Tag Archives: Factual
Leith Hill Tower
Yesterday we walked up to Leith Hill, situated to the south west of Dorking in Surrey. The hill reaches 294 meters (965 ft) above sea level and is the highest point. The books say that it was on the summit … Continue reading
Piss poor day for blogging
Guido Fawkes has, over the Hague/Myers issue, has shown the political blogosphere at its most pathetic. His feeble defence is that all he was doing was questioning whether taxpayer should be funding the salary of someone who might be having … Continue reading
And these two were running the country?
There is an amazing revelation from Tony Blair’s autobiography, A Journey: My Political Life – US link/UK link, in today’s Daily Telegraph: The former prime minister’s memoir discloses that a “maddening” Mr Brown effectively blackmailed him while he was in … Continue reading
More on the Spirit Level Delusion
I have written about these two before but had to write again after listening to Tim Harford. Harford is the Financial Times’ Undercover Economist, and has looked at the furor over the Spirit Level’s statistical analysis. The original book, The … Continue reading
Out of America by Keith Richburg
I am reading Out Of America – US link/UK link at the moment. I first heard of this book when it was first released back in the nineties but was unable to buy it as I was living in Central … Continue reading
Alive or dead? No real preference…
The philosopher Galen Strawson has a new piece in The Philosopher’s Magazine on a subject near to my heart: If, in any normal, non-depressed period of life, I ask myself whether I’d rather be alive than dead tomorrow morning, and … Continue reading
The Ground Zero Mosque debate
I think Ron Paul nails it here: “The justification to ban the mosque is no more rational than banning a soccer field in the same place because all the suicide bombers loved to play soccer.” I am not religious but … Continue reading
Tim Butcher on Henry Morton Stanley
I really enjoy Tim Butcher’s books and now he has written a great piece in the Telegraph about Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley has always been a hero of mine – I even named my son after him! I love his … Continue reading
Prairie Chapel Ranch
I really want a ranch like George W’s. He has a 1,583 acre ranch in unincorporated McLennan County, Texas, located seven miles northwest of Crawford. The property was acquired by President George W. Bush in 1999 and was known as … Continue reading
The myth of the “loner”
I am a relatively solitary person. I do not have a large social circle. I basically spend all my free time with my wife and kids. I haven’t been out for a few beers in a very long time – … Continue reading
Stuart Austin 