Tim Blair

"Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ordered $US30 million ($41.14 million) to fund the fraud probe into the UN's handling of Iraqi oil sales, using money taken from the program itself, his office said today."

Guess he's trying to make sure there won't be any money left that the UN might otherwise have to give back to the Iraqi people.

Sounds like that young lady would prefer a NO SIT-AND-SPIN ZONE!! Am I right, people? Come on!

I noticed one Ramadan card has "Peace be with you" as part of the greeting. They forgot the "NOT FOR INFIDELS" tag, though.

The big deal about Beckham isn't that he did it. Everyone knows he did it. It's about him opening his mouth and saying it. You know, because Europeans are all about honesty and never, never condone open hypocrisy. Heck, Americans do it too, but no one is ever shocked, SHOCKED, when it happens.

Tim

That Natalie Solent story reminds me of a couple of incidents a few years back whilst I was in the UK.

1/
A rural widow had been the victim of burglars on approximately twenty occasions. On several occasions she had been at home whilst the burglary was in progress and called the police. The police response was slow and they usually turned up several hours after the thieves had come and gone.

The final straw came when they tried to break into the room in which she'd locked herself. In desperation, she called the police and told them that she'd shot dead a burglar. They turned up immediately. However, when they found out that she hadn’t shot anybody they arrested her for making a false statement.

2/
My girlfriend at the time was visited one night by her ex. The ex was particularly tired and emotional and proceeded to beat her up. When she left she called the police and was told that the issue was domestic and they weren't prepared to intervene.

Fair dinkum.

The e-card in the upper-right hand corner depicts Iran nuking the moon.

"The big deal about Beckham isn't that he did it. Everyone knows he did it. It's about him opening his mouth and saying it."

As one of the few Americans who know what this is about, this is exactly right. He was okay until he confessed to doing it at which point he's now committed some sort of sin.

The lesson is not to avoid doing it, just avoid telling the truth about it after,

As an American, I'm not shocked at David Beckham's behavior and his candor should be commended.

Basketball, an American invention, is one of the few teamsports where one openly cheats, e.g. deliberately fouling an opponent late in a game, in order to (hopefully) regain possession after a (missed) foul shot. It's tactical and praised as such.

What I resent more is buying an overpriced ticket then having to watch second stringers play as the healthy superstars are 'rested' for 'more important' games. That's a form of cheating the public.

At least Becks is off the team sheet for a reason, not sitting on the bench while soccer supporters are disappointed thinking he was going to play that evening.

>Basketball, an American invention, is one of the few teamsports where one openly cheats, e.g. deliberately fouling an opponent late in a game, in order to (hopefully) regain possession after a (missed) foul shot. It's tactical and praised as such.

And this is one reason why the last few minutes of a basketball game (which usually ends up taking about 25 minutes to actually complete) are one of the most boring spectacles that anybody could be forced to endure (and yes, I used to play basketball myself).

Reader Shaun was in that particular Road and Traffic Authority office a couple of weeks ago, and notes: "The new technology is Apple Mac!!"

That's old news...

That's a fine quote from the O'Reilly story, but not as good as the accusation that he told her he wanted to wand her genitals with a falafel.

I wasn't making up that last bit: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1013043mackris16.html