Condoms designed to meet international size specifications are too big for many Indian men as their penises fall short of what manufacturers had anticipated, an Indian study has found.

The Indian Council of Medical Research, a leading state-run center, said its initial findings from a two-year study showed 60 percent of men in the financial capital Mumbai had penises about 2.4 cm (one inch) shorter than those condoms catered for.

For a further 30 percent, the difference was at least 5 cm (two inches).

From Reuters.

So how does the James Bond of Bangladesh cut such a deadly swathe through blonde California?  Obviously not by stealing the delicious if brunette Lana Wood’s line from Diamonds Are Forever: “Hi, I’m Plenty ... Plenty O’Toole”.

But enough of that.  This is a serious blog.  So, erm ... would Phil Rushton agree that Nature’s dispensation of wedding tackle in downtown Mumbai runs counter to r-K?

There was a surreal moment on BBC 1 when Auntie’s early lunchtime News & Weather slot briefly reported today’s press conference by Super-Christians Norman Kember, James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden.

They were gathered in the sight of … who else but the world’s press to plead for the mercy of the court in Baghdad as their abductors prepare to face justice.  Beneath the picture of the three men on my TV a news-text ran horizontally, informing me that: “Iraq hostages forgive their victims”.

Now don’t mock.  This turns out to have been a most fortuitous and accurate mistake.

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CNN reports Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee strikes (or maybe I should say “strike breaks”) again:

Gov. Mike Huckabee said Wednesday the nation is being given a chance to make up for past racism by the way it handles the influx of Hispanics.

I wonder how many working blacks would like to kill him?

It never occurs to many of the so-called “leaders” that the phrase “American Union” might have a very different meaning to working blacks.

Historical revisionist forums have been carrying Günter Deckert’s reportage of the Germar Rudolf trial in Mannheim District Court, meaning at this stage the opening statement from Germar himself.  There was a further day of evidence today which, no doubt, will find its way around the internet very shortly.  But at present the Day Three, December 4th reportage is the most recent available.

Germar is impressive, an intellectual of substance and a man of obvious integrity.  That won’t save him.  The nature of his patriotism needs must call forth persecution from the State.

At least let us be aware of the qualities of the man and the manner in which he deploys his argument.  Here is Deckert’s Day Three court report.

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As Russia’s fortunes have risen on a tide of oil and gas, he [the Russian president] has become increasingly assertive, even abrasive, in his international dealings.  He recently told startled EU leaders their biggest task was not to lecture Russia on democracy, human rights and energy cooperation but to “safeguard Christianity in Europe”.

From an article by Simon Tisdall in the Guardian.

I like talking to young Marine reservists back from Iraq.  They need to talk to sympathetic people who are there to listen rather than rant about politics.  Its far more informative than the news services.  I shouldn’t provide too many details of my conversations.  I’ll simply convey this bit of ground truth:

Marine reservists are being put at very high degrees of risk by commanding officers who treat them as though they are special forces personnel.  In Fallujah there are posts where the death and casualty rates are very high and the reservists are suffering from abysmal morale.  Normally in situations like this the reservists would be relieved due to their lack of effectiveness and the danger their low morale creates to themselves and the mission.  However, the news of the low morale doesn’t make it up the chain of command—being stopped by officers that may themselves be special forces and not capable of commanding reservists.

Open Democracy has a straightforward but informative piece by Patrice de Beer on next year’s French presidential election.  The passage on Jean-Marie Le Pen told me two things I never knew before.

First:-

There is a snag - the same one that derailed his efforts in 1981. By law, each candidate needs the support of 500 elected representatives (from national or local assemblies, or mayors) to enter the contest; for the FN this is always difficult, as the party has few elected members (none in parliament), and Le Pen has always relied on courting rightwing village mayors.

Second:-

Jean-Marie Le Pen combatively proclaims a determination to win; and if he can’t reach the ballot, he threatens to unleash “his” voters against forces on the right he accuses of betrayal (thus the covert efforts from Sarko’s” camp to help him obtain the 500 signatures he needs).

Obviously, Sarko has his eyes on Le Pen’s 13 to 17% poll rating.  Right now, the Sarkozy-Royal contest is too close to call.  But get the old devil into the race and his supporters won’t vote for Royal.  Get the old devil out of the race at the first poll on April 22nd and they will have to vote for the Monsieur with the riot baton.

The interesting thing is that Le Pen is thinking along not dissimilar lines.  That 17%, polled in mid-November, is a record for him.  And there’s still ample time for a surge between now and April.  If the mainstream right is split going into that poll Le Pen could repeat his shock-wave performance of 2002, when he eliminated Jospin.  This time the victim would be Sarko, followed by a face-off against the left.

Le Pen, the unity candidate.  Well, maybe.

A last thought.  Which candidate would the denizens of les banlieues prefer to see in the Élysée?  Royal, no question.  But which of the others would they prefer her to contest the second ballot against?

And what methods do they have to hand to engineer that happy outcome?

A major story in Australia that has been little reported in England is the accusation by England’s South African-born batsman Kevin Pietersen of racism and corruption in the SA cricket authority.  The game’s international administrators have stuck together and are now threatening Pietersen with two investigations:-

KEVIN PIETERSEN may be investigated by the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit after alleging that the game in South Africa is corrupt.

England’s best batsman is also facing possible sanctions from the England and Wales Cricket Board for claiming South African cricket is racist.

The statements were part of a wide-ranging interview by the South African-born Pietersen which appeared in the South African edition of GQ magazine.

... His comments have created a storm of protest in South Africa, with a furious Cricket South Africa writing to the ECB and the ICC demanding action.

Pietersen may face the serious charge of bringing the game into disrepute, which covers inappropriate public comment. It carries penalties ranging from a ban of two to four Tests or four to eight one-day matches.

... Pietersen has been claiming for several years that he was forced out of the game in South Africa because of racist policies against white players. There is a quota system where each first-class team in South Africa is expected to contain at least four non-white players.

During the magazine interview he also professed his admiration for the late Hansie Cronje, who was banned for life after a match-fixing hearing, and claimed that Cronje was a scapegoat for other players who were not punished.

In separate letters, Cricket SA has demanded the ICC’s anti-corruption unit investigate Pietersen and the ECB discipline him for his continued charges of racism against the country’s cricket system.

... There are concerns Pietersen’s comments are being used by right wing elements in South Africa to subvert the reconciliation process in cricket.

Denying he is racist, Pietersen told GQ what he thought of the appointment of Ashwell Prince, a coloured player, to captain South Africa in the absence of an injured Smith: “I just thought it was further evidence that things were going downhill.

“It’s got nothing to do with the colour of his skin. It’s just that better players are being left out for political reasons and until that system changes, South African sport will continue to go downhill.

“I’ve got some mates who are now on the fringes of playing domestic cricket in South Africa who are better than three or four of those players in the South African side.

“I’ve got a very good mate who is actually a better player than me, who is now working for (SA Breweries), because he can’t get into the side for political reasons and that’s wrong.”

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