Chomsky just came top of the Public Intellectuals poll I blogged separately, so a couple of links to old Chommers from an erstwhile fan (moi).
First, an interview with him in the Guardian:
Emma Brockes interview: Noam Chomsky
Monday October 31, 2005
The Guardian
Then a comment on the interview:
Oliver Kamm on Brockes' interview with Chomsky
Blog
Oct 2005
Then something from a current fave of mine, Paul Berman, on Chomsky:
Paul Berman on Noam Chomsky
and then a longer article on Chomsky and the "Left Revisionists" in general, about the left's hypocritical attitude, especially in regard to Bosnia:
The Left Revisionists
Marko Attila Hoare
November 2003
And all of that started by a recent comment from Dan in this thread, which referred me here.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Top public intellectuals - Prospect Poll result
Bit of harmless fun - the Prospect/FP Global public intellectuals poll. Here are my current faves from their list of 100:
5. Christopher Hitchens
9. Jared Diamond
21. Francis Fukuyama
26. Steven Pinker
28. Samuel Huntington
33. Peter Singer
34. Bernard Lewis
35. Fareed Zakaria
44. Niall Ferguson
Comfortably in last position for me - Al-Qaradawi, natch... Anyone else want to weigh in?
5. Christopher Hitchens
9. Jared Diamond
21. Francis Fukuyama
26. Steven Pinker
28. Samuel Huntington
33. Peter Singer
34. Bernard Lewis
35. Fareed Zakaria
44. Niall Ferguson
Comfortably in last position for me - Al-Qaradawi, natch... Anyone else want to weigh in?
Friday, October 28, 2005
Skinning Galloway
Amusing account of a visit to see George Galloway on The Frank Skinner show. (Found this via Harry's Place btw.)
More Galloway posts here and here.
More Galloway posts here and here.
Faith no more...
The always interesting Uncle Johann on the subject of faith schools.
Key quote:
"[...] the Government believes faith schools achieve better results. At first glance, this seems true: look at a league table of the highest GCSE and A-Level scores in the state sector and you'll overdose on Saint this and Holy that. So, Blair says, would you really have me dismantle some of the best state schools in Britain?
But look again. The right-wing think tank Civitas - expected to back faith schools with table-thumping vigour - decided to study the figures, and found something surprising. Faith schools get better results for one simple reason: they use selection to cream off middle-class children - all kids bright and beautiful - and to weed out difficult, poor or unmotivated students who would require more work. They gave the game away last year when the Government suggested church schools educate more children who are in care, and they recoiled in horror. John Hicks, governor of St Barnabas' Church of England school in Pimlico, snapped: "We know children in care must be educated but it can be detrimental in schools that are oversubscribed." Or, not on our league tables, baby.
Civitas found that actually - once you factor in the fact they take brighter kids with far fewer problems - it turns out faith schools underperform compared to other schools. This is hardly surprising since they dedicate hours of school time to non-academic religious pursuits. The Welsh National Assembly commissioned a study that found the same thing. So the sole credible argument for faith schools is as mythical as the Christian belief that Jonah was swallowed by a whale and burped out, alive and well, a month later."
Key quote:
"[...] the Government believes faith schools achieve better results. At first glance, this seems true: look at a league table of the highest GCSE and A-Level scores in the state sector and you'll overdose on Saint this and Holy that. So, Blair says, would you really have me dismantle some of the best state schools in Britain?
But look again. The right-wing think tank Civitas - expected to back faith schools with table-thumping vigour - decided to study the figures, and found something surprising. Faith schools get better results for one simple reason: they use selection to cream off middle-class children - all kids bright and beautiful - and to weed out difficult, poor or unmotivated students who would require more work. They gave the game away last year when the Government suggested church schools educate more children who are in care, and they recoiled in horror. John Hicks, governor of St Barnabas' Church of England school in Pimlico, snapped: "We know children in care must be educated but it can be detrimental in schools that are oversubscribed." Or, not on our league tables, baby.
