[blogpolls] do unto others as...

Look, I'm one of the worst offenders, I admit it. Notice something about a poll or a survey and think, 'Yes, must get round to that,' go to the next site and promptly forget all about the poll. And the poor blogger waits and hopes and hopes his friends will submit entries and they fail to. I feel a heel. So now I've acted and I urge you also to put your 5 favourite musicals into Norm immediately and submit the best bit of swearing to Mr. Eugenides. To Serf - examples of EU villainy. To Tim - nominations for Britblog Roundup. Come on, people, let's get our act together.

[excuse for biffo] la tension monte dans les quartiers difficiles

It would have been surprising had the 'disaffected youths' let the occasion go without an uprising. Nothing like an official excuse for a bit of lawless spleen venting and sure enough: In recent days, hoodlums set fire to four buses. Other incidents of arson and ambushes on police have accelerated in the last several weeks. Le Figaro dit: Alors que les incidents se multiplient, les forces de l'ordre se mettent en alerte. Call me hard but I have little sympathy. I came to this country where I now am, work, have friends and live reasonably. Sorry but I cannot see why these people can’t knuckle down and do the same. If I tried that sort of thing on, I'd be deported.

[pm] increasingly likely to be cameron

I wish we could get some hard information. James Cleverly said, a few days ago: I questioned the result of a Mori poll which put Gordon Brown ahead of David Cameron; it just didn't fit with anything that I am hearing on the doorstep. It seems from this Guardian poll I wasn't wrong. Today the Telegraph is running with: David Cameron has moved decisively ahead of Gordon Brown as favourite to lead the next government. It would have to be so. One’s gut instinct says it will be Cameron.

[ikea] how to lose your business in three easy lessons

Hope you have the coffee at the ready, as this might take some time. It’s the story of three separate businesses, all in the food trade and how they either lost or are in the process of losing their custom. One story is mine, one happened to my friend in the US and one is happening now, today, at Ikea. All are 100% genuine. I’ll start with mine – feel free to skip over it if you like. This involves a frozen turkey, some fish and a doughnut machine. More here.

[virginia race] down to the wire for the wrong reasons

What interests me in the tussle between Republican Sen. George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb, a former Navy secretary, for Virginia, were the ‘personal controversies that have all but hijacked a critical contest’ and the possible solution – a seven-year statute of limitations on character attacks. ‘Webb has been dogged by a 1979 magazine article in which he argued that women did not belong in combat or at military academies. Allen is trying to overcome a past fondness for Confederate flags and pins, the noose he once had in his law office — which he said was part of a Western memorabilia collection — and new questions about his attitudes on race.’ It looks as if it will go down to the wire but perhaps for the wrong reasons.

[denmark] mary’s girl child, hopefully

The Danish royal house has announced the Australian-raised princess is pregnant and due to give birth to her second child in early May, 2007. The new baby will be born at Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital) - the hospital in which Prince Christian was born on October 15th last year. Many in Denmark will be hoping the newborn is a girl, as the country is overdue for the birth of a princess, the last being Queen Margerethe's younger sister, Princess Benedikte in 1944.

[airbus] jacques strikes gold in china

Airbus Chief Executive Louis Gallois explained: "We have signed a contract for a 150 A320s and a letter of intent for 20 A350s with China, also a framework agreement for a final assembly line for the A320 at Tianjin, starting production in 2009". Latest news a few minutes ago is that they have no intention of closing the European plants. Jacques Chirac's state visit to China was the catalyst for the deal so credit must go, finally, where it is due. Still has some life in him, it seems and he might just have saved airbus. For now.

[tax protest] blogger’s father in hiding

Had to think carefully before running the photo

Vox Day’s father has the tax police after him for what some see as the wrong reasons. Vox asks: And who is more cowardly, the sheep that go meekly along to the shearer or the one that jumps the fence and runs for the hills? However, one of his commenters puts a worrying point I’m inclined to agree with: I'm guessing your dad has absolutely zero history of being violent, which makes me think that the talk about him being dangerous is rather scary. It almost makes me think that the groundwork is being laid for shooting him.

[gender] boys are a pain from the start

Photo courtesy of Mr Euginedes

This slightly older article is worth the read. Boys are more trouble than girls - and the grief starts from the word go. Delivering a male child is significantly more difficult than giving birth to a female, according to an Irish study of more than 8000 children - the first in the world to consider how a child's sex affects labour. Maeve Eogan, from Dublin's National Maternity Hospital, found the caesarean rate was nearly 50 per cent higher among boys' births - 6.1 per cent versus 4.2 per cent. Other instrumental deliveries using forceps or ventouse extraction were also more common among male births, regardless of weight. Other delightful stats are here.

[all hallows] for those who might not know

Well, that major holiday, All Hallows Day, is coming up on Nov 1st. "Hallows" is the Old English for "holy man"; hence a saint. The French call it Toussaint. It’s traditionally traced to Pope Boniface IV who, between 603 and 610, changed the heathen Pantheon into the Christian church and dedicated it to the honour of the martyrs but some trace it to the time of Pope Gregory III (731-741). Originally held on May 1st, in the year 834 it was changed to November 1st. What exciting things to do on the day? Pray for the Saints and be one. That’s it. Read about the other Oct 31st to Nov 2nd holidays here.