tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-128032522011-12-20T14:07:12.063Z(incorporating "World of Decency")Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.comBlogger11751100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-55685925312658602862011-10-25T09:39:00.002Z2011-10-25T09:45:16.130Z

And so to bed ...The site has been in something close to run-off mode ever since the Times paywall, and we've now clearly reached the point at which the ongoing comments moderation liability is more trouble than it's worth (that's not a passive-aggressive dig at commenters, by the way, sorry - it's just that any responsibly run website is a commitment of time and effort). When we lost Aaro, we

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-80051719618355327872011-10-18T15:40:00.002Z2011-10-18T16:30:08.892Z

Or, opportunities to knock Fox, Hague and the 'jobs for the boyfriends' policy.Thanks to Coventarian in the comments to the last post.One of the key donors to Pargav has been Michael Lewis, who is a former vice-chairman of Bicom, an organisation that lobbies on behalf of Israel. He has donated £13,832 to Atlantic Bridge and £5,000 to Fox. Bicom has been linked to Werritty, and paid for the 33-

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-33784277590795439422011-10-01T11:09:00.003Z2011-10-01T11:28:37.801Z

Here's an interesting one: Engage Online are giving space to Colin Meade, Lecturer at London Met and Milosevic defender. A google of "Colin Meade" and "Milosevic" shows a few interesting sites around the internet. Meade used to have a blog but it has been removed, but is linked to from places such as (hold your nose before clicking) this. Fortunately, the Internet Archive is our friend and

Captain Cabernetnoreply@blogger.com87tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-51616034103294408912011-09-27T10:59:00.002Z2011-09-27T11:37:39.857Z

We[1] are most amused by this.Ridiculous exaggeration RT @AndrewSparrow Tom Watson says Murdoch empire is "sick with corruption and criminality from top to bottom"And this.@JohnRentoul @tom_watson Well Tom, what's the answer to John's question? What act of criminality can you ascribe to The Times? Name one.Pedantic note: I understand Tom Watson's phrase to mean that some employees and directors

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-49667294703275841912011-09-13T12:28:00.003Z2011-09-13T13:19:40.965Z

Krugman on 9/11 and More About the 9/11 Anniversary.Roy Edroso has a round-up of rightblogger responses. (Thanks to Flying Rodent.) There's an accompanying blogpost.Really, I have so much to say on this, I find starting impossible, but if I can cut it down to one thing, I advise anyone who has ever considered claiming to be part of a "war on" anything and anyone else who thinks that belligerence

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com87tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-19342755646256744112011-09-07T16:58:00.002Z2011-09-07T17:04:29.289Z

Interesting piece on links to Breivik. None of our immediately decent friends are mentioned, but people they've consorted with such as Douglas Murray and Gates of Vienna feature fairly prominently.

Captain Cabernetnoreply@blogger.com95tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-1711252299407551512011-09-02T07:27:00.002Z2011-09-02T07:30:04.507Z

Eliza Manningham-Buller, former head of MI5, has made a speech in which she rejects the phrase "war on terror" as unhelpful. Elementary induction predicts that the waggy finger of Professor Norm will soon be wagged.

Captain Cabernetnoreply@blogger.com71tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-1192278660512385982011-08-19T05:29:00.003Z2011-09-01T06:51:12.928Z

Harry's Place seems to be trolling its own commenters. The current masthead must refer to this post where almost all the comments are hostile. (Although this (real) pic of Geller and Spencer is more sinister.) Now, will they accept that they've created an oasis for loons? (Nope.) And this is a rather wonderfully percipient post on H'S'JS signatory Michael Gove. As is this (though I suspect this

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com240tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-52617494789989441982011-08-11T18:28:00.002Z2011-08-11T19:14:01.148Z

Title suggested by Gastro George. Andrew Sparrow in the Guardian offers a round-up of the commentariat's reaction so far, including David Aaronovitch. The highest realistic estimate I've seen for rioters in one place was 200, and pictures of that event suggest that it was too high. It also seems that one must make a practical distinction (if not a moral one) between rioters and looters — people

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-21778872933359031182011-08-07T09:57:00.000Z2011-08-07T09:58:58.139Z

Tottenham in flames as riot follows protestNo riots here. Just quiet, ever-deeper misery

The Couscous Kidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13652409541448776277noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-61598378239039735012011-08-03T10:18:00.001Z2011-08-03T10:19:47.339Z

Marko Attila Hoare's not happy with Douglas Murray

The Couscous Kidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13652409541448776277noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-49400760957663856092011-08-02T08:52:00.002Z2011-08-02T09:33:57.895Z

Or, Quilliam the third (installment).[T]he world’s first counter-extremism think tank.Here's Noman Benotman [of the] Quilliam Foundation and former key figure in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group talking a Policy Exchange wafflefest (he's the first speaker). He's talking about 'surgical strikes' and the like in Libya, even thought the civil war clusterfuck was inevitable by March.Libyan rebels to

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-70757705824784630892011-07-28T18:35:00.004Z2011-08-02T08:51:55.873Z

Someone must have been telling lies about the homosexual community, because one fine day, without having done anything wrong, it was subjected to a vitriolic attack in the Daily Mail.In other words, some more on Mad Mel. How the West was lost (mostly being "I hate everything Pim Fortuyn stood for, apart from hating Muslims"). It's a goldmine for quotes, so weird scenes follow.Almost half of 18 to

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-20432916510384674032011-07-27T14:40:00.005Z2011-07-27T16:36:34.340Z

It's annoying that Google own both YouTube and Blogger, yet the new YouTube format doesn't fit our template. So, instead of embedding, here's a link.This is Nora, the piano playing cat.This is Melanie Phillips on Monday.Breivik may be one unhinged psychopath – but what is now erupting as a result of the Norway atrocity is the frenzy of a western culture that has lost its mind.My emphasis both

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-87585671834747990342011-07-27T05:29:00.002Z2011-07-27T05:31:39.505Z

Because we need one. And I don't have anything to say right now.

