We're worried about a brain drain, says the government. Did no one tell the Pickles
• Actions they will have consequences. And this is certainly the case in Whitehall, where the axe falls heavily on those who cannot defend themselves. No one has wielded the axe more enthusiastically than the Con-Dems' panto villain-cum-communities secretary, Eric "The Pickles" Pickles. But these crowd executions take their toll. Already, thanks to Radio 4's PM programme, we have been able to trace the farce that is the closure of the Audit Commission, where a good few of those laid off have been called back to help cope with the workload. And the farce extends to Pickles's own fiefdom, where the loss of people who knew what they were doing has led to an extraordinary plea for them to come back in and brief those who don't. "Our colleagues in this team, and their respective locality directors, are significantly under briefed about the real issues and small nuances out there in the areas we used to work in," says an intranet appeal to the doomed and fallen. "It is rather late in the day now as many of us have moved on, and so have the priorities of the localities, since the closure on 31 March. However, I would like to ask if any former localities managers would be happy to impart some of their vast local knowledge and understanding." They just might do that. Alternatively, they could just tell the Pickles where to get off.
• The rivalries in Belfast, Glasgow and the Middle East seem as nothing when compared with the enmity which appears to drive our theatre reviewers. Ian Shuttleworth, who enters stage right for the FT, submitted two complaints to the Press Complaints Commission against the Telegraph's Tim Walker. Both related to alleged fat-ism. Both were brushed aside. Another day, another target. Watch out Quentin Letts and Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail. "Quentin Letts' review of Wastwater takes aim not simply at theatres but at other reviewers," writes Shuttleworth in the Theatre Record, noting Letts' comment, "I would be surprised if any of you, not least the editor of the Financial Times, enjoyed it." Letts, says Shuttleworth, included "his all-but-mandatory condemnation" of bad language. Yet "I would be surprised if any of my FT readers turned a hair at the language of the play ... not least Quentin's editor at the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre, whose daily editorial conferences have reportedly been dubbed the Vagina Monologues by his subordinates because of his fondness for a particular expletive which rhymes with the surname of the culture secretary. How generous of Dacre to allow Quentin to inveigh so regularly against such practices." Trench fighting on two fronts, Mr Shuttleworth. Is that wise?
• All's set fair in the US, with morale rising, Obama riding high, and the prospect of improvements in the housing market. All sorts of transactions taking place. Including the sale of the Las Vegas home of the late Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, a mob associate who was immortalised on screen by Robert DeNiro in the Scorsese film Casino. It had all the mod cons one might expect, bullet-proof doors and windows. Rosenthal at one time ran the biggest illegal bookmaking business in the US before heading up a number of Mafia-controlled Las Vegas casinos. As depicted in the movie, he survived a car bombing and retired to Florida where he died aged 79 in 2008. As for the property? The buyers paid the full asking price, one would guess.
• Yes, they are all pulling together over there. Even Rush Limbaugh, talkshow host, darling of the rabid right, is being nice about Obama. And as the website Mother Jones points out, even the Tea Party is joining in. "Obamma [sic] killed Osama bin Laden," rejoiced one "Tea Party patriot". "Pretty good for a Kenyan Muslim Communist!!!" All this bonding. The place may never be the same again.
• Finally, today's award for carrying on in the face of difficult odds goes to Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's former high commissioner here, once that country's ambassador to the United Nations. There will be more opportune moments to launch her new book, Pakistan: Beyond the Crisis State. But the embassy is booked for Thursday, the nibbles have been ordered. Good on her, she's going to give it a go.