Survey season

One of those pieces of research that makes you feel slightly better about human nature: Parents who have daughters tend to become more left-wing.

There's been a lot of fussing about gender stereotypes about this, but it seems quite obvious to me - leftwing policies in general provide more health and community services - more of a safety net. And the reality of society is that women are far more likely to need the net - if they are left as single parents, in they want the Pill for free, etc etc.

Google search terms - one of those glass half-full/half-empty tests. For the year the second and third most popular search terms were respectively Hurrican Katrina and tsunami, and a book character! - Harry Potter of course, came in at No 10. (Who'd be nasty about JK Rowling for that result?) But of course the rest is celebrity pap.

More on J.K. - this time keeping children out of hospital. Emergency hospital admissions of children went down significantly on the weekends the books were released.