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-4721189188983315822011-07-14T19:56:00.003Z2011-07-14T20:37:51.349Z

In the comments to the last post, Flying Rodent tells us that Dave appeared on Sky News with Adam Boulton in one of those studio talking heads things. All present agreed "that this is all getting a bit out of hand and a bit silly, and we all need to calm down." (FR's paraphrase, using, I assume, the Deborah Orr/Will Self 'we'.)Sky News reporting on this has been very good. Its commentary less so.

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-84450184662041994172011-07-13T08:26:00.003Z2011-07-13T08:35:42.557Z

Ok then, you didn't. But I did. Don't judge me, it's a hobby.In 2008-10 I have been engaged in consultancy work for the Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU), which is based in the Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT), using social movement theory and in-depth interviewing to examine the dynamics of 'radicalisation' and 'deradicalisation' and effective communications

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-57295727405670278792011-07-12T11:56:00.004Z2011-07-12T12:16:10.516Z

A commenter who I can't thank because they're anonymous writes ...To drag this topic onto the blog's raison d'etre, does anyone else think this strikes the death knell for Aaro's Birtist and intrusive approach to personal information? It seems that the people we would trust the most with our info,the police, come out looking corrupted and somewhat incompetent. And of course there's the journalism

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com97tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-40468946858386653382011-07-04T16:43:00.002Z2011-07-04T16:57:13.495Z

A bit off-topic for this blog, but IMO excusably so.Some readers may remember that Nick Cohen once apologised to Observer colleague Nick Davies thus.As Mr Davies is undoubtedly a serious journalist, I apologise for any suggestion that he is less than honest and regret any hurt I have inflicted on his feelings. But I should say for the record that although his Flat Earth News website announces

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com71tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-64919628333582378832011-06-29T17:45:00.006Z2011-06-29T19:53:36.730Z

By special request of Justin.Well, given Brownie started this last night. (It's on the second page of comments from the last post, so I can't link to it directly.)Is it okay to piss oneself at Johann Hari's predicament this damp Tuesday evening? Or is this yet more evidence of the 'Decent' penchant for schadenfreude and vindictiveness that you so abhor?I'll be honest: whatever you say, I'll be

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com133tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-63351322905381625742011-06-20T16:38:00.002Z2011-06-20T17:35:32.293Z

I'd just like to say, and this should come as no surprise that I agree with old Aaro[1] on lots of things. One such is his position on assisted dying. But I'll come back to Aaro in a bit.Nick is largely right on Syria. Bashar al-Assad is an appalling dictator. Forgive me for raising a liberal orthodoxy, but I rather like Obama, and besides, I worry that when one attacks a prominent black (ethnic,

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com319tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-820094137033042402011-06-13T19:56:00.003Z2011-06-13T21:11:19.309Z

Nick's piece berating liberals for religious (this time Hindu) intolerance What price freedom of expression now? at least has the merit of being a shorter rehash of his The Hounding of M. F. Husain in Standpoint.In many ways, it's not bad. Something of a blip on Nick's recent run of relatively good form, perhaps, but a long way from the depths of undirected anger he has got away with.The bad bits

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-54679363022965426022011-06-11T09:49:00.005Z2011-06-11T09:56:40.289Z

Here's John Lloyd, in the FT, reviewing Owen Jones's new book, Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class (which sounds excellent, and which I'm keen to read):[Jones] starts, mistakenly, with a middle-class dinner party at which a guest had said: “It’s sad Woolworth’s is closing. Where will all the chavs buy their Christmas presents?” This is a mistake because the middle-class dinner party

The Couscous Kidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13652409541448776277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-48692278280061191862011-06-09T17:47:00.002Z2011-06-09T17:53:43.486Z

Try it. Bilderberg Bilderberg Bilderberg. Various researchers and profs make the sensible point that although Alex Jones is a tool, the entire point of the Bilderberg Group is that it meets in secret, it's made up of powerful people, and it's meant to discuss matters related to the running of the world. (ie, it's Davos without the pud-knockers, hangers on and self-publicists). But not our

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-59476638542274927982011-06-06T16:04:00.002Z2011-06-06T16:29:34.789Z

While Nick is probably right about Simon Schama, his Standpoint tv column is bizarre even for him. As far as I can tell, he regards television as a means of gaining insight into contemporary Britain (the world) and to this end he selects one programme per month and bases a sermon on the approaching end times on it. I also think his premise is wrong: confident, secure, happy people are those most

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-30709421973556889232011-05-16T21:01:00.001Z2011-05-16T21:03:51.186Z

Our Dave is having an operation on his right eye tonight.We wish him well.

