Category: Politics
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The Problem with Gove’s E-Bacc: Intelligence isn’t about being a ‘know it all’.
In what could amount to one of the most significant announcements regarding education in England (and perhaps Wales) in many years, yesterday Michael Gove set out his vision for the English Baccalaureate. I’ve got a number of concerns about this, including the huge expense that this is going to incur, much of which will fall…
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Pirates as Proto-Marxists, and Why This Shouldn’t Give You a ‘Red Alert’
As I build up to coming over the US to speak about Mutiny in about a month’s time – details to follow soon – I’m going to be blogging a bit more about the book, and the wide themes that it covers. Reading Tad Delay’s blog today though, inspired me to mention a perspective on…
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Beating the Bounds: Pussy Riot and Orthodox Pirate Practice
Been meaning to write something on Pussy Riot for a while now. I’ve been reflecting on how their protest resonates with the ancient practice of ‘beating the bounds.’ Traditionally, each year, members of a parish would march around the parish boundary, often singing hymns and songs. The ritual served two purposes. Firstly, it passed on…
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A Very Modern Decathlon: Who Would Win the ‘Whole Person’ Olympic Gold?
One of the things I liked about Tom Wolfe’s novel I Am Charlotte Simmons is the journey that one of the main characters, Jojo, takes, from ‘dumb college jock’ to athletic student of philosophy. It’s an arc that’s not that uncommon: the pursuit of excellence in sport requires careful reflection on the self; top…
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The End of ACTA – European Parliament Seeing Sense on Copyright / DRM
Good news today: the European Parliament has voted down the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) – an act which has some parallels with the SOPA / PIPA legislation that was proposed in the US. ACTA sought to tighten up rules on intellectual property, but proposed to do so in ways that would have been highly…
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Gifts, Not Exchanges
Interesting debate going on about charitable giving in the UK. The recent coalition government’s budget set a cap on the amount of money that people can give and get tax relief for…and charities have responded with concerns that this will reduce the amount of money they receive. In a weird parallel story, a supermarket have…