We are known by our initials

Everyone who is anyone now refers to Her Excellency Mrs Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the EU Commission, as VDL. Apparently. You heard it first here (I pick up these titbits hanging around Brussels in these heady days).

There are numerous examples of famous people commonly referred to by their initials. Among those most well-known are US Presidents FDR and JFK.

Less familiar, perhaps, is Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince MBS - Mohammed bin Salman.

Personally, I often thought of myself as NFG. Not so famous, obv.

I thought it might be time for another quiz. It's been a while. So how many of these can you identify? I'll give you one clue: their most familiar names include a middle name (hence three initials). I suppose that's obvious but a little help goes a long way. Some middle names are maiden names. It's possible some should technically be hyphenated.

Answers in the Comments, please (even those who rarely comment - I'm begging here). There is no prize, other than the honour of seeing your winning name in lights.

IKB

HRC

LBJ

DLG

ALW

CZJ

EAP

GBS

MLK

UBL (or OBL)

I'll post answers in a week - unless someone has the lot, in which case I'll just congratulate you and move on.

Pluto

Many years ago, when I was at school, I was taught that there are nine planets in our Solar System.

One day, slightly fewer years ago, the Interplanetary Council met. On Jupiter, not because they are the biggest but because it's their turn. A motion was presented by the Chairthing, to the effect that "Pluto is too small to be part of our club. Our next meeting is due to be there and it's just too cold. They should  be relegated to the Second Division". "And it is 3,638.5 million miles away" piped up the little Mercuryling "and I wouldn't get back in time for Neighbours". "Best keep quiet, little Mercuryling" croaked Saturnbeast, "you'll be next in line".

"Wait a minute, we orbit the Sun don't we?" spluttered the Plutothing. "Once a day [that's a Pluto day; 248 earth years]. That's what planets do, isn't it? In any case, it only took us 20 earth-minutes to come here today." Now Pluto is the only one of the planets with teleport technology, so that's why they got there quickly. You might have thought to ask "how did you get here so fast" but the real question is "why did it take you so long?"

You would have thought that the other planets would have cosied up to the Plutonians, to do a trade deal - maybe some of our nice plutonium deposits in exchange for your teleport tech? "Don't be silly, we have our own plutonium - why do you think we are called Pluto?" "I thought you were named after Mickey Mouse's dog" whined the Marsling.

"Enough; we should vote" the Earthling intoned. Of course, ever the diplomats of the Solar System. They voted: 8 to 1 for the relegation of Pluto. Now there are only eight planets. But who will be next? The Mercuryling is keeping quiet on that one.

The Second Division is now a club of five planets - Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake [that's a name? Did someone makemake that up?]. They are known as dwarf planets. I don't think that's a politically incorrect term, as dwarfism is a known medical condition. Except for Ceres, which lies in the main asteroid belt, these small planets are located in the Kuiper Belt. That's just around the Kuiper Waist and holding up the Kuiper Pants.

Pluto is not even the biggest of these. That's Eris, whose diameter is 1,445 miles against Pluto's 1,430. Close.

Space.com tells me that the debate over Pluto's status continues:

The debate started anew after the New Horizons mission passed by Pluto in 2015, revealing a world of surprising geological complexity. As of 2017, delegates from the mission [wait! They've travelled more than 5 million km to get here? Wow] are trying to get Pluto's planethood status back. 

The primary concern stems from the requirement for a planet to clear out its local neighborhood [ah, those pesky plutonium dealers on the street corners, that's the problem?].

'In no other branch of science am I familiar with something that absurd," New Horizons principle[sic] investigator Alan Stern told Space.com in 2011. "A river is a river, independent of whether there are other rivers nearby. In science, we call things what they are based on their attributes, not what they're next to.'

Yep, I'm with you, Al. #GetPlutoBack

How does a mere blogger know this esoteric stuff? Research, mate, that's how. With a bit of help from NASA.

John C. Breckinridge

John C. Breckinridge was the youngest ever Vice President of the United States. He served from 1857 to 1861 and was 36 when he was inaugurated. After his vice presidential term, he became a general in the Confederate Army in the Civil War.

At the other end of the spectrum, Joe Biden will be by far the oldest to be inaugurated as President at 78 when he takes office in January.

No doubt you think that it has always been the case that US Presidents can only serve two four year terms but not so. This was established in the twenty second amendment to the constitution in1951. Previously, Franklin D. Roosevelt served three full terms and two months of a fourth term before his death in office in 1945.

By the way, the two terms do not have to be consecutive, so it's possible for a President, who served one term then lost his re-election bid ,to serve his [it's always been a male so far] second term subsequently. Grover Cleveland is the only one to have done this in,1885 and 1893. So far... So, although Biden will be the 46th President, he will only be the 45th person to be President. Remember that for your pub quiz.

It's not necessarily a good thing to seek a second term. I browsed and analysed some polling data from Gallop and discovered that the majority of Presidents for whom they conducted opinion polls of approval ratings showed a significantly lower approval in the second term than the first:

So maybe think again, Donald.