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-50068393223483921792011-04-27T18:32:00.002Z2011-04-27T19:16:17.000Z

I'm not really in the mood for this, but despite not appearing as usual in the Observer, Nick's been busy elsewhere.In the Spectator, he's changed his mind on AV. We've discussed this a bit in the last thread, but you're welcome to say more here. In my opinion, this is about a trillion times more persuasive.He's written a sort of a skit, Dialogue with a western leftist in the Jewish Chronicle. I

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-73387692323031726512011-04-21T05:19:00.002Z2011-04-21T05:40:12.743Z

[Continuing our irregular series of 'People get paid to write this shit?']I haven't looked at 'Standpoint' for a bit, and I wondered idly what else it published apart from Nick ranting about lack of Conservative political correctness on the BBC. Never let it be said that the editors of Standpoint stand about idly in the weeks when the magazine doesn't go to press. They have 'online only' articles

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-75868486515180421812011-04-14T20:17:00.002Z2011-04-14T20:30:17.051Z

I'm an atheist, and largely in the Hitch and Dawkins "aggressively so" camp, but even I think Nick's jeremiad against Professor Sir Martin Rees is a bit much.As Mrs Merton knew, there are questions that answer themselves. "What first attracted astronomer royal Martin Rees to the £1m Templeton prize?"As far as I can tell, Rees won the prize, which, like the Nobel, doesn't have an application

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com80tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-35042167527007206102011-04-05T11:28:00.002Z2011-04-05T11:46:39.485Z

No news organisation in the West could base their main Middle Eastern bureau anywhere other than Israel, for the simple reason that it was the only free country with a free press, an independent judiciary and a constitution. Researchers and diplomats, as well as reporters, could phone or visit Palestinians in the occupied territories, as indeed could anyone else. Crucially, in an age dominated by

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com161tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-667720351284349422011-03-29T08:58:00.003Z2011-03-29T13:06:47.127Z

A quickie, essentially reposting a comment I made on Nick's Spectator blog.Tory MPs do not share platforms with BNP supporters, but Labour MPs associate [with] George Galloway, the SWP and the Muslim Brotherhood.Is this the same Nick Cohen?

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-41825794623072561022011-03-22T12:49:00.004Z2011-03-22T14:05:03.406Z

A quick bit of Nick watching. It's nice to see that Nick does do some research for his Observer pieces, even if it's hard to see how the research informed the column.No one could write a modern version of Flora Thompson's Lark Rise to Candleford, which was set in the hamlets around Fringford in North Oxfordshire at the turn of the 20th century. The working and lower-middle classes of small

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-3220095783410963762011-03-15T08:49:00.004Z2011-03-16T15:57:47.327Z

Two apologies. First, for suddenly posting so often, and second, for this will-you-condemn-athon.Saudi Arabian troops sent to Bahrain as protests escalate.There was no official comment on the presence of the troops, but a Saudi official said "the force will work under the directions of the Bahraini government and protect vital facilities like oil and power."Never mind, I'm sure the protestors can

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-44383295461852362812011-03-14T23:34:00.002Z2011-03-14T23:50:30.226Z

Thanks to the indefatigable Flying Rodent, Quilliam present a seven-point plan.Quilliam therefore proposes the following urgent actions...This could be reduced to:What the Interim National Council said.I think that's a use of "proposes" for the Newspeak dictionary.Also, I have no idea what the following means.Noman Benotman, a Libyan senior analyst at Quilliam who prior to the recent violence had

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-69614806446516999912011-03-14T16:53:00.002Z2011-03-14T18:34:19.359Z

Psmith is a somewhat selfish young man; however, he is generous towards those he likes. In a typical example from Leave it to Psmith, he perceives Eve, trapped by the rain under an awning, and decides, chivalrous gentleman that he is, to get her an umbrella. Unfortunately for Psmith, he does not, in point of fact, possess an umbrella. He solves this problem by appropriating another man's umbrella

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-31609333562812139692011-03-14T16:06:00.003Z2011-03-14T16:35:39.517Z

Sorry to drag Michael "Not a Troll" Ezra up again, but I have to say that I admire him for writing this video and posting it on Harry's Place.This is a bit off-topic, but if you watch, much of it will seem familiar. Video below, so you don't have to follow the link.I wouldn't recommend reading the comments on Harry's Place, but Linda Grant makes some good points. ME earns himself some love with

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-15560630721991627812011-03-08T17:02:00.002Z2011-03-08T17:48:48.857Z

The Rt Hon Denis MacShane tweets:Nick Cohen quick off mark in support of T May's attack on Quilliam Foundation in Speccie Coffee HouseNo link, but Denis doesn't really do the internet thing. It's just as well that he calls the Home Secretary 'T May' as he spelled her given name wrongly twice in his letter. Letter? I'm getting ahead of myself. Nick's "quick off [the] mark" thing is a copy and

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-10575656575990142502011-03-07T09:50:00.003Z2011-03-07T10:08:24.337Z

Nick Cohen, Oxford graduate, basks in the schadenfreude of the resignation of the LSE's Howard Davies.Yes, indeed, Davies was alone in taking money from the Libyan dictator. Never mind the often very good argument, "if he's going to give money away, better he gives it to us than someone worse." Or the other persuasive argument, "if Libyan students come here (to the LSE and the UK) perhaps they