Civitas found that actually - once you factor in the fact they take brighter kids with far fewer problems - it turns out faith schools underperform compared to other schools. This is hardly surprising since they dedicate hours of school time to non-academic religious pursuits. The Welsh National Assembly commissioned a study that found the same thing. So the sole credible argument for faith schools is as mythical as the Christian belief that Jonah was swallowed by a whale and burped out, alive and well, a month later."
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Iranian president calls for destruction of Israel
Iran president: Wipe Israel off map
The Scotsman
27 Oct 2005
Iran's ultra-conservative new president has broken his silence on Israel and declared the Jewish state was a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map".
"Anybody who recognises Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury; any (Islamic leader) who recognises the Zionist regime is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world," state-run television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
On Wednesday Ahmadinejad said "there is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will soon wipe off this disgraceful blot (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world. As the Imam (Khomeini) said, Israel must be wiped off the map."
---------------------------
Iran leader's comments condemned
BBC
27 Oct 2005
The US said the comment highlighted concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, which Washington suspects is being used to develop weapons. Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes only.
This is not believed to be the first time a senior Iranian leader has made such comments. In 2001, former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani called for a Muslim state to annihilate Israel with a nuclear strike. Such calls are though regular slogans at anti-Israeli or anti-US rallies.
The Scotsman
27 Oct 2005
Iran's ultra-conservative new president has broken his silence on Israel and declared the Jewish state was a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map".
"Anybody who recognises Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury; any (Islamic leader) who recognises the Zionist regime is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world," state-run television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
On Wednesday Ahmadinejad said "there is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will soon wipe off this disgraceful blot (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world. As the Imam (Khomeini) said, Israel must be wiped off the map."
---------------------------
Iran leader's comments condemned
BBC
27 Oct 2005
The US said the comment highlighted concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, which Washington suspects is being used to develop weapons. Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes only.
This is not believed to be the first time a senior Iranian leader has made such comments. In 2001, former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani called for a Muslim state to annihilate Israel with a nuclear strike. Such calls are though regular slogans at anti-Israeli or anti-US rallies.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Islamophobia myth
Islamophobia myth
Kenan Malik
Prospect
Feb 2005
[D]oes Islamophobia really exist? Or is the hatred and abuse of Muslims being exaggerated to suit politicians' needs and silence the critics of Islam? The trouble with Islamophobia is that it is an irrational concept. It confuses hatred of, and discrimination against, Muslims on the one hand with criticism of Islam on the other. The charge of 'Islamophobia' is all too often used not to highlight racism but to stifle criticism. And in reality discrimination against Muslims is not as great as is often perceived - but criticism of Islam should be greater.
In making a film on Islamophobia for Channel 4 what became clear is the gap between perception and reality. Islamophobia driven by what people want to believe is true, rather than what really is true.
...
A total of 21,577 [people] had been stopped and searched under the terror laws. The vast majority of these - 14,429 - were in fact white. Yet when I interviewed Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britainhe insisted that '95-98 per cent of those stopped and searched under the anti-terror laws are Muslim'. The real figure is actually 15 per cent. But however many times I showed him the true statistics he refused to budge. I am sure he was sincere in his belief. But there is no basis for his claim that virtually all those stopped and searched were Muslim - the figures appear to have been simply plucked out of the sky.
...
Every year, the Islamic Human Rights Commission organises a mock awards ceremony for its 'Islamophobe of the Year'. Last year there were two British winners. One was the BNP's Nick Griffin. The other? Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee. Toynbee’s defence of secularism and women’s rights, and criticism of Islam, was, it declared, unacceptable. Isn't it absurd, I asked the IHRC's Massoud Shadjareh, to equate a liberal anti-racist like Polly Toynbee with the leader of a neo-fascist party. Not at all, he suggested. 'There is a difference between disagreeing and actually dismissing certain ideologies and certain principles. We need to engage and discuss. But there’s a limit to that.' It is difficult to know what engagement and discussion could mean when leading Muslim figures seem unable to distinguish between liberal criticism and neo-fascist attacks.
