Concrete Achievements

Blog

  • Holy fools

    The BBC is reporting that a group of CofE bishops are suggesting a meeting of Christian and Muslim religious leaders to apologise for the Iraq war.

    Whatever your view of the rights and wrongs of the war, this is surely really stupid. I’m never convinced by the ‘Bishops shouldn’t involve themselves in politics’ line that the Tories trotted out from time to time, but on this particular issue, they’re miles off.

    First, the war was not – to my knowledge – started by the Church of England, so it’s not for them to apologise, except in a rather pathetic hand-wringing ‘It’s not my fault, honest’ sort of way.

    More importantly, though, the war was not about Christians vs. Muslims. It was a war of nominally Christian western states against a secular state inhabited mainly by Muslims. To start going on about apologies from one faith to another plays right into the terrorists’ claims that this is a ‘Crusade’ against Muslims which – for all its faults – it most certainly is not.

  • London to Brighton run

    Southern Railways’ new Electrostar trains – the last one of which was delivered the other day – have broken the London – Brighton rail speed record, setting a new time of 36’56”.

  • London & Brighton Democracy meetup

    The first meeting of the London and Brighton Democracy meetup has been arranged, for 5 October at 1930, at the Mitre, off Hatton Garden.

  • Burma Shave Slogans

    Burma Shave signs were iconic American advertising from the fifties. Witty billboards posted along a stretch of highway so they read as a little snatch of doggerel, either advertising the benefits of shaving, or with a little safety message. Fiftiesweb has a collection of the old slogans, and more on their history.

    Example:
    If your peach
    Keeps out
    Of reach
    Better practice
    What we preach
    Burma-Shave

    and

    On curves ahead
    Remember, sonny
    That rabbit’s foot
    Didn’t save
    The bunny
    Burma-Shave

  • When not in Rome

    MetaFilter links to a great site full of 360° panoramas of Rome. Personal favourite – the view of the Pantheon. I sat in exactly that spot over thirteen years ago, just before I started university.

  • German elections

    Confused (or more likely apathetic) about the German elections? Don’t be! They’re important, quite interesting, and now Der Spiegel’s English language edition gives you a handy primer to the issues and people. Link via A Fistful of Euros.

  • Adlestrop

    Adlestrop station sign and bench
    Photo from http://www.mjausson.com

    I went out to Worcester today, to give a talk, and the train passed the site of the old Adlestrop station, made famous by Edward Thomas’s beautiful poem. The poem’s always been a favourite of mine, Jane and I had a poster of it up in the first flat we had together, but I’d never been to the place itself.

    You can see why Thomas was moved to poetry – the view from the railway line between Oxford and Evesham, running along the Evenlode Valley, is absolutely spectacular. So much so, in fact, that when faulty line-side equipment kept us waiting at a signal for 35 minutes, I was almost pleased.

  • Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.

    Salon.com (click-through advert or paid sub, sorry) has a good review of the new book The Republican War on Science, talking about such things as stem cell research, the anti-global warming campaign, and – of course – intelligent design.

    See the John Stuart Mill quote in the title.

  • Bush and Blair at the UN

    Just been watching Bush and Blair speaking at the UN Security Council (clips on Newsnight for the next 24 hours, about 10-12 minutes in).

    My God, Bush is an atrocious public speaker. He reads from his notes, he gabbles, he hesitates, he mumbles. I’m glad I’m not his translator. Compare that with Blair – still reading, but using his notes intermittently, speaking forcefully. World of difference. Now, who’s the leader of the free world again?

  • Rousseau: Government of Poland

    Thought for the day from Rousseau’s Government of Poland.

    As long as luxury reigns among the great, cupidity will reign in all hearts. The object of public admiration and the desires of private individuals will always be the same; and if one must be rich in order to shine, to be rich will always be the dominant passion. This is a great source of corruption, which must be diminished as much as possible.