Concrete Achievements

Blog

  • The rights stuff

    More on that last point, a lovely quotation from Tom Paine.

    Mr. Burke, on the contrary, denies that [the right to choose a government] exists in the nation, either in whole or in part, or that it exists anywhere; and, what is still more strange and marvellous, he says: “that the people of England utterly disclaim such a right, and that they will resist the practical assertion of it with their lives and fortunes.” That men should take up arms and spend their lives and fortunes, not to maintain their rights, but to maintain they have not rights, is an entirely new species of discovery, and suited to the paradoxical genius of Mr. Burke.

    And of course, of Mr Leigh.

  • Human rights in Delaware

    The ever-excellent slacktivist discusses the public response to a prison scandal in Delaware (summary of response: they were in prison, they deserved what they got). Slacktivist comments:

    The attitude expressed in such letters is as popular as it is morally repugnant. This popularity is both dismaying and baffling. Letters like this express contempt for the Constitution as though such contempt were patriotic — as though the Bill of Rights were some kind of threat to the American way of life.

    It’s not just in Delaware. The Cornerstone group (traditionalist Tories) have put out their platform, which includes not merely the repeal of the Human Rights Act, but also withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights. Because, of course, this human rights nonsense is just the invention of liberal elitist New Labour types, right?

  • The Religious Policeman

    I’m enjoying The Religious Policeman, a blog by a cricket-loving Saudi living in the UK, which casts the eye of a cynical moderate Muslim over Saudi Arabia and the wilder shores of fanaticism.

  • People versus Mandarins

    Simon Parker comments on democratisation, and whether there is a need for a mandarinate any more. On a related note, interested readers of this blog shouldn’t forget the meetup on Wednesday – first meeting of the London and Brighton Democracy group, at the Mitre, off Hatton Garden. Details through the last link.

  • Canaries devour Seagulls

    To Withdean for Brighton v Norwich, without great hopes of winning. Unfortunately, we fail to turn up for the first half, and go in 0-2 down. The second half is much better, though, and we peg them back to 1-2 before they score a third and finish the game off in about the 80th minute.

  • Komm on du Reds

    I thought this was very clever. The Goethe Institut – Germany’s answer to the British Council – are offering courses in ‘German for football fans’, in the run-up to the World Cup there next year.

  • The Ubykhs have a word for it

    BBC News’s magazine section has a piece on foreign sayings that could come in handy.

  • Peter Hitchens – intellectual acrobat

    Right wing buffoon Peter Hitchens is on Newsnight on the topic of capital punishment. He has been talking for perhaps 4 minutes in all, and his arguments have been, in chronological order:

    1. Capital punishment is humane and cheap, and therefore should be introduced for murder.

    2. The Government aren’t really tough on crime, and won’t introduce the death penalty.

    3. Even though the Government has put in new and draconian sentencing laws, they don’t really mean it.

    4. The Government shouldn’t have anything to do with sentencing, they should leave it to the judges.

    5. The Government is authoritarian and just wants to tell us what to do.

    6. The Government might introduce the death penalty for crimes other than murder, and that would be very bad.

    So, meet Peter Hitchens, the anti-death penalty supporter of capital punishment, who wants the Government to get tough with criminals as long as it doesn’t, and wants to interfere with sentencing powers without interfering with judges’ discretion. Is it any wonder the Mail is a byword for intellectual honesty and clarity?

  • Which zip code is which?

    A Google Maps zip code decoder.

  • Very intelligent design

    The New Yorker riffs on “intelligent design”:

    And the Lord God said, “Let there be light,” and lo, there was light. But then the Lord God said, “Wait, what if I make it a sort of rosy, sunset-at-the-beach, filtered half-light, so that everything else I design will look younger?”

    “I’m loving that,” said Buddha. “It’s new.”

    “You should design a restaurant,” added Allah.