It’s depressing, really. Just as New Scientist has been overrun by political zealots, so History Today finds it increasingly difficult to leave the daft, reflexive bias of the New Right* behind. A case in point is this piece titled Mr Cameron returns to the seventies. It begins:
“This afternoon, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill [...]
Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
History Today is Bunk
Neologism of the day
Norm uses the word democracy here. It’s an excellent coinage. He could define it more elegantly than I, but it boils down to the idea that the country should have policies decided by public demonstration.
UKIP leadership
Former UKIP candidate Anthony Butcher has started a forum for discussions of the UKIP leadership here. I think the best candidate, if she decides to stand, would be Marta Andreasen. As UKIP leader, she would immediately floor several negative perceptions of UKIP before she even began to talk. Little Englanders? Not with a Spanish/Argentinian leader. [...]
Chancy Murphy
Remember the film Being There? As imdb puts it:
Chance, a simple gardener, has never left the estate until his employer dies. His simple TV-informed utterances are mistaken for profundity.
Now read this post and the comments thread. In case it’s pruned, here’s where Richard Murphy’s pseudo-gnomic utterances have got him so far:
Adrian
August 18th, 2010 at [...]
What Obama means by “troop pullout”
The NYT today:
As the United States military prepares to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, the Obama administration is planning a remarkable civilian effort, buttressed by a small army of contractors, to fill the void.
By October 2011, the State Department will assume responsibility for training the Iraqi police, a task that [...]
At last!
Tax-funded property loans for the very rich.
More word reclamation
Guido is using the term deficit deniers repeatedly. Same tactic only funnier than “social justice” or “fairness” because the very people who have so successfully teed up the word “denier” to be an end to all debate now face the very weapon they made. The engineer, hoist by his own petard.
UPDATE: Mark Wallace makes a [...]
Word reclamation
There was an interesting passage on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning. Evan Davis was interviewing George Osborne, who has been making a point of using the words “progressive” and “fair” to describe Conservative policies. This is a significant trend in the approach of the current Tory leadership and must represent a deliberate tactic. Another [...]
Quote quiz
Who wrote this?
Towards the government I feel no scruples and would dodge paying the tax if I could. Yet I would give my life for England readily enough, if I thought it necessary. No one is patriotic about taxes.
Answer here.
Daily Hitchens
If you like Christopher Hitchens, you’ll like this site.