January 17, 2010

tookiecramer: birthday bonanza (light on content…heavy on pictures)

Edison spent the rest of the day trying to keep Jacob from running off with his birthday gifts and the rest of the week singing “Happy Birthday to Eddie” with me so he could re-enact blowing out the candles. He has grown up a lot since …

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tookiecramer: birthday bonanza (light on content…heavy on pictures)

January 17, 2010

If it’s a great poem, then it’s not about you, Gordon

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed

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If it’s a great poem, then it’s not about you, Gordon

January 17, 2010

We must defend the right to be stupid, vile and obnoxious

I was in the Socialist Workers party (SWP) as a kid, selling papers on a Saturday morning outside Binns department store in Middlesbrough town centre. “Neither Washington nor Moscow but international socialism!” I would bellow, and sometimes catch sight of my mum and dad doing the weekly shop and hiding from me in abject mortification.

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We must defend the right to be stupid, vile and obnoxious

January 17, 2010

Be afraid, China, the Google dragon stirs

One of the more overworked phrases in the modern geopolitical lexicon is “the clash of civilisations”. It has been widely used to inflate the significance of a conflict between a small band of Islamist nutcases and the governments of the West

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Be afraid, China, the Google dragon stirs

January 17, 2010

Britain’s dirty secret: class still matters

On rare days I feel sorry for members of the government. Running the country must be as frustrating as being a parent: it’s only in retrospect that you realise where you went wrong. But your new-found wisdom is of no use because the crucial moments have passed, and you can’t have your time again

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Britain’s dirty secret: class still matters

January 16, 2010

Birthday Cakes India, Send Fresh Cake India, Online Birthday Gifts …

Birthday Cakes India, Send Fresh Cake India, Online Birthday Gifts India, Birthday Cake Online, Send Cake to India, Birthday Gifts to India, Fresh Cake to India on Birthday with Free shipping, Online Shopping India, Chocolate cake …

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Birthday Cakes India, Send Fresh Cake India, Online Birthday Gifts …

January 16, 2010

I have a dream of a less silent spring

You know, quite a lot can be done when people actually want to do it. But the corollary holds good as well: things that aren’t a great deal of trouble simply won’t get done if people can’t be bothered. Sometimes all it takes is for a few people to change their minds.

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I have a dream of a less silent spring

January 16, 2010

What the snow told us about modern Britain

It’s gone, or at least it’s going. And even adults with the most ebullient inner eight-year-olds don’t seem sad. In London parks, grubby snowmen stand lonely sentry, in rural towns at least it’s stopped long enough to dig out the car

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What the snow told us about modern Britain

January 16, 2010

Kids will go cap in hand for Tesco schooldays

Just when you thought that there wasn’t an area of retail left that Tesco couldn’t move into and change for ever — as it has done in such unlikely areas as literature, petrol, home insurance and Lithuanian escort girls (the appetite for which has been transformed by the BOGOF phenomenon) — it goes and restores your faith with a big push into the school uniform market.

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Kids will go cap in hand for Tesco schooldays

January 16, 2010

We must turn Blair’s life into Groundhog Day

A sombre comparison struck me as, watching the Chilcot committee interview Alastair Campbell this week, we ran, yet again, round the same old course. It reminded me of my own interview, 15 years ago, with Jeremy Thorpe.

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We must turn Blair’s life into Groundhog Day

January 15, 2010

The irresistible rise of the aid industry

You don’t have to wait for the charity single any more. In the next few days millions will whip out their credit cards and donate to the aid effort for victims of the Haiti earthquake

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The irresistible rise of the aid industry

January 15, 2010

Storm of criticism obscures our good record

We British love to talk about the weather. Indeed, being British is one reason why I joined the Met Office as chief executive just over two years ago and why I am still proud of it. Around the world we are respected for the quality of our science and services, and other national meteorological services visit us to see how we work.

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Storm of criticism obscures our good record

January 15, 2010

Save £40,000. Kill off thugs. Capital idea

They say you get more right-wing as you get older. I haven’t noticed this general trend in myself, but I do occasionally like to holiday on the right wing — to spend some time exploring right-wing thoughts — just for a change of scenery. My generally liberal ego takes a breather in the passenger seat and my right-wing id gets to take the wheel.

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Save £40,000. Kill off thugs. Capital idea

January 15, 2010

Hands off the Crunchie, Lord Mandelson

One day, the wonders of technology will bring byline holograms to replace boring old photos, so you can watch your columnists at work while you guzzle your cornflakes.

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Hands off the Crunchie, Lord Mandelson

January 14, 2010

Haiti Earthquake Relief: Ways to Donate

Associated Press We can all take time out of our busy juggles to remember people in far more need than we are–and indeed, many readers have commented about making donations for Haitian earthquake relief. The WSJ Dispatch blog has a helpful list of relief agencies accepting donations here . Here are some relief groups: * InterAction has a list of agencies responding and how to donate to them

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Haiti Earthquake Relief: Ways to Donate

January 14, 2010

Retirement, College, a Down Payment: What Are Your Savings Priorities?

Associated Press My husband and I are considering moving into a bigger house or adding on to our own, to make more space for our growing family. (Our current “starter home,” as I’ve written before , is very, um, cozy .) Fortunately, we have always been diligent savers, living within our means and shunting extra money into our tax-deferred 401(k)s, IRAs, 529 plans and taxable investment and cash accounts, which have grown to significant sums

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Retirement, College, a Down Payment: What Are Your Savings Priorities?

January 14, 2010

When a Busy Juggle Means a Messy House

Associated Press It can be embarrassing when guests encounter a messy house. A New York father recently wrote my “Work & Family Mailbox” column about a common dilemma among jugglers: Having unexpected visitors on a day when your house is a mess. This financial-services specialist and his wife had plenty of excuses for having a messy house.

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When a Busy Juggle Means a Messy House

January 14, 2010

Google was right to do a deal with Beijing

A Chinese TV programme designed to wean addicts from the internet once called it “the electronic opium of the people”. nicely marrying Marx on religion with memories of the Opium Wars.

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Google was right to do a deal with Beijing

January 14, 2010

Invicta: what a terrible choice of poem

Forgive the wry smile as I read that the Prime Minister finds strength in the poem Invictus (“Unconquered”) written in 1875 by William Ernest Henley. Nelson Mandela (Gordon Brown says) sought inspiration in this too.

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Invicta: what a terrible choice of poem

January 14, 2010

Bankers are just bonus-snaffling Marxists

Stephen Hester, Sir Fred Goodwin’s successor as chief executive of the now-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland, sheepishly admitted this week that even his mother and father saw his £10 million bonus package as too high.

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Bankers are just bonus-snaffling Marxists