So there I was down at Bristol University at the weekend for the latest Bristol International Development Conference. An event impressive for the 200 or so people (mainly students, and overwhelmingly female) who turned out on a Saturday to mull over the practice and politics of development assistance under the […]
It’s always worth reading anything written by the prolific and perceptive Walter Russell Mead. Here he is on how we need to invent Liberalism 5.0: Briefly, the idea is that after World War II America was organized around a group of heavily regulated monopoly and semi-monopoly companies. AT&T was the […]
Stop what you’re doing. Now, read this superlative article by Noah Shachtman at Wired about how an old complicated code describing a secret society’s rituals was finally cracked using sassy computer software created to help translate foreign languages: Knight was part of an extremely small group of machine-translation researchers who […]
Mark Steyn never seems to lack material on which to base his beyond magnificent rants. Try this new one on the impact of Hurricane sandy and what it shows about modern America: A few weeks ago, I chanced to be in St. Pierre and Miquelon, a French colony of 6,000 people […]
Worrying news for Greece and for other countries looking for major bail-outs. Treat all sides fairly! Or else the lawsuits start. But what if treating all sides fairly just isn’t possible? A mess. But much more than a mere mess. A mess that changes the rules: Reuters’ Felix Salmon, who […]
Over at a newer smarter Business & Politics is my take on the Denis MacShane story: … As the US election saga limps to its end, those of us who favour the victory by Mitt Romney do not find it hard to point to staggering examples of corruption and abuse […]
Here is a handy summary of the evolution of young women talking about their ‘first time’ on political ads, thereby linking voting to, er, sex. From Australia to Putin to Obama. How the Obama campaign can have thought that this ad helps their cause defeats me. Unless, that is, young […]
Another sizzling interview with Camille Paglia, who proclaims on her latest book and life in general: I don’t like reality shows and have never watched them, but I’m addicted to “Real Housewives” because it’s authentic old-time soap opera reborn! But beyond that, the shows are all about glamour — make […]
You are a senior politician. How to stay sharp in public debates? Here’s a clue. Don’t spend four years running away from difficult questions: "Obama was out of practice and unprepared to be challenged. The White House had supposed that Obama’s forays into social media — town hall meetings with […]
Even the BBC has to concede: Romney ‘won’ the debate, massively. As diligent readers here know, it’s not what you say – it’s what you hear. And much of what you hear when someone is speaking is subliminal – all about eye-contact, body posture, energy, openness, positive enthusiasm. Mitt Romney […]
