Moffat's first ever Who story; readers will recognise some similarities with the most recent TV story, "A Christmas Carol".

Running tally of the referendum count. I wonder if the pro-unity vote can close the gap? (Actually, no I don't.)

Tremendous news - David Fisher to write a new novelisation of The Stones of Blood for audio release, to be read by Susan Engel (Vivien Fay in the TSusan Engel, who played Vivien Fay in the story, and also features John Leeson who provides the voice of K9 story) and also featuring John Leeson (K9). The original Terrance Dicks novelisation is workma…

FRiveBooks is a brilliant site in general, and this is particularly delightful. "Any parting advice for young journalists?" "The best piece of advice I ever got was from John Bulloch, of The Independent, when I was grousing about some miserable act of sub-editing. ‘Never, ever read the paper, my boy,’ he said. ‘You’ll be much happier that way.’ So…

My friend Andrew pens a hilarious (but deadly serious) letter to President Karimov.

I had lunch with him back in April - quite a character.

"But I have a Masters Degree! I have been to Africa! I have a white arm band! Can I be an Aid Worker now?"

One possible stop-gap solution while I consider my options

A vicious take on Catherine Ashton by Bruno Waterfield of the Daily Telegraph; not exactly an neutral source, but in this case he is much closer than usual to the Brussels consensus!

This is a slightly peculiar exchange but one feels that both interlocutors are doing their best to be decent human beings.

Top 10 overused buzzwords in LinkedIn Profiles in the USA, 2010: "Extensive experience"; "Innovative"; "Motivated"; "Results-oriented"; "Dynamic"; "Proven track record"; "Team player"; "Fast-paced"; "Problem solver"; "Entrepreneurial".

"The Greeks of south Sudan are a tribe. We are not Dinka, we are not Acholi, but we are south Sudanese," George Ghines says proudly as he recalls that it was traders like his family who first founded the regional capital Juba. - I've been to his restaurant, the Notos; highly recommended.

If you really want to know the meaning of the Dutch phrase, "zo glad als een aal in een emmer snot", click on this link.

Dubious goings-on in Holyrood.

On diglossia in Tunisia.

"Since Dhalgren’s publishing history still elicits minimal interest, let me try to straighten some of it out. Fred, you came to see us in our three-room second-floor Paddington Street flat in London, twice, once when we weren’t in and our upstairs neighbor was baby-sitting for not-quite-year-old Iva; then you came back, a second time, when Marilyn…

Hamilton got more votes than any other UUP / UCUNF candidate at 2005 election - has now joined the Alliance Party!

The coming partitions must be performed with a combination of scalpel and ax, soft and hard power. Above all, the world must recognize that these partitions are inevitable. Our reflex is to fear changes on the map out of concern for violence or having to learn the names of new countries. But in an age when any group can acquire the tools of violen…

A long piece, with fascinating diversion into Bill Cash's revolutionary theory of the British constitution.

"What is a Glock, and what is it designed to be used for? It’s a rapid-fire weapon that can accommodate a 30-bullet clip, and it has only one real use. It’s of very little value for hunting or for Grandma to keep under her pillow to repel burglars. What it is good for is the killing of groups of human beings by a single shooter, and for nothing el…

Not sure if I agree with all of this: "Most western and northern European countries grew out of kingdoms or federations whose people gradually coalesced (more or less) as nations, gaining unity through common identity. Belgium, by contrast, emerged from a different regime of sovereignty, one in which territories passed among rival multinational dy…

"Every day, before leaving the office, save a few minutes to think about what just happened. Look at your calendar and compare what actually happened — the meetings you attended, the work you got done, the conversations you had, the people with whom you interacted, even the breaks you took — with your plan for what you wanted to have happen. Then …

Jobs going at my employers: 1) Media Advisor to be based in New York, 2) Intern to work with me in Brussels.

"Of course ordinary French and German taxpayers are going to be angry at lending their money to an insolvent state with lower tax rates than their own. Why wouldn’t they be? Of course ordinary Irish taxpayers are going to be angry at having to pay for high interest loans designed to bail out foreign banks. Why wouldn’t they be? And while ordinary …

"In a blog post which has gathered a certain notoriety, Paul Krugman recently sent the Estonians his condolences. I will send them, not my condolences, but my congratulations, and these not for the somewhat dubious honour of being allowed to join the Eurozone, or even for having carried out a highly successful “internal devaluation” (this outcome …

"Imagine that your task for the day is to localize a piece of software -- and luckily for you, the only output the program emits is two messages, like this: 'I scanned 12 directories.' 'Your query matched 10 files in 4 directories.' So how hard could that be?"

"So if you were inclined to illegally download anyone’s book, if you’re one of the people trying to find an illegal download of my brand new book that’s not even in stores yet: please buy it. Or check it out. Or ask for a review copy. "Or please read another book that’s instantly, and legally, available to you so that books continue to be instantl…

"I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'" "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."