...
[W]e already live in a culture of growing self-censorship. A decade ago, the Independent asked me to write an essay on Tom Paine, the eighteenth century English revolutionary and freethinker. It was the 200th anniversary of his great polemic, The Age of Reason. I began the article with a quote from Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses to show the continuing relevance of Paine's battle against religious authority. The quote was cut out because it was deemed too offensive to Muslims. The irony of censoring an essay in celebration of freethinking seemed to elude the editor.
Kenan Malik
Prospect
Feb 2005
[D]oes Islamophobia really exist? Or is the hatred and abuse of Muslims being exaggerated to suit politicians' needs and silence the critics of Islam? The trouble with Islamophobia is that it is an irrational concept. It confuses hatred of, and discrimination against, Muslims on the one hand with criticism of Islam on the other. The charge of 'Islamophobia' is all too often used not to highlight racism but to stifle criticism. And in reality discrimination against Muslims is not as great as is often perceived - but criticism of Islam should be greater.
In making a film on Islamophobia for Channel 4 what became clear is the gap between perception and reality. Islamophobia driven by what people want to believe is true, rather than what really is true.
...
A total of 21,577 [people] had been stopped and searched under the terror laws. The vast majority of these - 14,429 - were in fact white. Yet when I interviewed Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britainhe insisted that '95-98 per cent of those stopped and searched under the anti-terror laws are Muslim'. The real figure is actually 15 per cent. But however many times I showed him the true statistics he refused to budge. I am sure he was sincere in his belief. But there is no basis for his claim that virtually all those stopped and searched were Muslim - the figures appear to have been simply plucked out of the sky.
...
Every year, the Islamic Human Rights Commission organises a mock awards ceremony for its 'Islamophobe of the Year'. Last year there were two British winners. One was the BNP's Nick Griffin. The other? Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee. Toynbee’s defence of secularism and women’s rights, and criticism of Islam, was, it declared, unacceptable. Isn't it absurd, I asked the IHRC's Massoud Shadjareh, to equate a liberal anti-racist like Polly Toynbee with the leader of a neo-fascist party. Not at all, he suggested. 'There is a difference between disagreeing and actually dismissing certain ideologies and certain principles. We need to engage and discuss. But there’s a limit to that.' It is difficult to know what engagement and discussion could mean when leading Muslim figures seem unable to distinguish between liberal criticism and neo-fascist attacks.
...
[W]e already live in a culture of growing self-censorship. A decade ago, the Independent asked me to write an essay on Tom Paine, the eighteenth century English revolutionary and freethinker. It was the 200th anniversary of his great polemic, The Age of Reason. I began the article with a quote from Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses to show the continuing relevance of Paine's battle against religious authority. The quote was cut out because it was deemed too offensive to Muslims. The irony of censoring an essay in celebration of freethinking seemed to elude the editor.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Old Man & Rivers...
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Collapse by Jared Diamond
Currently reading Collapse by Jared Diamond. Fascinating stuff, but not exactly a comedy. Apart (so far) from this one paragraph, which cracked me up. Not easy being a 49er, it seems.
p145
In 1849, hungry gold miners crossing the Nevada desert noticed some glistening balls of a candy-like substance on a cliff, licked or ate the balls, and discovered them to be sweet-tasting, but then they developed nausea. Eventually it was realized that the balls were hardened deposits made by small rodents, called packrats. that protect themselves by building nests of sticks, plant fragments, and mammal dung gathered in the vicinity, plus food remains, discarded bones, and their own feces. Not being toilet-trained, the rats urinate in their nests, and sugar and other substances crystallize from their urine as it dries out, cementing the midden to a brick-like consistency. In effect, the hungry gold miners were eating dried rat urine laced with rat feces and rat garbage.
p145
In 1849, hungry gold miners crossing the Nevada desert noticed some glistening balls of a candy-like substance on a cliff, licked or ate the balls, and discovered them to be sweet-tasting, but then they developed nausea. Eventually it was realized that the balls were hardened deposits made by small rodents, called packrats. that protect themselves by building nests of sticks, plant fragments, and mammal dung gathered in the vicinity, plus food remains, discarded bones, and their own feces. Not being toilet-trained, the rats urinate in their nests, and sugar and other substances crystallize from their urine as it dries out, cementing the midden to a brick-like consistency. In effect, the hungry gold miners were eating dried rat urine laced with rat feces and rat garbage.
