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Category Archives: science and reason

Roddis v Sheffield Hallam Part 10

24 Nov

As summarised in Roddis v Sheffield Hallam Part 8 – and more briefly in Part 9 – it had been found in March 2018 that, for the purposes of a claim under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of less favourable treatment) … Read More »

science and reason, uk 4 Comments

Roddis v Sheffield Hallam Part 9

21 Nov

My battle with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) over its treatment of me as one of more than eight hundred part time lecturers – almost forty percent of its academic workforce – on a zero hours contract is now over nine … Read More »

science and reason, uk 3 Comments

The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect

20 Nov

Thanks again to Dave Hansell for this. Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton named the effect after his friend, the Nobel Prize winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann. Crichton describes it thus: You open a newspaper to an article on a subject you … Read More »

general, media, science and reason 4 Comments

More from the (Face) Book of Wisdom

18 Nov

(You never know. The poster might actually try a night with the garaged bovine and find himself among the four people a year in the UK (twenty in the USA) gored or trampled to death by cow. But that’s a … Read More »

science and reason Leave a comment

Adam Smith on enlightened self interest

17 Oct

Bloggers like me are prone to self doubt. Not, I hasten to add, in respect of what we say of the state we’re in, summarised in my open letter on China. There’s too much evidence for there to be any … Read More »

general, science and reason 2 Comments

More crap thinking on Covid

2 Oct

David Leonhardt, New York Times, September 27, 2021 The messianic certainty I detect on all sides of the Covid conversation is dismaying. People with no obvious qualification to do so are not only sounding off in FB echo chambers as … Read More »

covid-19, science and reason Leave a comment

Brexit, Dali and cognitive dissonance

1 Oct

In Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali, George Orwell targeted a knee-jerk mode of thinking; a binary either/or refusal to see (or acknowledge) nuance and complexity. Why, asked Orwell, did the liberal progressives of his day who recognised … Read More »

europe, science and reason, uk 2 Comments

Freud’s narcissism of small differences

20 Sep

In her blog post today, Caitlin Johnstone implicitly draws on the great man’s insight with these words: You don’t own your comrades. A lot of people will get angrier about a political ally disagreeing with them on one percent of … Read More »

general, science and reason Leave a comment

Help!

18 Sep

NB for those who got here via my e-alert to this post, my remarks on the brilliant C4 drama, Help, come after these idiotic outpourings on Britain’s nuclear weapons. * Late yesterday a FB post plugging BBC History Extra began … Read More »

general, media, science and reason Leave a comment

If my posts don’t piss people off …

2 Sep

… then I’m slacking on the job. Can’t stand the thought of losing friends you once held dear? Fine – just don’t take up political blogging is my advice. Not if your key message is out of step with mainstream … Read More »

science and reason 13 Comments

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tune for the day

My fellow Sheffielder Dave Berry had a hit in ’64 with it but it was Boy George – heard in Neil Jordan’s splendid thriller of the same name – who sold me on the crying game

last 350 posts (most recent first)

