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 )

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 )

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 )

Trump’s Credibility Crisis Arrives

Lying has consequences. Who knew?
(tags: uspolitics )

GOP Takes Up Russia-Aligned Attack On Soros

Outrageous.
(tags: Uspolitics macedonia )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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: )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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 )

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