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I don’t know if anyone has been keeping up with the saga of Tony Blair and the late Dr. David Kelly, but this week may prove to be interesting. Blair is facing two demons. The first, which is mostly of UK importance, is the subject of university tuition fees.. I don’t fully understand the issue but what I’m getting is that UK universities are underfunded so folks from academia are requesting a tuition hike. I’m not even sure if it’s a hike because I don’t know if UK students even pay for college. Anyway, that issue seems to be one sore spot.

The second and the one that I’ll be watching closely is The Hutton Inquiry. I doubt that the media in the US have done that much on this story so check out the Guardian Unlimited’s timeline. Sit down with a cup of coffee when you read it. It’s long, but verrrry interesting.

The gist of the story is that Dr. David Kelly was outed as being the source of a BBC news program that alleged the UK Ministry of Defence “sexed up” a dossier about Iraq’s arming capability of their WMD. Apparently the first draft of the dossier wasn’t dramatic enough so “someone” told “someone else” to add the now infamous “45 minute clause”. This stated that Iraq could deploy WMD within 45 minutes. A “senior official” claimed that that claimed was added to the dossier due to intense pressure, not due to evidence.

Dr. David Kelly was said to be that senior official. He allegedly committed suicide weeks later. The purpose of the Hutton inquiry is to examine the events just before Dr. Kelly’s death including who ordered the naming of Dr. Kelly as a source. The results of the inquiry will be released Tuesday (I think). If Blair is in any way criticized or implicated, this could seal the end of his premiership. Should be interesting. I wonder what type of fallout this will have in the US, if any?

Also interesting was this little tidbit from the BBC: Powell casts doubt on Iraq WMD.

On another note, let’s hear it for Switzerland, first in European education :

“In the European rankings, the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich was the highest rated Swiss university in fifth place after four British universities. Zurich University was the only other Swiss establishment to make it into the top ten at ninth position.”

…but dead freaking last when it comes to the concerns of women in the workplace.

“Switzerland is the last country in western Europe to introduce statutory paid maternity leave - proposals to do so have been rejected three times over the past 15 years”.

Can I get a pack of birth control pills with that degree to go?