Writing Worth Reading
Last updated 7 am GMT
Writing Worth Reading
What do you say when your son has killed 15 people? "Moscow was filling up with foreigners. At home there was discussion over whether violence was necessary or not. I was always against it. It is only now that I agree with him"
Revisiting John Rawls, his two principles of society. No 1: "Everyone should have indefeasible claim to a fully adequate scheme of equal basic liberties." No 2: Inequalities "are to be to the greatest benefit of least-advantaged"
One woman's battle against commercialization of childhood. "Scientific studies have shown children under eight cannot understand the persuasive intent of advertising. At a fundamental level advertising to children is simply unfair"
Angela Merkel is engaged in a dangerous dance, says former German foreign minister. Approach of elections is causing her to ask wrong question: Not what should be done to save Europe, but how much Germans can be expected to accept
Diamonds may be a girl's best friend. But if you ever have to sell one on, they're liable to lose their charm. "A diamond's 'worth' is little more than a product of very careful image management." Here's how the industry works
Portrait of the composer as a New Yorker, on his 75th birthday. Drove a cab till he was 41. Started a removals company. "I'm not down in Florida playing golf. I'm still in the East Village. Things haven't changed that much"
The sun makes life on earth possible. But it could easily make it impossible too. Here's a scientific look at how solar flares, mass coronal ejections cause geomagnetic storms. And the risks a superstorm poses to our high-tech world
Enjoyable plea to save the phone booth, "society’s great unused invention". Writer, driven to distraction by people chatting on their phones in his public library, dreams of a quieter world filled with plush, decorative booths
On the importance of tribalism in the Arab Gulf states. Usually used by those in power to create bonds of loyalty; occasionally used by tribal alliances against rulers. Either way it's antithetical to a civil, democratic state
Enjoyable account of a culinary adventure in Japan. Writer travels to Tokyo aiming to sample the best sushi, tempura, yakitori, shojin ryori, foraged vegetables, teppanyaki, kaiseki and bento boxes. This is what he found
If we say this is the best piece we've read on football (soccer) in Canada, you'll ask how many we judged to be inferior. Well, OK, but we wouldn't recommend it unless we thought it was worth it. Allez les rouges!
Revisiting 18th century humour. Favourite topics for jokes included hunchbacks, club feet, cleft palates, hairlips, scurvy, jaundice, rickets, epilepsy, syphilis, blindness. But nothing caused mirth like a dwarf. Has much changed?
"The annual bill for operating the lower house of the Italian parliament costs as much as those of Britain, Germany, France and Spain combined"
"Conservatism is informed by a view of human nature. Reaction is informed by a view of history"
"Conservatism is a moral vision in which excellence depends upon hierarchy. Inequality is the means, not the end"
