[baseball] name the four of them

The names are scrambled. Straighten them out: denlarver, gerros, sorberton, mebandorn. Answers here.

[wal-mart] $4 generic-drug plan moves to alaska

Remember Wal-Mart $4 prescriptions? They’re now available in Alaska Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores because Alaska doesn't have state laws prohibiting such a move, as some states do. Dave Campana, pharmacist for Alaska Medicaid, said drugs on Wal-Mart's $4 list are mostly older, lower-priced generics, but still, state Medicaid should benefit, along with people who are uninsured. Over-the-limit Medicare recipients who must pay their own drug costs may also pay less, he said. Fine details at this site.

[fashion] the mechanics of flow lines

Now say what you like but I found this interesting, not least because it comes out of Australia and then because even a man can understand it. Successful fashion is all about flow lines, and nowhere more so than in hats. A glorious swirl of red straw braid and Swiss silk veiling, finished with a flower and hatpin, all designed within the "flow lines" of the head, but with a light froth of extra height to create that illusion for the wearer. At its most fundamental, fashion design is concerned with two things: fit and flow. Men, don’t switch off yet – more here.

[adventure holiday] why not try darra

Photo courtesy of Bjorn

Darra Adam Kheil is no ordinary town, close by the Kohat mountain range in the lawless tribal belt of north western Pakistan. Filled with hashish bars, the town of 15,000 is the headquarters of the region's illegal firearms market. Here, small, storefront operations churn out knockoff versions of weapons at cut-rate prices, providing a key source of hardware for the Taliban, most of whom are Pashtun and native to the region and who were once completely dependent on Darra for their weaponry. The US poured weapons into Pakistan during the Afghan war to arm the mujahedeen and stave off the Russians [remember James Bond: The Living Daylights] and overnight, a home grown arms market sprang up, which is now being used, in turn. on the US and NATO. A real Indiana Jones town for your next adventure holiday.

[veils 2] comment on the earlier post by a muslim

Interesting little aside on the veils issue. A Muslim lady who visited me just now saw the post about sweet Aishah and after I’d explained the issue, felt that the school wouldn’t have employed her if she was wearing it at the interview, especially if it was a Christian school. The veil had to have come later. My visitor agreed with the school’s point of view but also with the award for hurt feelings [I think this was more the woman coming out in solidarity with her sister]. As for my final sentence [in the earlier post] on going to the mosque in Christian garb, she smiled. No one wears veils over here anyway – it’s just for Britonstan, it appears.

[in brief] thought for friday

Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others.

[cricket] aussies flop

Photo stolen direct from Ashes Buzz

Interesting piece by Tim de Lisle yesterday. The Champions Trophy hasn’t had many runs, but it has had something more precious: upsets. South Africa fell to New Zealand, and now Australia have gone down to the West Indies. The Aussies showed two unexpected weaknesses. After a strong start with the ball, they couldn’t finish off the West Indian top order. The killer instinct was missing. If you enjoy Aussie discomfort, follow the link.

[happy birthday] to the transplanted scot

Missed Colin’s birthday yesterday. Many happy returns of the day!

[veils] award to aishah for hurt feelings, poor lass

Aishah Azmi, 24, the bilingual support worker suspended for refusing to remove her veil during lessons and who subsequently lost her claim that she was discriminated against because of her religious beliefs, has now been awarded £1,100 for "injury to her feelings". The school itself was silly enough to consider that staring through a postbox-slit eyehole in a black garment might be a little off-putting in a face-to-face counselling situation. I’m still puzzled that she was teaching in a C of E school in the first place but it's heartening, I can tell you. You know, I think I'm now going to put on a dog collar and mitre, go down to the local mosque and ask for a counselling job. Hope you'll still see me posting later.

[russia] foreign ngos processed too slowly

Leaving aside Moscow itself and outlying regions, including Beslan, Russia has been relatively free of terrorism and there are no troops on the streets here - come over and have a look, rather than accept what you've read. Part of that is due to draconian measures on immigrants and foreign residents at governmental level which I can vouch, in my case, don’t amount to more than the usual bureaucracy. Part is due to the cracking down on NGOs which Vladimir Putin warned were interfering in domestic politics. Justice Ministry Anatoly Panchenko said authorities were unable to process the registration papers of 96 NGOs by the midnight Wednesday deadline, although he promised they would do so as soon as possible. They are being processed but the western press has beaten this up - don’t Britain and the US also stringently screen for troublemakers? Seems a double standard here to me.