Ok Ok. He has lots of vivid material to work with these days. But Mark Steyn continues to surpass himself. How about his advice to Hillary to dust off her election outfits? Memo to Secretary Rodham Clinton: Do you find yourself of a quiet evening with a strange craving for […]
While we are thinking about Poland, check out the blog of Monica Ogrodowski, an American of Polish descent now over in Poland on a Fulbright award. She gives us a beautifully illustrated piece about the Tapestry Triennial exhibition in Lodz, once the ‘Manchester of the East’ – a huge C19 regional […]
Here is a link I have been sent to a site extolling the benefits of therapeutic writing – writing as a tool to deal with stress, trauma and frustration in your own life. There are no fewer than 52 hot writing tips. Such as No 8: Chuck the rules of […]
A day with my nose press’d hard against the perspiring computer screen writing scenarios for a new course which I lead later this month, all about Ethical Dilemmas in Diplomacy. As far as I know this is a pioneer course, the first of its kind to be taught to professional […]
Another superb piece by Adam Thierer at Technology Liberation Front, this time looking at a new book which is making a big impact: The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr: The general Carr argument is that the immediacy of unlimited communication actually changes the way we think, to the extent of affecting […]
What does it take to hit the jackpot for comments on a blog piece? This blog attracts a sprinkling of comments but not more. Its elite group of readers (you!) are subtle and intelligent busy people who do not need to spend their day on the Internet hammering on about […]
Remember much praised FCO blogger Philip Barclay, who achieved some distinction in writing about Zimbabwe when he was posted there despite the inevitable constraints of working in the UK mission? He’s written a book about Zimbabwe, which maybe gets closer to the heart of what was happening there (and how […]
It had to happen sooner or later. Mark Steyn writes what may be his greatest column ever on (of course) the way Wealth has made us Stupid. Of course the very idea of the greatest ever Steyn column needs some thought. The funniest? The most scathing? The most thought-provoking? The one […]
Someone has shared with me a vivid communication from the Driving Standards Agency (Safe Driving for Life). It was sent by Rosemary Thew, Chief Executive. A person grammatically challenged as she attempts to give instructions on how to access a DSA driving theory test centre hosted by Pearson Professional Centres: On […]
Derek Tonkin is a distinguished former Ambassador (of an older generation than me) who follows closely the situation in Burma. He was brought up in a Foreign Office which prided itself on impeccable standards and good manners. Hence his sensible and courteous letter to David Miliband in March about Burma, […]
