Of course, no one who really has considered international relationships serious still believes in a truly special relationship between Britain and America, but the last romantics may be wakened from their delusions by this coverage in the Telegraph.
The creation of a Scottish Parliament has done nothing to prevent discussion of independence for Scotland. Simon Jenkins in the Guardian argues that they should be allowed to go ahead. It’s not just the Scottish. The English too are frustrated, and a majority on both sides of the border seem to favour breaking up the [...]
Everything you never knew you wanted to know about strange and bizarre radioactive poisons but didn’t know who to ask. Thank you, BBC.
The House of Lords debated metrication on Monday. I hope that sanity will eventually prevail, and the current system of dual labelling will be permitted to continue.
The Economist attempts to rank the world’s democracies. The methodology is as important as the results. Take, for example, question 14: 14. Is the legislature the supreme political body, with a clear supremacy over other branches of government? The UK scores a point for this test – I suspect that the US did not. What [...]
Nick Clarke has died. The best tribute to one of my favourite voices on radio is this one from Nick Robinson. He had not only a perfect voice for radio, but was one of the few who asked difficult, tough questions with impeccable politeness and not a little wit. It is a combination I will [...]
One of the first posts on this blog concerned attempts by French feminists and politically-correct types to alter the mode of address used for French women. Now, a Telegraph journalist is lost in problems of translation.
Sadam Hussain did not get a `fair trial’ according to the group Human Rights Watch, who claim that: But HRW said it had documented “serious administrative, procedural and substantive legal defects” that meant he did not get a fair trial. I have not followed this case closely enough to say either way whether the verdict [...]
I think the key comment buried in this expose of the farce that is biometric passports is that the implementation is “dangerously naive”. The key needed to read the 3DES encrypted information on the passport is not only printed on the front, but is made up from a series of other pieces of data. It [...]
I wonder what the reason behind this restriction for USPS airmail to foreign countries might be: f. The name of the sender and/or addressee may not be in initials except where they are an adopted trade name. In addition, their own regulations and examples to not agree with each other: k. The delivery address should [...]