Category Archives: War

On marching, or at least standing around, against Trump

Posted on July 15, 2018 by acb

We cycled down from Kings Cross to Cambridge Circus around five, and reached Trafalgar Square about five thirty. The square was still full but there were open spaces on Whitehall and all the way down to parliament square, which was … Continue reading →

Posted in the crash, USA, War | Comments Off on On marching, or at least standing around, against Trump

Scientism and fundamentalism (in honour of Jerry Coyne)

Posted on July 1, 2017 by acb

Below the fold is a piece I wrote for Zia Sardar’s magazine Critical Muslim. It’s rather long, partly because it contains an insertion on Sam Harris and torture. Although younger readers will not remember the new atheists this is a … Continue reading →

Posted in God, War | Comments Off on Scientism and fundamentalism (in honour of Jerry Coyne)

Yes we fucking could!

Posted on November 5, 2008 by acb

I suppose I would have been less shocked and disappointed if Obama had lost than when Kerry did because I could not, still cannot, imagine how anyone could have regarded Bush as even minimally competent by November 2004. But still … Continue reading →

Posted in USA, War | 5 Comments

Why should anyone else feel good?

Posted on August 27, 2008 by acb

Something about the events of the last week have convinced me that Obama will lose horribly this autumn, and that the Clintonites were right in their assumption that America will not elect a black, metropolitan liberal president. I can’t quite … Continue reading →

Posted in USA, War | 7 Comments

The Saunders defence bites back

Posted on August 26, 2008 by acb

Do we really want a certified nutter running Pakistan? It would appear from today’s FT that the US and Britain are perfectly happy with the prospect. When Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir Bhutto’s widow, was trying to fight off corruption charges … Continue reading →

Posted in War | 3 Comments

Who we, white man? (part xxxvi)

Posted on August 20, 2008 by acb

Larry Moran quotes an interview with Dan Dennett: “The very fact that we agree that there are moral limits that trump any claim of religious freedom—we wouldn’t accept a religion that engaged in human sacrifice or slavery, for instance—shows that … Continue reading →

Posted in God, War | Comments Off on Who we, white man? (part xxxvi)

Incidentally

Posted on June 7, 2008 by acb

The current issue of the New Yorker is a real winner. There are some classic cartoons, an unspeakably grim story by Annie Proulx about lives of two poor soldiers from Wyoming, and a series of small, thoughtful and illuminating stories … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, War | 1 Comment

A Pelican History

Posted on June 1, 2008 by acb

England in the Eighteenth Century is a lovely, succinct and succulent volume from the Pelican History of England, written in 1950, at a time of fierce self-improvement. To quote the contemporary review in the Listener: As a portent in the … Continue reading →

Posted in British politics, Literature, Science without worms, War | 1 Comment

The things that Telegraph readers say

Posted on May 16, 2008 by acb

Perhaps by coincidence, Damian Thompson was very quiet for a couple of months after I wrote about him reproducing a neo-nazi propaganda story on his Daily Telegraph blog, though he did ring up to say he would never speak to … Continue reading →

Posted in British politics, Journalism, War | 6 Comments

The Telegraph brings news

Posted on May 9, 2008 by acb

I hope it’s not going to be another summer when the Daily Telegraph is the paper that knows what’s going on. I don’t mean that its reports are true, but that they are uniquely informative because they tell us what … Continue reading →

Posted in War | 2 Comments