James ‘Nourishing Obscurity’ Higham asks:
“Which individual has had the most influence on humanity worldwide since WW2, such that if they had not been around, human history would have had a significantly different outcome”
I don’t really subscribe to the ‘great man’ theory of history, but I think someone who doesn’t have enough prominence and who most [...]

I have commented before on the singer, Soulja Boy (see Video killed the radio star on this blog), with regard to people playing music out loud on their mobile phones:
The speakers are rubbish and any sound that comes out (quite apart from the lyrical delights of Soulja Boy’s wonderful hit, Crank Dat (Soulja Boy), which [...]

Matt Sinclair has an interesting post up, in response to Will Hutton’s article, on the role of universities in promoting America’s hegemonic position. In short, Matt says that non-Western countries lack (in short) the cultural situation that allows Socratic method to flourish and that good academia attracts good academics.
To an extent, Matt is right, but [...]

Danny Finkelstein points out ten of the unheroic things that Fidel Castro has done in his criticism of Harriet Harman for calling the bearded one ‘a hero of the left’. I am generally categorised as being on the left; if Fidel Castro is also on the left, I would think that ‘left’ has no meaning [...]

The wheels came off Rudi Giuliani’s waggon while he was still gathering speed, but I think there is a distinct possibility that his analysis of the election, if not his tactics, was correct.
The early primaries (by which I mean those states whose primaries or caucuses come before Super Tuesday) have had three roles. Firstly, give [...]

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Pascal’s wager was deeply flawed as it either assumed that you could choose to believe or conflated belief with action. However, it has a useful application to climate change.
The wager is probably best explained with a simple table:

Believe (1)
Don’t Believe (2)

God exists (1)
Heaven
Hell

God doesn’t [...]

I hear from Ewan that Canadians, who are now heading south to the States to buy cheap goods after years of Americans heading north, are referring to the United States dollar as the ‘American peso’. I only mention it because a random search for the phrase ‘American peso’ brings up a particularly prescient article from [...]

After having passed the New Jersey State Senate, S-171 looks set to make New Jersey the first US state in four decades to give up the death penalty. The Democrats control the lower house and support the bill (A3716 in the House) and Governor Jim Corzine (D) has indicated that he will sign the bill.
Congratulations [...]

…with this campaign ad.

xD.

Spiked asks, via Chris Dillow, for what things we should give thanks to America.
1. ICANN. While I hope that net neutrality is maintained, ICANN, possibly more than any organisation, keeps the internet ticking over. It was set up by the US Government.
2. Cinema. While an awful lot of rubbish comes out of Hollywood, some absolutely [...]