to take photos and we might even think we're good

... and then there's David Farrer, of Freedom and Whisky.

Check out his fabulous pics of Venice.

[sacrifice] duty, loyalty and love

Should a woman put her career as a pianist, say, on a reduced plane if her husband's career as a president, say, has just taken off? Particularly if she wasn't that good to start with?

Should she agree to marry someone who is clearly in the public eye and needs a strong and loyal mate, particularly if she is prone to saying she wants her man to pay attention to her needs 24/7 and she'd even be prepared to go to New York to get that from another man?

On the other hand, if you were the leader of a major party and your "wife" suddenly went over your head and stole your career from under you, would you continue to love and cherish? Would you support her shot at the title?

What's the pecking order in a marriage?

Whose career takes precedence over the other and should the other subordinate his/her own plans, at least in the interim?

[tony's photo] gratuitous use for cheap thrills

"Watch me stuff yer country up, yer Sassenachs. Might take me ten years but I'm gonna do it and Broony'll see t'yer after that."

It's the lowest form of blogging to just steal a photo of a well-known figure of derision from someone else's blog, say Dr. Crippen, and to post it as one's own, simply in order to make fun of the said figure of derision. Such bloggers are bereft of imagination and ideas on a bank holiday and it's all such a big yawn.

Incidentally, there is only one thing worse than this sort of blogging and that's running caption competitions. So, in the comments section, post your idea of what Tony's saying.

[virgin and ba] not in the least petty

Never let it be said that BA is petty and vindictive and incidentally much over-rated as an airline, over-priced, with less than friendly service and a history of near in-flight disaster and and that I'm being petty and vindictive because they kept us waiting forty minutes over Heathrow, dropped 5000 feet in ten seconds then nearly ran into a fence in 2000, the last year I ever flew with them. Never let that be said:

British Airways has removed a shot of Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson from the in-flight version of the James Bond movie Casino Royale.

He was seen briefly in the original film, passing through an airport security scanner, but can only be seen from behind in the new edit. The edit also obscures the tail fin of a Virgin plane that was seen in the original.

BA's entertainment team vets films and television shows on grounds of taste and suitability.

"We do reserve the right to edit films, and many films are edited in some way on board," said a spokesman.

However, Virgin Atlantic spokesman Paul Charles told AP: "We think passengers should see the whole film and nothing but the whole film."

If I were the BA censor, I'd cut any reference to any aeroplane of any form not BA. For example, in Airport and Airplane, a bit of deftly applied airspraying could conceal the offending airline's identity.

The film would then be quite suitable for in-flight entertainment. I might offer my serices to BA, which does not, repeat, not stand for Bloody Awful.

[sarkozy] absence remarquée de cécilia sarkozy

At 19:01, the result was: Sarkozy 53,5%, Royal 46,5% and at 21:01, it had shrunk to: Sarkozy 52,7%, Royal 47,3%. This was answered by Bill Cameron in my comments section. He also addressed my next question:

More importantly, where is his wife? Why isn't she with him? Le Figaro said: "Cécilia, épouse de Nicolas Sarkozy, n'a été aperçue nulle part en public aux côtés de son mari au cours de la journée, que ce soit quand il est allé voter, lors de ses traversées de Paris en voiture ou salle Gaveau où il savourait son triomphe."

Bill asked:

Wasn't there some question some months ago of a marital rift, because of an affair he was having? I wonder if their seemingly coming together was merely not to destroy his chances of becoming President. There is a taboo in France about delving into private lives of public figures - a feature I think we in the UK could emulate.

Yes, Bill but it's still a remarkable state of affairs for a wife not to accompany him at the very moment where wives would surely do this. Surely she could have made the agreement take affect the next day and not shown him up on the day of his triumph? It seems churlish in the extreme, very Diana. Supporting this were her own words at another time:

« Je ne me vois pas en first lady. Cela me rase. Je ne suis pas politiquement correcte: je me balade en jean, en treillis ou en santiags. Je ne rentre pas dans le moule. »

She supported him in the first round and then seemed to cease. My feeling is that something remarkable happened after that time. Either she found out about a fresh affair or an old one restarted. Again, it seems more than pointed.

