The inflation-targeting regime, introduced after Britain was spat out of the European exchange-rate mechanism in 1992, was already proving a success.

ECONOMIST: The British budget

In 2010, Leicester City Council began a campaign to stop paan, a tobacco-leaf mixture, being spat out on the streets.

BBC: Leicester City Council wardens to fine street spitters

And, as the Tories learnt after Britain was spat out of the European exchange-rate mechanism ten years ago, there's nothing voters dislike so much as incompetence.

ECONOMIST: British politics: The two Tonys | The

And right now, Hulu is offering a free one-week trial -- so if you get lucky, you might be able to ride out the spat without paying anything extra (Khloe Kardashian, take note).

CNN: Web wails as DirecTV channels go dark

While it's certainly not a stretch to envision how quickly a Wii Sports battle could morph into a full-fledged spat, the world's largest retailer is apparently playing it safe by keeping those untethered Wiimotes out of the unpredictable hands of youngsters (and us not-so-young folk, too).

ENGADGET: Wal-Mart passing on Wii demo units due to safety?