Word out of Brussels is that Germany and France are in preliminary discussions over how a break-up of the Eurozone would take place and look! And as we know, political rhetoric aside, perception becomes reality. With Italy 10-year government bond yields hitting as high as 7.5% last week and the rest of the EU PIIGS led by Greece teetering on the edge, the reality is that the politically engineered...

Sarah Palin narrates her forthcoming TV show about Alaskan wildlife* Look! It’s a polar bear. I sued the federal government to keep that guy and his ilk from getting an endangered species listing. Check it out! It’s a moose. Chili...

Any suggestion that Britain will have to rescue offshore financial centres would be extremely controversial as tax havens drain the UK economy of an estimated £25bn annually through their role in aggressive tax avoidance and evasion. There’s Ritchie’s number again, the one we’ve already proven is entirely wrong. Amazing how people will run with a number that

Market socialism is impossible he says. Well, that puts paid to a large and entirely respectable set of philosophic musings, doesn’t it? Oooooh, Look! John Lewis just disappeared, winked out of existence, the mission entirely frustrated by the philosophical conundrum of a worker owned firm competing successfully in a free (ish) market. Sigh. Markets, the mechanism of choice,

Despite the European elections – or perhaps exactly because of them – a few of us might need to look at Europe from a more humorous side. The picture blog European Light does just that. Take a look! Ralf Grahn

I really like this posting, from Mr Eugenides, about shortening attention spans, etc..  He has a long quote in it, and I did what I often do with long quotes.  I skimmed to the end.  Whereupon I read this: (Did you read all of that, or skim to the end of the blockquoted text? If the latter, I think the point is proved.) Yes, he got me. Later: So, if you’re still reading (and I...

“American commanders are planning to cut off the Taliban’s main source of money, the country’s multimillion-dollar opium crop, by pouring thousands of troops into the three provinces that bankroll much of the group’s operations.” The New York Times cheerily fails to define “cut off“; what it’ll mean for the farmer’s livelihoods, or, indeed, the...

I have already mentioned this earlier today on Labourhome. On the surface it doesn't seem much more than enough to make some on the left smile, but have another look! According to Rupa on her blog, there is the consideration; * Doesn’t it show how out of touch you are when everyone else is in recesssionary belt-tightening mode to be hosting a booze-up for no apparent reason? * Given tha...

It is entirely predictable that UK inflation is going to rise dramatically over the next 18 months. The signs are already there for those who choose to look! "With the motoring industry brought to its knees by the recession and left with fields full of unsold stock, it may seem the perfect time to pick up a new car for a bargain price. Yet in a move that will bewilder many cash-strapped would-be b...

Fellow regular readers of Brian May's "Soapbox", will be familar with this, but the guitar legend himself has been showing variations of his "Red Special" Guitar. It includes a "Red Special" Bass which brought out the guitar geek in me (a side to my nature very well hidden), but really! Take a look!