Quote of the day

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said that, as its advice had been disregarded, ministers should disband the advisory council of experts and replace it with an advisory council of "tabloid newspaper editors".

From this BBC News story

The new Boris?

As the count was going on for the London Mayoral election last night, Brian Blessed was the latest host of Have I got News for You. He seemed to have turned into his own spitting image puppet as he opened with "I'M BRIAN BLESSED".

He was, to put it mildly, dreadful. Every line and joke was a studied and stagey performance, giving Paul to remark that you could tell he was an actor. He also nearly managed to offend tory MP Alan Duncan with some politically incorrect jibes about gays.

He was so bad, it was as if he was after Boris' cult status as an incapable host.

Miracle cure- not so miraculous.

The other night we sat and watched the news. One story amongst all the doom and gloom made me sit up open mouthed. The story of the man who regrew half a finger.

I had fallen into the trap I get so irritated with others for. From the BBC report, I had got the impression that the man had lost 1-2cm from his finger and the whole thing, nail, bone, nerves and all, had grown back.

Unfortunately Ben Goldacre is on hand to bring the world back down to earth. The man actually just lost a smallish, but gruesome, flap of skin and flesh- no bone or nail. Looking closely at the "before" photograph, I can see that it has been taken from an angle that over emphasises the extent of the damage. Using the complex investigative technique of looking down at my own hands, I can see that it can't have been as much as half an inch lost.

Ah well. The chances of me decades in the future getting up off my deathbed, and transforming into a facsimile of a perfectly well 35 year old remain as remote as ever.