I was stuck on a rail replacement coach on my way back to London yesterday, which left me in the unusual situation of reading the Observer from cover to cover, including this rather interesting piece by Will Hutton. His argument … Continue reading →

Eulogist is back at Reflections on European Democracy, and he’s returned with a nicely thought-provoking prost – “it is clear what happens if a majority votes �yes�. But is it equally clear what it means to vote �no�? Hardly”. For … Continue reading →

A nice little overview of the current condition of the EU from the perspectives of a couple of businessmen sets out some of the reasons why the union must constantly evolve. But it also, without making too much fuss about … Continue reading →

Today the first moves were made, by the unchallengable leader of an utterly dominant political party, towards the imminent elections in which his political opponents stand absolutely no chance of winning. This leader has advocated the imprisonment of people he … Continue reading →

Here’s the options: 1) North Korea is bluffing and they don’t have nukes; 2) They’re not and they do. Let’s take 2) first. If North Korea have nukes, what can they hit? Well, they reportedly have missiles with a range … Continue reading →

A truly mental rogue state announcing it already has Nukes. Great. “North Korea today publicly acknowledged for the first time that it has nuclear weapons and rejected recent attempts to restart disarmament talks soon.” From the Guardian – more can … Continue reading →

But you should have done this thirty years ago.

Very busy today. Sorry. Forgot to link to the Veritas anthem. Truly superb stuff. Also, Backing Blair should be up and running tomorrow. It will be well worth a look. Oh, you want more? Right, linkdump time – these are … Continue reading →

Condi is in Paris today to make a speech which could mark a turning point in the EU’s relationship with the Bush administration. She is expected to stress common objectives, and to make vague gestures to forget the tensions of … Continue reading →

Step 1: Have no policies to speak of Step 2: Be led by a shifty bloke who everyone blames for the Poll Tax Step 3: Sue the single biggest media owner in the country Ladies and gentlemen, may I present … Continue reading →

This seems to be a popular topic at the moment, what with Labour and the Tories both promising to get tough on the issue, and old permatan setting up a new party almost entirely based on a desire to have … Continue reading →

I think they mean the EU, but still – an interesting article which follows on from Tony Judt’s NYRB article extracted here, looking at a few new books about the Euro-American relationship. Europe has power: not military power, but all … Continue reading →

That Stop Veritas guy may not be so much of a loon after all… He’s come across the British National Party’s press release about the launch of Kilroy-Silk’s Veritas, and a statement from BNP leader Nick Griffin, which seems to … Continue reading →

An interesting short article on the lack of any real sense of European identity gives a nice overview of some of the problems facing the EU, and of the possible outcomes of the proposed constitution, and follows on nicely from … Continue reading →