Some kids at work were talking about the American Election. That’s a remarkable thing itself, kids don’t usually show any interest in politics. Anyway, this particular one was pleased ot tell her friends that Obama is the first "Jamaican" US president. I queried this surrealism: "but he’s not Jamaican, he’s American"
& "he’s America’s first Black President?"
A: " you can’t say ‘black’- that’s racist"
"how can it be racist to use the word ‘black’?"
…this point she became incoherent, she’d run out of explanation.

Favourite news story: BBC Size FF? You could get a rabbit in there!
Priceless!
The Whalesong is familiar; it must have been sampled innumerable times over the years since it was recorded (1970), Kate Bush, Pink Floyd and all the others.

Mayoral Elections are open to the dead inRomania ( isn’t that part of Transylvannia?). Laurie Anderson had a premonition to this in the late 1980s in one of her records. See here BBC
Crime: Govt. clutching at straws, look…
What about this:

Great, you’ve had your house burgled and then the local police give you a leaflet.

I took to this idea quickly this morning. I love the idea of dressing up criminals, but flourescent jackets are a dull idea. It’s just not fair on builders and road maintainence blokes, they’d find themselves dressed like criminals. Why not dress up the criminals in something they’d really dislike- they are criminals after all. What about a tweed jacket and a Fedora hat, thay’d really hate that. We’d have criminals who normally wear a white tracksuit and gold chain before getting caught would then wear tweed once they’d been found guilty!

I’m full of good ideas me.

Best news of Christmas: The Japanese aren’t going to hunt Humpback Whales after all:. BBC.
they only intend the moratorium for a few years, so perhaps I will make that contribution to Greenpeace anyway.

"A British teacher has been found guilty in Sudan of insulting religion after she allowed her primary school class to name a teddy bear Muhammad." –BBC
It strikes me that that government could do with a law that prohibits any act of making Islam look ridiculous. That would have stopped this story. You just can’t defend a religion by acting like spoof characters from a Monty Python film- you just end up looking more foolish than ever.

Here is a funny page

Most commentators are saying that is was an "innocent mistake", No it wasn’t! It is not a mistake to say something that doesn’t matter, it’s trivial and frviolous, this teacher hasn’t done anything wrong! The mistake was made elsewhere, the mistake of taking offense at something that is inoffensive.

A 16-year-old girl was not discriminated against when she was banned from wearing a "purity ring" in school, the High Court has ruled.
Lydia Playfoot was told by Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, to remove her ring – which symbolises chastity – or face expulsion.

 

She said the ruling would "mean that slowly, over time, people such as school governors, employers, political organisations and others will be allowed to stop Christians from publicly expressing and practising their faith".

 

Playfoot) was under no obligation, by reason of her belief, to "Whatever the ring is intended to symbolise, it is a piece of jewellery," he said. "…she voluntarily accepted the uniform policy of the school and there are other means open to her to practise her belief without undue hardship or inconvenience."    

 

Miss Playfoot was one of a group of 11 girls at her school who joined a movement called the Silver Ring Thing. 
 
The judge ordered Miss Playfoot’s father to pay £12,000 towards the school’s legal costs.
See bbc