The forthcoming UK election may produce a hung Parliament in which no one wields real power. Two months ago it looked as if the Tories were well on their way to victory. What happened?
Nota Bene #103: Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse
“To take people from the music world and give them the same kind of credibility that you give me, Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker—that’s like an aberration. I know there’s some […]
Blogging Blair (2)
Well, sadly, I couldn’t take my laptop into the auditorium, so it’s all written notes. You might as well head over to the Guardian Iraq Inquiry website for the live blog there. […]
Blogging Blair
OK, today is the big day. We’ve already had three hours of Tony Blair this morning, but they’re only letting the public in to either a morning or an afternoon session for […]
More Chilcot
The Chilcot Iraq Inquiry leads up to interviewing Tony Blair onFriday. Before we get there, we’re gong to find out whether the Foreign Office thought the war was illegal.
Stout Denial!
This forthcoming week we expect some more outright lying to go on in the Chilcot inquiry into the leadup of UK participation in the Iraq invasion. But the Dutch inquiry report, which found no basis in international law for the invasion, may change the game a bit.
Christmas music (9)–Best English folk/indie/whatever Christmas album
Actually, for the country that invented the Christmas carol, you’d expect there to be a pretty wide range of choices, and you wouldn’t be disappointed, but still, you’d expect more. That’s probably […]
Christmas Music (1)–Best Traditional Carols
For most people who celebrate Christmas it means the usual things–family, a time to reflect, presents, feeling really full, that sort of thing. But for some of us, it has a deeper, more personal meaning. Specifically, it means “OK, now I get to go out and buy more Christmas music.” So here is an updated list, in no particular order and to be received in the spirit in which it is offered, of some of my favorite stuff, organized by highly arbitrary categories, because it’s a highly arbitrary list. There are 24 of them, and we’ll do it like an advent calendar–one installment a day–although we’re starting a couple of days early.
The Silly Season
It was, I admit, a bit of a surprise to discover that my new country has anarchists around. Not the Kropotkin bomb-makers, of course–the bomb-makers we do have don’t seem motivated by […]
That special something
So now there’s talk among the higher reaches of the Labour government to put together some sort of commission, or study group, to look into whether the Special Relationship has been damaged […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 