Courtesy of Mr Justin “Chicken Yoghurt” McKeating (not just for the idea, but also the code, and then a fair while of fiddling with my shoddily-arranged template), a brand-spanking-new feature – fancy little boxout things like this in which I’ll … Continue reading →

A breeze sweeps in off the plains, kicking up little eddies of dust in the rutted main street of the ramshackle township. The weather-beaten faces of grizzled onlookers gaze towards the saloon doors. They smash open, and a bespurred foot … Continue reading →

The more I try and work out how the EU budget could be made “fair”, the more confused I get. I’m going to keep working on it, but at the moment every time I find some new information or a … Continue reading →

This is fun. Does Chirac’s cheek know no bounds? Blair’s claims that without the rebate Britain would be paying 15 times more than France to the EU (rather than just 2.5 times) are actually pretty much accurate. Yet Chirac still … Continue reading →

The comments section of my latest post at The Sharpener (on the British rebate) have been interesting, and the Common Agricultural Policy has once again reared its ugly head. It’s rubbish, and on that everyone – except, perhaps, the French … Continue reading →

Epolitix.com are getting in on the blogging bug and trying, like Bloggerheads’ Tim Ireland, to get politicians interested. As of yet they’ve got tit all there and what there is is in rather an odd format, but their mission-statement seems … Continue reading →

I did put this up here to start with, but decided it was better off at The Sharpener for some reason I’ve now forgotten – so go read it there. Go on.

Please note the comments to the previous post. Us bloggers, eh? we’re useless. This is where having a sub comes in… Update: Ha ha ha ha ha! I’ve only just noticed the typo in the title as well… Remind me … Continue reading →

Effectively. And they’re right. Commissioner for human rights Alvaro Gil-Robles has slated Blair and co’s insistence on being able to lock us all up as they deem fit (and the rest) in no uncertain terms. There is, he rightly says, … Continue reading →

This Sunday get the papers and read the book pages. On Monday, Mark Stuart’s authorised biography of the late Labour leader John Smith is published. I’ve been skimming through a review copy and there is, shall we say, a lot … Continue reading →

(*not really – that’s, like, just a matter of opinion, man…) BBC bashing seems endemic among certain sections of the UK blogosphere – all (mostly) on the right – and is increasingly sneaking into parts of the right-wing press. I … Continue reading →

I’ve been really bad at updating my blogroll of late. If you link here, let me know – a few places I’ve spotted via Technorati etc. I’ve been meaning to add but lost, and I’m pondering one of those reciprocal … Continue reading →

What the hell’s going on? We’re a tiny little island and have been in economic and military decline for over a century. So why the hell is our government charging all over the world trying to sort out everyone else’s … Continue reading →

Reading through the full text of Jack Straw’s speech announcing the (temporary) suspension of Britain’s plans for a referendum on the constitutional treaty, its fairly tricky to find anything major to disagree with. And I’m no fan of Jack Straw. … Continue reading →