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-88756665187154051942011-02-28T23:26:00.002Z2011-03-01T00:18:31.155Z

Or, fanfare for the common knowledge man.Thanks to Bubby in the last thread, Nick Cohen on PM (iPlayer, only available in the UK and for six days from 28/2/2011 etc; he starts just after 34:30, not, as bubby said, 24:30), striking many of the same notes as he did in the Observer.I got back from London late on Sunday night, and I found Nick's piece because it was number 2 on the 'most viewed' list

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-90666764970828371752011-02-22T10:06:00.003Z2011-02-22T10:20:35.419Z

Thanks to Phil and Flying Rodent (yes, posting here is almost entirely driven by comments, you don't expect us to work at this, do you?) we have Aaro:@aidanskinner In any case, who was prosecuted after Kosovo?Though I think we came in here:David Owen advocates imposing a no-fly zone in Libya. He's right. NATO should do it now.I'm much more sympathetic to this than Flying Rodent is. I thought much

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com69tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-35979282180285481792011-02-21T17:08:00.002Z2011-02-21T17:42:06.634Z

Thanks to organic cheeseboard on the previous thread, I read the sort-of-on-topic Niall Ferguson interview cum subtle hatchet-job.According to Ferguson, modern medicine was the west's "most remarkable killer application".Did Ferguson really walk into that one on his own? Reader, I lol'ed but I also wondered if he'd been set up and that's two separate quotations spliced together to make one

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-53315019488739943712011-02-14T13:58:00.004Z2011-02-14T20:14:10.337Z

Just Journalism, tireless media monitors of bias against Israel:On the first day of The Guardian’s Palestine papers expose, on Monday 24 January, when Palestinian negotiators were attacked as ‘weak’ and ‘craven’, a quote from then foreign minister Tzipi Livni appeared in a box, titled, ‘What they said…’. It read:‘The Israel policy is to take more and more land day after day and that at the end of

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com137tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-60347349838705218552011-02-14T13:04:00.002Z2011-02-14T13:11:31.031Z

Aaro seems to be tweeting his colonoscopy. (I'm not sure we want to Watch.) We wish him well.AaroWatch: for a polyp-free Aaro.

The Couscous Kidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13652409541448776277noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-3534992256476491022011-02-12T10:59:00.003Z2011-02-12T11:27:14.090Z

For those still interested here. (This continues Organic Cheeseboard's review and Rosie Bell's Harry's Place review.)I still haven't got around to attempting the novel, but this puts me off even further.Libor claims ‘I have discovered in myself a profound necessity to think ill of my fellow Jews.’‘I can’t go on making these allowances. I can’t go on telling myself that that American swindler who

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-51064764555175714782011-02-11T17:26:00.003Z2011-02-11T17:45:25.046Z

Way, way off topic. But I love everything about the following. Since Obama was already congratulating himself for Mubarak's departure, this is an utter humiliation of the American president -- and as a consequence, a terrible weakening of America, whose powerlessness is now apparent for all to see.Why oh why did America elect an uppity President, wails Bonkers Mel (at the Spectator, but I don't

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-37852098603237163872011-02-11T11:11:00.006Z2011-02-11T15:56:26.652Z

An argument recently blew up in our comments threads, with respect to the Workers' Revolutionary Party, a minor grouplet with a comedically horrible history about which we know little and care less, but which figured prominently in "What's Left?" and is thus generally (if erroneously) believed to be on topic.Specifically, it was suggested by regular commenter "Coventrian" that Marko Attila Hoare

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com124tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-25803836830221957332011-02-10T21:48:00.002Z2011-02-10T22:00:34.514Z

Nick Cohen, October 2009 on Joan Smith:The last principled feminist in the British media, now has a website hereNick in January:Julie Bindel, who can often seem like the last feminist in England...Nick yesterday:[Joan Smith] is one of the few true feminists left in BritainWhere once there was but one, now there are a few. Surely this is a good thing.As for what Ms Smith is on about, I have no

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-81295360399795376312011-02-10T16:29:00.002Z2011-02-10T16:36:50.199Z

Via Marko in comments, we learn of a subtle line-shift from the Henry "Scoop" Jackson Society; "Egypt Needs Reform, Not Revolution" is out and "The Egyptian Moment" is in. I very much hope Marko will keep us up to date on any further shifts.But more hilariously, hey do you remember that time when Durham University invited some Iranians to a conference and the various Men of Decency were briefly

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-76478523452014162942011-02-08T15:06:00.002Z2011-02-08T16:18:46.059Z

Nick has been rather busy recently, and I see that our readers are not short of opinions about his recent efforts. So here are a few points, which no doubt you will expand on or disagree with as you see fit.I've not read What's Left in book form, though I have read the original Observer columns, but, as I understand it, the 'argument' of the book is best summed up by the Amazon five star review

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com101tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-18073857694671880062011-02-02T14:51:00.003Z2011-02-02T15:29:45.257Z

Wonder how Rentoul's going to spin this one?. Surely this ought to be a "taxi for Blair!" moment for the whole Decent Left? The central organising self-delusion of the whole show has been that there was something more to the program than bog standard Labour Atlanticism[1] - that it was about idealism vs. realism (all those lectures about Douglas Hurd looking a bit awkward now, lads?), democracy

