Phlegmatic

“It is now a news story that a not British firm, which did not operate in Britain and does not, which is not resident in the UK, domiciled in the UK, has no permanent establishment in the UK, did not and does not pay tax in the UK.”

I must admit to being baffled as to why this is a news story. Nobody did anything wrong or even out of the ordinary.

One thing this non-story does show is just how little offshore tax dodging there actually is.

“My daughter's political career is already over.”

But isn't it absolutely f*cking hilarious to find out who the one politician is who has broken tax laws...

The African king who works as a car mechanic in Germany. “He governs his people over Skype.”

Jane Goodall is a good sport.

Ridiculous hipster restaurants.

What would you call a rich politician who wanted to ban trade with poor people, condemning them to poverty? Evil or just moronic? Or maybe both?

Another day, another anti-semitism scandal for the Labour Party.

Police constable shows judge "how grenade works" inside courtroom, three injured.

The best business schools now recruit people with both experience of industry and teaching ability. (…and so does my university, which is how I’m there. However, since the business school is only in its second year, it might be a while before we catch up with Harvard…)

Japan is more low-tech than you might think.

...and Sony has just finished making Betamax cassettes. (I bet there are still fanboys out there arguing that the picture quality is better than VHS.)

Not for the first time, I thought we'd reached Peak Guardian, but no!

The sad tale of the man who designed the Diamond Jubilee Barge.

Visiting every Toby Carvey in Britain with a blind photographer.

7 Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding (Actually, they’re more things you might like to avoid than really appalling sins, but hey.)

A really nice map of Expert D&D Module X1: The Isle of Dread

'Virtue signalling' is not virtue. Good point. (And I am aware of the irony of linking to this post using social media.)

The Cold War historian Robert Conquest has died. Second obituary.

The Tornado is still a useful combat aircraft.

The antirant - "What an amazing time to be alive!"

Global median income doubled between 2003 and 2013. Global income inequality declined over the same period.  Absolute poverty rates have fallen around 80%. Understanding why is very important.

I didn't get where I am today by not acknowledging the passing of one of Britain's greatest ever comic writers.

Did the early solar system have five gas giants?

Top Myths of Renaissance Martial Arts

Changing the Face of Doctor Who - an amazing collection of made-up-merchandise for the Doctors who never were. (Thanks to parrotknight.)

All 82 of Eric Cantona's goals for Manchester United. 13m10s for my favourite Cantona goal and celebration.

"Sepp Blatter deserves Nobel Prize" says Vladimir Putin.

The Complete Blake's 7 Costume Index

Total respect to the owner of this Porsche 918 Spyder.

Really nicely done Star Trek fanvid set to William Shatner singing* Pulp's 'Common People'. (* Maybe singing isn’t quite the right word. If you’re familiar with Mr Shatner’s musical career, you know what I mean.)

Milton Friedman was right, part 865.

Apparently it's now politically incorrect to describe an immigrant who came into the country illegally as an "illegal immigrant".

After more than 6,000 episodes of Countdown, this happens.

Air conditioning is "sexist".

If Malcolm Tucker did motivational posters.

I wonder which particular service this government whip from the Heath government was called upon to provide...

Not only did the Conservative Party give Britain its first female Prime Minister, it apparently (allegedly) also gave us our first homosexual and paedophile one too.

Nice little collection of AVRO Vulcan photographs.

Sajid Javid is probably a better politician than standup comedian, but nevertheless this is quite funny.

Wearing skirts is considered to be indecent in Morocco...

...and in Plymstock, Devon.

Strange tales from the bad old days of search engine optimisation.

How much did the coalition government manage to reduce the welfare bill by?

"The next time you see a mob gibbering and shrieking and demanding someone's dismissal, don't hunker down. Speak up. Someone has to, for Heaven's sake."

And this is the person behind the lynching. "A very flawed accuser."

Who can stop the wind turbines?

Uncle Bryn on Gareth Bale.

How to defend a questionable purchase (specifically the ultra-final-collector's-edition-director's-cut boxed set of Blade Runner.

South Yorkshire Police were warned twice about moslem sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham, but ignored it and treated the victims as prostitutes.

A selection of great works of art in which women are clearly trying to politely end conversations with men.

What the fuck? Dungeons & Dragons - Deities & Demigods

The key sentence in this story is I feel "That complaint was referred to the police who decided not to prosecute." And we assume, with good reason.

Is the inspiration for Pulp's 'Common People' really married to Greece's hapless finance minister?

Time to give Scotland full fiscal autonomy.

There are now more time lords in Scotland than Labour MPs. Abso-fucking-lutely hilarious.

An American view of the British hard left's reaction to the UK General Election result. (by jordan179)

Want to play in the NFL? How good is your memory? It’s very rare for people not directly involved in the game to ever get access to pro playbooks. This copy of the Oakland Raiders’ 1998 June mini-camp (a sort of short training camp before the main one) playbook was leaked / released recently. Yes, it’s a bit old (dating back to when the Raiders were good…), but it gives you some idea of the intellectual pressures placed on NFL players. 216 pages, thousands of formations and audibles and routes and options. Quarterbacks will have to learn every single permutation. Other positions will need to learn large parts.