  • On and on and on …
  • Why the times they are a-changing
  • “Left” Democrats vote to prolong war!
  • Ukraine: “the global south must act”
  • Starmer, Nato and the death of truth
  • As we hydroplane towards WW3 …
  • Is Team Biden the worst ever?
  • Tucker Carlson on ‘disinformation’
  • Oh my giddy AUMF!
  • “Zelensky good … Putin baad …”
  • Red-lines real … red lines reductive
  • What about those too tired to have sex?
  • We need to talk about pacificism
  • Ukraine and the death-logic of escalation
  • Ukraine in La La Land
  • Easter offerings
  • Caitlin’s love letter to draft dodgers
  • India in the dock for empire disobedience
  • Ursula weeps for Ukraine
  • Red Star Belgrade v Media Amnesia
  • Ukraine: “turning brains to soup”
  • Ukraine: a military assessment
  • Sakwa: “Paul Mason wrong on Ukraine”
  • Peace in Ukraine? Zelensky has zero say
  • Is Russia losing the information war?
  • The day John Pilger met the CIA Boss
  • Britain is a crime scene
  • The US wants this war to go on and on
  • No matter what the risks to us all …
  • Yes, we are being lied to. Massively.
  • Defending democracy in Ukraine?!?
  • Ukraine: the Far Left is almost right
  • Observations on the week so far …
  • Yesterday in and around Lathkill Dale
  • This ain’t Putin’s price hike
  • No, I’m not telling you what to think!
  • Dark Side of the Mood Music
  • Pentagon bioweapons in Ukraine
  • Carbon dating …
  • Ukraine: why bomb a hospital?
  • Ukraine on fire
  • Yes, Ukraine is in the grip of Nazis!
  • Sanctions: America’s Greek Tragedy
  • US Colonel McGregor: “Zelensky no hero”
  • The real purpose of sanctions on Russia?
  • Cook on Monbiot on Ukraine
  • Media double standards over Ukraine
  • Is this Russian propaganda?
  • A calmer panorama in the English Lakes
  • The most important question in the world
  • Ukraine through the eye of a UK diplomat
  • Ukraine: what does Mr Putin have to say?
  • Diana Johnstone on Russia bear baiting
  • Ukraine: the elephants in the room
  • Russia Today
  • Kiev shelled: Zelensky calls martial law
  • Media Lens on Guardian on Ukraine
  • Russia’s recognition of the LDNR
  • Vladimir Putin on what’s bothering Russia
  • Alice Walker on Julian Assange
  • “Why Russia wants Ukraine”
  • The royaling boil of Martin’s kettle
  • Useful Useless idiot 76423: Richard Engel
  • Russia’s gonna invade Ukraine for sure!
  • Caitlin on The Official Story
  • Can Europe break free of a dying Empire?
  • The view from Langley, Virginia
  • An inaccurate, biased Amnesty report?
  • Whose bass guitar gently wept?
  • The weirdness of BoJo’s Savilegate
  • Mini-break on the Yorkshire coast
  • “We have evidence” is not evidence!
  • Ukraine: has Washington already lost?
  • Ukraine: maps, history, duff reasoning ..
  • Ukraine: the madness of Empire’s critics
  • Is a nuclear war in Europe probable?
  • Is humanity doomed?
  • Ukraine and the West’s lies
  • Monolithic control at the Guardian?
  • They tried to bury us …
  • Agonising over Auntie
  • Eurasia’s rise is unstoppable
  • Getting real on the US-NATO-Russia talks
  • Mini Gems good – Midget Gems baad!
  • Kazakhstan tests China non interference
  • Mike on Mingus
  • Do dolphins flick the bean?
  • Yes, Kazakhstan is a (failed) US coup!
  • Planting flowers for 2022
  • Caesar salad
  • Kazakhstan: why is the steppe on fire?
  • Battle of the mutes
  • Far-left Sinophobia: an infantile disorder
  • Talking down China’s economy
  • Caitlin calls it right on web censorship
  • Happy new year to The Free World?
  • Sinophobia – but at what cost?
  • The obvious has been made unspeakable
  • CounterPunch on US foreign policy
  • Ukraine and Georgia are Russia’s red lines
  • Assange? China? It’s not rocket science!
  • My date with Sister Scope
  • A third Ukraine read
  • Dear Guardian Media Group …
  • A murderous state speaks of human rights
  • Damn lies and daft stats on Hong Kong
  • Two short reads on the Ukraine crisis
  • Frankly I couldn’t give a damn …
  • Xinjiang debated
  • Priti’s Police Bill – why now?
