Jam Donut? Wait, don't tell me...It involves jam and a donut, I'm sure...

MediaPUTZ

"I was panicked a bit because I really don't know about … the Cuban Missile Crisis," said Perino, who at 35 was born about a decade after the 1962 U.S.-Soviet nuclear showdown. "It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I'm pretty sure." 

Dana Perino, Press Secretary to the President of the United States, on the time she was asked about the Cuban missile crisis at a press briefing.

In October, a White House correspondent asked Perino, "Do you want to address the remarks by President Putin, who said the United States setting up a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe was like the Soviet Union putting missiles in Cuba, setting up a Cuban missile crisis?"

"Well, I think that the historical comparison is not --- does not exactly work," Perino responded at the time.

So, as is the course of formulaic evasions at the Bush White House, Perino asserted that a comparison of which she had no knowledge didn't work.

Santayana, eat your heart out.

Very anal(ytical)

Political Betting - “Bloomberg Brown Review Index” cause Gord trouble?

U.K. Schools Secretary Ed Balls announced four reviews into government policy, taking the tally of government studies announced since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister to 31.

In a speech to Parliament, Balls set out plans for inquiries into sexual education, the junior school curriculum, child mental health and special-needs education. Before today, Brown and his ministers had already established at least 27 studies into different policy areas.

Reviews were a hallmark of Brown's decade as Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he ordered long-term research into issues ranging from health to climate change. Since becoming prime minister in June, he has increased the volume of the studies, averaging more than one a week, providing ammunition to opponents who are urging him to make decisions.

I suppose it could be argued that Brown's approach is no worse than Blair's habit of 'off the cuff' policy making. But Brown is a typical 'analytic'. When I was a salesman I steered clear of such prospective customers because they are almost always impossible to sell to. And even if they end up buying they take up so much of your time and effort that you are much better avoiding them altogether and concentrating on more promising candidates.

Analytics are the people who always have a notebook out when the salesman calls. They have a pile of brochures, every report on the product, copies of Which? magazine and they intend to check out 200 companies before making a decision. They want to know every technical detail. They think of themselves as experts who are not going to be conned into a decision by some flashy salesman. It wouldn't matter if all this analysis produced better results for the customer but it doesn't. Buying is an emotional decision, even for deeply anal people. It's just that these types justify their buying decision by reference to the extensive research they've carried out, convinced that they - unlike the mass of ignorant, uninformed punters out there - have made a completely rational choice.

Rosemary West Inquiry

Serial killer Rose West says guinea pig murdered

Serial killer Rosemary West, serving 10 life sentences for murder, is insisting a post-mortem be done on her beloved pet guinea pig after accusing fellow jail inmates of poisoning it. Mass murderer West, 53, also demanded prison chiefs launch a full-scale investigation to nail the killers of her beloved pet, Marley.

At least they didn't torture the guinea pig, rape it and then bury it in a concrete hole in one of the cells. If these inmates (ex pals of West's) did have access to poison it's a pity they didn't sprinkle some on Rose's food and have done with the evil woman. At least her hubby did us all a favour and hanged himself.

Cowardy custard

Press TV

The Lebanon attack, during which a ranking serviceman perished, has met with the Italian premier Romano Prodi's 'strong condemnation'. Outraged by the incident, that lead to the death of the Lebanese Brigadier General Francois El-Hajj, Prodi rebuked the atrocity as "cowardly".

What exactly is a cowardly attack? High altitude bombing? Gunships? Rockets fired into built-up areas? Cruise missiles? What would have constituted an uncowardly attack, an Al Qaeda fighter galloping down the street on horseback with a gun in each hand? Jeez!

Ike Turner dies

Rock legend Ike Turner dies at age 76

Ike Turner, musician and ex-husband of singer Tina Turner, has died at the age of 76, his manager says. Turner, who rose to fame in the 1950s and became a star performing with his ex-wife Tina Turner, died at age 76. "Ike Turner passed away this morning. He was at his home," in San Marcos, California, outside San Diego, said Scott Hanover of Thrill Entertainment. Mr Hanover did not have any further information about the cause of death.