Monday, October 17, 2005
The House That Became a War Zone
Promised I'd post this one for JP a while ago. Occupied territories in microcosm:
The house that became a war zone
Chris McGreal
Tuesday October 4, 2005
The first soldiers to arrive on Khalil Bashir's doorstep in Gaza five years ago explained the new geography of his home in terms he understood only too well. His three-storey house was to be like the West Bank, the Israeli officer said, with its areas of divided security and administrative control.
The army designated the living room as "Area A", after the part of the occupied territories where the Palestinians have control, and told all three generations of the Bashirs, from 81-year-old Zanah to her five-year-old granddaughter, that they were confined there for most nights and sometimes for much of the day. It was the only part of the house they could still call their own.
The bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms were "Area B", where Palestinians administer themselves but Israel has security control. In the Bashir home that meant soldiers had priority and the family had to ask permission to cook or go to the toilet.
And then came "Area C", where the Israeli military government runs everything and the Palestinians have no authority. The soldiers warned the Bashirs that all of their home above the ground floor was Area C and if they ventured up the stairs they would be shot [...]
The house that became a war zone
Chris McGreal
Tuesday October 4, 2005
The first soldiers to arrive on Khalil Bashir's doorstep in Gaza five years ago explained the new geography of his home in terms he understood only too well. His three-storey house was to be like the West Bank, the Israeli officer said, with its areas of divided security and administrative control.
The army designated the living room as "Area A", after the part of the occupied territories where the Palestinians have control, and told all three generations of the Bashirs, from 81-year-old Zanah to her five-year-old granddaughter, that they were confined there for most nights and sometimes for much of the day. It was the only part of the house they could still call their own.
The bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms were "Area B", where Palestinians administer themselves but Israel has security control. In the Bashir home that meant soldiers had priority and the family had to ask permission to cook or go to the toilet.
And then came "Area C", where the Israeli military government runs everything and the Palestinians have no authority. The soldiers warned the Bashirs that all of their home above the ground floor was Area C and if they ventured up the stairs they would be shot [...]
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Fourteen Terrorist Attacks a Day against Israel - Pipes
This is quite a stat.
Fourteen Terrorist Attacks a Day against Israel
Daniel Pipes Weblog
September 29, 2005
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office has released the following:
Today (Thursday), 29.9.05, will mark five years since the start of the current round of Palestinian violence, during which 26,159 terrorist attacks were perpetrated against Israeli targets, in which 1,060 Israelis were murdered and 6,089 were wounded.
That comes out on average to 5,232 attacks a year or 14.33 per day, every single day. One can only speculate how many more thousands of attacks were prevented. For anyone not living in Israel or Iraq, this figure staggers the imagination.
Fourteen Terrorist Attacks a Day against Israel
Daniel Pipes Weblog
September 29, 2005
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office has released the following:
Today (Thursday), 29.9.05, will mark five years since the start of the current round of Palestinian violence, during which 26,159 terrorist attacks were perpetrated against Israeli targets, in which 1,060 Israelis were murdered and 6,089 were wounded.
That comes out on average to 5,232 attacks a year or 14.33 per day, every single day. One can only speculate how many more thousands of attacks were prevented. For anyone not living in Israel or Iraq, this figure staggers the imagination.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Making a pig's ear of defending democracy - Mark Steyn
Making a pig's ear of defending democracy
By Mark Steyn
Telegraph
04/10/2005
[T]he United Kingdom's descent into dhimmitude is beyond parody. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (Tory-controlled) has now announced that, following a complaint by a Muslim employee, all work pictures and knick-knacks of novelty pigs and "pig-related items" will be banned. Among the verboten items is one employee's box of tissues, because it features a representation of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. And, as we know, Muslims regard pigs as "unclean", even an anthropomorphised cartoon pig wearing a scarf and a bright, colourful singlet.
