Alex Massie

Alex Massie

Thursday

Alex Massie

Bad Korma*…

There's plenty of scaremongering about immigration these days but, even allowing for a proper degree of skepticism, this constitutes a clear and present danger to our way of life: The curry industry will die if action is not taken to address tough new immigration laws, restaurant bosses have warned the Scottish Parliament. They claim food quality will deteriorate and up to half of the Indian restaurants currently in business could shut. The comments came as 100 restaurateurs staged a protest at Holyrood over the changes to immigration rules. They claim a shortage of kitchen staff has been created as a result. Restaurant owners said legislation which came in at the end of February makes it harder for them to bring in staff from outside the European Union.

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Email of the Day

In a whimsical Facebook moment I suggested that life would be more bearable if everything were as fine and reliable as a good pork pie. Too true, you may feel like saying and I wouldn't blame you. Need it really be said that the ready availability of quality pork pies is one of the great benefits of returning to the United Kingdom? A friend emails: "Your status update puts it beautifully. There is something about pork and pastry alright. I'm a sausage roll man myself, but there are so many poor versions out there it's always a gamble. The upside of pork pies is that anyone who bothers to make them these days tends to know what they're doing. Ah, the joys of anachronous snacks." Joy indeed, as this picture demonstrates.

Alex Massie

Budget 2008

Higher borrowing, higher taxes, higher inflation and lower growth. Sounds like an encouraging forecast for the future doesn't it? Still, good to know that Alastair Darling promises record tractor production: "By 2011, every school will be an improving school." I liked Mr Eugenides' line too: Time for a cup of coffee, a nap, then another cup of coffee. After all, I can't afford a drink any more. 55p on a bottle of this stuff? That's cultural vandalism. Fraser has more, here.

Alex Massie

Coke now cheaper than cider? Only in Brown’s Britain…

Fraser Nelson again (emphasis added): The biggest story in today’s Budget – ie, what will hit the public immediately – is the booze hikes. From 6pm tonight, they take effect. An extra 4p on a pint of beer, 3p on a glass of wine (touchingly, the Red Book says 175ml is typical – has anyone from the Treasury ordered a glass recently?), and 55p on a 70cl bottle of spirits. These increases will rise at 2% in future years on top on inflation (itself expected to be 2%). So, congratulations Gordon: a line of cocaine (on Dec07 street prices) is now cheaper than half a pint of cider. What a wonderful country we live in. Of course, the other way of looking at this is to wonder at the efficiencies of the free market.

Alex Massie

Howzat for Culture?

I've mentioned CLR James' Beyond A Boundary before now, but searching a moment ago for something else I came across this 1984 review in the The New York Times. The author asks: It is... hard to tell how much of what Mr. James says is playful hyperbole and how much is passionate advocacy. Can he be entirely serious when he writes, ''I believe and hope to prove that cricket and football were the greatest cultural influences in 19th-century Britain, leaving far behind Tennyson's poems, Beardsley's drawings and concerts of the Philharmonic Society''? Well, would anyone take the other side of this argument? That is to say, who would claim seriously that Tennyson, Beardsley and the dear old Philharmonic were greater cultural influences than cricket and football?

Alex Massie

Department of Credibility

I'll have more to say about this video discussion at National Review in due course. The summary, mind you, gives you a decent flavour of the thesis: The Decline and Fall of Europe: Chapter 3 of 5 Prof. Thornton discusses how a bureaucratic European Union “super state” is undermining the old nation-states of England, France, and Germany — a dangerous process. Uber-nationalism, of course, gave us the fascist European movements of the 20th century. Under the “enlightened” guidance of the EU, however, any nationalism is looked upon as reprehensible. Thornton counters that deep-rooted nationalism is a net good, and that its deterioration will coincide with the loss of representative democracy.

Alex Massie

Too Late It Should Be, Too Late

I'm indebted to an old college buddy for alerting me to this description of David Irving's recent appearance on Irish TV's venerable The Late, Late Show. As the programme's website put it (emphasis added): In 2006 David Irving was jailed for denying the holocaust ever happened. Despite being branded an anti-semitic, active holocaust denier in a court of law Irving continues to offer his own unique perspective on history, particularly the history of the Second World War. Well, yes, particularly the Second World War indeed. I can understand why undergraduate debating societies would - mistakenly in my view - chase public attention by inviting Irving to appear, but why should RTE?

Tuesday

Alex Massie

A Conspiracy Against the People?

Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake on the worst bills passing through Congress Economic Stimulus Package: “Any time Republicans and Democrats can so easily agree on legislation as expensive as this, it’s not a good sign." Quite. Also, a reminder of hos the sausage is made. To wit, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill: Congress rolled 11 appropriations bills into one massive package and passed it in late December. House members had less than 24 hours to read the legislation before we voted on it. We’re still finding out what’s actually in the bill. But we do know it contained nearly 12,000 earmarks. That was reason enough to vote ‘no.

Alex Massie

Is Wrath Gordon the Greatest Name Ever?