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com72tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-66516973619957207132011-01-31T16:09:00.003Z2011-01-31T17:11:07.186Z

"No. Somebody put a drop [of Casaubon's blood] under a magnifying-glass and it was all semicolons and parentheses," said Mrs. Cadwallader.George Eliot, MiddlemarchJarrow, New Year's Eve 1911There is a knocking at the door- Come in!- Trouble at mill!- Oh no! What sort of trouble?- [In silly 'Northern' accent] One o't cross-beams come out of skew on the treddle.- Pardon?- One o't cross-beams come

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-52191968453866733752011-01-29T21:00:00.003Z2011-01-29T21:50:20.523Z

Nice comment on Balloon Juice:There is vastly, vastly more democratic reform and revolution breaking out in the Middle East after two years of No Drama Obama than in eight years of neocon Strategery. So, they’re trying to spin it away, to get ahead of the media cycle.This is “the best defense is a good offense” version of attack politics.I'd like to think that there was a causal link, rather than

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-51230437136682629712011-01-22T17:19:00.002Z2011-01-22T18:10:53.223Z

It's never worthwhile explaining a joke. If you need to say what the point of your own article was, you either underestimate your own readers, or you're doing it wrong.Hi ho. Tunisia? Tunisia! Who would have thunked it! (I hate that title in so many ways. Who would have thunk it is an internet tradition, usually with a question mark. 'Thunked' on the other hand...)That's good old Nick Cohen in

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com93tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-4315524267210650112011-01-21T09:19:00.002Z2011-01-21T09:28:53.843Z

MacShane on boycotts, in the Jerusalem Post. A few points:1. As far as I'm aware, all of the Aaronovitch Watch editorial staff are opposed to an academic boycott of Israel; I am not sure about nonacademic boycotts, but speaking for myself I buy Israeli-made goods without a second thought while trying to avoid agricultural products grown in the Occupied Territories themselves (as a result I

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com98tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-21873368251285963182011-01-20T21:19:00.003Z2011-01-20T21:41:14.333Z

Sorry to the Couscous Kid, I know we promised not to, but we were asked.I am much puzzled by a tweet of Rentoul's.In a sane media environment, this Chilcot evidence would be recognised as supportive of the Blair govt's case http://bit.ly/eZ0DhsI don't follow him; it was retweeted by DA. I admire Paul Waugh (to whom Rentoul links), but I trust the FT rather more. Rentoul believes that this sort of

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-256242128524554632011-01-18T21:19:00.002Z2011-01-19T00:17:02.239Z

Commenter Organic Cheeseboard mentioned writing another review in the last thread, and he's welcome to send it to me when he finishes it, and I'll put it up, just as I did his Jacobson one (which eventually garnered a respectful, if modest, collection of comments).Before we go gentle into that good night, as readers, following the example of Justin, one by one, without any fuss, shuffle from this

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-62760158473860084522011-01-17T13:25:00.002Z2011-01-17T13:34:04.721Z

We haven't done much over the past year to live up to the official name of this blog, so time to change that. Aaro's younger brother Ben (the one who wrote a few 'Dr Who' episodes) has published his first novel Rivers of London to good reviews. (Just as well, as he's already written the sequel.)We congratulate him.

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-35477174100668537462011-01-16T20:39:00.002Z2011-01-16T20:46:45.904Z

I don't understand Blogger's spam detection algorithm, but that's no excuse for not noticing when it wrongly dumps a pertinent comment into the 'spam' directory and doesn't let the public read it. As long ago as the 10th, Michael Ezra replied to the last post, and blogger hid his reply. I didn't notice until now, so to make amends, I will print it below. (I've also published it in the thread.) I

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com205tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-69238915669432352262011-01-04T13:10:00.001Z2011-01-04T13:12:23.579Z

Guest review by Organic CheeseboardThe first thing that's worth saying about Jacobson's novel is how odd it is. There is more or less no 'story', to the extent that after reading each short 'part' I put it down, with no real desire to read on; the characterisation is all over the place and crashingly, stupidly unrealistic; much of the political discussion in the book will pass over the head of

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-27968675070346866982011-01-03T22:00:00.003Z2011-01-03T22:24:39.575Z

Nick sees in the New Year with the traditional cake having and eating:Here, it is customary in the liberal press to attack the EU and, by extension, David Cameron for their toleration of the European far right. I won't follow precedent because I have no wish to join the selective moralists of liberal England, who beat their breasts and denounce Cameron for allying with unsavoury east European

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-12878617519181322222011-01-03T13:26:00.001Z2011-01-03T13:27:55.774Z

No, we are not going there.Well, OK, if Nigel isn't dead, he'll never trust the Archers' scriptwriters again.Happy New Year.