UPDATE: Well, she seems to be with him now:

Nicolas Sarkozy est arrivé en compagnie de son épouse Cécilia, peu avant 23H00, place de la Concorde à Paris, où l'attendaient quelque 10.000 partisans venus fêter sa victoire à la présidentielle.

Does she seem right to you in the photo above? Compare it to this earlier photo to the right, where she's quite actively entering the spirit of the thing.

Well, time to sign off for the night. Congratulations, Sarko.

UPDATE ON OCTOBER 18TH

For some strange reason, this post seems to have become popular on Google so you might like to see these as well:

[france] dishing the dirt on segie and sarko

[segie-sarko debate] style versus substance

[sarkozy] seems to have started well

[la france] cheeky sod, sarko

[l'élection] en larmes, en lambeaux

[cecilia] you're breaking my heart

[sarkozy] ségolène a remercié les électeurs ayant voté pour elle

Ségolène Royal a remercié les 17 millions d'électeurs ayant voté pour elle. La candidate socialiste a estimé que "quelque chose s'est levé, qui ne s'arrêtera pas".

[polls close] first report from france

Seconds ago, from le Figaro:

75,11% de participation à 17h

La participation au second tour de la présidentielle atteint un niveau record à cette heure, depuis 1965.

From le Monde [right]

So sorry for her but it could never have been. I hope they don't take bad photos of her - it wouldn't be right.

Just one moment to reflect on the French people. That's twice they've got it right now - both in the referendum and in this poll. Clearly no fools.

[debates] republican and democrat

Trying here to get a line on the Republican and Democrat debates - not just from an MSM point of view - but it's so hard finding an impartial commentator. These bloggers helped out.

Chris Cillizza, of the WP, saw the Democrat Debate this way:

Clinton entered the debate with high expectations and managed to meet them -- not an easy task. While Clinton didn't determine the format of the debate, she definitely benefited from it.

Sen. Joe Biden (Del.): Regularly one of the more quotable candidates on stage, an important trait in the TV age. Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.): more like a stand-up comic than a candidate, uncomfortable at times.

Former Sen. Mike Gravel (Alaska): People don't like angry in their presidential candidates. And, "angry" typified Gravel's performance last night.

Comments by Cillizza's commenters:

HRC-I don't think you can say she was a winner. Her BIGGEST problem is that there are alot of us out here who do not like her. Period. She was poised and answered the questions in well scripted ways, which is one of the reasons why alot of us don't like her.

The loser I will give you. Richardson. Biden did well and I think will now move up to the 4th spot on the line. Edwards and Obama (and I think HRC too) held their own. No major problems but no real home runs either.

Obama will start to roll out policy specifics real soon. Hillary I think is going to see her poll numbers level from the slight drop they have been taking. Edwards is going to continue to do what he has been, working Iowa, NH, Nevada, and SC hard, and trying to raise money to stay viable. I think of all the big three Edwards will benefit most from Richardson's fall. Most of us know that Biden and Dodd are non-starters. [Andy R]

Survey U.S.A. had it:

Obama, then Clinton, Edwards, Biden, Richardson, Kucinich, Dodd, and Gravel. Hilary's too slick, and that creates a mistrust factor among many of us. Does she have the woman's vote? Not this woman's! [Razorback]

Dave Winer saw the Republican Debate this way:

Remember this name: Ron Paul. Renegade Republican candidate for President. McCain is trying to sound like a president. Mitt Romney plays a dad on TV. If Giuliani doesn't win he could take over the Hanibal Lecter character.

They mention Schwarzenegger, and I realize none of these guys could even remotely win against Arnold. Of course they don't want to change the Constitution, he'd kick their ass.

Giuliani got Roe v Wade more right than the rest of them.

Trapper John [Daily Kos] ran a poll on Who Won/Lost-Least-Miserably?

Zombie Reagan 38%, Paul 28%, Romney 10%, Huck 4%,McCain 3%, Newt/Fred Thompson 3%, Rudy 3%, (Tommy) Thompson 2%,Tancredo 1%, Gilmore 1%, Brownback 1%, Hunter 0%.

So, what's Ron Paul's story?

Paul advocates the limited role of government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He has earned the nickname "Dr. No" for voting against any bill he believes violates the Constitution.

