How I learned to stop worrying about Brexit and love Trump
Contrary to the impression you might get from reading my blog or following me on social media, I’m not actually that hardcore right-wing – except perhaps as a result of …
Read MoreMonth: August 2019
Don’t ban the sickle, hammer the wearers
Should red stars, hammers-and-sickles and other communist symbols be banned by retailers? Lithuania thinks so: Lithuania has urged American online retailer Amazon to stop selling clothing featuring the hammer and …
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The great Chinese take away
“The Atlantic” has a very long and a very good article about the Chinese espionage in America (you can imagine the situation is not dissimilar in other countries of interest): Donald …
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Russia tries to normalise Ribbentrop-Molotov
The other day the world (mostly Eastern Europe and a few history buffs) remembered to 80th anniversary of the signing in Moscow of the infamous Ribbentrop-Molotov non-aggression pact between the …
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Amazon pants on fire
Amazon rain forest is burning in Brazil and people are angry: When a fire tore through Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris earlier this year, donations poured in across the world at …
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There is no Monopoly like a Socialist Monopoly
I confess I never really got into “Monopoly”. The game struck me as long and tedious and teaching the wrong messages about the economy. Or maybe it was just my …
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Sometimes you’re just a dick
Nick Kyrgios is a dick. I don’t know Nick, so I apologise to him if I’m wronging him – not that he particularly cares what I think of him – …
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Moral Masculinity?
Maybe not so toxic after all? The role that hormones play in decision making has been debated for years and years. Many believe that testosterone, the main sex hormone found …
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Everyone wants power, no one wants accountability
One of the lessons on why communism doesn’t work that I brought from my childhood is that when something belongs to everyone it belongs to no one (and people will …
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Here come the eco-fascists
“The Washington Post” beat me to taking a closer look at the Christchurch, NZ, and El Paso, Texas, terrorist attacks carried out this year by two white supremacists against Muslim …
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Honk for Honkers
When I visited Hong Kong three years ago, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge was still under construction, with pylons lined up along the existing road from the airport to the city still …
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The Prime Minister who broke the Pacific’s heart…
…and made them cry. Apparently: A Prime Minister has been brought to tears over Australia’s stalled efforts around climate change. Wrapping up the Pacific Island Forum held this week in …
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Philosophers agree: we need to deny access to “wrong” ideas
Last year, Bryan W. Van Norden, professor of philosophy at Wuhan University, Yale-NUS College and Vassar College (and the author of “Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto”) wrote an opinion piece …
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Gender inequality – but not like you’ve seen it before
A team of researchers from the University of Missouri and the University of Essex have produced a new way of measuring the relative well-being of both sexes (yes, only two, according …
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No planes, definitely trains, and maybe automobiles
This is what the Steve Martin/John Candy classic comedy would be like if remade by Greta Thunberg. In the Swedish version, Neal Page would never make it home for Thanksgiving …
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Elizabeth Warren sends smoke signals about broadband
It’s just somebody else’s money, so who cares, right? Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal to guarantee universal high-speed internet access on Wednesday as part of a new …
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The stupidity of (all) identity politics
Actress Rosanna Arquette is in the news for tweeting the other day “I’m sorry I was born white and privileged. It disgusts me. And I feel so much shame.” No, I …
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China – a friend or a fowl?
Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, an ex-soldier who currently happens to be the chair of the parliamentary intelligence committee, has created a bit of a stir when he compared the rise …
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A tale of two angry young men
Two mass shootings in the US in two days, two very angry and disturbed young men. In El Paso: A manifesto posted online shortly before Saturday’s massacre at a Walmart …
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Why everyone should visit a mine
If I were a state education minister I would endeavour to make it a compulsory part of a high school curriculum for students to have at least one field excursion …
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