May, 2011

Time to rock the boat and rock the vote

There’s a story told about James II as he was fleeing from the Battle of the Boyne.  He needed to get across the river at a particularly wide point, and quick, so he hired this ferryman.  After a while the ferryman looked over his shoulder and said “Here – I know you. You’re James II! […]

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Time to rock the boat and rock the vote

There’s a story told about James II as he was fleeing from the Battle of the Boyne.  He needed to get across the river at a particularly wide point, and quick, so he hired this ferryman.  After a while the ferryman looked over his shoulder and said “Here – I know you. You’re James II! […]

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The Leaders’ Debate: Five things we now know

Five things we know after the Leaders’ Debate last night: 1.    Maggie Ritchie has reverted. For a while she had gone a bit Thatcher – the naturally grinding voice transformed overnight into a near-whisper. It mustn’t have worked because last night she was back at her biting-the-big-Halloween-apple best.  As for other features of her speaking […]

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The Leaders’ Debate: Five things we now know

Five things we know after the Leaders’ Debate last night: 1.    Maggie Ritchie has reverted. For a while she had gone a bit Thatcher – the naturally grinding voice transformed overnight into a near-whisper. It mustn’t have worked because last night she was back at her biting-the-big-Halloween-apple best.  As for other features of her speaking […]

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Some thoughts on the killing of Osama bin Laden

 A man who taught in China told me yesterday that he used to call on his former students from time to time. First, though, he had to let them know he was coming. If he didn’t, they risked being unprepared and losing face, and that was a very serious matter for them. It sounds odd […]

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Some thoughts on the killing of Osama bin Laden

 A man who taught in China told me yesterday that he used to call on his former students from time to time. First, though, he had to let them know he was coming. If he didn’t, they risked being unprepared and losing face, and that was a very serious matter for them. It sounds odd […]

Continue Reading