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"Beaverbrook […] is remembered for his famous prediction: “There will be no war in..."

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:01:18 +0000

“Beaverbrook […] is remembered for his famous prediction: “There will be no war in Europe.” His Express splashed that on 1 September 1939, the day Hitler invaded Poland, and the war began.”

- via Guardian

"Then he brought up his dad, who co-founded “Two Nice Guys,” a pizza restaurant also in St. Louis...."

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:56:24 +0000

“Then he brought up his dad, who co-founded “Two Nice Guys,” a pizza restaurant also in St. Louis. When Dorsey’s dad and his co-founder began to hire people, Dorsey said, they promised each other they wouldn’t date any of the wait staff. “First person to get hired is my mom,” Dorsey went on, “And so my dad had to leave the business and I was born.””

- Jack Dorsey: “The Hardest Thing For Any Entrepreneur Is To Start” | TechCrunch

If it bleeds, it misleads: on war and misery the Cassandras are wrong | Steven Pinker | Comment is free | The Guardian

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:08:00 +0000

If it bleeds, it misleads: on war and misery the Cassandras are wrong | Steven Pinker | Comment is free | The Guardian:

Stephen Pinker blames journalistic innumeracy for a pessimistic (some would say realist) view of humanity. Bit harsh.

"If you’ve ever wished you were born in the 19th century, when there were so many obvious..."

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:16:10 +0100

“If you’ve ever wished you were born in the 19th century, when there were so many obvious inventions and ideas to hook for yourself, then I seriously recommend you become a coder, because future nerds will look back on this time with the exact same envy. But that leap forward will be tediously retarded if we don’t make the government allow us to use the pavements.”

- There’s a wealth of data out there – why not let us use it? | Ben Goldacre | Comment is free | The Guardian

"If Cameron wants to take credit for the removal of Gaddafi then he cannot avoid responsibility for..."

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:14:18 +0100

“If Cameron wants to take credit for the removal of Gaddafi then he cannot avoid responsibility for the aftermath. Yet that responsibility strips a new regime of homegrown legitimacy and strength. This is the classic paradox of liberal interventionism.”

- The end of Gaddafi is welcome. But it does not justify the means | Simon Jenkins | Comment is free | The Guardian

"We are running through the United States with dynamite and rock saws so an algorithm can close the..."

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:01:01 +0100

““We are running through the United States with dynamite and rock saws so an algorithm can close the deal three microseconds faster, all for a communications system that no humans will ever see,” said Mr Slavin.”

- BBC News - When algorithms control the world

"Laurie Penny: I’m not a fucking cartoon character, and I actually have some serious things to..."

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 15:56:55 +0100

“Laurie Penny: I’m not a fucking cartoon character, and I actually have some serious things to say”

- Penny Red: The Book of the blog, and why I’m not going on Big Brother.

"I wrote an automated thing that posted stuff like ‘WHO CARES???!!!’ or ‘ZZZ Lazy..."

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 16:31:08 +0100

“I wrote an automated thing that posted stuff like ‘WHO CARES???!!!’ or ‘ZZZ Lazy Journalism’ on every new article on the Guardian’s similarly afflicted Comment Is Free site. Rather than appreciating my satirical effort, the Graun banned my account. The people in charge of these things don’t understand the medium they’re trying to exploit.”

- Amazing comment.

New Statesman - Who needs S&M when you can write for the Telegraph?

"There is another sensation you feel watching these pictures, and it is one with which we are..."

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:12:54 +0100

“There is another sensation you feel watching these pictures, and it is one with which we are becoming increasingly familiar, especially in 2011, the year the news refused to stop. It is impotence.”

- The year we realised our democratically leaders can no longer protect us | Jonathan Freedland | Comment is free | The Guardian

"11.To amplify: I can’t find the quote but one of the historians of the French Revolution of..."

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:56:15 +0100

“11.To amplify: I can’t find the quote but one of the historians of the French Revolution of 1789 wrote that it was not the product of poor people but of poor lawyers. You can have political/economic setups that disappoint the poor for generations - but if lawyers, teachers and doctors are sitting in their garrets freezing and starving you get revolution. Now, in their garrets, they have a laptop and broadband connection.”

- BBC - Newsnight: Paul Mason: Twenty reasons why it’s kicking off everywhere

"Iran has helpfully called for British police to “show restraint” in dealing with the..."

