From a WSJ blog: According to the latest Internal Revenue Service report, the number of Americans renouncing their U.S. citizenship (or terminating their long-term permanent residency) has increased nearly ninefold since 2008. The numbers are tiny, under 500 people per … Continue reading
Although the day in question was back in April: The decision by the French government to outlaw all forms of public face-masking, including the burka and niqab, is welcomed by all thinking Muslims around the world. [...] Forward-looking and progressive … Continue reading
First we guess it. Then we compute the consequences of the guess. Then we compare [the computed consequence] with observation to see if it works. If it disagrees with experiment, it’s wrong. Richard Feynman’s explanation of the key to science … Continue reading
So he refused to post the following comment on this blog post. I can’t see why, it is polite enough. Perhaps he didn’t feel comfortable with the final sentence. “As food left Ireland for export and thousands were thrown off … Continue reading
I’ve only once failed to speak the host language when travelling or living abroad, in the Netherlands where everyone, even the street cleaners, seemed to speak English almost like a native. In some ways I felt robbed. My attempts to … Continue reading
When I vote, none of the parties reflects my opinions at all well. I don’t actively want any of them to win. But I can arrange them in a hierarchy of preference. In that sense AV reflects my reality much better … Continue reading
Interesting table here and visualisation here. The upshot is that nuclear remains the safest form of power – including what has happened so far in Japan. 0.04 deaths per TWh compared with, for example, 12 for biomass/biofuel. Hydro is second … Continue reading
A 3 year old child was given alcohol regularly by its parents and ended up needing hospital treatment. You can guess what comes next: Sarah Matthews, spokeswoman for the British Liver Trust, said: “This is an extreme case and definitely … Continue reading
Have you shown support for the Iranian Green Movement? Here’s a report from the Green Voice of Freedom: During a press conference held last week, a journalist for the conservative Keyhan daily asked the prosecutor, “currently, certain people beyond our … Continue reading
It’s just been announced that interest rates are being held at 0.5% by the Bank of England. There’s been a lot of talk about rates because inflation is running above target. But isn’t this all just a form of theatre? … Continue reading