Travel, technology, media, politics, rinse, repeat

What’s most fascinating about this lament to socialism perdu is the central thesis:

It is axiomatic, since the death of socialism, that governments must everywhere retreat… Liberalisation, privatisation and global policies of “small government” (except in the areas of defence and law and order) have led to a withdrawal by governments from areas of concern, which, until recently, had been seen as their primary functions.

He’s 180 degrees wrong. In fact, the state is hungrier than it’s ever been. [Read more →]

There is a body of opinion – let’s call it the “consensus” – that only Chelsea or Manchester United can win the Premiership in 2007. Within that consensus, of course, there are shades: from “catastrophic” that Man Utd should win, to merely very, very bad that Chelsea do. Surely no good citizen can disagree. Well, they can. Because we have a group loosely called the “Redblue-deniers”. Some think there’s only a chance, a small one not worth worrying too much about, that Chelsea or Man Utd will prevail; and that anyway, the emotional pain of that eventuality could be offset by laying a reverse forecast on the title. Most, though, seem convinced it will be Reading’s year.

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One word absolutely not on the lips of political hacks, not even Tory political hacks, is… Abortion. Not this week, not any week. It’s impolite conversation inside the beltway.

But a post here last year (picked apart here) attracted over 250 comments. Just publishing the word is pure Google-juice. Everyone in the real world has an opinion, so why does nobody in political Britain want to discuss abortion in public? It can’t be that 186,274 (2001 data; pdf) annual terminations don’t warrant justification or inquiry. [Read more →]

Two stories from the afternoon of 11th September, 2001 that you won’t hear anywhere else.

1. I’m standing in Throgmorton Street with my face pressed against the glass of a private banking building. The TV in the corner opposite the reception desk shows the collapse of a tall grey structure. It’s the WTC, North Tower. The channel is Sky News. At the bottom of the screen the LSE stock ticker is scrolling. The prices are changing.

2. I’m in the mail room of Tower 42, the basement of the building formerly known as the NatWest Tower. It’s forty minutes later. Rumours are going around that several airliners are missing over the Atlantic, perhaps heading for London. The workers in the 183m of building above have been told to evacuate. To go home. “Why are you all still here,” I ask the postroom workers. “We’ve been told we have to stay.”

First published at The Sharpener.

I can’t be the only one to have noticed the vogue for quiz shows designed to reproduce, repackage and reinforce existing class relations for primetime TV. The latest incarnation is Poker Face:

Each show will see six new contestants face five rounds of questions. Throughout the game they will know exactly how many they have right and how much money they are accumulating… However they have no idea how well their fellow contestants are actually faring… At the end of each round one person must leave the game. [Read more →]

Ed:

I think Materazzi probably deserved it…With any luck, Materazzi will be disciplined for racist abuse by FIFA.

Dave Hill:

If – and it’s a very big if – I had been him and Materazzi had said to me anything like any of the remarks attributed to him, I think I would have done the same and maybe more.

Matt Foot:

Materazzi called Zidane a “terrorist”, presumably in some disgusting reference to his Algerian descent…Materazzi would be guilty of an offence in this country: racially aggravated disorderly conduct, on the basis of abuse of someone because of their nationality

Piara Powar, national co-ordinator for the anti-racism group Kick It Out:

If there was a racial slur then Fifa needs to act.

I’m sure there are plenty more. You might put this down to footie partisanship. We love Zizou. He’s the peerless footballer of his generation, the greatest since Maradona. Materazzi was a` pantomime clown (and occasionally violent) during his time at Everton. But something more interesting is going on here. [Read more →]

I don’t often write about the NHS. I don’t ever complain about it: my local GP and hospital are both excellent (and have been, unfortunately, well-used by my family). I figure if they can get it right here, in one of Britain’s poorest boroughs, it can be done anywhere. The NHS surgeon that saved my daughter’s life, in Georgeous‘s constituency next door, is no more salubriously sited.

But the best blog post I’ve read all year has given me a nudge. [Read more →]

It’s easy to sneer. In fact, maybe I’m stuck on sneer. So, today, I’m going to try and sound positive about something apparently ridiculous. About this:

Forcing school leavers to do three or four months of community service could help bring people together, Tory leader David Cameron has said.

Mr Cameron is making the case for his National School Leavers’ programme in a speech to voluntary group leaders.

This could work. More: it looks at first glance like a great idea. [Read more →]

Here’s a scenario for you: you have a time-machine, but it will only travel back to Christmas 1996. Labour are obviously about to win next year’s election, and you’re allowed one bet, on this question: who’s going to be the most influential political philosopher of the next decade? Granted, it’s a funny sort of time-machine, but where does your tenner go?

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No, not Slovenia: Slovakia. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve said those exact words. I’ve even confused myself once or twice. Just to be clear: I’m talking about the bit that came after Czech in Czechoslovakia. The bit that we’ve all forgotten in the crush for the Baroque and beer halls of Prague.

It’s unlikely this nearby gem will stay unloved for long, though. Bratislava is surely, depressingly, about to become the next big eastern European stag destination. But to see the country’s best, you need to head into the wilderness.

About the size of Switzerland, with the population of Scotland, Slovakia has nine national parks. From the rock climbing and skiing of the High Tatras to the hiking and caving of the Slovensky Raj or the cycling and canoeing of the Dunajec gorge, your outdoor predilections are probably catered for somewhere. [Read more →]