Animals & National Security: I

The government's emergency committee, which convenes at times of national crisis, is called COBRA. Not knowing what, if anything, this stood for, I assumed it was the usual kind of Tom Clancy nonsense people are prone to succumb to when the balloon goes up (“Strike force now at Threat Level Delta”, etc).

Brilliantly, however, the name has an infinitely more mundane origin: the committee always meets in “Cabinet Office Briefing Room A”.

Animals & National Security: II

The official symbol of Russian Army Intelligence:

Healing power of music fails to save world*

Serbia-Montenegro in pop song row



Tensions between Serbia and Montenegro have spilled over into the Eurovision song contest, which has a history of intense national rivalry.

An argument is raging over which band should represent the federation of Serbia and Montenegro in the contest. A Montenegrin boy band called No Name won a televised competition in Belgrade to choose the best song - but they were booed by the audience, who cried foul. The Montenegrin judges on the panel were accused of tactical voting.

After the vote on Saturday night the band took to the stage to sing their winning song again, but in the face of the mainly Serb audience's hostility, they soon gave up without having sung a note. The Serb runners-up, Flamingoes, then appeared to the clear delight of the audience.

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* No. 2 in an occasional series, after strictlytrue ran No. 1: "Smelly, unkempt man fails to save world".