Anyone else tired of reading the depressing details of MPs expense claims? For the last word on this subject, read Philip Stephens. The scores of MPs who abused the House of Commons’ allowances system cannot expect sympathy. The refrain of ministers that claims were “within the rules” only stokes popular disdain. The gaming of the [...]
Archive for the ‘Reading’ Category
Expenses
Posted in Reading, tagged European elections 2009, MP expenses, philip stephens on May 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The future of capitalism
Posted in Reading, tagged gillian tett, martin wolf, the financial times, the future of capitalism on March 10, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Back when I studied economics at A-level, my teacher instilled a healthy scepticism of absolutes. He had no time for teenage leanings towards purist doctrines; neither communism nor an uninhibited market economy, said Mr Walker, would ever succeed alone. The only answer then, was a mixed economy – one that encouraged the best aspects of [...]
George Bush is leaving the building
Posted in Reading, tagged george bush, jacob weisberg, slate, top 25 bushisms on January 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
…on January 20, and Slate has done us all a favour and collected the top 25 Bushisms of all time. My personal favourites: Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”—Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000 And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this [...]
Our last chance, by Ian McEwan
Posted in Reading, tagged G2, ian mcewan climate change, ian mcewan obama, the guardian, the world's last chance on November 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The novelist Ian McEwan penned a timely and elegant feature which fronted yesterday’s G2, and which coincidentally explores the themes of the post below in far more depth. McEwan’s piece is entitled The World’s Last Chance and basically argues that the fate of the world now rests on Obama’s shoulders. McEwan, who wrote Saturday, Enduring [...]
Philip Stephens on Obama’s win
Posted in Reading, tagged ft, philip stephens, philip stephens obama on November 7, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Great comment in today’s FT by my absolute favourite British columnist, Philip Stephens. “One of Mr Obama’s most dangerous enemies will be the impatience of our age: the ever present demands that tomorrow’s problems be fixed yesterday… but this is a moment for optimism. Once in a while, politicians do change the course of history.”
Dahlia Lithwick on Paul Newman
Posted in Reading, tagged dahlia lithwick and paul newman, paul newman obituary, slate on September 28, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Just a heads-up: there’s a really beautiful little article on the late Paul Newman in today’s Slate. Read it here.
Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through
Posted in Reading, tagged dmitry medvedev, georgia and russia, saakashvili on August 28, 2008 | 3 Comments »
The other day the Financial Times featured a piece written by… wait for it… Dmitry Medvedev. Scoop. Of course my favourite thing about Russia’s President is his name, which regularly endures varied pronunciation by broadcast journalists, and which is perfect for rolling around the tongue when in experimental mood. Med-VYAY-dev? MED-vedev? Med-vyeah-deff? All pleasing in [...]
Kingsnorth: recommended reading
Posted in Reading, tagged kingsnorth, matt bolton, the dirt is temporary on August 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Just wanted to point you to Matt Bolton’s thoughtful blogpost about his experience at Kingsnorth climate camp last weekend; a brilliantly written first-hand account from a self-confessed “ex-cynic”: this was no finger-wagging lecture or communal tut – this was real. The attempt to shut down this Kent coal-fired power station was true direct action, not [...]
“The Blair Years”: of underpants, cabinets and spin
Posted in Reading, tagged alastair campbell, the blair years, tony blair on July 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been away in Italy for a fortnight and thus missed some slightly disconcerting comments on an old post I wrote round the time Blair was leaving office (thanks Matt for bringing things down to earth). I’m still fairly bemused as to how anyone might have come across a post I wrote in March 2007, [...]
Sad but true: Brown’s not up to the job
Posted in Reading, tagged david davis, gordon brown, Jonathan Freedland, labour on June 18, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Gordon Brown’s a liability. Jonathan Freedland sums up Labour’s malaise all too well in today’s Comment is Free: “I find myself in sympathy with those who admired Brown through his 10 long years as chancellor and who keenly awaited his premiership, and yet now conclude that they got Brown wrong – that, on the current [...]
Little People
Posted in Reading, tagged little people, slinkachu on June 9, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I’ve just come across a brilliant blog – Little People-A Tiny Street Art Project – and you have to check it out. The artist, Slinkachu, creates Borrower-sized people and puts them in various poses in cities across the world. Supercool.
Decline and Fall of the Labour Empire
Posted in Reading, Thinking, tagged boris, compass, Jonathan Freedland, ken livingstone, kiran stacey, london, mayoral elections, new labour on May 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Boris has won. This is a dark day. My friend Kiran has a good pre-emptive piece on how we got here and what Gordon Brown needs to do next. On Comment is Free, Jonathan Freedland tells it like it is, poetically: “On a sunny Friday in May, by the glittering waters of the Thames, Tony [...]
What is the What
Posted in Reading on January 2, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Dave Eggers. If you haven’t heard of him, go out and buy his first book, “A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius” right now. The title may seem somewhat immodest, but it’s also fairly accurate. It’s one of the best books I have ever read and completely changed the way I think about fiction, aswell as [...]
songkicked
Posted in Listening, Reading on November 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I’d like to recommend a blog to you: http://songkick.blogspot.com It’s a bit like having your coolest music expert friend on call, any time of the day or night for recommendations. Very nicely written and wow, you get to listen to the recommended tracks for FREE, easy peasy, no annoying downloads or watching ads or getting [...]
Anthony Loyd
Posted in Reading on March 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve just finished “My War Gone By, I Miss It So” by Anthony Loyd and am feeling that minor sense of loss one gets when you close the cover on a book you have loved. Were it not the property of my colleague I would be inclined to immediately reread. Had my breath knocked clean [...]
Tanya Gold, the new Charlie Brooker
Posted in Reading, tagged charlie brooker, comment is free, susan boyle tanya gold, tanya gold on April 23, 2009 | 9 Comments »
I pretty much love Charlie Brooker. Something in his Guardian columns nearly always make me laugh. But when the media get hold of a personality they know people like, someone who can trade on his name alone, there’s always a risk of saturating the market. That’s why I was excited to read two excellently acerbic [...]
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