Sep
4
No Easy Day by Mark Owen: review
September 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Just finished skimming “No Easy Day” by US Navy SEAL Mark Owen (aka Matt Bissonnette). The details on operation Neptune Spear are quite in-depth, very readable and occasionally accompanied by some nice turns of phrase . . . I cannot help but agree with the sentiment the author expresses upon finding OBL’s weapons: “I slid […]
Jul
3
Andrew Young FSI
July 3, 2012 | 2 Comments
BBC World Service radio leaves Bush House this year. The final broadcast will be a news bulletin on 12th July at midday UK time (Newshour’s final broadcast was on the night of Sunday 1st July, podcast here) so I’ve decided to commemorate the move by trying to find out who Andrew Young was. This fine […]
Jun
28
Taki’s Yacht Bushido for Sale
June 28, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Long time Spectator columnist Taki has often written about his yacht Bushido and his frustration at the rise of the super yachts aka “floating gin palaces”. Yesterday his exasperation at the new rich reaches new heights and he writes rather cryptically that “As of this summer . . . it’s THE END.” What could he […]
Apr
14
e-Mail: to snoop or not to snoop?
April 14, 2012 | Leave a Comment
An article in the Sydney Morning Herald claims that 40% of IT administrators snoop on their company bosses’ e-Mails. As one of the commenters underneath the article succinctly puts it regarding that statistic: ‘crap’. I’d have to agree — 40% is way too low. In a previous life working for a large US multinational word got […]
Apr
3
The Wolfson Prize — a warning for the Greeks
April 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment
The Wolfson Prize shortlist was announced today. 11-year-old Jurre Hermans’ entry for the Prize got a special mention & contains the following instructions to be carried out in the event of a Greek citizen trying to change his Euros for something worth more than a drachma (like perhaps the Malian centime): So if a Greek man tries […]
Feb
15
Stob Ghabhar by Moonlight
February 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment
At 3500 ft Stob Ghabhar commands respect in summer so a winter walk is definitely not something undertaken lightly but in February 2012 there was a sort of weather ‘Quickening’ where a confluence of certain elements produced a window of about 24 – 48 hours of almost perfect conditions for a climb. The photos below […]
Jan
24
Wolfsbane Reunited
January 24, 2012 | 1 Comment
Joy of joys. Tamworth’s finest metallers — Wolfsbane — are back together after God knows how long an absence. They have a new album which came out a couple of weeks ago: “Wolfsbane Saves the World”, check out great new track “Smoke and Red Light”. Wolfsbane aren’t yet on Spotify so for the first time in […]
Dec
26
Nullus in Verba or why 2011 was a great year for science
December 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment
It’s been a wonderful year for science. Why? Because 350 years ago a bunch of eminent thinkers in London decided to get together and form a club to “look with favour upon all forms of learning”. They called it the Royal Society and it’s still going strong today. In order to emphasise their desire for […]