Archive for June, 2009
The politics of hate
Do you hate the Tories? Or perhaps Labour? Or (heaven forfend) maybe even the Liberal Democrats? Or -- deep down -- did you breathe a secret sigh of relief at the rise of the BNP, as, now at last, there was someone you could legitimately hate without being diminished as a person by that hate? When I was sixteen, I once told my (then) girlfriend [...]
Adopt our culture or leave
"Adopt our culture or leave" -- my challenge to the BNP. Nick Griffin would be hugely funny if he were a character created by Sacha Baron Cohen, rather like Borat or Bruno. But his wilfully inconsistent line is a planned and calculated programme to court 'the plain man'. I'm not really sure how dangerous the BNP is. Their support is, after all, [...]
Crowdsourcers shame Telegraph
Crowdsourcing -- an idea that suggests that many people working on their own on a collective project can accomplish great things -- has put paid to the Daily Telegraph's claims that only the vast resources of a major commercial newspaper could possibly have uncovered MP expenses abuse. And it has done it through the mediation of the Telegraph's [...]
Cameron’s False Step
Memo on expenses seen as 'invitation to deselect' -- The Guardian. David Cameron has been sailing close to the wind for some time, but, now we see the first (to mix a metaphor) truly false step. There was already suspicion that he was using the expenses crisis to sweep aside the 'old guard', and now a leaked memo sent by chairman of the Tory [...]