Cllr Mahbubur Rahman is in favour of the blanket pig crackdown. "It is a good thing, it is a tolerance and acceptance of their beliefs and understanding," he said. That's all, folks, as Porky Pig used to stammer at the end of Looney Tunes. Just a little helpful proscription in the interests of tolerance and acceptance. And where's the harm in that? As Pastor Niemöller said, first they came for Piglet and I did not speak out because I was not a Disney character and, if I was, I'm more of an Eeyore.
And aren't we all? When the Queen knights a Muslim "community leader" whose line on the Rushdie fatwa was that "death is perhaps too easy", and when the Prime Minister has a Muslim "adviser" who is a Holocaust-denier and thinks the Iraq war was cooked up by a conspiracy of Freemasons and Jews, and when the Prime Minister's wife leads the legal battle for a Talibanesque dress code in British schools, you don't need a pig to know which side's bringing home the bacon.
...
Only the other day, Burger King withdrew its ice-cream cones from its British restaurants because Mr Rashad Akhtar of High Wycombe, after a trip to the Park Royal branch, complained that the creamy swirl on the lid resembled the word "Allah" in Arabic script. It doesn't, not really, not except that in the sense any twirly motif looks vaguely Arabic. After all, Burger King isn't suicidal enough to launch Allah Ice-Cream. But, after Mr Akhtar urged Muslims to boycott the chain and claimed that "this is my jihad", Burger King yanked the ice-cream and announced that, design-wise, it was going back to the old drawing-board.
...
When every act that a culture makes communicates weakness and loss of self-belief, eventually you'll be taken at your word. In the long term, these trivial concessions are more significant victories than blowing up infidels on the Tube or in Bali beach restaurants. An act of murder demands at least the pretence of moral seriousness, even from the dopiest appeasers. But small acts of cultural vandalism corrode the fabric of freedom all but unseen.
Is it really a victory for "tolerance" to say that a council worker cannot have a Piglet coffee mug on her desk? And isn't an ability to turn a blind eye to animated piglets the very least the West is entitled to expect from its Muslim citizens? If Islam cannot "co-exist" even with Pooh or the abstract swirl on a Burger King ice-cream, how likely is it that it can co-exist with the more basic principles of a pluralist society?
...
By the way, isn't it grossly offensive to British Wahhabis to have a head of state who is female and uncovered?
By Mark Steyn
Telegraph
04/10/2005
[T]he United Kingdom's descent into dhimmitude is beyond parody. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (Tory-controlled) has now announced that, following a complaint by a Muslim employee, all work pictures and knick-knacks of novelty pigs and "pig-related items" will be banned. Among the verboten items is one employee's box of tissues, because it features a representation of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. And, as we know, Muslims regard pigs as "unclean", even an anthropomorphised cartoon pig wearing a scarf and a bright, colourful singlet.
Cllr Mahbubur Rahman is in favour of the blanket pig crackdown. "It is a good thing, it is a tolerance and acceptance of their beliefs and understanding," he said. That's all, folks, as Porky Pig used to stammer at the end of Looney Tunes. Just a little helpful proscription in the interests of tolerance and acceptance. And where's the harm in that? As Pastor Niemöller said, first they came for Piglet and I did not speak out because I was not a Disney character and, if I was, I'm more of an Eeyore.
And aren't we all? When the Queen knights a Muslim "community leader" whose line on the Rushdie fatwa was that "death is perhaps too easy", and when the Prime Minister has a Muslim "adviser" who is a Holocaust-denier and thinks the Iraq war was cooked up by a conspiracy of Freemasons and Jews, and when the Prime Minister's wife leads the legal battle for a Talibanesque dress code in British schools, you don't need a pig to know which side's bringing home the bacon.
