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A couple of thoughts for the day
1) Whether you want to call it the liberal project, or simply the creation of a country in which all the people are free and happy and generally not in danger of want or starvation, it has to be fought for and is always in danger. Too many people in the media and elsewhere seem to think, naievely and in ignorance of history, that once we've got a ( Read more... ) -
How the government experiments with your money, and doesn't achieve anything useful with it
So, via the Yorkshire ranter, we find this ( Read more... ) -
On the ongoing death of journalism
There's an American company called Tribune that produces newspapers, such as the Chicago tribune and the LA times ( Read more... ) -
A problem with the great person approach to history
is that it covers up, deliberately or indavertently, all the other influences upon history, and the various groups and people and ideas that the Great Person (usually a man) needed to get to their greatness ( Read more... ) -
Safety in the hills
This post has been sparked by the deaths of 5 people just this year in this hills. Two are not yet confirmed dead, but have been missing on Ben Nevis for 6 days now, and there is no chance that they are still alive. Historically I have read of a number of occasions when people's bodies have not been discovered for 2 or 3 months, only with spring ( Read more... ) -
At last, I have a new hillwalking waterproof jacket
Even better, it is a sensible light blue colour, not a bright screaming orange. Unfortunately it was not possible to find one with proper zips and a decent length to it, but this one does at least have a sensible protective hood, with some wire in it, and is bulky enough that I can wear it over layers. It is a Montane Direct Ascent jacket. It ( Read more... ) -
On the new QUeensferry bridge?
I saw this nice bit of film on the BBC website, showing you round parts of the new bridge ( Read more... ) -
Always important to note
that the your average American worker hasn't had a pay rise for 30 years; all the benefits of the last 30 years of growth have gone to a tiny minority. Sure, there are more electronic toys and you can buy a greater variety of cheap clothing, but actual standard of living are not improved ( Read more... ) -
On childrens books and their popularity over time
I noticed at work today that there's now a fuck of great big light industrial/ pharmaceutical/ biotech park beside Radnor Mere, which features in "The weirdstone of Brisingamen" by Alan Garner ( Read more... ) -
I've been busy and tired, but have a rant
I need to buy a new waterproof jacket for hillwalking. Not skiing, so it doesn't need to be padded and warm. Not climbing, so it doesn't need to fit like a glove and stretch and have lots of seams for water to get in ( Read more... )