For the most part, British news at the moment is consumed with worry about the state of the economy and the deteriorating sitation in Gaza. Like Americans, Brits are concerned about the need for government-sponsored bailouts of industry, including their domestic auto industry, and the integrity of the real estate market. (By one estimate, property values in London have plummeted between 60 and 70 percent from speculative high.) There is also concern about rate cuts by the Bank of England, which risk sending the borrowing cost into "negative" territory, meaning that people would be paying the banks fees in order to protect their money while at the same time receiving no interest (given what American banks charge in fees, we must have been in negative savings territory for a long time.) But the biggest story of all at the moment is the dust up created by Prince Harry who was inadvertently caught on tape three years ago referring to one of his soldierly comrades as "Paki". In this country where East Indians are the dominant minority that is the equivalent of using the forbidden "N" word in the United States to refer to a person of African American descent. An official investigation by the military has been commenced. Prince Harry's use in the same tape of the term "raghead" to refer to Islamic terrorists being pursued in the Middle East is generally regarded as a minor transgression not worth purusing further.
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