if you were a mouse

If you do not slavishly follow my links, then I suppose I could leave you to your squalid half-life. But once in a while I can't bear the thought of it. Go and read Forget What Did's analysis of the House of Lord's recent mouse debate. As John Finnemore points out, Lord Brabazon of Tara* is a funny man. He quotes him and suggests you should read the original Hansard, which is very short, and great. In it, among many other good things, Lord B says, 'If you were a mouse, you would rather eat the crumbs of a smoked salmon sandwich than the bait.' Not just funny but true, assuming I am a mouse.**

After the mice, incidentally, the Lords start chatting about the mineral wealth hanging around under the warring tribes and opium fields of Afghanistan. Up to a £1 trillion, apparently. The Chinese have bought a copper mine for £3b that might realise £88b even though the Chinese are not paying for the military assistance that makes their investment feasible. Says a Lord with an axe to grind, but it's interesting all the same.

Afghanistan has a lot of silver, rubies, emeralds and lapis lazuli. I find it hard to believe you can build an economy on lapis lazuli, but there's obviously a lot of stuff in Afghanistan.


* Image brought to mind is original version of the Gone With The Wind mansion somewhere in Dorset.
** My mother's favourite joke:
Q. Are you a man or a mouse?
A. I don't know, but I like cheese.