Tyler Cowen's father wanted to name him Tyrone; my father was keen on calling me Trajan (at the time my parents were living around the corner from Trajan's Forum in Rome...) But do kids with unusual names really suffer as much as their mothers might imagine? It seems not. “Researchers have studied men with cross-gender names like Leslie,” Dr. Evans explained. “They haven’t found anything negative — no psychological or social problems — or any correlations with either masculinity or effeminacy. But they have found one major positive factor: a better sense of self-control. It’s not that you fight more, but that you learn how to let stuff roll off your back.

Alex Massie

How to fix Formula One?

It's years since I was last much of a petrol-head, but I see that at least Patrick Head is thinking of ways to reinvigorate Formula One and win back lapsed fans: A radical idea to improve the spectacle of Formula One and make overtaking easier has been proposed by Williams team co-owner Patrick Head. The veteran says races can be boring and wants the fastest cars to start at the back and the slowest at the front. "I would like to see the grids in reverse order of championship position," Head told BBC Sport. "It's the same for everybody, and over a whole season the right guy would still win the championship." Head, who has been involved in F1 for more than 30 years and is one of the most respected engineers in the sport, feels his idea will "very much upset the purists".

Alex Massie

Remember the definition of a Washington “Gaffe”?

Mike Kinsley famously defined a "gaffe" in Washington as an accidental, inadvertent moment of truth-telling. Well by that standard Geraldine Ferraro, Mondale's 1984 Vice-Presidential pick who is supporting Hillary Clinton, has committed a gaffe. She seems to have caused a minor-rumpus with these comments: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position... And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." Dana Goldstein despairs, while Toby Harnden is merely incredulous: What?

Alex Massie

Hillary’s Walter Mitty Fantasy

November I suggested that Hillary Clinton's own autobiography provides no evidence to support her on-the-trail assertions that she was a foreign policy player during her husband's administration: The book is not a policy manifesto of course. But even making that allowance it is striking how much of Hillary's memoir is taken up with fluff - "I had given a lot of thought to how Chelsea and I should dress on the trip. We wanted to be comfortable, and under the sun's heat, I was glad for the hats and cotton clothes I had packed" - and how little is concerned with affairs of state... Perhaps it's unfair to judge Hillary by the evidence published in a book she didn't write.

Alex Massie

Sunny Side of the Street

Megan finally gets to see The Pogues live and, happily, it's worth the wait: Did I mention that for the actual last song, at the end of the second encore, Spider Stacy did his signature "bashing a beer tray against my head" percussion act?  I mean, it really doesn't get much better than that.

Sunday

Alex Massie

The B Team

After the great success of the first installment of our alphabetical cricket teams, it's only natural that we move on to, yes, The B Team. As always, have your say in the comments. THE B TEAM 1. Geoffrey Boycott (ENG)2. Sid Barnes (AUS)3. Donald Bradman (AUS)4.  Ken Barrington (ENG)5. Allan Border (AUS)6. Ian Botham (ENG)7. Richie Benaud (AUS) (Capt)8.  Mark Boucher (SA) (Wkt)9. Alec Bedser (ENG)10. SF Barnes (ENG)11. Colin Blythe (ENG) Selection notes: Tough to decide who should bat number 3 in this largely Anglo-Australian side, obviously. Any team with Bradman is going to be competitive. Apart from the Don, it's not the most exciting batting line-up but that gives him freedom to motor along at whatever pace he chooses.

Friday

Alex Massie

Hillary is “a monster”? What, like Freddie Krueger?

Samantha Power is currently in the UK, promoting her new book. Somehow I don't think this is quite the sort of message the Obama campaign is likely to find especially helpful: Ms Power told The Scotsman Mrs Clinton was stopping at nothing to try to seize the lead from Mr Obama. "We f***** up in Ohio," she admitted. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win. "She is a monster, too – that is off the record* – she is stooping to anything," Ms Power said, hastily trying to withdraw her remark... "Interestingly, the people in her innermost circle seem to not mind her; I think they really love her." But she added: "There is this middle circle – they are really on the warpath.

Alex Massie

Maximum Wage? Not so much these days.

Which footballer offers his club the best value-for-money? Easy. It's Lionel Messi. Why? According to this Portuguese calculation he's not one of the 50 best-paid footballers in the world. Lucky Barcelona. Here's the top five (the first figure is their monthly salary in euros, the second their annual remuneration). You'll notice that two of these players are not like the other three. 1.     Ricardo Kaka                 AC Milan            750.000 €     9.000.000 €2.     Ronaldinho                    FC Barcelona     710.000 €     8.520.

Alex Massie

Eating their own

Good grief. Here's Kevin Drum: Hillary said today that presidential candidates need to pass a "commander-in-chief threshold." And who's done that? "I believe that I've done that," she said. "Certainly, Sen. McCain has done that and you'll have to ask Sen. Obama with respect to his candidacy." Bingo! Instant TV material for McCain this fall. Kevin asks: Now, there's no question that this stuff sucks. Hillary sucks more on this score since her team has been doing more of it than Obama's team, but they should both knock it off. That said, though, I have a question. It occurred to me today that primary opponents attack each other all the time, and yet I don't remember ever seeing a general election ad taking advantage of that.