(karl)sin(field)design(er)

• Parking fail.
• Chinese military shovel.
  I'm sure Starck would disapprove on aesthetic grounds, but in terms of pure functionality, this has got to be a winner. Definitely going on my xmas list. P.S. Best video about a spade ever made.

With all the talk of Bigotgate going on today, it leads me to ask why high levels of immigration are such a political hot-potato. Surely, Brown’s response should have been that high immigration is the sign of a well-functioning society. That is to say, if Britain is supposedly so broken, why does everyone want to live and work here? So surely the spin for Labour would be to state that soaring levels of immigration is an indicator of the success of the government in running the country, and creating such a supportive and lucrative environment in which to live and work. Which is what we are all after, isn’t it?

I know there’s the old argument of taking jobs, but the simple answer to that lay in The Day The Immigrants Left, a BBC documentary which showed fairly conclusively that precisely the people who complain of “foreigners taking our jobs” are neither willing nor able to do them. And actually immigrant labour helps employers keep costs low, productivity high, and therefore keeps the company and its employees (of every nationality) in the country and contributing the treasury. Which also kicks the “impact on social security” argument into a cocked replica WWII German helmet.

Not that I’m an apologist for Mr Brown. While I despise the spin, presentational politics and media manipulation that are part and parcel of modern day parliamentary proceedings, I do accept the need for some savviness, ie. not shooting the shit into one’s wireless mic after the cameras have stopped rolling.  I’ll be looking out in the final debate for the beleagured Brown to reference the Leslie Nielson Naked Gun miked-up bathroom-break moment for his comic reference.

• Craig Murray - YouGov/Murdoch Distort Poll To Stop Lib Dem Momentum
  Oh FFS. I do wish Murdoch would stay out of politics. You would hope that a more disparate media would mean greater transparency, but it seems to just give more avenues for pushing lies and propaganda. How depressing.
• YouTube - LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls (HD)
  Crikey, as music videos go, that's fairly off the hook.

• Nick Clegg's rise could lock Murdoch and the media elite out of UK politics | David Yelland | Comment is free | The Guardian
  Get the press out of politics, and vice versa? That sounds like a win-win to me.

• My gay vote
  Just a little hint as to the sort of repressive, morally judgemental society we'd head back to under the Tories.

• Steve Thomas [Illustrations]
  These posters are great. Some of the typography isn't quite right, but otherwise beautiful work.
  (tags: art design poster)

• Arts Magazine | Manchester Art Exhibitions, Museums and Galleries
  This is quite well put together for mancunian lovers of art and culture and such.