Post Archives for Kensei
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Why is blackmail illegal?
So, you’ve probably seen the story about David Letterman being blackmailled over his affairs. This forms the basis of a thought provoking piece in the New Yorker asking why blackmail is illegal: A final call went out to Walter Block, the libertarian economist. Block believes that blackmail, like smoking, is “yucky” but should be legal. [...] more »
Bleg: What is the issue with money for P&J?
Exciting innovation! The excellent Freakonomics blog occasionally runs a “bleg” defined as: A bleg = blog + beg — i.e., using a blog to beg for information. In that spirit, the following types of comment keeps popping up regarding the devolution of Policing and Justice: PSNI is in serious financial trouble at present, if a [...] more »
“But I don’t happen to believe in Unionism”
H/T to qubol for this. On a predictably heated thread on football eligibility from a few years back: IJP Go join the UUP. Posted by kensei on Oct 24, 2007 @ 11:28 PM Why would I join the UUP? Well, the North Down Westminster seat in due course? Or a walk-in for MEP? If I [...] more »
On the uneasy morality of violence
This article from Vincent Browne does eventually wind up comparing the killing of Louis Mounbatten to the Nazis in a roundabout way, but his attempt at working through his logic should be appreciated rather than scorned. Many on this site profess a moral certainty in their favoured direction over the Troubles that I have never [...] more »
“Bloggers are nerds. This is obvious.”
Fantastic speech by John Hodgman at Radio & TV Correspondents’ Dinner with President Obama in attendance. Subtle, clever, and genuinely funny. Truly worthy of the best nerds. more »
The state of the SDLP is leading to a crisis in Nationalism
I think Mark, in common with others, has underrated the Sinn Fein performance in the North. Brian lamented parties playing up the significance of topping the pole, but seemed miss that whatever Chris or commentators here might have posted, the SF leadership assuredly did not do it. They also largely resisted the temptation to cause [...] more »
Musical Interlude
So a little interlude on one of my other interests. A now extensive gig going record has revealed that it is painfully rare to catch band that is special, especially a local one. I stumbled over The Lowly Knights supporting California indie folksters Port O’Brien, and they accomplished the very rare feat of being better [...] more »
The Unpost
Or the “Social Media Super Political Text Vortex” if you prefer. Inspired by Mick’s unconference, I am having an unpost. No doubt you, like me, get through about a zillion articles that you either forget about a bit later, aren’t entirely relevant to the remit of the site, or you don’t have time to dig [...] more »
Fungiblity
Stephanie Flanders nails why I found it impossible to build the requisite outrage at the expenses scandal: The idea is this: money is fungible. Put simply, that means one £50 note is the same as any other. They all have the same value and they will all buy the same amount of stuff. Put it [...] more »
Childish
So someone finally asked me why it’s the Ulster Conservative and Unionist New Force, or CUMBLA. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c 10 F#@king Years – NAMBLA thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor I love the Daily Show. more »
Cameron promises to elevate Salmond to his equal
I can’t actually believe I read this one: DAVID CAMERON last night challenged Alex Salmond to agree to an annual grilling by MPs under a Conservative government. The First Minister would be asked to appear at least once a year before a cross-party Westminster committee to discuss policy and spending decisions affecting Scotland. … In [...] more »
Proof Northern Ireland is not a country……
Results are in. Super duper hyped new computational search engine Wolfram|Alpha has done it’s stuff and Northern Ireland is not a country. Sorry Unionists! more »
Effort in Education
More from the New Yorker, I’ve been picking it up the last few weeks and simply can’t recommend it enough. Douglas McGray writes on Green Dot, a charter school organisation in Los Angles and its energetic founder, Steve Barr. This one is locked down too, but fortunately Green Dot have put a scan of the [...] more »
Rwanda in Recovery
A few weeks back The New Yorker did a powerful article on Rwanda 15 years after the genocide. It details the incredible progress the country has made and the tensions and difficulties in a place where genocide survivor must live side by side with genocide killer. Sadly it’s locked down behind subscriber registration. However a [...] more »
Soaking the Rich
I think it would be fair to say that Pete’s favourite business reporter, Robert Peston, is somewhat skeptical of the 50% tax rate: What’s more, the IFS says that the Treasury is actually being too optimistic, on the basis of the best economic model of the impact on revenues of tax-rate increases. This model predicts [...] more »
Is the difference between Iceland and Ireland not R but €?
I have been reading Paul Krugman’s “The Return of Depression Economics”. It was originally written to cover problems in the Asian economies in the late nineties, but has been updated to cover the strikingly similar things that have occured everywhere in the past year. He spends a good deal of time on how small economies [...] more »
Orde quits PSNI to head Police Association
I thought someone else would have picked this up by now Northern Ireland’s Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde is to leave his post and become president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo). Reaction from the BBC BBC Analysis Any thoughts, reflections or predictions welcome. more »
She will cut you!
Jon Stewart on the Obamas meeting the Queen and the apparent breach of protocol. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c The Poisonous Queen comedycentral.com Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor more »
Was China’s call for a world currency a sign of weakness?
A couple of economists have weighed in on the Chinese proposal for a world reserve currency. They are both worth reading in full, as I think it highlights a perhaps overlooked aspect of the current crisis.Stephen Flanders at the BBC is impressed, giving the Chinese kudos for global leadership for a proposal that ….would have [...] more »
When it comes to either/or, there is only the quick choice of death
The Way of The Samurai is found in death. When it comes to either/or, there is only the quick choice of death. It is not particularly difficult. Be determined and advance. To say dying without reaching one’s aim is to die a dog’s death is the frivolous way of sophisticates. When pressed with the choice [...] more »
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Books
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A poem for the day – Launching the Whaler Juan Peron
A Belfast epic, and one of my oldest poems, the opener of my first collection, Grub. The gist of the story was found in Moss & Hume’s Shipbuilders to the World: 125 Years of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, 1861-1986, which tells how Eva Peron was due to launch a huge whaling vessel in Belfast, built [...] read our review » -
Do Words Matter?: Book Review of Political Discourse and Conflict Resolution – Debating Peace in Northern Ireland
I share many of the concerns of Andy Pollak, whose recent post ‘My Response to the Slugger Begrudgers’ zeroed in on the ‘relentless flow of negativity’ of some Slugger commentators. Pollak’s post was largely concerned with the medium of the blog. Indeed, I think the anonymity of the online world encourages extreme discourse and allows [...] read our review »
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“You can see Newton’s mind at work…”
To add to the open access treasure trove at the Royal Society, Cambridge University Library is putting online some of its collection of books, maps, manuscripts and journals. We have called the first phase of our work on the Cambridge Digital Library the Foundations Project, which runs from mid-2010 to mid-2013 and has been made possible [...] read our review »
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