the late Lenny Bruce used to have this sketch - if Einstein had been from the southern states of the USA - there would be no bomb.

Einstein would mosey up and say - hi there y'all! Ah wanna tell y'about this here nuclear fission... Goddam! its really somethin'! Real hot shit!

And all the smart Ivy League types would say - go way you southern idiot! You nit wit!

I wonder how much the way he said what he had to say obscured his message.

The first folk club I ever went to in Brum was run by a guy whose Dad was an Orange man. He reckoned Paisley was fairly moderate comapred to his Dad's mates.

The Irish never grasp the full scale of English indifference to their politics. Most people couldn't wait for him to just shut up - the idea of trying to understand him never really came into it. he always seemed pissed off with us and accused us of selling him out. Selling him........most English people would have paid to have him taken away.