You remember biorhythms, the theory that our bodies operate according to varying biological cycles that periodically coincide, for better or worse? The Wikipedia page on Biorhythms absurdly suggests that this idea is all pseudoscience: Critics state that biorhythms are based only upon numerological associations. The plausibility of biorhythmics is contested by mathematicians, […]
Update That one didn’t take long. Chen has left the Embassy with the US Ambassador, heading for a medical facility. It obviously suited both sides to cut some sort of quick deal, including the Chinese expressing strong dissatisfaction with the US willingness to take Chen in, and (according to the […]
Should we all be ‘altruistic’? And if so, why? Some observations from me on this ever-fascinating subject over at Commentator: Think too about the force of a morality founded in self-respect and free trade between free people. What’s the alternative? The beggar says: “I exist, and I have misfortune. Please […]
While our political elite descends into fevered squabbling about who did what to which newspaper and vice versa, the United States and China are slugging it out in a battle for psychological (and military and commercial) dominance in the Pacific and South China Sea. Knowing next to nothing about that part of […]
News that Chinese democracy supporter Chen Guangcheng has sought asylum in the US Embassy in Beijing prompts me to link again to a piece I write for DIPLOMAT magazine about famed episodes of Embassies sheltering people fleeing from their own government. Not forgetting the diplomacy of Wonder Woman: This theme features […]
Here is my latest Telegraph blog piece, this time on the dilemmas in negotiating with a country such as North Korea where the usual options of Persuasion, Carrot or Stick seem to make little impact: Many humans (and even some governments) aren’t donkeys. So another layer of analysis applies. As […]
Update I now also have a piece over at Commentator which elaborates on the material below. * * * * * The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has pronounced on a case brought against Russia by a number of Polish relatives of victims of the Katyn Massacres. Even […]
OK, it’s been done a million times before, but it never fails to amuse if done well. And this one on Ken Livingstone and his taxes is a fine satirical effort. Wait for the final magnificent line:
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. […]
You all are craving for a fine example of vacuous fawning over capitalism? Search no more. Here is my latest Commentator article exploring how Marx’s theory of Surplus Value applies to airport check-in procedures.