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-46639764325976602612010-12-24T15:52:00.002Z2010-12-24T15:59:40.852Z

IANAL, but accusing a politician of doing things - like writing bills - which he has done does not seem like libel to me. Therefore I don't understand this university's position. NB as this was purely a university matter, Mr Justice Eady was in no way involved, therefore perhaps we won't see Nick Cohen griping about this assault on freedom of (as far as I can tell, well argued) expression.For

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-52456117932982627622010-12-21T22:09:00.002Z2010-12-21T23:05:51.584Z

Michael Ezra on Laurie Penny.Notes:When I've taken issue with him, I've actually found Michael Ezra to be very civil. He's very much at the opposite end of the spectrum from Jonathan Hoffman's behaviour on Harry's Place's regular's Modernity's blog comments.I find Laurie Penny hard to warm to, myself. I tried to follow her tweets after when Michael Ezra calls 'what Gene has accurately referred to

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-87282659442523412682010-12-05T21:10:00.002Z2010-12-05T21:24:36.374Z

I have bet Justin ('ejh' here, @ejhchess on Twitter) FIVE POUNDS STERLING to his 6 Euros that Hillary Clinton will have resigned her position as Secretary of State by Jan 1 2011, or announced when she is going.He wanted me to announce it here, so I am doing so. It's a very foolish bet for me, but it'll add some spice to watching the news over the next god-awful month.I should have taken odds. 5/1

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-7490190921439365602010-12-03T20:48:00.003Z2010-12-03T21:39:12.579Z

This is a largely off-topic post which I intended to write much earlier in the day and leave as a Friday fun thread.I've come across a couple of examples of ad hoc definitions (not so much ad hoc as "pulled out of someone's arse") this week, and I may as well share them with you. I'm also looking for a better term than ad hoc definitions, because that's going to make a crap title, but I'm not

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-40436120731785966472010-12-02T22:52:00.002Z2010-12-02T23:02:25.362Z

Like a good populist, I go where my readers want. And you want to discuss David Aaronovitch's column today. (Link goes to the Staggers.)If Flying Rodent is willing, I'd be happy to publish his splendid shorterised version of Aaro's col here see comments to last post starting here.The cables prove again that the US, the most powerful democracy, is on our side. On Britain's side. On the side of

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-83502054308365812282010-11-27T12:57:00.002Z2010-11-27T13:37:21.708Z

I don't like deleting comments, but I've deleted a couple by a person who styles themselves as "Anonymous". I've no problem with anonymous comments per se: at least one of our commenters, redpesto, uses the anonymous options but 'signs' his comments. What I object to are personal, specifically defamatory, comments. I've deleted two of Anonymous's comments in the last thread, and Blogger's spam

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-30677002527087513052010-11-25T10:44:00.002Z2010-11-25T11:14:00.888Z

Not really on topic, though I'll rope in a few tenuous connections.The story so far. This blog is dead, officially, since David Aaronovitch slipped behind the Romulan cloak of invisibility Times paywall, but we return to life when the World of Decency calls. Nick Cohen last posted on his Standpoint blog on the 2nd of November. He was never a frequent blogger, but that's a long enough silence to

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-31906911342761235082010-11-23T21:41:00.002Z2010-11-23T22:13:48.666Z

I think watching Martin Bright comes under what this blog is supposed to do.As so often, I'm ambivalent about this. Bright makes some decent (no pun intended) points.I'll point you to fellow-Decent John Rentoul for some background.However, I managed to take the elementary precaution of reading the judgment – or at least its conclusions. I am afraid that I had no idea that there was a law against

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-41223389441908871712010-11-23T10:43:00.003Z2010-11-23T11:01:22.497Z

Thanks to Flying Rodent in the comments to the last post.Oh dear. Let's be charitable. I'll assume that our Nick is joking about the Observer 'viral ad'.The editor, a kind and caring man[1], warned me that posters here could sometimes be rather rough.He didn't warn Nick that they can be almost unbelievably credulous, and culturally philistine. There are 13 comments as I write this. None realise

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-39844484542899796912010-11-09T21:05:00.005Z2010-11-10T19:54:54.648Z

A host of psychological experiments demonstrates that it doesn’t work like this. Instead of performing a rational cost-benefit analysis, we accept information which confirms our identity and values, and reject information that conflicts with them. We mould our thinking around our social identity, protecting it from serious challenge. Confronting people with inconvenient facts is likely only to

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com59tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-33464139793961936132010-10-31T08:44:00.003Z2010-10-31T10:42:02.970Z

This is just a quick, "Blimey!"PunditAid Please Give Generously or Nick Cohen having a good old sneer at Mary Ann Sieghart in the Independent.It's not just me is it? He's got her point completely wrong.Yet another AaroWatch Fail Sunday, by the way. I didn't get very far with this at all.When you reach the search results, Google does not call the adverts running down the side "adverts" but "

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-83488219433306097332010-10-28T20:43:00.002Z2010-10-28T20:56:07.682Z

I thought we needed a pre-weekend post, and this will do as well as anything. Israel's right wing starts its own Tea Party.According to Michael Kleiner, a former Likud legislator who is one of the driving forces behind the movement, Mr Obama's policies towards Israel resemble the British attitudes in eighteenth century America that caused the original Boston Tea Party.Via. Hating Bush =

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-54251768583200200642010-10-24T15:15:00.003Z2010-10-24T15:32:08.613Z

Found the above from the clip from 'Fahrenheit 911' which was what I was going to use, but this is so much better. Enjoy.I remembered that Nick Cohen liked Paul Wolfowitz, but I'd forgotten (or perhaps tried to suppress) how much. A Google search found the splendidly titled Nick ****ing Cohen by Mark Steel, Nick Cohen back-pedals, rather furiously by Sunny Hundal (full disclosure: I met Sunny and

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-67133299356344183142010-10-23T09:53:00.003Z2010-10-23T09:58:16.768Z

Random juxtaposition of the day. Exhibit A: Harry's Place October 22 2010.Exhibit B: Harry's Place September 13 2008 (but there are many, many more examples).We ask the question: is this evidence of industrial-standard chutzpah or brain death?You decide.