  • Sunlit but wintry: Woollaton today
  • Another winter comes to Attenborough
  • Are we sleepwalking to Armageddon?
  • Snowfall on the Soar
  • Margaret Mead and that femur …
  • Sri Lanka and the ‘debt trap’ slur
  • Kyle Rittenhouse and the outrage industry
  • Roddis v Sheffield Hallam Part 10
  • That’s rich!
  • Roddis v Sheffield Hallam Part 9
  • The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect
  • Another FB China debate
  • Julian’s mother speaks
  • Attenborough in peace
  • More from the (Face) Book of Wisdom
  • The unaccountable power of Bill Gates
  • Selfishness in 4 easy steps
  • The Atlantic: “the bad guys are winning”
  • Attenborough in November
  • IDS and sleaze: the view from Hong Kong
  • Syria’s My Lai is why Julian matters!
  • China’s carbon footprint
  • Facebook and the whistleblower
  • Lest we forget …
  • “I am ashamed of Israel”
  • Ten second guide to Owen Paterson
  • Human rights weaponised
  • Another US academic on Taiwan
  • What a Bezos!
  • Exchanges with my Guernsey freeholder
  • Julian: a year and a day on
  • Dark side of the state: Waters on Assange
  • The myth of independent media
  • Turkey arrests Syrian banana eaters
  • Meet the Otters
  • Three autumn reads
  • In praise of Insulate Britain
  • Fake news on Dune epic in China cinemas
  • It was twenty years ago today …
  • 38 years ago today
  • Demo for Julian: my day in pictures
  • A Guardian study in propaganda
  • Adam Smith on enlightened self interest
  • It’s all a question of balance
  • Talking WW3 Blues – again …
  • Those nights in Tiananmen Square …
  • Mother takes sons to see dad …
  • Who wants a war with China over Taiwan?
  • Support Julian – two October dates
  • Nobel Prize for fearless journalism …
  • The Pandora Papers: controlled dissent?
  • More crap thinking on Covid
  • China is bad!
  • Says Rosa …
  • Brexit, Dali and cognitive dissonance
  • We need to talk about Kim
  • Salt to King’s Bromley the slow way
  • “Israel was born in sin”
  • Salisbury – the Third Man!
  • An open letter: isn’t China “just as bad”?
  • Freud’s narcissism of small differences
  • Xinjiang now a top tourist draw
  • Help!
  • Nuclear subs go down under
  • Sometimes it’s the little things …
  • Sinophobia – two new reads
  • King’s Bromley to Sawley by slow boat
  • BBC admits to flawed Syria documentary
  • Sunak’s NI charge to fund the NHS
  • Meanwhile, on Uncle Sam’s doorstep …
  • If my posts don’t piss people off …
  • Israel is an apartheid state
  • Those eco-friendly berserkers
  • Ruled by crooks, governed by liars
  • Blowback: Taliban target US shadow army
  • Is Tony Blair insane?
  • Who remembers “press button A”?
  • Engels on the ‘graveyard of empires’
  • Did China abandon socialism?
  • Pear Jam Miles
  • What about the squaddies in Afghanistan?
  • Panda cub won’t take a hint
  • Flee Kabul for just $6.5k
  • Covid’s boost to Big Pharma
  • Who checks the ‘fact checkers’?
  • Xinjiang and the square root of FA
  • Britain’s haven for litigatory bullies
  • Until you realise …
  • What about the Afghan women?
  • Julian Assange on Afghanistan
  • Burgers & the Battle of the Fractions
  • Afghanistan: who bears the costs?
  • Great ironies of history #61,836
  • “Kenny go home!”
  • Two new reads on Afghanistan
  • Correspondence with a friend
  • Think tanks for warfare
  • Julian: yesterday’s High Court ruling
  • Santuario Madonna della Corona
  • 76 years ago today
  • Electric kettles and cars
  • Richard Murphy’s transitional demands
  • 75 years ago today
  • It’s raining snakes!
  • Caitlin on Covid
  • This morning on Stanage Edge
  • Sheffield Labour Party on GC beliefs
  • What does China want?
  • Richard Murphy’s peaceful revolution
  • Craig Murray: jail time begins on Sunday
  • Good advice from a librarian
  • I’m backing a hero!
  • Say what you like about Tricky Dickie …
  • “I was a US sniper in Iraq”
  • Watch out Boris: Priti is after you!
  • Another whistle-blower pays the price
  • The level of ‘debate’ on China
  • NATO Expansion map Mark II
  • The despot of Damascus
