Highlights
Count Binface and electoral theatre
Don’t be a costumed loon — It’s trivially easy to stand for Parliament in the UK. Any loon can do so. You need ten electors to nominate you and £500 for a deposit – and it’s actually been getting easier. The deposit was introduced in 1918 (£150 – quite a lot of money then). Before […]
I hate this
But does it matter? — I don’t usually say that sort of thing here. I try to be more measured, less personal. I’m talking about the police face recognition vans obviously. This might not surprise you: I mean that I don’t like them. I’m an old git after all, a man who’s written here before […]
Where is my patriotism?
Come, love of country, fill my heart… — I do love Britain. I guess I love England more. London most of all. I hope that in my life I’ve honoured the place I live and not disgraced it or undermined it (I support England and GB in sporting events – I fly a little flag […]
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Why I won’t be buying any Google shares
Actually, it’s quite boring. I won’t be buying any shares in Google because I never buy shares in anything. The only businesses I’ve owned shares in are my own. This…
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Things I’d have been reading if I’d been reading the right things lately
Tom Standage’s survey ‘Beyond the Bubble‘ from the Economist a couple of weeks ago. You could use these, beautifully written, periodic Economist surveys to plot a pretty accurate graph of…
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Do it yourself… Start your own school…
I’m at Demos‘ tenth birthday party and I’m bending the ear of Geoff Mulgan ? founder of Demos and, since 1999, a top man in the Number 10 Policy Unit…
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A suburban urge
The 14 year-old in me (so that’s about 1977) really wants one of these instead of one of these (nice cutaway here). I am so suburban (or maybe one of…
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Bismarck’s legacy
Europe’s pension ‘pyramid scheme’ is in terminal crisis. In Italy, public pension payments already account for 15% of GDP annually. Everyone knows that pensions are broken (and Britain’s are rather…
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Media overthrow still imminent
Over in Medialand it’s business as usual. The Telegraph has a new editor (yawn!), Carlton and Granada are to be allowed to merge (did you hear Allen and Green’s surprisingly…
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The caffeine economy
Friday, schlepped around town with Stuart, talking wi-fi with Mike Nutley, veteran New Media Age editor (He’s pleased to point out that his tenure spans the magazine’s fattest ever issue…
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A handy colour scheme generator
This is very groovy, although, since ‘pixy‘, who created it, apparently retains copyright in schemes generated, I wonder what the status of a site (or anything else) created using one…