Yearly Archives: 2006

A question for cultured readers

Posted on December 8, 2006 by acb

OK, I just finished off a piece for the New Statesman on the uses of heresy with the following sentence: “You say ‘homoousios’ and I say ‘homoiousios’ but we are each trying to get the other to say ‘uncle’.” I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 6 Comments

More evidence of Sun’s inefficiency

Posted on December 8, 2006 by acb

John Naughton writes, apropos the latest version of Adobe Acrobat, which makes commenting easier, that “Those of us who work in the Open Source world know that one of the factors which makes companies wary of moving to Open Office … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in OOo | Comments Off on More evidence of Sun’s inefficiency

Learning from Baker

Posted on December 7, 2006 by acb

Most of the coverage I have seen of the Iraq Study Group’s report has concentrated on its recommendations. This is a waste of time. The whole point about the present disaster is that there is no solution. Defeat is now … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in War | 3 Comments

Words fail me

Posted on December 7, 2006 by acb

But there is a photograph in the New Scientist of a bat with a tongue twice the length of its body. Go look at it, that words may fail you too. Daughter, rushing off to school: “Guess what’s happening today? … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Science without worms | Comments Off on Words fail me

Blogs and journalism (2)

Posted on December 6, 2006 by acb

I have been meaning for years to put an archive of old New Statesman columns online. Now I find that the paper has done it, which proves that idleness pays. But, dammitall, what a genius I had in those days! Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | Comments Off on Blogs and journalism (2)

Blogs and journalism (1)

Posted on December 6, 2006 by acb

Teresa Nielsen Hayden has a piece up about the tendency of media elites to conspire against the general public. It’s full of penetrating good sense, as you would expect, but it misses a couple of points which seem obvious from … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | 3 Comments

Optimism wanted

Posted on December 3, 2006 by acb

There is a wonderful essay by Scott Atran up on John Brockman’s website, in which he eviscerates Professor Dawkins and Sam Harris for their way with evidence. I find it fascinating that among the brilliant scientists and philosophers at the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in God | 1 Comment

Half an aspirin and a pint of gin

Posted on December 1, 2006 by acb

For reasons I don’t entirely understand, my mother-in-law has had a gossip website in Australia named after her. As if any member of her family would gossip! She is in fact a godmother of the founder and proprietor; though “Crikey” … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism | Comments Off on Half an aspirin and a pint of gin

Unusual food in Scandinavia

Posted on November 30, 2006 by acb

(Tasteless). According Svenska Dagbladet there is a row going on in Finland over pictures taken on the Russian front during the war (in which Finland was for a while, unwillingly, an ally of Germany). These have been kept secret ever … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Travel notes | Comments Off on Unusual food in Scandinavia

Sunday Sillies

Posted on November 26, 2006 by acb

Is that the way the girls are in Texas? According the Houston Press, via Wonkette, a Republican woman running for Tom deLay’s old seat had to do so through a write-in campaign. Unfortunate, since her name was the less than … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Blather | 1 Comment