Charlie Brooker sums up Britishness with t3h excellence: I was born in the 70s and grew up in a tiny rural village. There was, I think, only one black kid in my primary school. One day, someone pushed him over and called him "blackjack". The headmaster called an impromptu assembly. It involved the entire school, … Continue reading A thing of beauty
Category: Bit of politics
The shouty left are far more likeable than the New Labour 'left' or the Tory right in general, and their opinions on the things that really matter - murdering foreign civilians, locking people up without charge, banning freedom of speech, and such like - are generally spot on. However, one way in which they drive … Continue reading Evidence-based policymaking
Doctors? Engineers? Refugees from torture? No, the consensus is apparently that the people we most want are third-world mercenaries. Not quite sure why 'being a mercenary who signed up in the full knowledge they'd get a giant sack of money and no British passport' ought to put one to the top of the 'British passport' … Continue reading What sort of people do we want in the UK?
In light of recent events, and some people's comments on them, it's worth clarifying English law on murder. The current direction on when an act can be classed as murder was handed down by the House of Lords in R. v. Woolin: Where the charge is murder and in the rare cases where the simple … Continue reading Whatever it is, it ain’t murder
I recognise that reading the comments on CiF is a surefire route to apoplexy and insanity. However, this is an excellent bullet-pointed list of Mad Things That Angry Right Wing People Believe, and hence worth reproducing: In response to your puzzling question, what specific 'freedoms' have we lost? And please be specific. Although it was … Continue reading Did you forget to take your medication?
On reading of Phil Spector's murder conviction last night, and the suggestion that it might devalue his (indisputably great) achievements, my first thought was 'anyone who thinks that is a tit'. That starting point got me thinking about historical figures who, despite providing unequivocal net good to society, were despicable bastards in their private lives. … Continue reading Da do ron ron ron da do ron ron
Here's a nice report by a real statistician on how London's low murder rate is nothing to worry about unless you're a gibbering paranoid ignorant fool. Unsurprisingly, it's received almost no media play at all. I mean, what news value is there in a study proving that the 'OMG t3H knife crime!!!!' narrative is bollocks … Continue reading Worried about stabbings? Don’t be
In England and Wales up until 1986, there were two sorts of exam a child could take at the compulsory school leaving age of 16. CSEs weren't very academically rigorous and were aimed at kids who weren't planning to take further academic qualifications. O-levels were more academically rigorous; they were aimed at kids who were … Continue reading Dumbing down, and that’s just the fogeyish commentators
I'm not a fan of violence against anyone, irrespective of their gender. But I don't give a toss about 'violence against women', any more than I give a toss about 'violence against ginger people' or 'violence against taxidermists'. If women were disproportionately likely to be the victims of violence, then perhaps there would be some … Continue reading 99% of men are rapists or nose-pickers
The Tories have failed before they are even in office. (from here)