I am starting to produce material for the fast-growing Business and Politics site. (Fear not. This site continues unabated, soon with a face-lift.) Such as this piece today on whether it is ‘suicidal’ to expect continuing economic growth, or suicidal not to: What is economic growth, in fact? It’s nothing […]
One of the very hardest things for a newly elected leader is to move into a new frame of mind – and give organisational expression to it. Above all, how best to deploy the people who have slaved away to achieve victory and now expect a role in Power? The […]
The Greek masses are revolting: Public sector workers in Greece have launched a nationwide strike in protest at government measures to tackle the country’s huge budget deficit. Flights have been grounded, many schools closed, and hospitals are operating an emergency-only service. The government wants to cut pay, reduce pensions and […]
I stopped reading Andrew Sullivan after he started gushing against the Iraq war after gushing so strongly in favour of it. The vile images of the Abu Ghraib abuse of Iraqi prisoners seemed to sway him against the whole enterprise, as if he only then realised that war is a […]
Should we care about the appalling HIV rates in South Africa, if the people of South Africa elect someone who does not care either? Want a hyper-epidemic? All you need is a tradition of polygamy AND high levels of female autonomy. Big Men have their little network of wives and/or […]
As you try to grasp what is happening in Ukraine, you may well be asking yourself: what does Ukraine mean anyway? And, needless to say, views differ. There is a root word kraj in Slav languages which has all sorts of nuanced meanings in different Slavonic languages, linked to the […]
Lord Krebs from Jesus College Oxford lays it on the line about scientists’ human frailties: First, scientists, just like every other trade — bus drivers, lawyers and bricklayers — are a mix. Most are pretty average, a few are geniuses, some are a bit thick, and some dishonest. Glad that’s […]
My observations on the Decay of Language have made it to the Independent, albeit in a somewhat truncated and mysterious form, ie leaving out the bits about No 10’s spelling incompetence and not making it clear that the opening passages were not by me but from a reader. Still, the main point […]
My latest Eggcorn posting ended thusly: Isn’t a language like anything else? Without proper care and attention it just decays? An eagle-eyed reader in Greece asked whether I had meant to add the question-mark. I replied that I had put it in to nod in the direction of the thought […]
