14th November:

Once more the work/blog conflict raises its ugly head, with work yet again emerging triumphant. It's a 'paying the rent' thing, the more sensible half of the household informs me...

Iraq seems today to have gone off to a place far beyond Fuckdom. Still, we should be glad that these people now live in a democracy where they can exercise their right to dress up like policemen and kidnap 100 innocent civillians if they choose to do so. They wouldn't have got away with such japery in Saddam's day. Oh no. Progress indeed.

I'm no fan of the Conservative Party but I did worryingly find myself noddding along when I heard Anne Widdecombe on Radio 4 eruditely pointing out that Democrat's election-winning (and ultimately Rumsfeld-busting) talk of a "change of approach" in Iraq was all well and good but nobody seemed capable of articulating exactly what the new approach would be. I had to go and have a lie down. I'll be buying the Daily Mail next.

Rumsfeld quoted Churchill in his emotionally-charged resignation speech. "I have benefited greatly from criticism and at no time have I suffered from a lack thereof." There might be a reason for that, Don. When the administration needed a scapegoat, who was the guy with one gaffe too many under his belt? At the end of the day, over 40% of your country voted and voted your arse out the door. They can't all be wrong. Still, never mind - just think of all those Non-Executive Director boardroom positions that you can cuddle up to at night. Forgive us if we don't shed a tear.

The UK mains eletricity system runs on 240 volts. Just because the US system runs on 110 volts doesn't mean that the electorates' brains do too.