I've been getting some bizarrely customised-for-this-site comment spam recently. For example: As well as the main critical mass ride there's now a north london version. Those Friday Thing folk said that boobah is "a bit odd" Today is the European Day of Languages. I wonder if David Blunkett is taking part? Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers … Continue reading Weird comment spam
Year: 2006
Let's abolish inheritance tax. Let's abolish capital gains tax. Instead, let's treat all income as, well, income, and tax it as such. Whether you happened to make it from being clever and lucky enough to get a job, being clever and lucky enough to find a high-interest bank account, being clever and lucky enough to … Continue reading On tax
I've got a new piece up at the Sharpener, on the rather excellent geek-toy that is Google Trends.
You may or may not be aware of The Game. The Game only has one rule: if you remember you're playing it, you lose. I just lost the game, thanks to a reminder from Matt Turner. But Matt has a new, more insidious version of The Game, which I've also just lost: if you remember … Continue reading The Games
1) This website keeps disappearing. If it happens again I'm going to have to kill my hosting provider. Which is a shame, since I've met him and he's a nice chap. 2) I'd forgotten I said this: "blogging is a bunch of midgets fighting over bugger all". 3) The Sharpener, which is not a bunch … Continue reading Miscellany
I'm aware of most of the differences between British English (yuck, but it's the least ambiguous term I can think of) and US English, and I'm pretty aware of what's going on in US politics, at least on a national level. Australian English and politics can still leave me baffled, however: PM: I suspected Iraq … Continue reading A very common language
Julie Bindel has a comment piece in the Guardian about the class snobbery that permeates the healthy eating debate, and particularly about the way that fair-trade liberals sneer at the poor for eating badly. It's nearly sensible, but it falls down on a crucial point: Encouraging a healthy diet has far more to do with … Continue reading Healthy eating != bruschetta-eating
I'm a great fan of governments and companies making their money from voluntary, rather than compulsory, charges. The lottery is an excellent example. Another, outside of the government sphere, is personal banking. There are generally no charges for holding a UK current account or credit card, and you can usually get the kind of quality … Continue reading Let the inept subsidise me
To my surprise, I find something amusing in Harry's comments about the collapse of Soviet communism and, relatedly, Russian society: Yeltsin's Government made a deal with the population: the first part was, yes, life would be worse now. But, on the other hand, to be kind, it would be shorter too.
I'm not normally a fan of people who bring libel suits, although I have no intention of saying anything unpleasant about them [*]. All I will say is that if you fancy joining a club that includes James Goldsmith, Robert Maxwell, Jeffrey Archer and (Mrs Ripper) Sonia Sutcliffe, your social preferences are a little different … Continue reading Oh my god, they defamed Kenny