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From an article in The Economist: “A telling point that none of the books captures is a paradoxical one: some of the most sophisticated forms of interaction between strangers occur in societies that are chronically divided. Think, for example, of rural Northern Ireland, or of parts of the former Ottoman Empire, such as Lebanon, whereContinueContinue reading “Of silos, and subtlety”

At our local disco when I was a kid, out of pity for us gaggle of new waver young people, standing around in our winkle-pickers, long overcoats and half-blinded by our ridiculous fringes, the DJ would spin a few decent platters – New Order, Joy Division, Psychedelic Furs, Bunnymen, Cure, Talking Heads etc. We hadContinueContinue reading “Crack for sale, €280”

I’ve always loved it when women share traditionally-male enthusiasms – e.g., football, cars, hard music.  They tend to be the best women; they deserve 100% support, and their interest in stuff I like cheers me up. How the hell could it not? Spain and England are playing in the women’s Word Cup Final tomorrow. I’llContinueContinue reading “World Cup Final”

James Bond (a smug and possibly sociopathic but entertaining cad) ceases to be Bond if he’s re-cast as an earnest do-gooder or a right-on woman.  So too does this woke re-writing of Snow White look set to be another preachy balls-up. In relation to the forthcoming neo-puritanical feminist corrections to Snow White & The 7ContinueContinue reading “Snow Joke”

Hard to know what could be done about this. Perhaps put cones on the heads of apprehended protestors. The central delusion of urban anti-car protestors is that public transport is pleasant, accessible or safe. Fine if you’re young and single. Not great if you’re elderly, female, or travelling with small kids. Of course, anybody outContinueContinue reading “Coning AVs (what?)”

All Trump’s other stuff – dodgy tax, paying off prostitutes, stealing White House documents and dumping them in his toilet etc, never bothered me much. We all know he’s vain, loose-mouthed, corrupt, and dumb. But so are many other people. If you despised everyone who was a bit thick and / or a bit hooky,ContinueContinue reading “The big one”

On Saturday, having already had gone through security, as we trooped into Malaga airport’s passport check section, we saw a queue from hell.  A massive, weary throng of people, but thankfully seemingly nothing to do with us. I felt that mix of smugness and unconvincing performative compassion that people in short / no queues haveContinueContinue reading “Cue queue outrage”

States have a number of euphemisms for theft. Typically, when stealing land, a state’s pet historians will write that it “acquired” the land, or that the land “became part of” etc. Putin’s gang have just stolen two foreign-owned businesses: This is described, even by the Beeb, as “seizing control”. Good luck to any shoplifter tryingContinueContinue reading “Seizing control”