Acronym of the day: SCABS – the Scottish Consortium for Academic Book Supply.

Backing [Ian] Blair (cf. Backing Blair).

Oscar Wildebeest on the third Ashes test at Old Trafford.

ADDENDUM: Oh, yes, that reminds me. Apparently someone on ITN news had the gall, after the second Test, to proclaim “has cricket finally become interesting?” Which is a bit like saying, “has ITV finally become shite?”

Thanks to a Guardian typo, this subhead from yesterday’s paper about the feud between the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Loyalist Volunteer Force suggests that the UVF will be rebranding itself to make it even less popular with Catholics:

Ambush in morning rush-hour linked to feud between LVF and IVF