China’s leader Xi Jinping has told artists and writers to “serve socialism” and avoid the “vulgar” and “stereotyped” dross common in the West. Be “patriotic” and don’t let your work be contaminated by the “stench of money”, he says. The media and social networks are full of fawning praise for his wisdom. This is not …
Continue reading ‘An example of why Epicurus shunned politics’ »
Obama’s plan to tackle climate change includes a commitment to slash CO2 emissions from US power stations by a third within 15 years, imposing CO2 limits on the country’s 1,000 fossil fuel-fired power plants. These account for 32% of US carbon emissions. Predictably, the proposals triggered an immediate political and legal backlash. Having previously resisted any cut-back …
In 2002, Melita Jackson disinherited her only child, Heather Ilott. The pair had been estranged since 1978, when Heather – then 17 – ran away from home to live with her boyfriend. (They later married and now have five children.) In her will, Jackson left her entire estate – worth almost half a million pounds – …
Continue reading ‘Are the rights of the dead being superceded?’ »
“We now know you can reside anywhere within the EU by purchasing a passport from the Maltese government. We also know that the route into the EU for Moldovans is an easily acquired Romanian passport. Ditto for Bosnian Croats, via Zagreb. Then there is the amnesty granted by the Spanish government to hundreds of thousands …
A row has broken out in France over a proposal to convert empty, unused churches into mosques. There are not enough mosques for the five million moslems, and in some places congregations overflow onto the streets. The right wing is up in arms at the idea, but they fuss about nothing, really. French churches aren’t …
