In order to counter the remarkable batting of the Australian Don Bradman, the English Ashes team of 1932-3 decided to bowl directly at the batsman rather than trying to hit the stumps. Bowling ‘in the line of the body’ quickly became Bodyline. It was a effective tactic – England won four of the five games [...]

Foreign Policy’s list of one hundred leading, public intellectuals is causing some controversy. We should be grateful that this list has been compiled and that the competition is being promoted by Foreign Policy rather than one of the TV networks. Graham Norton or – heaven forfend! – Jimmy Carr would have been Channel Four’s preferred [...]

Nadine Dorries has posted another attack on an MP who supports abortion encouraging people to vote solely on that issue; this time, it is Barbara Follett. In order to receive funding they have to support Labour party values, and be pro-abortion This means that any potential candidate of faith, ie, Jewish, Christian, Sikh, Muslim or [...]

Nadine Dorries, the Conservative MP for Mid Beds and doyenne of the anti-abortion movement in Parliament, has been pressing for further restrictions on abortion for some time. I have no doubt that she sincerely holds those beliefs. However, it does seem that the strength with which she holds those beliefs is clouding her judgement. As [...]

The Rt Rev Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell, has come out with some particularly putrid comments. According to The Scotsman (via New Humanist via Stroppy) and the BBC, the Bishop has said “It is ever-present at the service each year for the Holocaust memorial, as if to create for themselves the image of a group [...]

Through the good offices of Sunny Hundall of Liberal Conspiracy and Anthony Barnett of OurKingdom, an open letter in opposition to the 42 days proposal is on Comment is Free. In 1961, John F. Kennedy addressed newspaper editors and publishers with these words: We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment [...]

‘Paid for by the committee to elect Friedrich Nietzche’. I almost wish I could do an American accent… we could have a lot of fun with these. xD.

Raymond Horne (not, as the Daily Mirror insists on calling him, Raymond Thorne) is to be deported from Australia on his release from prison in a couple of weeks. Horne is a paedophile; I would venture that if he is still a ‘clear and present danger’, it might be best for him to remain in [...]

The Official Secrets Act is not to protect secrets; it is to protect officials. -Jobs for the Boys, Yes Minister. Tom Watson has been musing about civil service bloggers following the Civil Serf incident. He has come up with some thoughts but, before I list them, it’s worth repeating that these are thoughts, not a [...]

Viktor Bout has finally been not only caught but arrested. There is plenty of background on Viktor Bout – probably the world’s leading arms trafficker – on the Yorkshire Ranter’s blog. According to the UN, he has illegally shipped arms to Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Congo-Brazzaville, [...]