Freedman's book "Failed state: Why nothing works and how we fix it", which I've recommended here before, is well worth a read, despite being much stronger on why nothing works tha… (View Post)

My guess would be that WPB doesn't have much by way of centralised organisation; simply someone in charge of allowing candidates to use the name, and when someone popped up in a seat with left-w… (View Post)

Suggesting that this year we will be moving from 1933 to 1934... (View Post)

Off topic, this from Freedman on the travails of government is interesting: Quarter of a century ago, Professor Michael Moran came up with the concept of the “regulatory state” to describe the way Br… (View Post)

I was on the QM2 for a week with Sopel and got to know him a bit, as like me he had his dog in the ship's kennels. He's a nice, decent, guy, and a good storyteller, but I often find his jou… (View Post)