...
Only the other day, Burger King withdrew its ice-cream cones from its British restaurants because Mr Rashad Akhtar of High Wycombe, after a trip to the Park Royal branch, complained that the creamy swirl on the lid resembled the word "Allah" in Arabic script. It doesn't, not really, not except that in the sense any twirly motif looks vaguely Arabic. After all, Burger King isn't suicidal enough to launch Allah Ice-Cream. But, after Mr Akhtar urged Muslims to boycott the chain and claimed that "this is my jihad", Burger King yanked the ice-cream and announced that, design-wise, it was going back to the old drawing-board.
...
When every act that a culture makes communicates weakness and loss of self-belief, eventually you'll be taken at your word. In the long term, these trivial concessions are more significant victories than blowing up infidels on the Tube or in Bali beach restaurants. An act of murder demands at least the pretence of moral seriousness, even from the dopiest appeasers. But small acts of cultural vandalism corrode the fabric of freedom all but unseen.
Is it really a victory for "tolerance" to say that a council worker cannot have a Piglet coffee mug on her desk? And isn't an ability to turn a blind eye to animated piglets the very least the West is entitled to expect from its Muslim citizens? If Islam cannot "co-exist" even with Pooh or the abstract swirl on a Burger King ice-cream, how likely is it that it can co-exist with the more basic principles of a pluralist society?
...
By the way, isn't it grossly offensive to British Wahhabis to have a head of state who is female and uncovered?
Friday, September 30, 2005
Social Mobility
An indispensable post on social mobility from Harry's Place (well if you're interested in education and it's effect on social mobility).
Some of the most interesting stuff is in the comments section - particularly by a poster named Old Peculiar.
I was moved to comment but HP requires an email address which I was not willing to give, so instead my comments are here: (though they make more sense if you've read the other comments on HP first.)
"Living in a deprived neighbourhood with a 10 year old son going to secondary school next year I agree with much of what has been said in these comments.
re: grammar schools. I too have been wishing for their return for the admittedly self-interested reason that it would benefit my son. There is one remaining grammar school in our area. There are 1800 applicants for 180 places, so clearly there is a demand. And yes, the well-off are at an advantage, either through having come from a better primary school, or from being able to afford private tutoring for the entrance exam. More grammars school would at least mean more places.
re: streaming. I think OP is right, that this would be a way to make comps work better. Indeed it may be the best answer all round. No entrance exam. More opportunity to change streams at a later date. My own schooling was in a 'normal' comp - good mix of pupils. Neither desperately deprived or unusually affluent. I certainly benefitted from the fact that in my day there were still O levels and CSEs. Having people taught separately for the two different types of exam was an effective form of streaming and I remember those lessons as being more disciplined and challenging than the mixed ability ones. I then went on to a selective state 6th form college which was the first school I encountered where academic ability was genuinely valued by the pupils rather than being something to be hidden or played down.
Ben G is right when he says that a return to grammar schools is also a return to secondary moderns, though as the second series of C4's That'll Teach 'Em showed, they weren't inherently bad - just chronically under resourced. But yes any selective system needs to make equally good (if different) provision for those who are not so academically inclined."
Note: previous impdec threads on education can be found here.
Some of the most interesting stuff is in the comments section - particularly by a poster named Old Peculiar.
I was moved to comment but HP requires an email address which I was not willing to give, so instead my comments are here: (though they make more sense if you've read the other comments on HP first.)
