What I’ve been up to, week ending 2009-08-30

Chris Grayling is halfwit http://bit.ly/RQQwb #Britainisntbrokenyouridiculousjokers # Blimey, the right-whingers are going mental at Kennedy's death. I reckon "40 years political service" outweighs "once crashed a car" # The phrase "I'm not being funny" is almost invariably correct. # Early night w00t # Complete this sentence: "Fraser Nelson is the new ...." # Anton Vowl … Continue reading What I’ve been up to, week ending 2009-08-30

Very simples indeed

To Commentisfree, which is running one of the more embarassing pieces of po-faced Spartery I've seen outside a student union: A few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I were watching TV at home when the advert for comparethemarket.com appeared on our screen. I had seen the ad before and not thought anything of it. However … Continue reading Very simples indeed

What I’ve been up to, week ending 2009-08-23

The Awl is brilliant (www.theawl.com) - and no, I'm not getting paid to say that # The staff of my local Pret have all gone on a jolly to New York, and been replaced by equally enthusiastic, but less ept, stand-ins. # CO2 emissions aside, I strongly approve of big co's sending baristas and sandwichmakers … Continue reading What I’ve been up to, week ending 2009-08-23

On al-Megrahi

Oddly enough, much of the best commentary on the thoroughly deserved release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has come from rightish-libertarians: DK, Longrider, Longrider again. (I don't mean that right-ish libertarians are unlikely to provide sensible comment in general, just that "releasing alleged terrorist" and "annoying America" are things that, all else being equal, are things … Continue reading On al-Megrahi

What I’ve been up to, week ending 2009-08-16

Top tip: if the only wine in the house is undrinkably foul & white, and you're out of Creme de Cassis, mix with Ribena for a Value Kir # Top tip #2: pork marinaded in port, soy, vinegar and mustard is almost as good as using red wine. #hopingmailordercasearrivestomorrow # Rule of thumb: anything the … Continue reading What I’ve been up to, week ending 2009-08-16

That ‘Americans pay for drug R&D’ point

In the unlikely event that you've fallen for the absurd myth "US healthcare is really expensive because they pay for the rest of the world's drug development"... Total global pharma R&D spending was US$53bn for 2004 (it won't have order-of-magnitude changed since then). US healthcare spending was US$2.4 trillion for 2007. So even if you … Continue reading That ‘Americans pay for drug R&D’ point

See #15 for my judgement

I gave you all an extra few days, but you still failed. NRG got 1.5 and neither was the obvious Kinks example, so he wins a Babylon Zoo album. Email details and I'll post it. Meanwhile, Anton gets the cash alternative to two Babylon Zoo albums, which is being hit round the head with a … Continue reading See #15 for my judgement

What I’ve been up to, week ending 2009-08-09

I backed a horse that came in at ten to one. unfortunately it was running in the 1130 #oldjokesfornogoodreason # (yes, I know that slating alcohol marketing isn't normally how I roll, but the JW ad was fucking egregious) # Sometimes I forget ppl like @hematuria and @anattendantlord are many hrs ahead, and briefly assume … Continue reading What I’ve been up to, week ending 2009-08-09