The Democratic Society are going to be holding a discussion event in Brighton in the next couple of months, and they want YOU to say what issues would be interesting to talk/hear about.
Take the 20-second survey here.
Blog
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On Beachy Head
Looking towards Eastbourne. -
Fine Burger Co.
Grabbed dinner yesterday on the way back through St Pancras at the Fine Burger Co., which is an interesting concept. It’s half way between McDonalds and somewhere like Gourmet Burger Kitchen. They sold me a fantastic fresh burger with loads of veg, great chips and a coke, but (unlike GBK) delivered to fast food timescales and in a grab and go setting rather than sit-down. It’s very nicely done indeed and will make me very likely to head home via St Pancras on a future occasion when I need a quick bite to eat on the way back from London.
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Europe Day films
Tomorrow is Europe Day, and to celebrate the European Movement UK is holding a day-long festival of European film at the Prince Charles Cinema in central London.
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There goes the neighbourhood
A Starbucks is being opened on St James’s Street, a muffin’s throw from the God-like Red Roaster.
Unfortunately, I expect it will do alright.
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When wind turbines … KILL
The IPPR have just published a report saying that immigrants from the new member states are going home – and that many never intended to stay long-term. Checking out the Daily Mail to see what their spin on the story was (they didn’t mention it), I saw this headline that perfectly sums up the Mail’s attitude:
Wind turbines can trigger epileptic fits and seizures, say scientists
Almost, but not quite, as good as the Private Eye version of a Mail headline: “AIDS threat to Labour voters”
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Page 123
Commissioned by Paul to:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.So, the nearest book is Republicanism: a shared European heritage by van Gelderen and Skinner and sentences six to eight (describing the argument of Frans Goethal’s 1566 treatise de foelice et infoelice republica) are:
That state is happy which is built on virtue: “Therefore not the presence of proud buildings, nor high walls make a city famous, but strong excellent men and cultivators of virtue”. Virtue of the people will be achieved through religious training and civic education. The state should support the studia humanitatis through the founding of literary academies.
(I’m sitting at my desk next to my politics books, in case you’re wondering.)
And I’ll tag J-dom, Hadjiboy, Ian, Dave, and The Gorse Fox.
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More hate-filled deceit from the Sun
Amazingly, the Sun has published a not-entirely-accurate story about the EU. Report at Strange Maps.
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Memory and forgetting
A fascinating article by Tony Judt at the New York Review, entitled What Have We Learned, If Anything?, discusses how despite numerous memorials, the history of the 20th century is being misremembered, if it is remembered at all. Judt’s focus is particularly on the US, and its different experience of 20th century warfare, but it also contains some heartfelt passages arguing against the use of torture in modern warfare. As a statement of why the “War on Terror” is a ludicrous concept, it would be hard to improve upon.
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Domestic flights aren’t necessary
I note from a report in this weekend’s FT that when business travellers booked on domestic flights with BA were rebooking during the Terminal 5 screw-up, 50% of them chose rail as their mode of transport. Which makes me think, first, why weren’t they going by rail in the first place? And second, why aren’t we taxing domestic flights out of existence and freeing up some of those supposedly vital Heathrow landing slots? We could even use the revenue to build a useful national rail link to the airport, like at Schiphol or Paris CDG.