Whilst some of us are busy trying to implement the new European data regulations that will come into effect on 25th May, Facebook is just as busy as we are, in clearly breaching the same regulations. Facebook’s carelessness concerning private data has been well reported elsewhere. However, there is one aspect of this fiasco that I […]
Month: March 2018
Brexit Musings (18) – “Passeports, s’il vous plaît.”
This is a fitting tribute to the future of reason, where everything is so logical and clear-cut. The UK has finally won me over, and convinced me to renew my UK passport even though I have a French one. The passport will not be “blue” but “bleu”….Merci les Amis. Brexit is a sad affair for […]
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#MeToo For Atheists
The death of Stephen Hawking was, above all, a tragic loss for his immediate family and closest friends. The world of physics, and science in general, will also be much the poorer without him. Whereas none of us, common mortals, would be able to write a bestseller on the history of time, or come up […]
Brexit Musings (17) – Brits In Europe: Status Quo Or Status Gone?
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, the more it changes, the more it is the same thing. The EU and UK have done it again, and our EU rights, as British citizens living elsewhere in the EU, are close to being officially trampled on. The British fish, swimming in the North Sea, are likely […]
Houellebecq’s “Submission” – A Caliphate Fantasia In Rotterdam
Michel Houellebecq’s controversial novel, “Submission”, published in 2015, received a mixed reception from both the press and politicians. Not surprisingly, Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-winged “Front National”, described the work as, “fiction that one day could become reality.” Michel Houellebecq’s political fiction is in nothing a visionary work, it’s just a succession of false provocations. […]
Dikes, Bikes, And Perks – Holland’s Underwater Haven
photograph © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) The latest OECD report, focussing on the work-leisure balance – so important in stopping each one of us from giving up on life – puts the Dutch at the top of the class. This does compensate the dire results of the Dutch national football team, which […]
When EU Twitterbots Encounter Daniel Hannan’s Spam
The title of Daniel Hannan’s latest blog post, published in the Daily Telegraph, says it all. The UK is a bad boy who is under fire from the monster in Brussels, who thinks he knows best. But do notice that even concerning walking away with no deal, the UK hasn’t begun its preparations […]
Brexit Is No Longer Divorce – It’s Adultery
The Mansion House speech, delivered by Theresa May, clearly attempted to define what the UK wants out of Brexit. What it did not do, is deliver concrete solutions. If the EU is to abide by its principles, and not sell its soul to a potential bidder, Theresa May should have very little, if anything, to […]
The Irish, The Brits, And The EU: Bordering On Insanity
If you think about it, the two most controversial and painful aspects of the Brexit negotiations, up to now, both concern the notion of national borders, and who can or cannot cross them. Now, we have the whole of Northern Ireland, not knowing whether it will end up with a hard border, and where the […]