17 December 2015 An Agreement From Paris Will the process succeed? By John Watson My favourite clause of the Paris Agreement is article 7.5 which runs as follows: Parties acknowledge that adaptation action should follow a country-driven, gender-responsive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems, and should be based… Continue reading Issue 33: 2015 12 17: An Agreement From Paris
Category: Comment
Issue 33: 2015 12 17: The monopoly on violence
17 December 2015 The Monopoly On Violence Brussels proposes to arm itself for our protection by Neil Tidmarsh This week, the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker proposed an EU paramilitary force to police the EU’s borders. It would have the authority to intervene in a member country without permission from that country’s government. The plan… Continue reading Issue 33: 2015 12 17: The monopoly on violence
Issue 32: 2015 12 10: Icecream and Revolution
10 December 2015 Ice-Cream and Revolution by J R Thomas North of Waterbury, Vermont, on the road to Stowe is an American shrine. Not the Von Trapp Family Lodge and Von Trapp Timeshare Homes (and Von Trapp Brewery and Von Trapp Austrian Restaurant and and and…). If you get there you have gone too far… Continue reading Issue 32: 2015 12 10: Icecream and Revolution
Issue 32: 2015 12 10: Making for the exit
10 December 2015 Making For The Exit The decision by a 50 year old woman to refuse treatment jars modern sensibilities By John Watson This week’s doings in the Court of Protection have raised a few eyebrows. A lady aged fifty, who had until then lived a hedonistic life, decided that she did not… Continue reading Issue 32: 2015 12 10: Making for the exit
Issue 32: 2015 12 10: War For Our Time
10 December 2015 War For Our Time by J R Thomas That of course was not what Neville Chamberlain said. He apparently did not even mean to say what he did say. As he stood outside Downing Street on his return from his visit to Hitler on 30th September 1938 to sign the Munich… Continue reading Issue 32: 2015 12 10: War For Our Time
Issue 32: 2015 10 10: Exorcising magic realism
10 December 2015 Exorcising Magic Realism Cold reality for a hot continent by Neil Tidmarsh The world-class literature of Latin America is characterised by a refusal to accept the true nature of reality. Novelists such as Mexico’s Juan Rulfo, Colombia’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Peru’s Mario Vargas Llosa, Argentina’s Jorge Louis Borges and many others have… Continue reading Issue 32: 2015 10 10: Exorcising magic realism
Issue 31: 2015 12 03: An Uncertain Endgame
03 December 2015 An Uncertain Endgame by John Watson It is right that British politics should be dominated by the question of whether to bomb ISIL in Syria and it is to the credit of Westminster that the division is not down party lines. Clearly the decision bothers MPs and it is good that some… Continue reading Issue 31: 2015 12 03: An Uncertain Endgame
Issue 31: 2015 12 03: A Rising Star in the West
03 December 2015 A Rising Star in the West by J.R. Thomas An American reader of the Shaw Sheet has kindly drawn our attention to a quietly rising star in the Republican race for the presidential nomination. Ted Cruz is his name and one might be forgiven for overlooking him among the noisy boys… Continue reading Issue 31: 2015 12 03: A Rising Star in the West
Issue31: 2015 12 03: Black Marks,Black Market,BlackOil
03 December 2015 Black Marks, Black Market, Black Oil Russia tries to roast Turkey by adding oil and turning up the heat. by Neil Tidmarsh The most surprising and potentially the most effective blow Russia struck against Turkey this week in retaliation for the downed Su-24 bomber was the accusation that Turkey is buying oil… Continue reading Issue31: 2015 12 03: Black Marks,Black Market,BlackOil
Issue 30: 2015 11 26: Stone Him!
26 November 2015 Stone Him! Those who express the wrong views must be punished by John Watson One commentator has written that the debate about dropping David Starkey from the Cambridge University fund-raising video is not about free speech. I’m not sure that is completely right but it is probably fair to say that free… Continue reading Issue 30: 2015 11 26: Stone Him!
Issue 30: 2015 11 26: Bonkers Bankers
26 November 2015 Bonkers Bankers by M J Horast If bankers were a racial minority, a religious grouping or of unusual sexual determination, the Chartered Banker Institute (bankers, not understanding the proper use of the apostrophe, seem to have simply abandoned the expected ‘s) would be protesting in the strongest possible terms about the portrayal… Continue reading Issue 30: 2015 11 26: Bonkers Bankers
Issue 30:2015 11 26: Serious Consequences
26 November 2015 Serious Consequences President Putin reaches for the Paracetamol. Again. By Neil Tidmarsh President Putin has promised that there will be “serious consequences” to the shooting down of the Russian Sukhoi Su-42 fighter jet by Turkish F-16 jets yesterday. While reactions to the event are likely to be rapid – this article may… Continue reading Issue 30:2015 11 26: Serious Consequences
Issue 29: 2015 11 19: The Art of Procuring
19 November 2015 The Art of Procuring By John Watson Try covering up a roof with not quite enough felt. Stretch it to cover the right edge, and the left edge becomes uncovered. Pull that side up, and a split opens down the middle. However many compromises you make, you always need just a little… Continue reading Issue 29: 2015 11 19: The Art of Procuring