"Living in a deprived neighbourhood with a 10 year old son going to secondary school next year I agree with much of what has been said in these comments.
re: grammar schools. I too have been wishing for their return for the admittedly self-interested reason that it would benefit my son. There is one remaining grammar school in our area. There are 1800 applicants for 180 places, so clearly there is a demand. And yes, the well-off are at an advantage, either through having come from a better primary school, or from being able to afford private tutoring for the entrance exam. More grammars school would at least mean more places.
re: streaming. I think OP is right, that this would be a way to make comps work better. Indeed it may be the best answer all round. No entrance exam. More opportunity to change streams at a later date. My own schooling was in a 'normal' comp - good mix of pupils. Neither desperately deprived or unusually affluent. I certainly benefitted from the fact that in my day there were still O levels and CSEs. Having people taught separately for the two different types of exam was an effective form of streaming and I remember those lessons as being more disciplined and challenging than the mixed ability ones. I then went on to a selective state 6th form college which was the first school I encountered where academic ability was genuinely valued by the pupils rather than being something to be hidden or played down.
Ben G is right when he says that a return to grammar schools is also a return to secondary moderns, though as the second series of C4's That'll Teach 'Em showed, they weren't inherently bad - just chronically under resourced. But yes any selective system needs to make equally good (if different) provision for those who are not so academically inclined."
Note: previous impdec threads on education can be found here.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Beleaguered Sharon orders new Gaza strikes
I have blogged before on Pipes' opposition to the Gaza pullout. Should we see the article below as early evidence that he was right?
Interestingly, the article also reports that the PA backs Israel's view of the explosion that kicked off this round of violence.
Beleaguered Sharon orders new Gaza strikes
Telegraph
26/09/2005
The latest violence was sparked by an explosion that killed 16 people at a Hamas rally in Gaza on Friday. Hamas blamed Israel, and militants fired at least 40 rockets into the Jewish state in response.
Israel, though, denied responsibility and the Palestinian Authority said the explosion appeared to have been an accident caused by Hamas members carrying explosives.
Interestingly, the article also reports that the PA backs Israel's view of the explosion that kicked off this round of violence.
Beleaguered Sharon orders new Gaza strikes
Telegraph
26/09/2005
The latest violence was sparked by an explosion that killed 16 people at a Hamas rally in Gaza on Friday. Hamas blamed Israel, and militants fired at least 40 rockets into the Jewish state in response.
Israel, though, denied responsibility and the Palestinian Authority said the explosion appeared to have been an accident caused by Hamas members carrying explosives.
Pulling out of Iraq
An interesting article from Niall Ferguson on the consequences of pulling out of Iraq.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Liberal Democrat conference sketch
Very funny sketch of the Liberal Democrat conference. "There's a place for meaninglessness in British politics, and the Lib Dems fill it very effectively".
Today Programme
21/09/05
0847 - An overview of the Liberal Democrat's conference so far from Simon Hoggart of the Guardian and Andrew Gimson from the Telegraph.
Permalink
Today Programme
21/09/05
0847 - An overview of the Liberal Democrat's conference so far from Simon Hoggart of the Guardian and Andrew Gimson from the Telegraph.
Permalink
EU winners and losers
Short, readable article lays out the winners and losers of the great EU contributions game.
Holland tops EU paymasters list
BBC News
22 September 2005
EU cash flow figures for 2004 show ... the biggest net contributions ... came from, in order, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and France. But when these net contributions are expressed as a proportion of the countries' national incomes, the Netherlands came first, followed by Sweden, Germany, the UK, Italy, France and Austria.
...
The biggest net recipients were Spain, Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Poland, while the countries with the biggest net receipts as a proportion of national income were Luxembourg, Greece, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
India's lost tribe recognised as Jews after 2,700 years
India's lost tribe recognised as Jews after 2,700 years
Telegraph
17/09/2005
With a cry of "Mazeltov" and a Rabbi's congratulatory handshake, hundreds of tribal people from India's north-east were formally converted to Judaism this week after being recognised as descendants of the 10 Lost Tribes exiled from Israel 2,700 years ago. A rabbinical court, dispatched with the blessing of Israel's Chief Rabbi, travelled 3,500 miles to Mizoram on India's border with Burma to perform the conversions using a Mikvah - ritual bath - built specially for the purpose. There were emotional scenes as the Oriental-looking hill people professed their faith, repeating the oath from Deuteronomy: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."