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-59524918664932962412010-10-22T16:10:00.003Z2010-10-22T16:14:14.292Z

From the latest Normblog profile: If you could have any three guests, past or present, to dinner who would they be? > The late journalist Chaim Bermant, whom I never met, although he is related to me by marriage; Jesus; and Tony Blair. I’m not familiar with Mr Bermant or his work, but he must be pretty damn good to be worthy of dinner with Tony Blair himself.

rioja kidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11445081280366862323noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-54947882098106271412010-10-20T07:40:00.004Z2010-10-20T11:32:41.326Z

It feels like only yesterday that I joked:Now 'Jonathan Miller, Alexei Sayle, [and] Stephen Fry' have joined Nick Cohen's enemies list. Bloody hell.But it wasn't yesterday, it was as long ago as Sunday. Which leaves, to misquote Robert Heinlein, time enough for hate. Yes, Mike Leigh joins the unpersons. I saw this post, and thought "business as usual, sigh" but Flying Rodent thought it was worthy

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-1562604472212720402010-10-17T07:59:00.002Z2010-10-17T08:25:01.626Z

Going by BexSix's comment on the last thread, there's going to be a demand for this, so please keep comments on Standpoint in that thread, and ones on Nick Cohen on god knows what here.I pretty much gave up at the 'conservative comedians' bit. Really? Does Nick watch TV at all? "Gingham is a very BBC material." "How's that, then?" "Very small checks." [Pause. Laughter.] "Copyright [laughter]

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-21240053679058624062010-10-15T09:05:00.003Z2010-10-15T09:26:22.961Z

I really don't want to raise false hopes of this blog coming out of cold storage, but you know how we always joke that the motto of Standpoint is "It is 1934 and I am Churchill"? Well, its editor has written a long piece on exactly that theme. Themes include:* "The crime being prepared against Israel and the Jewish people in the name of the jihad", which is literally to be considered on the

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-53197800118087616992010-10-13T15:55:00.003Z2010-10-13T16:00:45.894Z

A novel describes a country as a cesspit of antisemitism, said country awards same novel top prize, thus proving that it isn't. If the novel is right then it wouldn't have received the prize; if the novel is wrong then it shouldn't have received the prize. But maybe the novel is actually set in a another possible world, resembling this one only in some respects? Its literary virtues, expressed in

Captain Cabernetnoreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-73116219355719376802010-10-11T19:29:00.003Z2010-10-11T20:11:39.728Z

Harry's Place can't leave well alone, can they? Via Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, I've come across a body calling itself Student Rights. (Its website is currently down, though it seemed OK when I looked at it earlier today. The error notice says "Please try back Monday ." Hello? Also, love the space before the period. PHP concatenation gone bad, there.)There's an 'About' section, and I always

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-69763608981328748512010-10-08T17:03:00.003Z2010-10-08T17:22:06.781Z

Since so many of you are still commenting, how about having a go at predicting Nick Cohen's Sunday effort? I think the Shadow Cabinet is a pretty safe bet (going by Twitter, there won't be a dinner party in the country that doesn't at least mention it).I detect the unmistakable odour of 'eau-de-spin' here. Is it just me?Also worth discussion: I'm starting to think that electing the Shadow Cabinet

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-31367828758355504702010-09-30T16:58:00.001Z2010-09-30T17:00:14.876Z

Following up a tip from Phil in comments a while back, I have now established to my own satisfaction that there are two Michael Goves, and that the former chairman of the British OS/2 User Group is not the same person as the current Education Secretary and man of Decency.

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-81756995619947395092010-08-30T19:14:00.002Z2010-08-30T19:20:40.522Z

hmmmmmmmmm.Of course, the idea that an Iranian spy with a conviction for bank fraud managed not only to convince liberal journalists that he was the authentic voice of democracy, but to convince the CIA that he headed a credible nationalist movement would be ludicrous enough. The idea that, having been exposed as such, he could nevertheless remain powerful enough to gain the post which allowed

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-61670111366488020482010-08-19T15:58:00.002Z2010-08-19T16:03:17.136Z

Thanks to BenSix for finding Don’t go for a drink with Nick Cohen. Yes, a real link to La Place de Harold (kerching)!

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-39723318988746004112010-07-31T09:33:00.004Z2010-07-31T09:37:40.394Z

Malise Ruthven on Paul Berman in the New York Review of Books:It is tempting to conclude that in mounting this intemperate attack on Garton Ash, Berman is really writing about himself. Despite his implied claim to be one of the few journalists or intellectuals from Western backgrounds “to grapple seriously with the Islamist ideas,” phrases such as “carelessly adopted positions,” “flippant

The Couscous Kidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13652409541448776277noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-13973242780088245082010-07-31T08:58:00.002Z2010-07-31T09:00:40.987Z

Graham of H*rry's Pl*ace has us bang to rights. (He's talking about Socialist Unity, but we're in his sights too.)What would John Cole do? Probably this. Sorry.

