Writing Worth Reading
Last updated 8 am GMT
Writing Worth Reading
At last, some clear thinking on what it really means to be a Keynesian. Who should the term cover? Short answer – just about everyone with a serious opinion on economics. Regrettably though, it's become a politicised label
Profile of Valentine Strasser, made president of Sierra Leone at 25 by military coup in 1992; forced out after four years; tried to study in Britain; returned, lives with his mother, drinks gin by the roadside, reminisces
Conversation with bioethicist Allen Buchanan. Interesting throughout. "It might turn out that the only way to prevent us from going extinct, or to prevent some great worsening of our condition, is to enhance some of our capacities"
New novel puts Syrian revolt in context. It's not available in English yet so it's summarised here. Ajami's analysis: This is a "rebellion of wrath and disinheritance" with a strong sectarian element (Free for Browser readers)
Worth posting for the headline alone. On the seduction of newspaper infographics. "Visuals are easy to make, but they are also easy to fake, and their allure can turn them into potentially dangerous pieces of evidence"
"My duties took me into every significant area where our soldiers engage the enemy. What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements. Instead, I witnessed the absence of success on virtually every level"
Time for the "re-squirreling of the American diet". Once a staple. Abundant, far from endangered, doesn’t need refrigeration the way that big game does. One squirrel yields enough meat for one person. Good shooting practice, too
Thought-provoking essay on nature of modern democracy. "We might one day be faced with a choice that at first blush seems impossible: What if 'too much' democracy should become an enemy of 'enough' liberty and human rights?"
Super history of blogging platform turned social network, Tumblr. 36 million users; 42 million posts per day; 14 billion monthly page views. This is how David Karp built a company worth £500m, in just five years
Journalist tries virtual reality weapons training: "I am failing miserably. I'm so demoralised that I'm tempted to put down the rifle and leave." But then they bring out the electrodes, and wire her brain to a nine-volt battery
Two new books fill in biographical detail about the man lurching to the right in an attempt to win the Republican nomination. Some comparisons with his father, George, are in order; and Mitt comes up dramatically short
"Deputy Jonathan Merry was two hours into his shift in Zanesville when the call came through about a lion and a bear on the loose." When he arrived on scene he found a tiger, a black bear, two lionesses. And then it got weirder
Whistlestop tour around sites associated with Dickens's life
Some aurorae are simply better than others. Here is the most magnificent Northern Lights video we've seen
2005 documentary looks at social experiment of Botton, half of whose inhabitants have learning difficulties
"Germans are behaving in Europe as red staters do in America. They profit from the larger union they think they want to undermine"
"No one comes to believe in God because they have been convinced by the arguments for God’s existence"
"People are information-rich and theory-poor. If you can give them a way of organizing their experience, then their minds are wide open"
"Anyone claiming to be an expert is selling something. I brandish my ignorance like a crucifix at vampires"
"When you search, you find what you were looking for; when you browse, you find what you were not looking for"
"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"
"Atheists are unfaithful"
"As we all know from our Blackberries, work invades leisure; but as we also all know from our iPhone, leisure invades work"
"If you base your entire candidacy on your ability to beat Barack Obama in a debate, you damned well better be able to beat Mitt Romney"
Jerry Leath Mills, on southernness
"There is a simple litmus-like test for the quality of southernness in literature. Is there a dead mule in it?"
Charles Moore, on Alain De Botton
"It is rather as if someone wrote about the joys of military parades without any conception that the job of soldiers is to fight"
"Fairness is a concept invented so dumb people could participate in arguments"
"Barack Obama has been to civil liberties what the Hindenburg was to air travel"