Ron Paul finished first in the MSNBC poll following the GOP primary debate with 43 percent -- beating second place Mitt Romney by 5 percentage points.

Problem? Born 20 August, 1935. It's not looking so good for the old U.S.of A. Perhaps it's time for the SPPNA.

[britain when the rot set in

Just been re-reading the 2005 BBC News article by Brian Walden on the point where Britain "lost it" as a society and have to agree with his take. The article itself is here [pre-blogging days]. In a nutshell, Walden said:

An important point about Chamberlain is that Britain went to war in 1939 without enthusiasm, but utterly united. The united society soon became the fully mobilized society. I don't think the British people realised this at the time.

How did the freedom-loving British manage to direct so many people to go where they were needed so quickly? The Britain of those days was a socially disciplined and deferential society. Most people did what they were told and tried not to cause any trouble. Authority was respected.

The monarchy, Parliament, the law courts and the police all enjoyed great prestige. The British didn't have to be coerced into doing their patriotic duty. Once it was pointed out to them by the authorities, they were only too eager to do the right thing.

Yet it was in the war years that the pillars supporting this social deference began to crumble rapidly. All at once it seemed that nearly everybody rejected the norms of pre-war society. After Churchill became prime minister, nobody of any prominence wanted to hold out against state control to regulate social and economic life.

The great upheaval in British society didn't come with the Labour landslide in the House of Commons in 1945. It came years earlier during the Churchill coalition government.

Never before or since have I experienced a mood of egalitarianism and classlessness like it. Rationing and the blitz produced an intense sense of unity and a belief in fair shares.

After the war, financial security had gone, the Empire was disappearing, there were massive social changes and Britain was no longer a world power, though most of us - including our leaders - didn't realise it at the time.

An American Secretary of State, Dean Atchinson, put his finger on our new problem. In 1962 he said: "Great Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a new role." Perhaps we still haven't.

[who] we'll know in nine hours

Nice summation in Reuters this morning:

Her calls for boot camps for young offenders and measured criticism of some hallowed party policies proved popular but a gaffe-strewn debut to her campaign underscored doubts about her competence to lead a major economy and nuclear power.

[He] has worried moderates with his outspoken comments on crime and tough response to 2005 suburban riots, but has won new converts with his focus on traditional values, his reform plans and demand that he be judged by results.

It's hard to wait.

[jerseys] the great dairy cow debate

Absolutely nothing against the Guernsey or the Friesian Holstein but I never had much to do with the former and never quite warmed to the latter.

The Jersey is a lovely cow - good natured and it looks like a cow should. Plus, its 4.5% milk fat content is more than satisfying for table and cooking purposes. Low yield? Who cares.

Besides, its morals are suspect:

A heifer starts breeding at the early age of 15 months, known as "a heifer-in-calf" and will carry the calf for 9 months before birth.

The two breeds I used to milk were the Friesian and Jersey but I hasten to add it was using the machine. Unfortunately, I failed to score a milk-maid but one can't have everything.

[family] staying together, going it alone

"There are individual men and women and then there are families." [Margaret Thatcher, October 31st, 1987]

I'm still dwelling on the feeling expressed by so many last week that it is better to live alone, depending, as Ruthie commented, on the alternative.

In Russia, there are no support services for the families. My Russian friend was amazed, when he was in America, how families just shunted their old folk off into homes.

He couldn't get over how they, in his eyes, abrogated their responsibilities and assuaged their consciences by occasional, even daily visits but more than that, vehemently felt they were more than fulfilling their part of the social bargain.

I remained silent.

There were countless western explanations he quoted to me: "Look, we kept her at home until she could no longer cope. Where she is now - she has care, friendship, a pleasant environment and it's not as if it comes cheaply either."

This business is very much on my mind.

With my own parents departed, I thought that was the end on't but it's not. My best mate had to rush off ten minutes ago to take care of an emergency and it's not good. Not in the least. The whole system is not good.

Extended family is an absolute necessity in the former Soviet republics for support and comfort. No one else is going to help - they have their own problems to cope with. You go it alone and that means the grown son or daughter and even those younger must step in and do their part.

The only positive effect is to provide social cement which keeps the extended family together. I don't mean husbands and wives, the notoriously weak link in the chain and the most unreasonable but inter-generational and sibling cohesion.

