Hitler's skull

A bone fragment believed to be part of Adolf Hitler's skull has been revealed as being that of an unidentified woman...US scientists said DNA tests revealed it actually belonged to a woman aged between 20 and 40

Here. Of course there is an obvious other explanation [1] that Hitler (at death) was a woman aged between 20 and 40.

I realise at a stroke I have changed our view of history. I think also that given her known record in World War I she would have had to have been at the upper end of that age range, perhaps even 45. But otherwise it fits the facts.

Oh.


[1] No not Eva Braun, who by the way was Hitler's girlfriend, companion, common-law wife etc before coming his wife, not his mistress. I've mentioned that before.

Mate

David has just sent me another unwanted email, in which he refers to the Prime Minister twice as simply 'Gordon'. Isn't that a bit unusual? He also capitalises 'party', as in "if you want... a Party with guts", which I find a bit creepy.

Crossrail

Anyone any idea if Crossrail is 10%, 50%, 90% etc likely to get built? For reasons unknown K&C council have put in a late bid for a station quite near where I live. Apparently it took them that long to find somewhere in need of regeneration.

Mail readers, Chris Woodhead and Martin Bright

The comments to this Melanie Phillips piece in the Daily Mail are priceless Mail (warning not safe for work - Melanie Phillips & the Daily Mail in one link). Here is perhaps the most perfect, although the teacher who [blush] thinks he is a bit of hunk and talks of "idea's" runs a close second.

And WHO is to blame for all-of-this? ... Answer; The Noo-PC-Laboor-Party and the cancer of 'lefties' bred BY 'them' that's who! At the next election WIPE-OUT in its entirety, this cancerous plague once called 'The Labour Party', and THEN GO-AFTER every stinking 'leftie' in a McCarthyesque 'hunt'. Track them down, every last one of them. SACK THEM ALL and TAKE-ENGLAND-BACK for it's people, from this diseased-bunch.

- Tommy, Madrid, 23/9/2009 23:00

I recalled when reading Melanie's piece that her friend and, as she puts it, the only man in the education establishment whose views 'chimed with hers' - Chris Woodhead - had his own 'experiential and educative' relationship with a 'former' pupil (apparently Woodhead's recollection differs from other witnesses). I was trying to remember the details and - small world! - found this entertaining piece by Melanie's former Spectator colleague and now Jewish Chronicle colleague, Martin Bright.

Man U get more injury time if they're losing...or do they?

I salute the Guardian's effort here . But they really need to look at other teams and see if the same pattern holds. I can see why if Manchester United are losing at home and pressing hard there could be valid reasons for extra injury time - namely more injuries from fouls caused by desperate tackles from the opposition (also perhaps from offsides and time-wasting). If Manchester are winning then the other teams presumably will be attacking, but if they aren't as good (as is normally the case) then it will be perhaps with less effect (and so be easier to defend without fouls).

The only comparative data shows that other top teams get more injury time on average but it does not examine the time when winning/losing.

Becoming more normal

Things I have done for the first time this month:

* Watched an episode of Minder
* Had HP Sauce

Maradona

Apparently he owes the Italian tax authorities 37m from his eight years at Napoli. I don't know what the tax rate was then but I don't think it was more than 50%, which suggests he earned at least 74m euro in 8 years, or about 900,000 a year- 17k/week, say 13,000 pounds. I supppose that is about right for the very top of 1980s Italian football.

World's tallest man

Look he's almost as tall as Big Ben*!

* Yes, I know that's not its name.

Sealions and lottery predictions

Do you remember, perhaps even only five years ago, when the Daily Telegraph was a serious newspaper?

Where's Drake when you need him?

'Unprecedented' level of Portuguese-Man-of-War seen around Britain

Pointless human activity

When I was 18 I spent one Sunday afternoon being paid £7/hour (a lot in those days) to count the number of cars entering and exiting Waitrose's car park. Unfortunately Waitrose (back in those days) was closed on Sunday, and its car park locked up.

I thought it rather pointless. But compared with 'Editorial Intelligence's inaugural Comment Awards' it seems about as productive as D-Day. Yes, they really have:

Commentariat of the Year, sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover

I realise the sponsorhip probaly cost Jaguar Land Rover no more than £100. But still - weren't they asking for government help not so long ago?

House for Sale just off the 'hippest street in EUROPE'

Who wouldn't want to live just off the hippest street in Europe[1]?

If you do want to, then I'm offering my 2-bed flat for just £2m.

[1] Presumably the member of the Vogue staff who is trying to sell his/her house and hence has planted this absurd story.

Children outlive you

The Times has a story on MI5 surveillance of Sam Wanamaker and Michael Redgrave in which the opening paragraph tells us:

Britain’s security services planned to intern the father of the actress Zoë Wanamaker in the event of a national emergency because of his communist links.

Later we learn:

The Wanamaker brief also shows that Special Branch kept a file on Michael Redgrave, the actor father of Vanessa Redgrave,

I know the Times has been dumbing down for years now but surely its readers might be expected to have an idea who these people were without the immediate reference to celebrity offspring? Watch out for references to "The politician father of Cabinet Minister Hiliary Benn" or even "Reality show champion Carol Thatcher's mother".

War

World War II began for the British 70 years ago on Thursday. The Times' first words on its front page on 4th September 1939 were:

The CHARGE for ANNOUNCEMENT of BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, and DEATHS (authenticated by name and permanent address of the sender) is ONE GUINEA...

it then announced the birth to Ingrid Ashton, wife of Ben, a daughter. Who presumably was 70 yesterday. So happy birthday to her.

All the hotels advertising on p.2 seem aware of the situation - the Selsdon Park Hotel (later made famous by Ted Heath) notes that it has a gas proof air raid shelter under four floors of reinforced concrete. But also on that page we learn that the US leads in a Davis Cup tie.

A ha! Page three - we get "Britain's Fight to Save the World", in the parliamentary report.

But it's page four where things really get going - the Queen of Tonga assures us of her loyalty, the Poles say they never doubted Britain's commitment, and we get a reprint - from the London Gazette - of the declaration of war. The German reply is saved for p.7.

A bit with contemporary relevance tells us that all prisoners with less than 3 months to go of their sentence are to be released - except members of the IRA.