- What the EU27 wants from Brexit
- There’s a lot of Brexit stuff floating round but this is very useful.
(tags: eu brexit ) - This Is Almost Certainly James Comey’s Twitter Account
- Brilliant detective work.
(tags: instagram uspolitics twitter )
Monthly Archives: March 2017
Interesting Links for 30-03-2017
- Three Things to Know About the Triggering of Article 50 l
- by me.
(tags: ukpolitics brexit eu mymedia ) - 70 days in, Donald Trump’s presidency is flailing
- Brutal by @EzraKlein.
(tags: uspolitics )
Interesting Links for 29-03-2017
- Article 50 annotated — with comments from its author
- What Lord Kerr thinks it says.
(tags: ukpolitics eu brexit ) - Siberian princess reveals her 2,500 year old tattoos
- Fascinating. (Story from 2012.) (h/t Annie Cúglas.)
(tags: archaeology ) - A Map of Europe’s Fastest-Eroding Coast
- Bye bye, Withernsea…
(tags: maps ) - Why you should always put a coin in the freezer before you leave home
- Top tips!
(tags: health )
Interesting Links for 28-03-2017
- Unspeakable Realities Block Universal Health Coverage In America
- Race and class and history.
(tags: uspolitics ushealth ) - What the war on terror looks like
- What’s really happening in Iraq.
(tags: iraq ) - How to manage Brexit
- More sense from @AndrewDuffEU.
(tags: brexit ukpolitics eu ) - Brexit reinforces Britain’s imperial amnesia
- Great @gideonrachman piece (if you can get past paywall).
(tags: brexit ukpolitics eu ) - Justice evades Slovenia’s ‘erased’ citizens
- A stain on Slovenia’s past and present.
(tags: humanrights slovenia )
Interesting Links for 27-03-2017
- Raw Data from the Meat Atlas
- Are we what we eat?
(tags: food ) - The Most Expensive Weapon Ever Built
- More on the F-35, though less on the problems we keep hearing about.
(tags: war ) - Monica Lewinksy on Cyber-Bullying and Harassment
- She knows what she’s talking about.
(tags: psychology internet )
The Curse of Fatal Death: Steven Moffat’s first Who script, now officially available
Interesting Links for 26-03-2017
- Turkish Cypriots optimistic over Enosis hurdle
- Things looking up again?
(tags: cyprus ) - Obamacare: The Republican Waterloo
- David Frum was right, and the rest of the GOP was wrong.
(tags: ushealth uspolitics )
Interesting Links for 25-03-2017
- Naan starter: UK curry restaurants feel betrayed by Brexit
- #Takingbackcontrol by destroying Asian food.
(tags: brexit ukpolitics ) - An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Brexit on the EU27 | Centre for European Policy Studies
- For the EU 27, the losses were found to be virtually insignificant, and hardly noticeable in the aggregate. For the UK, however, the losses could be highly significant, with various estimates running up to ten times greater as a share of GDP. Impacts on some member states – in particular Ireland – and some sectors in the EU27 could be more pronounced than the average for the EU27.
(tags: eu brexit ukpolitics ) - How will the Brexit negotiations unfold? / Possibility of early breakdown / Key issues for Ireland
- John Bruton’s thoughts.
(tags: eu brexit ukpolitics ireland )
Interesting Links for 24-03-2017
- Marine Le Pen, no longer enemy of the euro
- Rhetoric meets reality.
(tags: france eu ) - Peter Robinson on Martin McGuinness
- The human dimension.
(tags: northernireland ) - A 130-Year-Old Fact About Dinosaurs Might Be Wrong
- You don’t know what you don’t know!
(tags: dinosaurs fossils ) - Inside Alabama’s Auto Jobs Boom: Cheap Wages, Little Training, Crushed Limbs
- Really horrifying.
(tags: uspolitics death factories ) - President Trump’s cascade of false claims in Time’s interview on his falsehoods
- Lies about lies.
(tags: uspolitics )
Interesting Links for 23-03-2017
- Trump’s Credibility Crisis Arrives
- Lying has consequences. Who knew?
(tags: uspolitics ) - GOP Takes Up Russia-Aligned Attack On Soros
- Outrageous.
