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 »
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 »
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 »
… 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 »
In his book, Bad Science, Ben Goldacre, who used to have a Guardian column of that name, does three things. He: targets the shoddy thinking (at best) used to promote ‘alternative medicine’; targets the even bigger health risk posed by … Read More »
Facebook a few days ago: Tried to do what? … compete with the MacDonalds quarter pounder by selling a third-pounder at a lower price. They failed because most people thought a quarter pound was bigger. And what’s “just … not … Read More »
Life is not an easy matter. We cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless we have before us a great idea to raise us above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness. … Read More »
1970s advert The evolution of the electric kettle is instructive. Invented in the eighteen nineties, its initial forms had drawbacks. Like taking an age to do the biz, heating water by making it live – quite serious, that – and … Read More »
Caitlin Johnstone not only has a flair for articulating counterintuitive truths simply and vividly – where counterintuitive = contrary to mainstream power-serving fairy tales. She also has a way of voicing nuances of thought and mood that echo my own. … Read More »
I had an email from a friend this morning; on the face of it apropos of nothing. What does getting sentimental about the deplorables achieve? Nothing good, I replied. Why do you ask? one of your posts seemed to me … Read More »