Turner helped pioneer rock 'n' roll in 1951 when his band, The Rhythm Kings, recorded the song Rocket 88, a tune widely regarded as the first record in the nascent genre.

Taking stock

Stephen pollard - Stockhausen the fraud

Stockhausen...was, I would suggest, one of the great cultural frauds of the twentieth century. This judgement has nothing to do with the somewhat tedious tonal v atonal debate or adherence to the pentatonic scale - plenty of other composers whose music I don't properly appreciate, such as Boulez, for instance, do not write music in the traditional classical idiom but are clearly worthy of study and a hearing - but is based on the simple fact that Stockhausen had no discernible talent even on his own (spurious) terms; nor did he evince any rigour in the composition of his pieces.

You're havin' a larf mate! That effort took three bleedin' orchestras!

I do like some avant garde sounds and Stockhausen was influential in ways that can be seen in a lot of contemporary music but was he a great composer? No.

Left back, right back, sent back

Obsolete

Common sense seems to be an alien concept both to the asylum and immigration service in its current form and to the ministers concerned only with inexorably lowering the numbers claiming refuge.

What is going on in this country. Why are decent, settled, hardworking people being hauled on planes and sent back to god knows what fate? Because they are easy targets, that's why. There can be no other explanation. Given targets to meet it's inevitable that the immigration service is going for the 'soft' option, just so long as they can tick those bloody boxes.  But now that a Watford footballer has been targeted for deportation Septicisle wonders whether the tabloids might finally cover the issue of our asylum system more sympathetically.

Blogging in the free world

Guido: Which World Leader Has Open Blog Comments?

Iranian President Ahmadinejad has a public blog which allows comments from unregisterd users and a pretty relaxed moderation policy, (today we have a comment from Ken McFly, USA, which simply says -die slow...) which is more than can be said for our dear leaders:

Guido has been joining Downing Street Ministerial webchats on and off for months and posting polite pointed but critical questions to the likes of Ed Balls and other ministers. Not once has a single question got through, yet Guido can post critical comments on the Iranian president's blog freely.

Final Fantasy XL Grand

Norfolk Blogger: Pull the other one

A boy in Norfolk will not be allowed to keep £44,000 in cash he was sent in a Playstation 2 box he bought off ebay. The police ahve returned it to the Pakistani businessman concerned.

There was never any possibility of the boy keeping the dough. He didn't 'find' it and it was a simple matter to trace the owner. Just what the businessman was doing with £44k in cash (65,000 euros) lying around in a game box is a matter for speculation and, apparently, further investigations by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

More fool the kid's parents for taking the cash to the police. As soon as I heard the original story I thought - drugs!  And if not drugs some other dodgy dealings. I would have kept the cash but contacted the sender to complain that my Playstation hadn't arrived! I wouldn't want a carload of Asian 'businessmen' turning up at my house to demand their cash back. Yes, indeed, I would have got increasingly indignant. 'Where's my fucking Playstation!'. 'If you don't sort this out I'm going to the police' etc, etc. Fortunately, I'm a consumate liar. I'm not saying I'm proud of that fact but if the good lord has seen fit to bestow a talent it would be a sin not to make use of it, no?

If it had been the life savings of a little old lady we would soon have heard about it and I would have returned the money, of course, unless some philanthropic person turned up in the meantime to reimburse the poor old dear...mmm, dilemma.

Iraqi employees latest

Tim Worstall: Aren’t we lucky, lucky, people to be ruled over by such scum?

Just a few coppers more

LENIN'S TOMB: They call it "pay restraint".

So, there are grumblings about illegal strike action. Now, they're not everyone's cup of tea, but I think we can cut a deal with the coppers.

Put it like this: you don't bust up our illegal picket lines, and we won't bust up yours

'An experience beyond human'

Yep, sounds like Mike Huckabee alright.