Comments by Minihan

The metro-sexual treatment.

"Going anywhere on your holidays?"

This article is highly self-indulgent. Who knows why England doesn't sing about itself and frankly, who cares?

This is the first time that I've ever seen IKEA stores used as an economic indicator.

In-car air-conditioning changed everything.

Young male drivers pose the highest risk for insurers.

The latest bail-out for auto-manufacturers.

Don't try this at home.

I presume there'll be some in the kitty when my son is old enough to pay taxes. And you're not pardoned.

The Schmitz on tour.

Kim Dotcom is on the left.

An an Irish reader, I take objection to the looks of disdain when I walk into a cafe with my son in tow. After all, he is going to be ploughing money into their banking institutions until the day he dies...

Khodorkovsky is the ultimate PR machine. Putin should use him as a pawn to get the voters back on his side.

Anyone who thinks he's whiter than the snow on Russia's rooftops clearly doesn't grasp the significance of what it was to be a billionaire in Russia in the middle of the 1990s.

Is part of the reason for an agenda at the Economist against Silvio Berlusconi explained by Gianni Agnelli's minority shareholding in the Economist? Just wondering. You do seem to go over-the-top on otherwise deserving targets such as Silvio Berlusconi and Julian Assange.

As an avowed republican, I admire your stance on the monarchy but not its timing. Regardless of your outlook on the republic/monarchy debate, now is not the time to raise it. These are two young people who just want to get married. They shouldn't be begrudged the opportunity to do so without entering a political maelstrom. Let them have their day. They deserve that, surely.

I was under the impression that I was reading the Economist. It appears I've accidentally logged onto Hello! magazine...

Why this ongoing debate about the power of social networks to change the world? Ceaucescu wasn't overthrown by millions of Romanians "liking" the revolution.

Am I the only one who thinks that facebook is a glorified phonebook?

Eibbar Snrub: As an Irishman, can I ask you a favour not to insult my country with these jibes of yours. Many an Irishman lost his life struggling for independence. It's been a while since Scotland lost anyone for nationalism.

In all sincerity, you would do well to define what constitutes a country before launching these tirades. If it's oil, then the Artic Circle is a country. If it's an age old struggle against England, then Cornwall is a country. And if it's your own currency, then Disneyworld is a country.

St. Petersburg actually has 2 statues of Stalin and a mosaic. Both are well concealed (and little known), presumably to avoid being taken down.

Firstly, this is hardly an innovative solution. Look to the public sector in Ireland if you want an example of parents passing their jobs onto their next of kin. The top four government positions in Ireland are occupied by the offspring of former government members.
Secondly, it's not going to be effective either. The public sector in just about every country is liable to go stale and needs a cleaning of the decks every few years. Is passing the mantle from father to son really going to achieve the neccesary cleansing?

Any Woody Allen in there?