Telegraph
17/09/2005
With a cry of "Mazeltov" and a Rabbi's congratulatory handshake, hundreds of tribal people from India's north-east were formally converted to Judaism this week after being recognised as descendants of the 10 Lost Tribes exiled from Israel 2,700 years ago. A rabbinical court, dispatched with the blessing of Israel's Chief Rabbi, travelled 3,500 miles to Mizoram on India's border with Burma to perform the conversions using a Mikvah - ritual bath - built specially for the purpose. There were emotional scenes as the Oriental-looking hill people professed their faith, repeating the oath from Deuteronomy: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Zionist Banana of Death
Muslims sound alarm over schools
The Age
July 31, 2005
The imam told the students that the Jews were putting poison in the bananas and they should not eat them
--------------------------
Latest Zionist Scheme
From the makers of the Zionist Death Ray TM, Zionist Death Juice TM, and the Zionist Death Lazer TM comes our latest diabolical scheme: the Zionist Banana of Death. TM
The Age
July 31, 2005
The imam told the students that the Jews were putting poison in the bananas and they should not eat them
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Latest Zionist Scheme
From the makers of the Zionist Death Ray TM, Zionist Death Juice TM, and the Zionist Death Lazer TM comes our latest diabolical scheme: the Zionist Banana of Death. TM
Short, tall, fat, thin, pretty, ugly
Hey, Gorgeous, Here's a Raise! As for you fatties, we're cutting your salaries.
Steven E. Landsburg
July 9, 2001
Short Changed - Why do tall people make more money?
Steven E. Landsburg
March 25, 2002
From the Short Persons Support Web site:
Standing Tall Against Discrimination
My name is Matt and I am 28 years old. I am 5'5" tall. ... I seem to get laughed at a lot. HA HA HA! I'm the little short guy.
Understanding and Living with Height Discrimination
The current order is that tall white guys (TWG) rule, and are unwelcoming to anybody who would not fit in.
At least the shorties are more environmentally friendly:
Advantages of Shorter Height
Steven E. Landsburg
July 9, 2001
Short Changed - Why do tall people make more money?
Steven E. Landsburg
March 25, 2002
From the Short Persons Support Web site:
Standing Tall Against Discrimination
My name is Matt and I am 28 years old. I am 5'5" tall. ... I seem to get laughed at a lot. HA HA HA! I'm the little short guy.
Understanding and Living with Height Discrimination
The current order is that tall white guys (TWG) rule, and are unwelcoming to anybody who would not fit in.
At least the shorties are more environmentally friendly:
Advantages of Shorter Height
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Palestinian Arabs murder Palestinian Christians
Christianity Dying in Its Birthplace
Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
September 13, 2005
What some observers are calling a pogrom took place near Ramallah, West Bank, on the night of September 3-4. That's when 15 Muslim youths from one village, Dair Jarir, rampaged against Taybeh, a neighboring all-Christian village of 1,500 people.
...
A cousin, Suleiman Khouriyye, pointed to his burned house. "They did this because we're Christians. They did this because we are the weaker ones," he said The Khouriyyes and others recall the assailants shouting "Allahu Akbar" and anti-Christian slogans: "Burn the infidels, burn the Crusaders." To that, an unrepentant cousin of Hiyam Ajaj replied, "We burned their houses because they dishonored our family, not because they are Christians."
Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
September 13, 2005
What some observers are calling a pogrom took place near Ramallah, West Bank, on the night of September 3-4. That's when 15 Muslim youths from one village, Dair Jarir, rampaged against Taybeh, a neighboring all-Christian village of 1,500 people.
...
A cousin, Suleiman Khouriyye, pointed to his burned house. "They did this because we're Christians. They did this because we are the weaker ones," he said The Khouriyyes and others recall the assailants shouting "Allahu Akbar" and anti-Christian slogans: "Burn the infidels, burn the Crusaders." To that, an unrepentant cousin of Hiyam Ajaj replied, "We burned their houses because they dishonored our family, not because they are Christians."
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