Dealing with politicians is a troublesome business. The psychological impulses that create and define your average politico are inherently hard to control. And given our quirky little political structure, it’s not like we can hold them to any sort of meaningful account. It makes little sense, however, to get particularly angry about such a situation. Politicians are like Mr Muscle: a geeky-image-driven product that deals with the jobs that, as a society, we believe we have better things to do than worry about. And you’d feel a little silly shouting at a kitchen-cleaner. Read More

Late Friday trivial post. Good stuff on Chris Muir from the redoubtable Hilzoy of Obsidian Wings. You may not think much of cartoon pages of US newspapers, but however desperate they are for material, not one so far runs Day by Day (tagline: as funny as the title is original, a take-off of Doonesbury with far fewer characters, no intelligence to speak of, poor repetitive draughtsmanship, and homeless puppy’s eagerness to please aimed unashamedly at wingnut bloggers).
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That Mr Blair doesn’t care about what people think about both him and his time in charge of the Kingdom is unquestionable. He will be judged by history, so he tells us. Which is all well and good, of course: caring about others’ opinions is a foolish game indeed. But waiting for history is a boring one. And we need a way to pass the time. Read More

I approach the question of the Monarchy from the following position; [1] if the Queen has no power, then, when we adopt a republican political system there is no pressing constitutional need to replace her.  Or; [2] if the Queen has power, then our primary democratic duty is to republicanise Britain.

I am angled to incline towards [1] being the case.  And for me, under the conditions of [1], I still feel the need to remove the powerless Queen. 

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Back in November, our man Justin had an idea to find new British blogs that we might have missed. Although m’colleague Tim Worstall’s Britblog Roundups bring us a weekly dose of the best individual posts, we wanted to find the best new blogs as well. It is, after all, so very easy to stick to the same old favourites once you’ve been reading blogs for a while. (This was the result.)
So anyway, I reckon it’s about time for another new blog roundup, both to give some exposure to the up and coming tykes of the interweb and to inject a bit of originality and energy into British blogland. Read More

Shots heard round the world
The Israel-China-Iran arms round-robin

It is difficult to overstate the case with climate change. There is no bigger issue. Calm and informed voices – even David Attenborough’s – are saying it is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. Indeed, it could even be the last.

Next month, the Camp for Climate Action plans to kickstart a campaign of radical protest on climate change with direct action against Drax power station (which, hilariously and aptly, has a namesake in Marvel Comics’ Drax The Destroyer).

Drax produces over 20 million tonnes of CO2 a year. There are more than 100 countries that produce less.

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Free of the need to be free
CiF: the truth? You can’t *handle* the truth

The Powerlessness of Israel
Intervention and the un-destruction of insecurity

India bloggers angry at net ban