Does size matter?

Mississippi 125,433 km²

England 130,395 km²

Florida 170,305 km²

Uruguay 176,215 km²

Minnesota 225,171 km²

U.K. (including Northern Ireland) 244,820 km²

Michigan 250,493 km²

Drink more tea!

TEA CONSUMPTION MUST BE BOOSTED TO MATCH SUPPLY, UN SAYS: Boosting demand for tea is crucial to ensure price stability and returns to developing country producers, according to new report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization

And on my birthday too!

St Georger, by a Scotsman

"By George!" by Elvis Mcgonagall

Once more unto the breach, dear Morris Dancers
once more
Jingle your bells, thwack sticks, raise flagons
Cry “God for Harry and Saint George!”
Gallant knight and slayer of dragons
Patron saint of merry England –
And Georgia, and Catalonia, and Portugal, Beirut, Moscow
Istanbul, Germany, Greece
Archers, farmers, boy scouts, butchers and sufferers of
syphilis
Multicultural icon with sword and codpiece
On, on you bullet-headed saxon sons
Fly flags from white van and cab
But remember stout yeomen, your champion was Turkish
So – get drunk and have a kebab

Need a new pillow?

Seems baseball can help:

Famous victory

Arsenal got a famous victory tonight against AC Milan in the San Siro. 2-0!! Beyond my wildest dreams. This feels better than Real Madrid or Juventus. Both those previous matches were fantastic but it seemed the team never quite gained full confidence in their abilities. This was tense too but two goals should restore morale. There's no reason they shouldn't win both the league and the European cup, and after today's showing, they just might start to believe it.

An old classic

That I'd like not to forget

Too long

Oh well, been away on an extended break again. Travelled down to Chile for Xmas with Macarena's family, and was (fortunately) totally distracted. Now back in New York, briefly, and we're preparing to head off to Madrid on Wednesday for a wedding of one of m best mates from Uruguay, Juan Diego. Spain, beware!

In the meantime, I've seen this in lots of emails but thought it's worth highlighting the original source:

FRIENDS of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel last night blamed his $7 billion losses on unbearable levels of stress brought on by a punishing 30 hour week.

Kerviel hid his November losses in a batch of wonderfully fresh croissantKerviel was known to start work as early as nine in the morning and still be at his desk at five or even five-thirty, often with just an hour and a half for lunch.

One colleague said: "He was, how you say, une workaholique. I have a family and a mistress so I would leave the office at around 2pm at the latest, if I wasn't on strike.

Hasta!

Angels

One Christmas a long time ago Santa Claus had problems. Four of his elves were sick so Santa got behind schedule. Then Mrs Claus told Santa that her Mum was coming to visit; this stressed Santa even more. He went to see his reindeer and found that three of them were about to give birth. More stress. Then when he began to load the sleigh he dropped the toy bag and scattered the toys.

Santa went into the house for a shot of whisky but the elves had drunk him dry.

Just then the doorbell rang and Santa cussed on his way to the door. There was a little angel with a big Christmas tree. "Merry Christmas Santa”, said the angel, “Isn't it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?”

Thus began the tradition of the angel on top of the Christmas tree.

From popbitch

Cash in Argentina

From the Wall Street Journal's Mary O'Grady:

The U.S. Justice Department alleged on Wednesday that Mrs. Kirchner's recent election campaign was the destination for $800,000 in cash shipped south in a suitcase from Mr. Chávez in August. If true, it would confirm what many Argentines have long suspected: that Argentina, under former President Nestor Kirchner and now his wife, has been leased out to the Venezuelan strongman in much the same way that Bolivia and Nicaragua have come under Mr. Chavez's influence.

This is grim not only for Argentine democracy. If members of the Organization of American States are indeed on Mr. Chávez's payroll, it would explain why the Washington-based multilateral organization, charged with defending democracy, has been so timid with the anti-democratic Venezuelan president.

It also raises questions about whether Mrs. Kirchner was acting in good faith last week when she met with Mr. Chávez's sworn enemy in South America, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, to discuss the plight of French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt and 44 others held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

And later:

Mrs. Kirchner may have domestic political reasons for avoiding the subject of the Geneva Convention. Her government -- and her husband's before her -- relies on allies, advisers and cabinet members who are former members of Argentine terror groups that made a living from kidnapping in the 1970s. If the FARC is guilty of violating the convention, so too are many kirchneristas.