paradiastole – rewording a bad thing to make it seem good, or a good thing to make it seem bad. So: drunkenness – good companionship or clemency – weakness.
Picked up in the New York Review of Books, talking about Quentin Skinner‘s work on rhetoric and political theory.
Results from the first round of the Iranian election have pitted a right-winger against … er … an even more right-winger. Interesting to see whether there’ll be a Chriac/LePen vote split next Friday.
Bill Thompson lays into Live8 and Bob Geldof over the eBay selling controversy.
Brief recap: people were selling their legally-obtained Live8 tickets on eBay. Geldof was upset, threatened boycotts, etc. eBay caved, ticket sales withdrawn.
Bill rightly points out that this is a pretty illiberal thing to do. eBay’s just a marketplace. Threatening them with boycotts for what their sellers do is the worst sort of collective punishment – not that far removed from Nicht vom Juden kaufen.
eBay is a Big Bad Corporation, of course, so it’s easy to knock it – even though it was hardly encouraging the sales. But shouldn’t freedom of speech extend to freedom of commerce?
I was in Brighton the other weekend, househunting with the family. We decided to stay a couple of nights as a treat (the move to Amersham had just fallen through), and also to give us a couple of evenings out on the town.
We stayed at the very pleasant New Steine Hotel, on the New Steine, along St. James’s Street towards Kemp Town. Very friendly staff and good, clean rooms for a reasonable rate, though the bed wasn’t of the most comfortable, and there was no lift. Can’t recommend the restaurant, though – a French bistro that delivered a medium-rare steak with no pinkness: for shame!
The last night there my sister baby-sat, and we went out for a meal with two friends to the Coach House on Middle Street. Great food and friendly service – highly recommended. Good as a bar, too, with some tables for drinking out front and a small bar area.
What if all the Tubes were south of the river instead?
Barry Goldwater, arch conservative, speaking in 1964, and quoted on Fierce Planet:
“The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of ‘conservatism.’”
Inside Mac Games has published a selection of the dimmer correspondence they’ve had recently. My favourite:
I like to know if play game Medal of Honor possible on iPod? (sic)
Er… no.
Similarities between the cultural revolution on America’s campuses, and the Cultural Revolution.
If you ever doubt that the wingnuts are really nuts, listen to the discussions on the Schiavo autopsy over at Free Republic. (Comments are below the tendentious news story).
Terri Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state, it seems, and Michael Schiavo hadn’t physically abused her. Humble pie all round.
More discussion chez Margolis.
