That paragon of British Journalism, the Sun, has an article with the classy title of “Talibum Alert!” about hunky British marines being chased by men wearing makeup and perfume in the mountain villages of Afghanistan.

Marine James Fletcher, 24, of Arbroath, Scotland, said: “They were more terrifying than the enemy. They go about hand in hand, mincing round the village.

“We were pretty shocked. The Afghan soldiers with us said a lot of men in this country have the same philosophy as Ancient Greeks: ‘A woman for babies, a man for pleasure’.”

Pal Gaz Pickles, 23, from Scarborough, North Yorks, said: “I think one problem is that they don’t have women around. They are hidden up in the hills.”

The commandos came under close scrutiny from the pink parade during a mission in South Eastern Afghanistan.

They were told by Afghan soldiers that some villagers had never seen a western man before — and thought the muscle-bound marines were very hunky.

My birthday’s coming up. Someone buy me the Captain Kirk chair!

Cool pictures of Aurora Australis (Southern Lights), courtesy of the BBC.

I saw this story courtesy of Sam:

A record number of same-sex couples are flooding into Canada through Buffalo because they can be legally recognized as families, immigration officials say.

I went to an opening tonight at K.S. Art of a cool show curated by David Humphrey. This piece — lost my slip of paper with the artist’s name — is a chocolate cake, to be eaten at the opening:

Adam Ant, aka Stuart Leslie Goddard, denies charges he broke a pub window and threatened a man with a gun.

The Daily News has a story about a (male) firefighter, Michael Gorumba, who died of heart failure while fighting a fire last August. Albany and the City are talking about passing a bill to allow his (female) domestic partner to receive survivor benefits. Kudos to Christine Quinn:

A bill pending in Albany would extend those benefits, worth $11,000 a year, to their mother. The bill required Council authorization.</p>

City Labor Relations Commissioner James Hanley, who testified in favor of the measure, was pressed on whether he and Mayor Bloomberg also supported benefits for surviving partners in gay relationships.

Hanley said only that Bloomberg would be willing to “take a look at it.”

“Do you or don’t you?” demanded Councilwoman Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan).

“It’s not a yes or no answer,” Hanley replied, contending there could be substantial costs.

The bill for Campbell was approved later by the full Council.</blockquote>

The Telegraph says:

Drinking a glass of white wine every day strengthens the lungs and may help prevent disease, according to a new study.</p>

Researchers have found that moderate white wine drinkers have healthier lungs than teetotallers or beer and spirit drinkers.</blockquote>
If you want to try this in Italy, say with a Greco di Tufo, here’s a guide to wine terms in Italian.

That was my problem — expecting all that highbrow stuff — a script, acting, etc.

I just took the Political Compass test:

Economic Left/Right: -5.88
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -7.54

About the same as Ghandi. Here is the Libertarian Left recommended reading list.