(tags: Uspolitics macedonia )
Interesting Links for 22-03-2017
- Azerbaijan’s lost transparency
- Ilgar Mammadov still effective though in jail.
(tags: azerbaijan ) - Belgian civil service and my car: the unbearable lightness of incompetence.
- @AlinaBelskaya loses 7 months and 3000 euro.
(tags: Belgium ) - David Rockefeller, Philanthropist and Head of Chase Manhattan, Dies at 101
- His wife (who dies in 1996) was a distant cousin of mine.
(tags: deaths ) - A very long way from home: early Byzantine finds at the far ends of the world
- From Japan to Mali.
(tags: archaeology ) - Why Did Greenland’s Vikings Vanish?
- Climate change and global trade.
(tags: greenland archaeology ) - Hungarian secret agent reveals in detail how serious the Russian threat is
- Very serious.
(tags: hungary russia ) - Decca Aitkenhead was eight when she was told that her mother had a year to live
- The full truth can hurt. An extraordinary story.
(tags: death )
Interesting Links for 21-03-2017
- A Brexit lexicon
- A to Z.
(tags: brexit eu ukpolitics ) - What File 770 readers nominated for the Hugo Awards in the short fiction categories
- Fascinating!
(tags: sf hugos ) - A new definition would add 102 planets to our solar system — including Pluto
- Reopening the can of worms!
(tags: astronomy )
Interesting Links for 20-03-2017
- The chasm between the public perception and the reality of EU Freedom of Movement in the UK
- @jonworth nails it.
(tags: brexit ukpolitics migration eu ) - Donald Trump Finally Pays a Price for His False and Reckless Words
- Not yet enough.
(tags: uspolitics ) - Every attempt to manage academia makes it worse
- Setting targets means failure.
(tags: management academe ) - Sorry for the Delayed Response
- Really I am. But I have a good excuse.
(tags: funny internet )
Interesting Links for 18-03-2017
- Operation London Bridge: the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death
- A great read.
(tags: england ) - How Russia’s attack on Freeland got traction in Canada
- Disgraceful. Wake up!
(tags: russia canada ) - Are British elections being stolen?
- Quite possibly!
(tags: elections ukpolitics ) - US makes formal apology to Britain after White House accuses GCHQ of wiretapping Trump Tower
- !!!
(tags: Uspolitics ukpolitics espionage ) - Alabama town agrees in settlement to stop operating debtors’ prison
- This is so disgusting.
(tags: uspolitics )
Interesting Links for 17-03-2017
- Off-radar lobbying damages us all
- Lobbyists are in favour of transparency.
(tags: lobbying ) - Three Things to Know About the Dutch Election Results
- My colleague Daniel Benjamens explains.
(tags: netherlands ) - The Oxford comma: A Maine court settled the grammar debate over serial commas with a ruling on overtime pay for dairy-truck drivers
- Be careful!
(tags: english law punctuation )
Interesting Links for 16-03-2017
- Russia’s 5th Column
- Buying up the Far Right in Europe and the US.
(tags: democracy eu ukpolitics uspolitics elections russia ) - Electing Europe?
- My colleague @MariellevHeumen on the Dutch elections.
(tags: Netherlands elections eu ) - Chizhov: Don’t ask me if Russia plans to have an ambassador in Edinburgh – EURACTIV.com
- Russia has over centuries had a special relationship with Scotland. St. Andrew is the saint protector of both Scotland and the Russian navy. The Russian navy has the same flag as Scotland. Only the opposite combination of colours.
(tags: Russia Scotland eu ) - Polio’s last stand: frantic effort to eradicate Pakistan’s ‘badge of shame’
- Glad to be working with @RotaryEndPolio on this!
(tags: polio pakistan ) - London’s Big Dig Reveals Amazing Layers of History
- Wow.
(tags: archaeology london ) - Deciphering Gazprom’s pipeline agenda in Europe
- The nervous giant.
(tags: russia eu ) - Interactive Wildfires Map Tracks the Blazes in the U.S.
- Where is America burning?
(tags: maps )
Interesting Links for 15-03-2017
- Accidental Pilish: Unintentionally Constrained Writing in English Literature
- may I have a drink? – Certainly, Mr. Holmes
but I felt a great curiosity to behold
And I have a great Objection to firing
and a half, a fixed tradition at Berlin
but a good, straightforward narrative of things
(tags: mathematics english ) - When the Children Crashed Dad’s BBC Interview: The Family Speaks
- The truth, at last!!!
