English Language 1. Write only the verb from this sentence: “He was trying, essentially, to be seen to be embracing all of the concepts in that philosophical tract.” English Literature 2. From which hostelry did the pilgrims to Canterbury set out and where was that hostelry situated? General Mathematics 3. What does this represent? Geometry [...]
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Filed under: Diversions, Society & human issues
It’s not just brain food The war against cognition is past its infancy and I’d like to go back to where it changed. For a start, the difference between Scottish and English education used to be marked but I can’t comment on the Scottish today. Wiki says: Traditionally, the Scottish system has emphasised breadth across [...]
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The preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks is of more importance to the public than all the property of the rich men in the country. [John Adams] Only by restoring the authority of knowledge can we improve teachers’ status, says Michele Ledda. Developing skills is important but it can neither precede [...]
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Filed under: History & Culture, Music
Le figaro discute une question la plus importante: Seuls 15 % des hommes déclarent acheter des ensembles de lingerie féminine, selon une étude TNS Worldpanel, les plus friands de ce type d’achats étant âgés de 25 à 49 ans. En revanche, les femmes achètent sans hésiter en boutique ou sur le Net les caleçons, boxers, [...]
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Filed under: Society & human issues, Technology & ideas
Just some snippets. Karl first: Fannie and Freddie had their losses transferred “in entirety” to the taxpayer on Christmas Eve – after the market closed and while nobody (they hoped) was watching. … and: But things are changing. It has been reported that Wall Street bonuses will total some $145 billion. That’s 1% of GDP [...]
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Filed under: Politics & economics
Some time back, I was asked, “You’re not a health nut, are you?” Another time, “You’re not a germ freak, are you?” I presume the former meant, “You do eat junk food 24/7 like us, don’t you?” and the latter meant, “Surely you don’t clean your house, do you? I wouldn’t like to think you [...]
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I read the Scientific American fisking of Ben Stein and winced, not because they were necessarily correct but because he had given them such openings which no professional would have done. It’s like, hypothetically, when a team such as Man United might skilfully work the ball upfield, only to pass it to Alex Ferguson’s son [...]
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Filed under: Diversions
There’s no blog entry from Jessica Watson this time because she has experienced four knockdowns during a violent storm in the South Atlantic which at times reached 70 knots. However, one of her team has posted in the news section and also at her blog. It’s been a charmed ride so far and the way [...]
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Filed under: Politics & economics
Last evening was Film Scores and this evening is Film Endings. Like the quality of the coffee and port at the end of the meal, the ending of a film is quite vital, IMHO, as to the mood in which one leaves the theatre. Here are a few of those which affected me. What are [...]
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Filed under: Literature & performing arts
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is an announcement, not a press conference. There will be no questions afterwards.” When a movie gets a 92% Rotten Tomatoes rating and yet Wiki quotes Time magazine’s Richard Schickel: “We would probably be better off rethinking—or better yet, not thinking about—the whole dismal business, if only to put an end [...]
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Filed under: Literature & performing arts, Politics & economics
Never underestimate the power of a small action by one or two people, repeated nationwide. This is what has been happening in these days and weeks and the types of people beginning to contact the Albion Alliance now indicate that some people outside the blogosphere are starting to feel we might be able to make [...]
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Cougars are beautiful Apparently the Cougars behaved so badly that they’ve been banned: US-based Carnival Cruises will no longer host cougar-themed voyages, aimed at older women who prefer younger men. No one is saying exactly what happened during the first so-called cougar cruise on Carnival Elation last month but it won’t happen again, at least [...]
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Filed under: Society & human issues
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Filed under: Literature & performing arts, Music
True confessions. This blog has never treated the topic of land and Land Value Tax because frankly, the author doesn’t understand it at all. Today, we tried to discuss it but kept going around in circles. There’s a discussion going on at Three Acres and a Cow and I get some of it but when [...]
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Angus comments on the reduction in Munir’s sentence for chasing an intruder down the street and giving him what-for: [Lord Judge] said the case was not about the right of householders to defend their families and homes but the ruling effectively means anyone in the same position could expect mercy in the courts. Hussain, 53, [...]
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Let’s face it – Westminster politics is the worst way to govern I can imagine. Take the Tories’ tax on drivers, which they say is to pay for the marriage allowance. Quite apart from causing resentment in the community of tax breaks being given to married couples, which the community should not resent by the [...]
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Filed under: Politics & economics
Anyone remember any of these?
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What will you find behind the garden wall?
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Filed under: Diversions
Tiberius Gracchus asks, quite reasonably: Firstly I’m not sure what your [James Higham's] theory has to do with ideologies of empire in Britain during the 16th and 17th Centuries. The answer to this is quite complicated but I’ll go into this below. Tiberius also says: Secondly, as for the theory itself. I disagree with it. [...]
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Bloody [good] Ukulele Orchestra in one of their megahits: Lena Horne, the voice of an angel:
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Please watch the two minute youtube and then try the test below: Test 1. For half a point: The two kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira together made up which 7th century kingdom within the British Isles? For the other half: What new kingdom was the southern part subsequently lost to? 2. For half a point: [...]
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This is not a learned treatise but a few random comments, sorry to disappoint. Let’s cut to the chase – Agatha Christie wrote books and they were her intellectual property. However, the law today has set precedents where it is held that the ideas she employed, the sources for plots etc. used other people’s intellectual [...]
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Cougars are beautiful A correspondent of mine is having family worries and that leads me back to the notion that families are something which I avidly support the need for in a married context but at the same time I can’t personally take much of. This blog’s already mentioned Christmas and the desire to escape [...]
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For the future technologist and purveyor of ideas about the future, 200 comments is a lot, Lord T. Please accept this humble token which is the first time this has been awarded as somehow I lost the original, if there ever had been one and had to construct a brand new badge, so there. Anyway, [...]
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Filed under: Blogging
Dear oh dear.
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Yes, it’s the ton for Mark Wadsworth, he of the Land Value Tax and the bovine interests, not to mention the garden furniture in winter. Nourishing Obscurity salutes you, sir and may you find a good place to shove the badge humbly presented for your copying and pasting. The cheque itself is in the mail. [...]
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Why would a man wish to sing like this in the first place? Must he be a castrato to do so?
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Click pic
Click pic
Don't forget these either:
Helpforheroes
Afghan Heroes
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