So, Het Grauniad is asking its long-suffering raeders what they believe the best television programme of the last decade to be. We can make a provisional determination after nine-and-two-thirds years.

(More: Why we've come up with the list we've come up with, then the list we've come up with.)

How many of our sixteen appear on Het Graun's list? Er, precisely none.

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It is right too often to ignore and wrong too often to rely on. Damian Loscher writes on the increasing difficulty opinion pollsters face in Ireland. (Irish Times)

The British government claims that it is committed to democracy. It proposes to penalise people who carry out democratic acts such as taking part in legitimate protest against the government of the day. That's democracy, if you're New Labour. (Morning Star)

The UK government approved compulsory purchase orders for a shopping centre in Birmingham, clearing the way for redevelopment of Neustraßebahnhof. The new-look station is expected to enter service in 2013, presuming there are no bricks on the line. (Bham Post)

Was it necessary to drop the A-bomb on Japan? Kate Hudson argues that Japan was prepared to surrender, but Eisenhower wanted to flex his muscle. (MStar)

Rupert Murdoch has confirmed that his Balderdash International companies will charge for their pisspoor web content. Quality journalism is not cheap said the tax-dodging skinflint whose verbiage bears as much relationship to quality journalism as ITV's Crossroads is related to Shakespeare. (ABC)

Teh interwebs was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack. The problem took out various Gawker blogs, Tw*tter, Fay'sbook, Livejournal, and other services. It was quickly traced to a botnet controlled by sources close to the Russian government, and the objective appeared to be the silence of a pro-Georgian blogger. The attack took place just before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Georgia.

The Fianna Fáilblog reports that two TDs have resigned from the party to sit as independents. Jimmy Devins and Eamon Scanlon both represent Sligo and North Leitrim, and have defected over their concerns about the provision of breast cancer treatment in Sligo in specific, the rest of Taisoeach Brian Cowan's policy on health in particular, but also his general policy thrust: there's no thrust, and precious little policy. (Irish Times)

Still in Ireland, the campaign for the Second Lisbon Referendum looks settled - as an opponent conceded, Even if it were proven beyond doubt that Europe was a conspiracy led by giant lizard men from Alpha Centauri, most Irish voters would still conclude that the aliens surely couldn't be any worse at running things than the people currently in power. (Sindy)

Research of the week came from the BBC, providing a detailed demolition of lies about islamic women in the Netherlands being a zillion times more fertile than anywhere else on the planet. (BBC; link may contain illegal commercials.) This was on More or Less, where there was also a demolition of the Ministry of Funk's inability to distinguish between people being arrested and people being convicted for a crime. The deputy director of the Institute of Statistics called this a crime against statistics, and that Jacqui Marginal should be strung up by her expenses claims.

Why conspiracy theories are fundamenalist religion for the modern times - they assume that there's a grand design behind the world, some sort of controlling deitypower. (Donald Clarke, Irish Times)

In sports news, this year's International Rules Football matches have been cancelled. The games were scheduled for late October in Ireland, where the Australians sought to avenge last year's narrow defeat. They have been provisionally scheduled for October 2010, with the next fixture in Australia remaining in 2011.

We regret to report the death of Andy Hughes of The Orb.

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• On Glickoblog: Further European news Results and draws in the European club competitions.
• On Ice Crystals this week: A clearer head; further on the philosophy of It Felt Like a Kiss, and why Fun Kids at Night is the best thing on national radio.
• Well, puzzle me!, on how one might interest people in puzzles without making it obvious.

A complex frontal system on Tuesday introduced southern parts of the UK into the warm sector, bringing weather warmer than had been experienced in a month. This frontal system proved slow-moving, remaining in place until pressure built on Friday. The week-end was unusually sunny and rather warm, particularly in the south-east. The outlook for next week is for the warm weather to continue, but with westerly winds becoming established by midweek. Another ridge of high pressure will bring settled conditions towards the end of the week, but a depression tracking to north Scotland may bring wet and windy weather on Saturday, so do wrap up.

03 Mo cloud              11/21
04 Tu showers, rain      16/20, 5.0
05 We driz, sunny spells 17/22, 6.0
06 Th sun to cloud       13/21, 1.0
07 Fr rain o/n, sun      14/22, 5.5
08 Sa sun                 8/21
09 Su sun                 9/23

Rainfall in August: 30.5mm; monthly average: 69mm

Degree cooling days: 81
2008: 104/114
2007: 59/91
2006: 302/360
2005: 155/238
2004: 143/198
2003: 228/328

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