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-90370020110058679432010-07-30T16:51:00.003Z2010-07-30T16:52:55.044Z

Michele Catalano talks about a phenomenon that I think was widespread between 2001 and about 2005.

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-57035015098399541972010-07-30T16:37:00.005Z2010-07-31T19:53:40.050Z

Yesterday Captain Cabernet linked to Howard Jacobson, who wrote the following.The mood of those months inevitably found its way into my novel. I wanted to record what it was like being Jewish in this country then, when it seemed reasonable to ask whether loathing of Israel would spill into loathing of Jews - such a thing is not beyond the bounds of possibility - and whether a new Kristallnacht

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-16444748023980982522010-07-29T10:22:00.003Z2010-07-29T10:30:41.022Z

One hesitates to get involved in family quarrels, but the Decents are getting all enthusiastic about Howard Jacobson's latest psychologising screed in the Jewish Chronicle. Jacobson writes:When it comes to Jewish anti-Zionists, their Jew-hatred is barely disguised, not in what they say about Israel but in the contempt they show for the motives and feelings of fellow-Jews who do not think as they

Captain Cabernetnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-91701547185283660572010-07-29T08:35:00.003Z2010-07-29T09:07:16.851Z

A bit of a shame, to say the least, that Aaro has decided to have a go at the William F Buckley line in McCarthy revisionism. Like trying to rehabilitate the reputation of Field-Marshall Haig (something which one historian in every single generation of right-wing farts to come out of Oxford has tried, always in the belief that they are doing something new and scandalous), McCarthy

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-68622770062823873212010-07-26T16:14:00.003Z2010-07-26T18:50:58.858Z

One of the joys of stopping Aaro Watch was not feeling that I had to read Nick Cohen. But I did this week, anyway, and I regretted it.Much of my 'watching' is really concerned with style, and Nick's seems to have declined over the years. Still, for lots of reasons, his first paragraph is particularly bad. I commented (I'm DaveW), but it's annoyed me so much, I'm going to vent here too.And the

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-56986564037459790972010-07-25T07:46:00.002Z2010-07-25T07:59:02.746Z

This is cruel, but I can't help it. Those of you who follow David Aaronovitch on Twitter will know he's very partial to the opinions of his mate John Rentoul. Yesterday was no exception:New Improved Banned List | John Rentoul | Independent Eagle Eye Blogs http://ind.pn/cmihFeRentoul has described the "banned list" as an attempt to hold back the tide of witless cliché during the long election

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-35311840994807246662010-07-21T14:03:00.005Z2010-07-21T16:53:04.449Z

As AaroWatch winds down, and we look back on the last ten years or so, we might reflect that the Decents were pretty poor at intellectual cheer-leading or talent-spotting. They insisted on treating Paul Berman as an authority on contemporary Islam when it was pretty clear that he didn’t know much about the subject at all. They repeatedly wrote as if Nick Cohen’s What’s Left? was a significant

The Couscous Kidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13652409541448776277noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-78540182687210040032010-07-19T12:57:00.001Z2010-07-19T12:57:43.645Z

I'm only asking. If so, on what?

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-88531703285449842152010-07-09T12:42:00.002Z2010-07-09T12:48:30.376Z

I've had this one on my mind for a while - a subset of the "Decency in Literature" project which has been kicked around in the comments and one of the valedictory posts I've wanted to get out as we slip away into the post-Aaro Great Silence. Basically, occasionally leafing through the Penguin edition of "Don Juan", one comes across a really interesting argument between the editor and the author

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-88247519672775735872010-07-05T18:06:00.002Z2010-07-05T18:31:51.793Z

Some political journalist none of you will have heard of tweeted:The tectonics of voting reform | John Rentoul | Independent Eagle Eye Blogs http://bit.ly/bd1X3oIn which John Rentoul argues that the Tories are in the process of converting to being in favour of the Alternative Vote. And since they're for it, guess what? He ends:Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has come out on the Labour side against change

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com53tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-67076156004847621812010-07-05T14:58:00.003Z2010-07-05T15:00:50.363Z

... and the facts are that the Observer doesn't fucking like Noam Chomsky and they never will. Excellent review-of-a-review, which really does capture the strangely posterized colours of any engagement between Chomsky and Decency - all the arguments are basically the same, but the colour, brightness and contrast get turned up to max.

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-76567087147172373302010-06-30T17:48:00.002Z2010-06-30T18:07:25.112Z

If BB can post, so can I. I find myself in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with Michael Ezra of Harry's Place.It is somewhat presumptuous of me to comment on a book that I have not read, but for this purpose I am going to assume that Chas Newkey-Burden has not taken the following sentence from Melanie Phillips’ new book, The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle Over God, Truth, and

Chardonnay Chaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275819795032251978noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12803252.post-35175787159399760582010-06-29T08:35:00.002Z2010-06-29T08:37:36.924Z

At a think tank gig in Ukraine. Basically having a go at the oligarchs (and, I think, rather courageously accusing one of the beneficiaries of voucher privatisation of having "stolen"; I hope this link doesn't constitute "publication" in the UK of that claim which AW certainly doesn't endorse in any editorial sense).

Bruschettaboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06462814606739183471noreply@blogger.com0