The Boys are Back in Town

As Thin Lizzy sang:

Guess who just got back today
Them wild-eyed boys that had been away
Haven't changed, hadn't much to say
But, man, I still think them cats are crazy

In this case, the boys were 22 young men, four officials and numerous coaching and support staff. Most importantly, two thousand football fans.

Last night's match at the Emirates Stadium in North London between home club Arsenal and visitors Rapid Vienna marked the first post lockdown match involving a Premier League team. London is in Tier 2 and so 2,000 fans were allowed in. Fully socially distanced and ultra-cautious monitoring.

The teams ran out to the strains of Thin Lizzy's song. The fans cheered, booed when necessary (when Vienna scored a goal) and their rabid influence caused Arsenal to be well, most unlike Arsenal recently, scoring four goals.

On Sunday the Gunners move across London to Tottenham for their next match. While Arsenal were hammering Rapid last night, Spurs struggled to a 3-3 draw against a different Austrian team LASK, in the historic city of Linz. Their most recent, and iconic signing, Welshman Gareth Bale, on loan from Real Madrid, suffered the ignominy of being substituted by .....no, not Harry Kane, not new striker Vinicius.... journeyman trundler Serge Aurier. Spurs will have their own 2,000 fans to help but Arsenal fans in front of our TVs will be singing the latest epic I have penned:

Gareth Bale
You've gone all stale
Nothing is sorrier
Than giving way to Aurier

I don't think Thin Lizzy still perform so I'll have to get someone else to record it.

Sing loud, fellow Gunners fans!

Pickles and beetroot

It's all about Scotch eggs. Not a question of whether they are in fact Scotch, nor whether they really are eggs (perhaps laid by Scotch hens). The issue, for us febrile Brits, is: do they constitute a 'substantial meal'? If they do, all you people in Covid Tier 2 will be able to get a pint in the pub - if you also order the afore-mentioned Scotch egg.

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove says that in his opinion it is a starter. He's obviously going for the Cameron Prize for foodie pretence - "I once ate a Scotch egg in Aberdeen". In any case Michael, the concept of a starter is that a main course will follow. Otherwise it's a stopper not a starter. And are you saying that, if you order a starter, you can't get a glass of wine until you order your main course? That's mad; what happened to "can I get you a drink while you're deciding, madam?"? (Two question marks definitely looks odd but I had it checked out by a grammatical pedant and he gave me five stars) (And I'm not suggesting that females are the indecisive ones, so don't troll me)

The Scotch Egg Mealers (i.e. Conservative backbenchers) are relying on a court judgement that the inclusion of pickles and beetroot in a sandwich makes it a substantial meal. In Timmis v Millman, 1965 the judges ruled that the sandwiches that Millman and his pal were eating (with a drink after pub closing time but during supper extension time) "were so substantial, and assisted by the pickles and beetroot so as to justify that it was a table meal and not a mere snack from a bar". 

I could find no record of whether there was cheese in the sandwiches. Just pickles and beetroot would be odd.

I like cheese and pickle sandwiches. Also cheese and beetroot - my favourite childhood snack.

The Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick ("you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours") said that a Cornish pasty would be substantial "if accompanied by chips or a side salad". My friend, you're havin' a larf! Who eats a side salad with a pasty? Everyone knows that the only accompaniment to a pasty is...another pasty. Chips are for curries.

Lawyers for my local tapas bar are revving up for.........oh, this is bonkers. The world has gone mad.

We Brits, eh? We do the weirdest things.

Hunahpu and Xbalanque

I have recently become a bit of a mythological heroes geek.

Hunahpu and Xbalanque are twins in Mayan mythology. The Popol Vuh, a book of myths belonging to the Quiche Mayans of highland Guatemala, tells us that the twins outwitted the lords of the underworld in many ways, primarily by saying they would bring them back to life after killing them. And then they didn't. One lord's hero is another's reneger.

Anansi is a spider-trickster from West African mythology. His speciality is telling stories. One story goes that he tricked the sky-god Nyame into giving him all his stories, by performing impossible tasks, mostly involving deceit such as persuading a python to lie down alongside a tree branch to prove he was the longest animal, then capturing it.

Himiko, the Queen of Yamatai, in present-day Japan, may even have been a real person. She reigned over a matriarchal court and possessed shaman abilities. She is still today revered by some in Japan. I suppose their equivalent of the scientologists.

Sun Wukong is the Monkey-King of Chinese legend. He wields weapons that he stole from the dragon-king of the sea, including a golden staff so heavy that no other being can wield it, but capable of shrinking down so small that the Monkey King can store it in his ear; flying boots; and magical armour. Take that, dragon-king!

It's clearly not the case that, to be a hero, you have to be squeaky clean and a do-gooder. Stealing, lying, deceiving. Life involves compromises, doesn't it?