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:57:44 +0100

“Iran has helpfully called for British police to “show restraint” in dealing with the riots, according to state TV.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast urged the British government to order the police to stop their violent confrontation with the people, IRNA reported in the early hours of Tuesday.
Mehmanparast asked the British government to start dialogue with the protesters and to listen to their demands in order to calm the situation down.
The Iranian official also asked independent human rights organizations to investigate the killing in order to protect the civil rights and civil liberties. Quick reminder of what Iranian restraint looks like”

- London and UK riots: live - Telegraph

"What price the Big Society as Tottenham, the most solid of communities, lies in ruins? The notion..."

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:37:03 +0100

“What price the Big Society as Tottenham, the most solid of communities, lies in ruins? The notion that small-state Britain can be run along the lines of Ambridge parish council by good-hearted, if under-funded, volunteers has never seemed more doubtful. Nor can Ed Miliband take much credit for his unvaried focus on the “squeezed middle”, rather than on a vote-losing underclass that politicians ignore at their peril, and at ours.”

- Riots: the underclass lashes out - Telegraph

"In my view, the best outcome would be this: Hari writes a full and frank account of what he did and..."

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:59:13 +0100

“In my view, the best outcome would be this: Hari writes a full and frank account of what he did and why he did it; the Independent runs an analysis of how this was allowed to happen, as the New York Times did in the Jayson Blair case; Simon Kelner gives a personal account of his role in the affair; and then Hari can go off and rebuild his life. If he insists on working in journalism, he’ll have to do what he never did in the first place and work his way up from the bottom; on the other hand, he could turn out to be a great novelist, or an amazing charity campaigner, or any number of other things. He’s a bright man and still young.”

- The judgement of Johann: a reflection, and a bit of a rant « Splintered Sunrise

Phone hacking: ministers meet Rupert Murdoch's News Corp every three days - Telegraph

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:16:50 +0100

Phone hacking: ministers meet Rupert Murdoch's News Corp every three days - Telegraph

"The refusal to publish further information means that spending by MoD civil servants cannot be..."

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:16:31 +0100

“

The refusal to publish further information means that spending by MoD civil servants cannot be scrutinised.

Over the past four years, the MoD spent £986,041,110 on department credit cards, far more than any other government body. The disclosure will add to concerns over the management of the ministry, which is grappling with a multi-billion pound black hole in its finances.

”

- Ministry of Defence spends £1 billion on staff credit cards - Telegraph

£1 Billion on credit cards, and you’re not allowed to see on what.

"We can wave banners about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, but they tend to say, in..."

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:07:49 +0100

“We can wave banners about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, but they tend to say, in smaller print, “Made in China”.”

- I’m starting to think that the Left might actually be right - Telegraph

err, wow

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:18:00 +0100

21.09 Sky News is reporting that the Independent Police Complaints Commission is to open an investigation into Sir Paul Stephenson over allegations of corruption and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. This is explosive if true - Sir Paul is the country’s most senior cop - and we’re trying to get confirmation from the IPCC.

Update: false alarm?

“21.20 A spokesman for the IPCC has just told us there’s no truth to the Sky News claims that Sir Paul Stephenson is going to be investigated for corruption or perverting the course of justice.

He said: “There’s no truth to this. I don’t know what this refers to.”

Very strange moment. We’ll keep you posted on whether Sky repeats the claims or makes a retraction.”

"CON 35%, LAB 44%, LDEM 8%. A nine point lead is the biggest Labour lead in a YouGov poll since April..."

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 22:13:57 +0100

“CON 35%, LAB 44%, LDEM 8%. A nine point lead is the biggest Labour lead in a YouGov poll since April (and follows two 8 point leads in the week, so is probably more than just margin of error). It suggests that the News of the World sage may indeed be damaging Conservative support.”

- UK Polling Report

"M.B.A. graduating classes are actually a reliable contrary indicator: if they all want to go into..."

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:06:00 +0100

“M.B.A. graduating classes are actually a reliable contrary indicator: if they all want to go into investment banking, there’s going to be a financial crisis. If they want to go into tech, that means a bubble is forming.”

- Marc Andreessen on the Dot-Com ‘Bubble’ - NYTimes.com via @jackschofield