What happens if you elect prosecutors and judges? Perhaps they start to look at legal issues not according to what is right, but rather according to what outcomes might or might not be ‘popular’. Here is Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz coming down hard on the prosecution case against George Zimmerman […]
Diligent readers know how I hate the evil Precautionary Principle: My professional concern about PP is that far from promoting policy common sense it can diminish it. Take the refurbishment of the British Ambassador’s residence in Belgrade back in 2001. The building had been neglected during the long Milosevic years. […]
Here is a gloomy wail by Dahlia Lithwick against the conservative case brought to attack the sprawling ‘Obamacare’ Affordable Care Act, which now has reached the US Supreme Court: But after the aggressive battery of questions from the court’s conservatives this morning, it’s clear that we can only be truly free when the young are […]
In one of those things you never imagined could possibly happen, some feminists are now firmly denying that back in the crazy radical ’60s and 70s women burned their bras to protest their supposed subjugation. Or something. Why are feminists denying this? Because any such incendiary underwear activities would have trivialised their […]
A few years back I joined a seminar organised in the margins of a FCO Leadership Conference in London. The discussion focused on global trends. A striking observation was made: “in the past ten years or so we have seen one of the greatest changes in human history–a billion people […]
Update Apologies for the earlier version – struggling with new voice recognition software… The chaotic rule of Col Gaddafi looks to have ended in predictable, chaotic circumstances. Contradictory reports are flooding in about what exactly has happened to Gaddafi, but it looks pretty safe to bet that something Pretty Bad […]
One of the interesting things about the parts of Europe East of Berlin is the way ‘Western’ ideologies are there but still have only shallow roots. Sexism rears its ugly head! Male politicians on all parts of the political spectrum just can’t resist making remarks which (they think) show them […]
I write little here about Israel/Palestine as I have little to say which countless others are not saying. Plus I don’t have first-hand professional experience. What is going on? Of course the Palestinians want to advance their claims and demands on all international fronts. Upping their status at the UN […]
Many of my loyal readers know a few things about the Balkans. Relax. That probably does not make you bad people. Here is a gripping analysis of the dreary political paralysis in Bosnia: In theory, Bosnia’s constitution treats Croats as one of the country’s three constituent peoples, entitling them to […]
