A reader chides me for using the word teleological in a posting about evolution, saying that such vocabulary is a terrible turn-off for some people.. I stand duly chid. Or even chidden. But is he right? The word of course is in frequent use in and around the pubs where […]
A good and subtle Middle East piece in the Times by David Aaronovitch who (I seem to recall) had a Tough Left reputation at Oxford when I was there in the early 1970s but now offers deft analysis. He swipes aside a now modish comparison between Israel and the Nazi villains who […]
Craig Murray is busy drumming up interest in his new book about dirty dealings in Africa. He has chosen some supposedly good quotes from this text to help this effort. What do his readers think about them? Many of them are so blindingly silly and/or vulgar that they will do his […]
A day spent poring through my year’s Blogoir output trying to choose some coherent entries for the 2009 Orwell Blog Prize. It turns out that links in earlier postings disappear for various reasons, rather reducing the effect/impact of that work months and years later. Especially poignant to see that links […]
What is morality? In good part it is a form of taxonomy: identifying and classifying differences. Hence my objection to Pinterism. This anti-morality takes the fact that gold and excrement are equally made of atoms, and proclaims no difference between them. Thus the USA is up there with the all-time […]
Here is a well-judged piece by Johann Hari trying to work out how Harold Pinter ended up supporting Slobodan Milosevic: Pinter himself says "the most important line I’ve ever written" is when Meg’s husband calls out, as Stanley is taken away, "Stan, don’t let them tell you what to do." […]
Remember former Ambassador Craig Murray’s problems in getting a publisher for his new book because it might attract a heavy libel writ? He is pressing on by publishing it on/via the Internet. Let the legal fun and games begin.
So many entries. So little time. Remember the BBC puff for kitschy little red Mass Murderer badges? Or the oh-so-cool Che poster picture as part of a free ad for Fidel Castro? Both worthy entries. But, in a late surge, the BBC reaches a new height. Can a supposedly serious […]
Any audience for a speech quickly works out what it has to face. Boring or Interesting? Routine or Inspiring? Getting off to a good start is essential, as top US speech-writer John Shosky explains in the latest Total Politics: Audiences decide if they like you, and if you are a person […]
Here is a letter I am planning to send to a competent newspaper Agony Aunt, if I can find one. I am asking for your advice. I believe that the heart of both moral and practical wellbeing lies in defining a close, evident link between good behaviour and good outcomes, […]
