December 2004

Der Standard, Vienna’s newspaper with a website that really could be better organised, reports that Yushchenko’s doctors have now confirmed that he was suffering from dioxin poisoning. The short article in German basically says that Drs. Michael Zimpfer and Nikolai Korpan informed the press today that they diagnosed a dioxin poisoning. Interestingly, though, the medical…

Does anyone now remember Ivan Rybkin, the Russian politician who vanished during the presidential campaign back in February and who claimed to have been drugged by the secret services? He turned up in London having been missing for several days, and announced in a bizarre press conference hosted by zillionaire exile Boris Berezovsky that he…

Meanwhile in Keighley, two women have climbed onto the roof of the Territorial Army drill hall to protest feared plans to disband one or more Yorkshire infantry regiments. Good luck girls, but I fear the aroma wafting over the road from the chippy and the bar of the Volunteers may take hold as the evening…

Atrios reports on a US school that is teaching its pupils that “slaves lived a life of plenty, of simple pleasures”. There’s more, if you can stomach it, but just a thought: if you’re worried about US domination, wait a generation. One day George W. Bush will seem intelligent.

Fistful of Euros is holding a Blog Awards competition. Categories are Best UK Blog, Best Political Blog, and the Satin Pyjamas Best European Blog. Don’t just stand there – nominate me, your first choice for unmarked jets, Black Sheep Bitter, war fever, sliding dollars and ranting. Or you’ll have me on your hands.

The new US Secretary of Homeland Security, former New York cop on duty at ground zero on the day, and Saudi royal bodyguard, Bernard Kerik, has been encountering a certain amount of blogosphere criticism since his appointment. Amongst other things, he’s been accused of partisanship (he was the chap who said during the election campaign…

Washington Post story It is reported that a lawsuit has begun involving a CIA man who was allegedly run out of the services because he didn’t agree with the official version. Key: ” Those investigations, the lawsuit asserts, were “initiated for the sole purpose of discrediting him and retaliating against him for questioning the integrity…

Unless I’m very much mistaken, The Markets now consider Italian short-term government debt less risky than US Treasury Bills. Maturity Coupon Price Yield Change Italy 09/06 2.75 100.7700 2.30 -0.01 04/09 3.00 100.5400 2.89 -0.02 02/15 4.25 103.9400 3.81 -0.03 08/34 5.00 108.8080 4.51 -0.01 US 11/06 2.88 99.8750 2.94 +0.02 11/09 3.50 99.5859 3.59…

Kevin Drum has this impressive piece of insight: “Boys these days are obsessed with videogames because boys throughout history have had a remarkable ability to obsess about things for uncounted hours: video games, computer programming, throwing balls around, practicing their swordfighting, whatever. The ability of young men to lose themselves to obsession is probably responsible…

It’s just been put to me that Vladimir Putin’s recent speech about Russia supporting the Iraqi elections is an indicator of important political events. Specifically, that the next president of Iraq will be – Viktor Yanukovich by a landslide! Thanks, Dad.