pootling

I know the western media broadly seems to have moved on to blathering on about Michael Jackson, but this is still really interesting.

Good article from Stephen Brook on TMZ which, until it broke Jackson's death, I can't say I'd ever heard of.

Some fascinating insights here. The attitude towards the US and its relation to fear of Iran seems entirely believable.

Andrew Keen admits his predictions about Google were wrong, then proceeds to make a whole load of new unfounded predictions. It's the comments where the utter idiocy is to be found though. 'Twas ever thus.

Voting in Boris Johnson hasn't transpired to be the bundle of laughs it was billed as. OK, Ken has a vested interest in this, but he's still right.

Tell me about it.

Well, it's more endearing than his child abuse, true. Although the author clearly doesn't watch Bo Selecta…

Am I getting old that I think an article about government waste in the Telegraph is actually pretty accurate?

Hilarity and (probably justifiable) snobbishness ensue.

Yet another excellent post from The Heresiarch, this time about the election of John Bercow as speaker.

And I don't have any of them. Not on CD, not in MP3, nothing. This isn't a policy of mine, it's just that none really appeal.

Adam Curtis's documentaries are one of the many gems in the BBC's news output, and so him having his own blog can only be fantastic news.

When you see how much the music industry, both labels and tickets, have been screwing over artists for years, it puts filesharing in perspective.

Fascinating article.

Great article from Adam Wishart about NICE and the cost of cancer drugs. It's rare to hear a balanced, measured view.

I thought NRE's handling of the affair was atrocious and I hope they get dragged over the coals for it.

Billy on the political correctness (gone mad, of course) of changes to the Milky Way advert. A sad day for all concerned.

"Stop it, Mr Griffin. Just stop it."

This is some article. Schama has a great talent at emphasising the historic and minimising the pompous.

Someone had to say it. Of all the taxes, licenses, and bills I have to pay, the license fee is the only one I pay with pleasure. I mean that.

Amen to that.

"My concern is that if you do not upload the images again I might have to contact my lawyer…"

I find the way that Apple seem entirely off the hook in the recent squabbles to be really strange. Seems I'm not alone.

He comes across as a caricature of himself, which is rather charming. Conservative (with a small 'c'), modest and a thoroughly decent chap.

Giles Fraser's comparison of The Magnificent Seven and politics is inspired.

And so are entitled to overtime, holidays and damages for unfair dismissal.

Another excellent article from Simon Jenkins outlining a sensible need for reform and pointing out that neither Labour nor the Tories seem particularly set on the right course.

All seems pretty fair. I've broken pretty much all of them at one time or another, of course, but then what are commandments for if not to make things feel naughty?

There's been quite a spate of measured responses to the expenses malarky recently. About time. This from Marcel Berlins is one of the best.