Reacting to a racist joke sent by a friend.

My brother looks at alternatives.

The strengths and weaknesses of a famous journalist.

Misses out the Copts, and various schismatic interludes.

Yet more utter nonsense from the UK eurosceptic media.

Not sure if I believe all of these!

Limited electorate, deliberately low-tech voting...

But I'd bet on Scola myself.

Excellent piece, as is the NYT article it links to.

Yes.

A great obituary.

In brief: no.

Ryk E. Spoor explains it all.

Perhaps the most important place for the history of a genre to begin is with defining its topic.

"It is striking how fixated on the alleged behavior of our hunting-and-foraging forbearers some educated inhabitants of the developed world have become."

Everyone's linking to this, but it is really worth watching if you haven't already.

"Scrupulously researched... strives for fairness and balance... Yet it’s also a book one hesitates to recommend – you may feel this is one scab you’d prefer not to pick, one car crash you choose not to rubberneck at."

"No one, it turns out, can ever really be the smartest guy in the room. For two reasons. First, to make sure that everyone keeps fighting to get in, and stay in. Second, to make sure that everyone who doesn’t get in is kept out."

"It was humiliating. It was absolutely unacceptable. It was a demonstration of totalitarian disregard of decency and democratic standards."

...because they intended to travel to the Western Sahara.

Christiane Amanpour on #WesternSahara

Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley reminisce.

Summary of what sounds like an interesting lecture by Stephen Walt.

Just one of those classic headlines.

We all know the answer, but worth reading for the joke at the end.

"Politically, the UK would be sending a clear signal to states which lose far more cases in Strasbourg, such as Russia and Turkey, that it no longer had confidence in the ECHR system. Whether you think that is a bad thing probably depends on your underlying theory of international relations and whether you think international institutions work in …

What do these words actually mean?

On choosing rulers. (Also, must see that film - loved the book.)

President mixes up Star Trek and Star Wars, losing geek credibility.