  • A glimpse of Norfolk
  • But everyone knew her as Nancy
  • Speaking of roads …
  • The England moment I’ll remember
  • China Rising: humanity’s best hope?
  • Left-wing communism: infantile disorder
  • Dark Side of the Media
  • Afghanistan’s Saigon moment
  • A word on the ‘deplorables’
  • Death of a war criminal; lies on Assange
  • Media silence as Assange lies exposed
  • Reading the middle east: part 2
  • Those who looked the other way
  • US bombs darkies in self defence (again)
  • Hancock gently rebuked by Pie
  • Reading the middle east: part 1
  • Pentagon embraces Critical Race Theory!
  • Black Ops in the Black Sea
  • Eighty-two minutes with Russia’s leader
  • Propaganda? Not in the West!
  • Priti Patel’s threat to British journalists
  • US slaughters its first amendment
  • With Bibi gone, moderation is restored!
  • Rare footage: mother wrench feeds chicks
  • Biden-Putin Summit: rhetoric & realpolitik
  • When exposing a crime …
  • Pissing in morse code
  • Maya Forstater wins on appeal!
  • The late great Michael Hudson!!!
  • On Richmond Hill
  • Why I bang on about the trans thing
  • Transphobia? It’s time the woke woke up!
  • Lakelandscapes
  • Belarus: the view below the line
  • Belarus: the plot thickens
  • Belarus: pot, kettle, black
  • Water skiers on Spring Lakes
  • East Sussex this week
  • Murphy’s law
  • Sheffield shows Solidarity with Palestine
  • Attenborough this week
  • Missing pieces: the trial of Craig Murray
  • Government guideline No. 69
  • Not all snakes are venomous …
  • US rockets good, China rockets baad!
  • Thus spake Blinken
  • Britain decides!
  • Women who lift too much
  • Homs today
  • Sinophobia, and revenge porn monetised
  • What if there really is a God?
  • Pig farming, Profits & the War on Terror
  • Wising up to fibs great and small
  • Top dog
  • Assange and Navalny compared
  • Three China reads: 3, Global reach
  • Helen McCrory
  • Every day is Independence Day!
  • Big cats
  • Three China reads: 2, Democracy
  • Three China reads: 1, the Uighurs
  • Russia’s record of aggression
  • Syria Ten Years On
  • Malcolm X on the media
  • Meanwhile, down in Mozambique …
  • Former US Senator on Syria
  • Magpies nesting
  • Magpies, jackals and animal altruism
  • Nottingham Kill the Bill Protest
  • My March reads
  • Afghanistan for Afghans? Are you nuts?
  • Cui bono? – notes on the Bristol riots
  • “Hate crime”, Orwell and class struggle
  • Clapham Common: policing protest
  • Meanwhile on Clapham Common
  • Her name was Sarah
  • Reclaiming These Streets
  • Russell Brand on royalty and power
  • Sloe progress
  • Red Rosa
  • Me and my doubts
  • Caitlin J on the Democrats
  • Flowers for Algernon?
  • Please wake up
  • Journalists: are they hypocritical cowards?
  • Power just loves identity politics!
  • The United States of (Capitalist) Misery
  • My February reads
  • US bombs Syria and claims self defence
  • Great tits of Attenborough
  • Why are ‘we’ the good guys?
  • Critical thinking on China and the Uyghurs
  • Europe’s growing dilemma
  • Washington’s Wuhan laboratory lie
  • Jonathan Cook on Israel and the Guardian
  • The squeak came off!
  • No-Platforming and the so-called Left
  • If you can’t hide the crime …
  • CV-19 and the Great Reset
  • Dodgy sums on Scottish Independence
  • Scary extremists in the US military!
  • Philip Giraldi on Israel – 3 out of 10
  • The Trent in spate
  • Cut across Shorty
  • The unacceptable face of crazy
  • The Buddhas of Wall Street & Pentagon
  • Bombers for Wall Street
  • Attenborough in snow
  • The wisdom of Caitlin
  • Scott Ritter: “no changes for Europe”
  • Ad hominem? Sileo iam meus theca!
  • Mike Pompeo
  • How I joined a cult. Part 6: Science!
  • The two faces of the US Empire
  • Imperialism: two equally needed takes
  • The name’s Ball – James Ball
  • Turkish delight at Capitol riots
  • Stop trivializing the term, coup!
  • The Tragedy of Corbynism
  • Cook on the Assange decision
  • On a commuter train to Perth, Scotland
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