[relationship survey] some canadian results

1,500 adults were surveyed across Canada:

# 70% Canadians are in a relationship.
# 55 % of women said being faithful was the most important criteria;
# 49 % of men said being faithful was the most important criteria;
# 35 % of those polled said intelligence was a major factor in lasting love;
# 34 per cent of respondents said respecting the other's independence was important;
# 31 per cent said knowing how to listen was vital;
# 30 per cent of men said physical attraction rated high;
# 26 per cent said being nice was vital;
# 14 per cent of women rated physical attraction important;
# 12 per cent of males said being good in bed was a priority;
# 5 per cent of respondents rated money as very important;
# 4 per cent of females said being good in bed was a priority;
# respect and listening were significantly more important to the women than the men.

1] Do you believe these results?
2] Are they your priorities as well?

[u.s.a] open letter to my american friends

My US blogfriends are most important to me and keeping your interest in this blog is one of my main tasks. Visiting you over there is part of that and I enjoy reading and discussing your issues with you, e.g. the Harvard matter.

I have but one gripe – unilateralism.

There really is this tendency, at times, to feel you’re going it alone, that it’s only the US out there and then the rest of the world. This attitude ignores your allies Britain, Canada and Australia. These countries have fought alongside you and are happy to be full allies, not so much to implement US policy but to implement a Free-World policy, or so the theory goes. You’re the largest and most powerful of these and so enjoy premier place.

When John Howard said that he was defending Australia’s interests in his comments on the US presidential race, that’s what he meant. The US alliance means that these countries are inextricably interwoven and the leadership of the US very much affects the prospects of its other allies. If you didn’t need those allies, you wouldn’t have kept them on. Therefore there is not only keen interest in your presidential race but a stake in it as well.

To turn round and tell us to ‘butt-out’, as I’ve read today, is illogical because our interests are also involved. To say Britain, Canada and Australia contribute nothing in Iraq, as I’ve read today, is not only blind to the reality but smacks of the unilateralism I was referring to.

It’s also not very friendly.

[welfare] money on language learning, not translators

More than four million pounds is spent on translators at job centres to help those who cannot speak English claim benefits. Welfare Minister Jim Murphy has proposed that from April, this money should instead be spent on improving the language skills of the unemployed to help them find work.

At first sight, this seems reasonable but I’ll watch with interest the comments of other Britbloggers. Perhaps there’s something we’ve missed here.

[la gioconda smile] eating her with relish

Eating La Gioconda [dipinto di Leonardo da Vinci che mostra una donna con un'espressione pensierosa e un leggero sorriso quasi enigmatico – in case you didn’t know] is very tasty, even when she’s not quite fresh. You see, a French speaking girl brought her and 19 other art chocolates back from Paris and I’m saving the wrappers.

[france] ségolène’s proposals

# 500,000 subsidized jobs for young people;
# the streamlining of presidential ministries;

# free medical care for children younger than 16;
# reduced class sizes;
# better unemployment benefits;
# interest-free government loans to graduates to start businesses.

Royal did not detail Sunday how the country would pay for the new entitlements. So she’s consistently leftist.

Her supporters drifted to other candidates, experts say, after she blundered on trips abroad and refused to be specific about how she'd run the country.

Also consistently left, she has said she’s a victim of "a hard right, without principles, without virtue" that had her "vilified in seedy publications and on the cover of weekly magazines linked to the government."

Currently it stands Sarkozy 53% and Royal 47% but both acknowledge that under the French system, that is far from certain.

[obama] john howard sticks his oar in

Australia's prime minister is in hot water for suggesting that Barack Obama would be popular among terrorist leaders because of his promise to recall troops from Iraq if he wins.

Howard says his remarks were appropriate.

Obama challenged John Howard to send another 20,000 Australian troops. "Otherwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric," he said in Iowa.

Republicans and Democrats have both told John Howard to butt out and not to interfere in another country’s politics, which is quite delicious, coming as it does from the U.S.

I'd like to know how you can have a 'bunch' of rhetoric. Just asking. Seems to this blogger that as long as the Americans keep out the Lizard Queen, the rest hardly matters.

UPDATE: John Howard has reiterated his stance: "I hold the strongest possible view that it is contrary to the security interests of this country for America to be defeated in Iraq."