Well-traveled Larry has again flown Lindsay coop

From Peterborough This Week: "I have been performing my duties as your lawn jockey for years, in rain and snow. I think it's time for me to take a much-needed vacation."

Balking at baseball's insistent high pitch

The Globe and Mail - Essay (Herb Kells): "The charm and dignity of baseball were gone and in its place were millionaires of extraordinary talent trying to play in a setting where no conversation was possible and wild music and cries for spectators to 'get crazy' filled every moment the ball was not in play. A row of large speakers set on full volume ringed the top of the stadium."

Democracy isn't working

Guardian daily comment (Martin Jacques): "Democracy is viewed by the west in a strangely ahistorical way. It is seen as eternal and unchanging, neither historically nor culturally specific, but a kind of universal truth. But, of course, nothing is eternal. The western model of democracy, like everything else, is a distinct phase in history, which depends upon certain conditions for its existence. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it should not be assumed that it is of universal application, nor that it will always exist."

Our kind of dictators

Guardian daily comment (Paul Foot): "Obviously Uzbekistan should be next in line for liberation by Tony Blair and his armed forces."