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 […]

Looking at a situation from another perspective can be a good thing. A trip to Brussels has done something to improve my mood about the political situation in the UK. It would seem that, of the relatively few people who have noticed the change of mayor of London, most are reacting in the same way […]

Jon Cruddas or Oona King?
xD.

I caught the last few seconds of Newsnight Review to see a picture of Humphrey Lyttleton and my heart sank. It turned out that he died this evening at seven o’ clock. Humph and ISIHAC hold a special attraction for me.
I first discovered Humphrey Lyttelton where I would probably hear him most often; in my […]

The twenty-third of April is traditionally the feast day of Saint George. Saint George was a Christian from Anatolia, then a Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire but now part of Turkey. He is the patron saint of many countries, but veneration of him in England goes back at least to the ninth century, the […]

Note the First
Tim Ireland of Bloggerheads is wondering what to do next - Murdochwatch or campaigning on libel law reform. I think libel law reform; go over there and speak your peace.
Note the Second
Aaron Heath of Tygerland is pausing his blogging. Go over there and tell him not to pause for too long.
Note the Third
This […]

I’m thinking of putting a rotating strapline somewhere at the top of the sidebar. So far, I’ve come up with
‘I’m Dave Cole and I approve this message’
‘Heavily medicated for public safety’
‘There is a non-negligible chance he will end up ruling over us like a king - Matt Sinclair’
‘Contains a source of phenylalanine’
‘Contains small parts’
‘Your message […]

Without the full facts and familiarity of a situation, it is generally hard to comment on a medical case. However, a quick look at the diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder and guessing that it takes time for symptoms to show themselves and, for a meaningful diagnosis, you need to be able to talk. This quote, […]

Let us say that you bought a tube of toothpaste. You’d probably be pretty annoyed if the toothpaste company insisted that you used their toothbrushes. Equally, if you bought a toothbrush only to find that you were only allowed to use the toothbrush company’s toothpaste, you’d be a bit peeved.
That’s one of the objections - […]

The Times has published the top fifty countries from Jane’s list of stable and prosperous countries. The top eight are, in order with their populations in brackets, the Vatican (800), Sweden (9.1m), Luxembourg (480,000), Monaco (33,000), Gibraltar (29,000), San Marino (30,000), Liechtenstein (34,000) and the UK (60.5m). If Sweden is included, those countries are less […]