Sad news.

Ow.

Some of these are sounds you might never have wanted to hear again...

"Mr Nesbitt’s own personal position is clear: there is little doubt he was genuine when he said he did not wish to be part of an organisation whose members equate homosexuality with bestiality. But here is his problem: he is a member of such an organisation; in fact, he leads it – and yet he can still do nothing about it."

Another sceptic. I think I'll delete my Zurker account.

Charles Carreon becomes an internet celebrity, and not in a good way.

The extraordinary case of the IRA hungerstriker turned property magnate who clings desperately to his British citizenship...

How language changes over time!

Following the money in policy discussions in Washington.

1. Do you have a great High Concept? 2. Have you practiced for 10,000 hours? 3. Have you subjected your work to serious criticism? 4. Are you well read in your genre (and preferably beyond)? 5. Do you have a platform? 6. Are you willing to invest in your book? 7. Are you ready?

"The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positive forces anywhere, we are all at risk. It may be questioned whether all negative forces could ever be removed. The simple answer is: “No!” It is in human nature to contain both the positive and the negative. However, it is also within human capabili…

Realistic assessment on the limitations of the presidency.

Fascinating.

Our mayor is seeking a seventh *six-year* term.

#fb My piece in Belfast Telegraph.

Catherine Ashton greets the new president of Serbia. (Page is in Croatian but embedded video entirely in English.)

Not sure, myself!

"Democracy is deteriorating rapidly as President Saakashvili and his allies are increasing repression and rights of opposition political parties, as well as average citizens."

A nice graphic summary of just how evil Amazon are.

"Think really hard for one second: Do you really want to be doing this? Hungarian? Really?" asks the instructional software, which subsequently reminds users that the Hungarian language contains a 44-letter alphabet, with each noun having 17 different forms.

Bethnal Green, 1937

From Aldi to Weisswurst.

Just in case you were trying to remember the books as you watched.

Headline not quite fair: proposal is to ban scientists from considering *accelerated* sea rise as a possibility. "Rates of sea-level rise may be extrapolated linearly to estimate future rates of rise but shall not include scenarios of accelerated rates of sea-level rise."

Democracy in Georgia (non-US): fine the other guy for campaigning.