The Russians have the same root word for sister and cousin - family is family, however widely spread. The second question I'm always asked is about my family [the first is where I'm from}. They're not prying, they just want to establish the links and clans, as it were, so they know with whom they're dealing.

You can call it primitive. I call it cohesive.

The elderly are never put in "homes". When they finally go to hospital, it's usually shortlived and then comes that terrible moment when they "come home", i.e. the medical staff claim they can do no more.

I don't need to spell out that even in its horror, this has a profound effect on family cohesion and on the sense of responsibility. I've seen and heard appalling arguments. They storm out but don't go off by themselves for long.

I have an essay by a girl about this right now. I set her a topic about "it's OK to lie if the truth would hurt" and she almost immediately deviated from it and wrote personally about social conditions. This is a 22 year old single mother I'm referring to here. That's what she is.

Next Friday I'm going to ask her if she'd let me post it here.

I'm criticizing myself, not any of you out there, when I say it's too easy now in the west. The Christian ethic has died and it's very much a "take the course of least resistance".

If you have the money, if there are good social support services, you can put ultimatums to the object of your ire, the weight around your neck, more confidently and you can be independent, depending on the housing shortages in that city. You can pay for your responsibilities to be taken care of.

Again and again, I'm not criticizing you. I don't know your own personal situation out there. I'm critizing me and quite harshly, as I feel it's deserved. I utilized the western system without realizing I was doing that.

It was all far too easy and my conscience is playing up something awful. Ellee left a comment at a lady blogger's site that she hoped they could get one of my blogfriends and myself to "loosen up" a bit.

Hope springs eternal.

[blogfocus saturday] shy, sensitive young men

This evening we Focus on those shy, often misunderstood denizens of the blogosphere, the self-effacing young straplings of sensitivity whose gossamer light prose splashes, as spitting rain, on the highways and byways of cyberspace.

Dedicated to the example set by Saint DK, author of "Communicating with your fists", here then are eight items of elegance:

1 The verbose Theo Spark refers the ephemeral leader-in-waiting to the wisdom of ages:

Dear Gordo...

...this is a paddle. You are going to need it.

2 On the other side of the pond, the Limbaugh influenced Jon Swift touches on the difficult topic of young ladies of the night:

Franke-Ruta's efforts to throw more pornographers and consumers of pornography in jail and make our young women less wild has been criticized by a few libertines like Ezra Klein, but I don't think she goes far enough. Can a girl of 21 really know what she is consenting to when she signs a release form for a pornographer? Does she really understand what the ramifications might be later in life? That is why I propose that we raise the minimum age of consent to participate in pornography to 65.

3 Drivers of Triumph Toledos are not to be gaffawed at. They are to be humoured. Mutley, please:

On the way home from work my car ( A Triumph Toledo) suddenly stopped moving as the engine ceased to work. I managed to get over to the side of the road into a field and put on my hazard lights, then I called the AA. I hoped for some minor pleasure in meeting a uniformed and manly car mechanic – but it was not be . The AA man was not twinkly, slim, fit and virile as it claimed in the adverts - he looked like Supermario and smelled of onions.

He fiddled round the car for a while as people drove past pointing and laughing and then said “When did you last petrol in this heap of junk?” (!!!) “I always re-fill my tank when I reach the red line !” I said stiffly, I did not like his attitude.

4 The Flying Rodent takes his first small steps in live-election-casting:

Like many others, I thought I'd try my hand at my first ever "Live-blogging" post.

Hopefully I can shed some light on a confusing situation, I'll post updates as the night goes on.

10:00 pm: Okay, a good solid start to the coverage. The country music theme is a bit odd, but I gather retro is all the rage at the moment.

Ooops, the presenter is on. Back in a minute.

10:05 pm: Okay, I'm not that politically aware, but I think I've sussed out that the First Minister is the tall, craggy guy. I'm assuming that the goofy looking guy in the cap must be some kind of party functionary.

10:09 pm: I know it's presumptuous, but I reckon that the Scottish people wouldn't mind if our elected leader shelled out for an official car or something. It's undignified for the FM to be bumming around in a flatbed truck.

