Yearly Archives: 2003

A deeper well

Posted on July 6, 2003 by acb

Because I’m thinking about groups, socially, and biologically, and because I’m meant to be writing about them, too, I found myself reading Clay Shirky’s latest. One of those delicious moments when you discover why someone has a reputation for worthwhile … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The wilful perversity of Andrew Sullivan

Posted on July 6, 2003 by acb

Could anything be more stupid than this? “One of the many layers of the arguments for invading Iraq focused on the difficulties of waging a serious war on terror from a distant remove. Being based in Iraq helps us not … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Small pleasures

Posted on July 2, 2003 by acb

I had a really nice letter from Johann Änglemark a couple of weeks ago, who had been led to the Harry Martinson poem by one of the twisty little links with which this site abounds. So I went back this … Continue reading →

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What we were told (July 2002)

Posted on July 2, 2003 by acb

A weekly series chronicling what was in the warhard papers a year ago: in the first week of July, the Telegraph had no opinion pieces mentioning Iraq. But it did announce our role in the war. Tony Blair and George … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Atkins diet for real men

Posted on June 26, 2003 by acb

My favourite quote in this story is a throwaway: “Grandma was a couple hundred pounds overweight”. It’s about a steakhouse in Texas, where you can eat five pounds of steak for free — providing you do so within an hour. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 2 Comments

They told us so

Posted on June 26, 2003 by acb

all along, apparently, except when they forgot to do so. The thing about military experts’ predictions is not that they tell the future very well. But they tell you a great deal about the present. John Keegan’s pieces tell you … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in War | 1 Comment

worst breakfast read of all time

Posted on June 26, 2003 by acb

Comes from this report in today’s Guardian — Every half-hour for six hours afterwards, the researchers emptied the volunteers’ colostomy bags and tested the contents for a specific gene that had been spliced into the GM soya. I found it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Not that sort of ring

Posted on June 24, 2003 by acb

The Nine Bishops who wrote an open letter protesting that it was wrong to appoint a celibate gay as bishop of Reading last week have got themselves a nickname. They are known to their opponents as the Nazgul. Continue reading →

Posted in God | 5 Comments

why no posts

Posted on June 23, 2003 by acb

Gay bishops. House painting. Hay fever. Sinusitis. Did I mention gay bloody bishops? Continue reading →

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Galloway innocent horror

Posted on June 20, 2003 by acb

Two small bits of news about George Galloway: one of the English papers carried a “where is his writ?” note — apparently he still hasn’t sued the Telegraph for suggesting that he took money from Saddam Hussein — and the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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