Thanks for your comments, Ricochet!  I posted this then promptly forgot to check back until now.  Too many things to be outraged about I suppose... glad I'm not the only one though.

Loved the podcast.  Love the dynamic, you guys sound utterly charming, in the best way possible. I bet everybody wants to sit near you two at dinner parties.  Great idea, more please.

I have Keep Calm & Carry On paraphernalia (apron & kitchen glove) and I firmly believe that it reflects the once-ubiquitous indomitable spirit of the Briton, rather than the cowardly resigned attitude Rob interpreted.  But the design I chose to wear out on a t-shirt is "Freedom is in Peril, Defend it with all your Might".  I got a lot of raised eyebrows when I wore it shopping at Ikea...

My husband emailed me this piece with the subject "This one will anger you".  I made the mistake of reading it this morning while feeding one of my twins, youngest of my 5.  I am still shaking off the apoplectic rage that overcame me and had to take time out of my busy morning to sit down and type up a response at my laptop, because it's really hard to type on an iPhone while your hands are still shaking. Just posted it to my facebook page with a question about whether she is a classic example of a woman who is bitter and angry about how the life choices she has made have not resulted in the happy life she is "entitled" to, and now I realise that I shouldn't waste any energy being angry.  

This woman should be pitied.  How much of a wreck must her life be to write such poisonous vitriol against women who are just living their lives, making different choices and getting on with it?  How awful must it be to believe that you have got all the right ideas, and yet still be so unhappy, empty and just full of hate?

Just saw this last night.  His comments on air travel (towards the end of this video, sorry) should at least give you something else to think about while sitting in the waiting lounge or on the tarmac.  Then again, progress is only made when people are dissatisfied with the status quo.  This video might at least get you through the short term of sitting and waiting, in order to "sit in a chair and FLY".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk
(I can't work out how to do the linky thing, or perhaps I'm not allowed to?) 

...an eagle eye out for you know what.

Australia began sorting out its unfunded entitlements for public employees years ago and we were surprised that the behaviour of your public servants in Wisconsin didn't lead to a big swing against them in the polls.

We started the GFC with virtually NO Federal Government Debt.  Both of our political parties at the Federal and State level have to campaign on having balanced budgets and if they are in deficit (as our Federal one currently is) campaign on when they will be returning to a balanced budget.  The USA seems to be going off the cliff on this one and we've watched the current debate with interest after reading Niall Ferguson's book Colossus a few years ago.

USA definitely has a more entrepreneurial feel.  But reading VDH's articles on regulation in California, this may have been a perception.  

We have a single payer health system but alongside it a great private system which covers about 40% of our population while Canada prohibits private hospitals.  

My husband's family all surf (I don't).  However, they also like to hunt and view our gun control laws as overly restrictive.

As proud Australians of recent migrant status (I came at 7 years of age and my husband is a 1st generation Australian) who worked in London for a year and made three road trips in the USA over a five year period we think Australia falls somewhere between Europe/Canada and the USA in its politics and outlook.  It's more complex than one being socialist and the other free market.

AusMartin described the newspaper scene well.  The Australian is a great broadsheet but the 100% taxpayer funded ABC (radio and tv) exhibits a left-wing bias that reflects NPR/NYT.  

Compulsory voting leads to a more spin focussed governing as pollies try to cut through to the disinterested voter.

We have compulsory bike helmets and bans on mobile phone usage while driving.

Like California we ban smoking in lots of restaurants/bars etc... while in Europe you can puff away to your heart's content in a cafe in winter while your german shepherd growls menacingly at the kids eating at the table next to you.  Speaking of dogs, we heavily control where they can be exercised while in Europe a walk in Amsterdam, Paris or London involved keeping... 

Yes, thanks James.  Though I did think it was instructive that none of the other Ricochet regulars had anything to say when you mentioned the antipodean carbon tax shenanigans .  I mean really, why should anyone care - we emit 1.4% of the global carbon footprint, and our illustrious PM, who recently visited your shores and made John Boehner cry, wants to reduce our output by a whole 5%, at a very high cost to our economy, particularly our resource exports.  

We are constantly regaled with talk about how we need to lead globally on this issue, because getting out in front will mean we are "early adopters": set up for success, like Microsoft or something.  Yes, really.  Our "elites" desperately want to be noticed by the big boys.

I couldn't help myself, and being a Librarian by profession I had to try to find the answer because I had no idea what the significance of your title was.

So I Googled it.

I know, as a Librarian I am supposed to adhere to the notion that indexes, catalogues, taxonomies, boolean logic (and all of the above with the prefix "meta-") are more useful for the proper quest for information (or data) than Google, but I'm out of practice, so this is what Google told me:

Your title was originally the inspiration for the New Republic's annual "World's Most Boring Headline" competition, penned by Flora Lewis.

As a conservative, I know I mustn't trust anything I read on Wikipedia, so I'm embarrassed to have to admit that as my source. Not a promising start to a bibliography.

It's also the title of a blog, mainly about Canadian economics. Those were the first two on the Google results list. I went with the boring headline explanation, as it seemed to be more likely. In the humourous sense, of course.

Oh, and public health is so obviously flawed it amazes me anyone promotes it.