Words can be really slippery and none more so than words like ‘Freedom’. We think of it as an unalloyed good, but the harder you look the harder it is to define. Generally First of all, there is no such thing as complete Freedom You cannot escape from gravity (on Continue Reading
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personal
The question of the EU
Posted on February 23, 2016 The debate is now on and in 100 days we have to make a decision that will have repercussions for at least the next 30 years. Sovereignty Lots of people are arguing over the issues of sovereignty. But I should declare my point of view Continue Reading
The Chocolate Teapot analogy
You are standing in a bar and a couple of guys nearby get into a heated argument. The first says that there is a chocolate teapot in orbit around Jupiter; The second equally violently asserts that it is impossible. They debate the issue from all sides – why chocolate instead Continue Reading
The Greek Financial Crisis – June 2011
Posted on June 19, 2011 There is at least a chance that we will look back on the next 3 months as the time the world stopped!!! The country of Greece has a sovereign debt of about $500bn, which is just a bit less than that of Lehman Bank when Continue Reading
An atheist in a moral universe
There was a time when the possibility of the earth revolving round the sun was the subject of much debate and, since there was a limited amount of evidence, it was basically a matter of belief and philosophy. Today there is no longer any serious debate, not least because we Continue Reading
Professionals now face automation
Artificial intelligence has long been the promise of the computer industry’s future, but until recently it has been characterised by a failure to deliver on almost all fronts. But there is now a serious risk to the professional classes that over the next decade their right to power, status and Continue Reading
Dihydrogen Monoxide should be banned!
Dihydrogen monoxide should be banned as a matter of urgency. It is well known that this chemical is fatal when inhaled, contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape, may cause electrical failures, and has been found in the excised tumours of terminal cancer patients. And yet we find this Continue Reading
The parent habit
There was a lovely phrase in a Guardian article today, written by a single mother who brought up a son on her own. When she first realised she was pregnant and on her own she says “I found it a huge relief to give up the habits of egotism ingrained Continue Reading
My favourite Quotes
I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong. Leo Rosten (1908 – ) It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Seneca Continue Reading
Vote yes for AV on the 5th May
At the last election I was fairly ambivalent as to which party I supported, which is unusual for me. But I was pretty certain that I did not want the Conservatives to win! I was sure that the Osborne form of sado-masochistic economic policy in which we bow to the Continue Reading