Yes, Biden's comment was weird and dangerous - I can't imagine what he was thinking. That said, the Russian strategic paranoia (which I think goes far beyond Putin's circle) is that th… (View Post)

I think we too easily attribute it mostly to worries about gas. The closer one is to the issue the more the historical complexities become apparent. Nationalist Ukranians see history as a long strugg… (View Post)

I'm not a fan of cycling and have the usual experiences with aggressive cyclists but of course it's valuable both for health and pollution reduction, and the reasons why cyclists have to wo… (View Post)

Sure, it's all ancient history now anyway. The 90K was my salary when I left Ciba-Geigy (by then Novartis). When I applied for selection as a candidate, the MP salary was quite low - £37K or som… (View Post)

I've duelled with Leon's many incarnations for a decade or more, and have come to feel OK with him as a literate, sometimes witty provocateur. In the early days I took him seriously, and fe… (View Post)