Who gets what?

China gets a lot and eats little

Britain gets a lot and eats a lot

Japan gets little and eats little

Australia get a bit and eats a bit

 

What are they getting and what are they eating and is there a relationship between getting it and eating it?

 

Need some help sorting this out? Take a look here then. Over 18s only, mind! http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7933596&story_id=10700695

(This link will probably be changed fairly quickly ... it’s 7^th March 2008 as I write this).

 

 

DW

Great idea ... teaching English in Thailand

I got a link via google telling me how I can get to tropical islands in Thailand and teach English.

 

I can go for 2 weeks, a month, three months

I will sleep in a chalet on the beach

I will receive Thai language and cultural training

And more

 

Sounds great, I’d love to go but want to know if I can afford it: what’s the salary? Erm, what do you mean salary? This is a life changing experience.  You will give and receive so much.

 

What about air fares, you will get me there and back won’t you? Hmm, you’re not understanding this are you ... this is a life changing experience for you AND your students. You will come back vastly enriched. You will be working on a tropical island.

 

So, I pay to get there, there is no salary and the longer I stay the more I pay for housing and food and so on?

 

Yes, that’s it. Well done! Listen, this is especially ideal for young people trying to find themselves. You know the sort, they wear tie die clothes, they have dreadlocks or plaited hair, they often don’t wash for a week ... oh and they carry huge back packs ... it helps if they’ve got more money than sense too. Mid life crisis people are also encouraged to apply.

 

I wouldn’t do it under those terms and conditions.

 

DW

Putin Bows Out ... yes he does

There's a swarm of people from the BBC talking absolute twaddle at the moment. They have been galvanised by the Presidential election in Russia. They are so excited that they sent their WORLD Affairs Editor to Moscow to reassure the British people. The story they are pounding out is to ask that Medvedev has won the poll but who will wield the power? These clowns think, or want you and me to think, that they are so clever with their political insights and acuity. They thnk that Medvedev is so inexperienced that he cannot possibly govern Russia and that Putin is so desperate that he needs to retain all encompassing power over the land that clearly needs him and only him. Now, I for one don't think they are right for a single second. If Putin does become Russian Prime Minister then fine. I fully expect Medvedev to be a fully effective President. One thing they do NOT go on to suggest is that there must be someone behind Barack Obama too. Why do I say that? Well, what are Obama's qualifications for the highest political office on the planet? Very few ... well, the same as George Bush, the current incumbent, for example ... get the point? Where did Putin learn to be President of Russia, by the way? Oh, it was in the Kremlin as he'd never held high office either. Whilst the BBS has other competent correspondents in Moscow and so on, they still allow John Simpson to blunder from Zimbabwe to China to Russia and all points East and West with his faux analyses and out pops some drivel. I find his reports comprise regurgitations of the briefing papers he managed to wade through on the plane to his latest assignment. End of rant for today. DW

Fran Swims a Length

When I was in Cambridge last week I went with my daughter Fran to watch her training in her local swimming pool. As you know, Fran is a Paralympian and is currently training for the Beijing Paralympics. Strictly speaking Fran is training to qualify for Beijing: she has qualifiers in April. Best wishes to Fran for that. We got to the pool at 7:30 am and it opened at 8 am. It takes Fran a bit of time to get ready and by the time she got to the pool it was already pretty busy. However, I was delighted to see that when she got poolside she chatted to the attendants for a few seconds and they opened up a private lane just for Fran. Apparently they do this every time now in recognition of Fran’s devotion to swimming. I could also say it's the least they can do but I will not as that would be churlish. It's a good because of course there aren't enough training facilities in the Cambridge area so people like Fran have to use public facilities. So opening up a private lane for one hour for one athlete every now and again works out to be very cheap: it's very cost efficient. I hadn't seen Fran swimming quite a while and was delighted at her progress. Given her general abilities I would say she swims very well now. Fingers crossed we will all be together in Beijing in September. Set your video and DVD recorders are now! I hope you apreciate the photograph of Fran pounding away at the water in Cambridge taken by yours truly... DW

What's in a strap line?

I love things like this:

 

Our name means a great deal

 

I keep meaning to make a record of all such strap lines but never quite get round to it.

 

Here’s one that is currently resting in the SPAM section of my gmail account: PERMANENT RESULTS that will last.

 

Well, at least you’ve now got an example of tautology.

 

DW