Developing the theme of correct punctuation, reader jdmyeepa steers us to this superb essay about the Philosophy of Punctuation by Paul Robinson, who used to keep goal for Tottenham (and alas England) but then became a prominent American intellectual. Or maybe it’s two separate P Robinsons. Whatever. Anyway, this deft […]
Last week I gave evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Foreign Affairs led by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne. This APPG has been set up this year in part because the House of Lords does not have a Foreign Affairs Committee, yet contains numerous people with considerable expertise in […]
Here’s a depressing piece at Open Democracy by Turi Munthe, who summarises for us an analysis by Dr Martin Moore and the Media Standards Trust of the steep relative and absolute decline in foreign news coverage in the British newspapers: The statistics make frightening reading. They compared foreign news coverage […]
Look at the scale of the Republican victory below the main headlines: The North Carolina Legislature is Republican for the first time since 1870. Yes, that is Eighteen Seventy. The Alabama Legislature is Republican for the first time since 1876. For those saying this is nothing because it is the […]
Readers of this site usually have some interest in central Europe and/or the great battles of ideas which ‘Europe’ represents. One of those battles, perhaps the central battle in that it defines the intellectual space upon which all the others are fought, is the ‘comparison’ between Communism and Nazism, between […]
Back on the road tomorrow, heading for Vienna to give some Israelis and Palestinians some training in basic mediation techniques. Back on Thursday if I survive. Maybe knowing next to nothing about the Middle East will help… While I am away treat yourselves to watching Appleseed: Fierce beautiful warrior babes […]
Is hosted by Mr Eugenides who through no fault of his own links to some depressing material. He leads us to Philobiblon reporting on A Female Future discussion. Baroness Kate Parminter (LibDem) noted that in looking at secondary schools for her daughter, she found that one she had otherwise liked offered cheerleading […]
Are North Korea’s leader, Jack Straw, Neil Kinnock and Fidel Castro by some chance related? Of course. Why? Because they are all part of socalist political family hierarchies, featuring a successful father whose fame and power and influence help propel their relatives to new glory. We all know about Kim […]
Mrs Crawf and I have been away for two days, mulling over the fact that we have been married for twenty years. We repaired to the South Coast, namely Christchurch, for some bracing sea air. The hotel was teeming with trim and efficient Polish staff who were so startled by […]
The WSJ does a good job at shining a light on the top-level secret machinations which have been trying to keep the Eurozone from falling apart. Some vivid descriptions of how our beloved leaders behave towards each other: When Mr. Sarkozy barreled into one meeting with camera crews and photographers in […]
