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Reviewing Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World
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I have to admit that reading about the history of cod probably isn’t going to make it high on your list of priorities for a quiet night in. I admit I was skeptical myself, but Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, takes an interesting idea an. The book tracks the history…
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Inca Trail: High altitude nosebleeds
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(Bit of a long read. Wanted to record this for myself, and unsure if long-form works for others. Lots to observe during the trail, so I’ve crammed a lot in from my Day 1 notes. Because of a mix of writing from notes and at the time this is written from the future and…
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Peru day 2: cuteness overload
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Day 2 in Peru started slowly. I spent the early parts of the day eating a lot and walking, trying out a bit of running. I ran 50m and felt like I was about to have a heart attack. Never again. I’ll stick to walking. It occurred to me as I wandered that the…
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Peru day 1: unexpected golden retrievers
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I’ve been in Peru for just over 24 hours, and it has been full of firsts and personal milestones. I’ve never been so fast south, I’ve never been to Peru (or anywhere in South America), and I’ve never been at the ground at high altitude. Getting here took…. a while. 17 hours worth of…
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The Greferendum has left me certain of just one thing
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I can’t say I have a strong opinion on whether Greece should have voted Yes or No in the referendum. It seems like both outcomes lead to uncertainty, and both have major downsides. One thing I can say for certain though: we shouldn’t be celebrating this as a serious victory for democracy. Greeks teaching…
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Immigration: unequivocally good?
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Michael Clemens from the Centre for Global Development on immigration [emphasis mine]: The research we have shows that immigration has had a positive effect on economic growth in Europe overall. This remains true in economists’ most sophisticated forecasts for the future. Christian Lutz and Ingo Wolter forecast a positive effect of immigration on German economic growth.…
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Is it the responsibility of citizens to vote?
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As the election draws near a common phrase has been cropping up on my Facebook feed: “it is the responsibility of citizens to vote”. And that phrase makes me uncomfortable. Until recently I couldn’t articulate why, but the recent debate in US politics on compulsory voting gave me some clarity. It is simply because the…
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What are the black spider memos?
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The Guardian have started doing great short explainer videos for some of their long-running coverage. This one on the Prince Charles black spider memos is a great example. Campaigners are increasingly producing short video-explainers, but I think the clarity of the Guardian videos is something to learn from. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/20/prince-charles-letters-supreme-court-judgment-due
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Are police cameras such an obvious win?
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Recently read this interesting article from Bloomberg on the perils of police cameras. They seem like such an easy and obvious win in response to incidents like Ferguson, but Bloomberg make a strong argument for why it isn’t quite so simple. On recruitment and effective policing: Police cameras are also prone to intentional abuse.…
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The leadership debates fail to impress
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Amongst the top qualities and abilities I want the leader of my country are: ability to negotiate ability to manage and work with others ability to strategise Being a strong public debater doesn’t seem to me to directly be a strong qualification for governing. In that respect I’m not convinced the leadership debates in the…