(tags: television northkorea internet ) - Scotland isn’t different, it’s Britain that’s bizarre
- What’s wrong with being normal?
(tags: ukpolitics scotland ) - The Empire Strikes Back – really?
- @shada_islam deconstructs Britain’s Commonwealth rhetoric.
(tags: ukpolitics brexit eu )
Interesting Links for 14-03-2017
- InFacts UK shouldn’t have a problem with WTO post-Brexit
- Sane analysis from an expert (@guruover75).
(tags: eu brexit ukpolitics ) - Here’s what happened when I asked every TD in Ireland if they liked Beyoncé
- 37 of them replied.
(tags: ireland beyonce music )
Interesting Links for 13-03-2017
- Tales from the Coffeeshop: High diplomacy at our ministry of foreign delusions
- Particularly vicious Cyprus analysis this week.
(tags: cyprus ) - Danger, Breakdown Ahead!
- It can happen to any of us.
(tags: psychology work ) - Breaking Down the Father on BBC Being Interrupted by His Children
- This absolutely nails everything about it.
(tags: tv family ) - The persistence of kippers – looking at where post-referendum UKIP is now
- Still in double figures, despite everything.
(tags: ukpolitics )
Interesting Links for 12-03-2017
- Next Prime Minister: Gus O’Donnell at 250/1?
- An intriguing thought!
(tags: ukpolitics ) - Monroe v Hopkins (PDF)
- Ends with nice three-page summary of how Twitter works.
(tags: law twitter ) - The Making of Future Man
- James Gleick on Hugo Gernsback, the Hugo of the #HugoAwards.
(tags: sf ) - Every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ranked
- Because you needed to know.
(tags: buffy ) - Do Brexit and Trump show that we’re living in a computer simulation?
- Probably not.
(tags: totallymadideas )
Interesting Links for 11-03-2017
- Theresa May’s Brexit poker face
- What happened re the U.K. in Brussels yesterday.
(tags: eu ukpolitics brexit ) - Hungary’s actions speak louder than words
- @ncjcampbell on Órban’s war on NGOs.
(tags: hungary democracy ) - Irish lost in translation
- The European Parliament needs interpreters!
(tags: ireland irish eu ) - FACT CHECK: Were Mysterious Caves Used by the Knights Templar Recently Discovered in Shropshire?
- Actually, no.
(tags: archaeology ) - Un train se détache à cause d’une rupture d’attelage entre Liège-Guillemins et Ans
- Jeepers!!!
(tags: rail Belgium ) - Inter-Lingual Personal Script | crazyninjageeks
- “Do you ever get annoyed that the IPA has holes in it? Do you ever wish it was a bit more featural? Do you ever get lonely while writing phonetic transcriptions?”
(tags: alphabets ) - Trump and Brexit: why it’s again NOT the economy, stupid
- ‘Is it more important for a child to be considerate or well-mannered?’
(tags: ukpolitics Uspolitics brexit ) - Buffy’s James Marsters answers 11 Questions
- Great interview.
(tags: buffy ) - Rex Tillerson Might Be the Weakest Secretary of State Ever
- IDK, he’s lasted longer than Elihu Washburne.
(tags: uspolitics ) - 10 Best ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Episodes of All Time
- Reasonable folk may disagree, but a good list.
(tags: tv buffy )
Interesting Links for 10-03-2017
- The White Paper on the Future of the EU: Which Way Forward for EU-27?
- My colleague @AnnalauraGallo on the EU’s future.
(tags: eu ) - International Women’s Day
- @SuzanneFGill on how the legal profession has changed – and must keep changing.
(tags: sexandgenderandsexuality law ) - Why the Russia Story Is a Minefield for Democrats and the Media
- The always excellent Tabibi advises caution.
(tags: )
Interesting Links for 09-03-2017
- Northern Ireland: Did the centre hold?
- @nickjbarlow quotes me, so he must be right.
(tags: Northernireland ) - BBC: We should thank Buffy for today’s ‘Golden Age’ of television
- Indeed!