5 Soft and adorable, a cute, cuddly kitten, Newmania finds thoughts flitting across his mind which surely all of us have experienced at some time or other:

Something I have sometimes wondered is what I would have done if I was in Germany when Hitler was coming to power. Would I have resisted , would I have been an enthusiastic Party member? Of course you can be too literal about it and start talking about how you have been a different sort of person but the sort of questions I am thinking are these.

1 I hate socialism and would I have hated them so much as to have been prepared to ally with anyone?

2 Would my inability to agree with anyone have triumphed over my fond regard for uniforms and sneaky admiration for the human spirit in action, at war.

3 Would the patriotism I possess have been able to define itself away from the vision of the country that was prevalent.

4 Would the dangerous romantic appeal of fascism have infected me?

5 What about the legendary magnetism of the man himself.

6 From Mr. Eugenides' pre-live-election-casting phase, this moment for quiet reflection on the Blair years, if you please:

Exam pass rates continue their giddy rise year on year, and there may for the first time be an all-English Champions League final this year. (Thank Labour supporter Sir Alex Ferguson for that: him, and the EU: for without free movement of people, how else could Argentina's Gabriel Heinze and the Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba ply their trade in our leagues?) Your whites wash whiter, your beer is foamier, and I can't be the only one, surely, who's noticed that the quality and duration of our orgasms is at an all-time high. [Though in my case, still self-administered: some things haven't changed.]

7 If one more blogger blogs about the British local elections, I'm going to strangle him at birth, Hopefully, Reactionary Snob's piece here is the last we'll see of this election excrescence for at least two more Nu-Labour filled years:

Well, it looks as if the bastards are out and have been replaced by another shower of bastards. One upside to all this, I suppose, is whatever you say about Salmond (and I've said rather a lot) is that he is, in just about every way, leagues and leagues ahead of McConnell.

It is a historic result. For almost my entire life, this small land heady with the reek of socialism has been dominated by Labour. An elite has formed - largely Glasgow University educated, largely from North Lanarkshire (or failing that Paisley). This elite forms a substantial chunk of the political wing of the 'Scottish Raj' in London.

8 The Abluted One has returned yet again to inflict an entirely uncalled for account of his life of luxury on the high seas on the unsuspecting paupers of the blogosphere, namely me:

Mrs. Ablution and I, having committed the heinous sin of air travel to New York, felt that to return via ocean liner might to some extent compensate for our injudicious carbon expenditure, and were willing to make the sacrifice - at whatever the cost.

The ship was both comfortable and impressive, the food and drink (usually) excellent, the sleeping like that in the womb, and the service (in most cases) pleasantly and professionally rendered. The only real disappointment lay with our fellow passengers, who seemed not to take the Cunard tradition of elegance of manner and attire entirely to heart. Friends speculate that the era of refinement on the seas is well and truly dead.

Don't despair - I'm sure I'll overcome my lethargy over the course of this week.

So, they return to their cocoons and I hope to see you all again on Tuesday evening. Bye for now.

[america's cup update] challenge phase

Current standings in the Louis Vuiton Cup, to decide the challenger to meet Alinghi [Switzerland] in the playoff:

1 USA 31

1 ITA 31

3 NZL 30

4 ESP 27

5 SWE 22

6 ITA 20

7 RSA 16

8 FRA 13

9 ITA 6

10 GER 5

11 CHN 3

Racing is taking place off Valencia. Latest news is that France is now eliminated. You can read that here.

[saturday quiz] for literature buffs

1 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. What follows?

2 Jane Austen had five brothers but only one sister. What was her name?

3 For which Ministry did Winston Smith work in 1984?

4 Bob Kane died on November 3rd 1998. Which character, who had a well-known sidekick, was he best known for?

5 Which American poet was brought back from Italy to the US in a cage in 1945?

6 Which poet married another poet and died by her own hand in 1963?

7 " To err is human: to forgive divine." Who wrote it?

8 Which Bennett daughter married Bingley - Kitty, Mary, Jane, Lydia, Elizabeth or Penny?

9 With which London based poet did Groucho Marx correspond?

10 Who wrote The Twits?

Answers here.

[know thy blogger] inaugural quiz

First in a new series, challenging the sphere to recognize their own. Which bloggers are being described below?