Oxford rape and trafficking: Who were the abusers? Not long after political correctness was shown to have led to the gang rape of 1,400 young girls by muslim gangs in Rotherham, we have this. The names of the Oxford gang were Mohammed Karrar, Bassam Karrar, Akhtar Dogar, Anjum Dogar, Kamar Jamil, Assad Hussain and Zeeshan Ahmed. Yet, at no point in this BBC article, even though it is clearly relevant to the story, are these men referred to as ‘muslims’. When someone tells you that political correctness does not exist or that it isn’t anything to be ashamed of, show them this.

Question: How vain is Cristiano Ronaldo? Answer: Very, very vain.

"Fewer large companies are run by women than by men named John." Well, yes, but there's a good reason for that.

The racist and eugenicist history of the American minimum wage.

239 years of 'The Wealth of Nations'. Smith’s “greatest breakthrough was the realisation that we do not have to conquer people or make things in order to increase our wealth. We can also increase it by simply exchanging things.”

5 Economic Myths That Just Won't Die

Great image of the same supernova appearing four times because of the gravitational lens effect. (Thanks to louisedennis.)

The British charity that named the murdered Charlie Hebdo staff "Islamaphobes of the Year". Makes you proud to be British…not.

"NHS 111 to blame for rise in A&E attendances is a really dreadful explanation for something that did, in fact, not happen". (Thankyou Steer for a good piece of analysis.)

Ed Miliband thinks that an Italian who runs an American company and lives in Monaco should pay "his (British) taxes". This is a Labour policy I can get behind – get foreigners with no connection to the UK to pay all our taxes. Brilliant. I would totally vote for this policy. (When you think about it, it’s pretty much the policy that successive Greek governments have adopted for years…)

The German government uses Battlestar Galactica LARP (on an actual warship) to train diplomats.

Apparently women aren't rational. (This is the latest in a long line of what I like to call ‘pseudo-economics’ books that litter the shelves of high street bookshops. Just as you find history shelves full of books about secret societies and how the freemasons are looking after the Holy Grail until the aliens land, you will find books in the ‘Economics’ section written by the sort of people who think Adam Smith is a member of One Direction. Pfft.)

Hmm. We've been thinking we could do with a projector for the business...

Schoolboy suspended for saying he could make classmate 'disappear' with the One Ring. Actually, the funniest thing about this story is that there is a town in Texas called ‘Kermit’. *

The To Kill a Mockingbird sort-of-sequel. Should we be suspicious? Yes. No. Yes.

Rotherham Council, the council that allowed 1,400 children to be gang-raped and sexually abused by muslims, is to be taken over by central government until elections can be held.

Is Rotherham the tip of the iceberg? "How much does the Labour Party know about the stench of corruption, sexual malfeasance, public maladministration and greed, incompetence and pro-Asian bigotry emanating from Labour's heartlands?"

Or is the whole Rotherham problem simply a case of a "rotten borough"?

Top 10 'Things that Ed Balls Has Forgotten'.

"How Sci-Fi's Most Prestigious Awards Became A Political Battleground"

Bryan Henderson doesn't like the phrase "comprised of".

"Big accountancy firm accused of saving people money" I particularly love the phrase “in blatant accordance with the law”.

Adding up the wealth of the poor - the meme that refuses to die.

The World's Poorest Man.

The Information Commissioner's Office is the public body that enforces privacy and electronic communication regulations. Guess what they forgot to renew.

Random Guardian comment generator.

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Margaret Thatcher becoming leader of the Conservative Party. The Labour Party has never had a female leader, but it clearly knows how to attract female voters.

* Has anyone else read ‘A World of Ice and Fire’? Lovecraft references I can take, but Sesame Street…?

Europeans drawn from three ancient tribes.

How an independent Scotland could have been the richest nation on Earth. (Note that's "could", not "would".)

"...there is someone out there who thinks Doctor Who is fundamentally a show about two teachers hanging out in a junk yard, and that it all fell apart when they introduced that time travel guff."

Jens Voigt breaks the hour record.

Grammar NAZIs, grammar libertarians and grammar rapists.

"That Sinatra, he's met me, you know."

Some common sense feminism on the 'Are video games sexist?' question.

Who's buried in this tomb?

£8 minimum wage - good idea? What do you think?

This clever analysis of why the New Zealand Labour Party isn't as successful as it should be applies equally well to the British Labour Party.

Scottish role-playing games (sort of...)

The man who was killed by a flying model lawnmower at an NFL game. (True story.)

Three Things You Didn't Know About The Arachnids That Live On Your Face.

What is #GamerGate?

Much respect to this Italian doctor.

Inflating normal lungs versus inflating smoker's lungs.

What charities need to learn from #icebucketchallenge.

How those transfer deadline day last minute deals are done.

Apparently, almost half of Americans have never eaten lamb!

Charlie Powell, the greatest multi-sport athlete you've never heard of.

On internet bigotry and hereditary entrepreneurialism.

I'd never heard of Brooks Newmark until today, but bravo sir for having the balls to say this.