(tags: tv buffy sf ) - Rabbit hole leads to 700-year-old Knights Templar cave
- Fantastic!
(tags: archaeology )
Interesting Links for 08-03-2017
- What conspiracy theories can tell us about politics in Greece
- “When assessing a populist government, it’s always hard to tell whether it’s just incompetence or dark designs.”
(tags: politics Greece ) - Brexit is (maybe) the ruin of Irish whiskey
- …and much else besides.
(tags: ukpolitics ireland brexit eu ) - Trump adviser Navarro: U.S, Germany should discuss trade outside EU
- Need to do your homework, I think!
(tags: germany eu Uspolitics ) - The Meaning of Allahu Akbar
- The *real* meaning, that is.
(tags: islam ) - The unprecedented expansion of the global middle class
- Especially in Asia.
(tags: economics ) - Donald Trump’s Worst Deal
- A story from Azerbaijan.
(tags: uspolitics azerbaijan iran ) - Democracy Volunteers report on Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 02/03/17
- Too much family voting!
(tags: Northernireland elections democracy ) - The Council of Elrond – Existential Comics
- Hilarious!
(tags: politics Tolkien ) - The CIA referenced Doctor Who in one of its hacking tools
- Is that TV off?
(tags: doctorwho espionage ) - Does the UK have to leave Euratom too?
- Not according to the @telegraph!
(tags: ukpolitics nuclearpower brexit eu )
Interesting Links for 07-03-2017
- The Road Goes On—The Making of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Silmarillion’
- In brief.
(tags: Tolkien Sf ) - Legion of Regrettable Supervillains’ comic bad guys
- Whoops.
(tags: comics )
Interesting Links for 06-03-2017
- EU Top Legal Expert Knocks Down Lords Report on Brexit Payment
- You gotta pay your dues.
(tags: ukpolitics eu brexit ) - The Death of M*A*S*H’s Col. Henry Blake
- Truth almost as good as myth.
(tags: tv ) - Eurozone economy overtakes UK as France and Germany accelerate
- From the @telegraph!!!
(tags: ukpolitics eu brexit ) - Vote 2017: Northern Ireland election – Do transfers matter?
- Answer: yes, sometimes.
(tags: elections northernireland )
Sunday reading
Current
Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (a chapter a month)
A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth
Short Trips: Snapshots, ed. Joseph Lidster
Last books finished
Based On The Popular TV Serial, by Paul Smith
Occupy Me, by Tricia Sullivan
Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet
Next books
The Habit of Loving, by Doris Lessing
The Parrot’s Theorem, by Denis Guedj
The Cabinet of Light, by Daniel O’Mahoney
Interesting Links for 05-03-2017
- Fury as government confirms plan to axe housing benefit for young people
- Tories continue war on the poor.
(tags: ukpolitics ) - Do the Koreas Speak the Same Language?
- Mostly but not entirely.
(tags: languages korea ) - NI Assembly: imminent prospect of Brexit causes shift in attitudes
- My analysis for the Irish Times.
(tags: northernireland )
My television appearances today and tomorrow – #AE17 Northern Ireland Assembly election
I am participating in today’s BBC coverage of yesterday’s Northern Ireland Assembly election (votes here are counted over the two days after the vote). It looks like the results will be much more interesting than I had anticipated – turnout is up in Nationalist and mixed areas, down in some of the more hardline Unionist areas. Initial indications will start coming through at lunchtime and they think that they may have finished as early as tomorrow lunchtime (which seems to mne optimistic, especially if there are close and contested results.
You can catch me on BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC Parliament from 1.30pm to 6pm:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08gmcd7
And again on the same channels from 7pm to 10pm:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08gmcd9
And again from 1025pm to 1155pm on BBC One Northern Ireland, from 1035 on BBC Parliament and from 1040 on the BBC News channel:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08gmcdc
And finally from 10am to 1pm tomorrow, on BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC Parliament
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08htmfv
If you are watching, I’ll give you a special wave!
Interesting Links for 01-03-2017
- A potted history of EU referendums
- More complex than is usually remembered.
(tags: eu ) - Brexit: Nissan may ‘adjust’ its UK business, potentially putting 7,000 jobs at risk
- #takingbackcontrol
(tags: brexit ukpolitics eu )