1] Prez with a site, kisses old lady's hands

2] Won a blog award and swears by Rush Limbaugh

3] Foxy lady, called Me-So by Vox Day, huge readership

4] Uber-blogger, Jack Russell owner, his header changes colours

5] Husband and wife team, 910 group, Swedish guest blogger

6] Despises the blogosphere, writes for the MSM

7] Euston writing cricket tourist

8] Transatlanticist, one of the founding fathers of the blogosphere and heavy on literature

9] Swearmaster, blood red, UKIP

10] Knows economics, obvious or trivial except ...

Answers here.

[lucia celeste molina sierra] and those pesky immigration laws

Velkomin, Lucia Celeste Molina Sierra

You remember, of course, that matter I rushed to you some time ago, about the Minister's son's girlfriend? Well, there've been startling developments:

Gudjón Ólafur Jónsson, an MP and a member of the parliament’s General Committee, announced yesterday that neither he nor other members of the committee had been pressured to grant Icelandic citizenship to a Central American woman, whose boyfriend’s mother is Jónína Bjartmarz, Iceland’s Minister for the Environment.

“I was very lucky and I know that I can become a good Icelandic citizen because I am educated and hard-working,” Lucia Celeste Molina Sierra, the woman in question told Sirkus, a Fréttabladid supplement.

That's lovely, Lucy and this ongoing pesky controversy must seem a trifle provincial to you, I suppose. And with a fabulous name like yours, I should think they would have granted you citizenship straight away. However, there'll always be sticklers for the law, I suppose and to them, we say:

En hver lak þessu máli? Þar er einn líklegastur og það er Guðjón Ólafur. Hann er líkleg búinn að reikna dæmið þannig að eftir kosningar þá verði Jón ekki lengi formaður. Þá standa eftir forystumenn í Rvk hann og JB, þetta mál veikir Jónínu verulega.

Hope that clears the matter up, for once and for all. Now, in other cutting edge news from Iceland:

The Capital Region Police were called to the pond in central Reykjavík on Wednesday evening to attend to a man spotted swimming. When the police arrived he had made it to dry land.

According to Fréttabladid, the man turned out to be a Japanese tourist who could not explain his behavior due to drunkenness. It is unclear whether he jumped or fell into the pond.

Police also attended to two other men Wednesday evening who were so drunk they had to be taken to the police station to sober up.

Rivetting. simply rivetting.

[karma] are you hot or just a snot

Spiny Norman

People, get ye over to Croydonian and take the Karma test - how's your karma at this moment in time? As Croydonian says:

"Mildly amusing and does not take long."

And as Nobby Clark once said to Dinsdale Pirhana, in the classic tale: "Good Friends I've Topped", whilst having his head nailed to the floor:

"Oo-oo-ughhhh, bad karma, man."

[young in russia] glimpse of life

I promised Rinat I'd run this, this evening.

Here's a glimpse into the life of one of my students, composing and arranging music at 22 and even singing. In the photo above are his girlfriend, best friend, fans, protegees he's helping out and of course, himself.

Rinat has been seen around some of the best musos in Russia, including Vladimir Kuzmin - click below for an example of his work. Allow a few minutes for it to load:

He has more talent than most but he's not unique in this city and the girls around him are virtually those I deal with every day.

ASBOs are hard to find over here and the workrate, responsiveness, politeness and deference make working with young people like these a breeze.

The photos above speak for themselves.

[france] le plus grande nation du monde

I'm a sort of francophile but all the same, this sort of thing is a bit rich:

Les Français les plus influents du mond

Le Figaro bases that on Frenchmen being among a Time Magazine top 100 list of influential people in the world. They're further delighted to announce that George Bush has been excluded from the list.

Ho hum. They do seem to have this thing about being first in the world or is it just my imagination?

[british elections] summary for non-brits

From the BBC:

Labour is suffering election losses in England and Wales and has seen a swing to the SNP in Scotland - but claims to have avoided electoral "disaster". The contest in Scotland is still too close to call with half of the results in - but it has been marred by problems with the voting system.

In Wales Labour looks likely to lose control of the Welsh assembly. The Tories say their 41% share of the vote in England puts them on course for victory at the next general election. The Lib Dems appear to be losing ground overall despite some high profile wins.

Possibly Labour is right in saying it has avoided disaster. Ho hum.