-
Recent Posts
- Prosecution and the art of social media writing: reflections on McAlpine v Bercow
- Tentative thoughts on Woolwich Attack
- Vexatious requests guidance: weakening our power to make the state speak
- The temptation of celebrity power: the Police and Jimmy Savile
- Steve Jobs, Martin Heidegger, Apple and the new culture of technology
Archives
Category Archives: good writing
Prosecution and the art of social media writing: reflections on McAlpine v Bercow
Today, the High Court ruled that Sally Bercow had defamed Lord McAlpine through a tweet, which could be understand to accuse him of sexually abusing boys in care. It follows that, for these reasons, I find that the Tweet meant, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized, transparency, good writing, privacy, censorship
Tagged transparency, Twitter, Social media, Politics, privacy, Leo Strauss, defamation
2 Comments
Has the UK media’s abuse of the public interest stifled democracy?
Over the last few weeks, we have seen the Sun newspaper publish photographs of a naked Prince Harry. They justified publishing the photographs as being in the public interest. Their defenders supported the decision by arguing that Prince Harry is … Continue reading
Have hypertext and hyperlink been over-hyped? The view from local government.
Since the dawn of the social media age, we have been treated to various claims that hypertext and hyperlinks will change the way we work, read, and write. There were even claims that hyperlinks will subvert hierarchies. Yet, … Continue reading
Democracy and justice in the UK are we training to ask the right questions?
To find things out, we need to ask questions. The quality of our questions will depend on what we already know. At the same time, the quality of our questions will decide the answers we get. In court, we rely … Continue reading
Politics, Batman and the use of abstract language.
In politics, we often use abstract language as an intentional strategy to exclude our opponents and include our supporters. In this manner, language hides as much as it reveals. The more abstract the language, the more we can read into … Continue reading
No country for Old Men (thoughts on America).
Cormac McCarthy’s novel[1] has a powerful story to tell. At a number of levels, it tells the story of America. At the same time, it could be read, based on the title, as a meditation by Mr. McCarthy on his … Continue reading
Jay, Leveson, our modern day version of a Socratic dialogue
I have been enjoying the Leveson inquiry despite its depressing revelations. For many, what is of interest is seeing the powerful being brought to account. For others, it is a chance to see the issues raised by phone hacking addressed. … Continue reading
Posted in good writing, Government, privacy, public sector, transparency
Tagged Brian Leveson, Jay, Leveson, Leveson Inquiry, Lord Justice Leveson, Plato, Rupert Murdoch, Socrates
1 Comment
Four questions Robert Jay failed to ask Rebekah Brooks and why they matter
The sessions with Rebekah Brooks proved interesting, but less exciting than the previous sessions with Rupert Murdoch. In large part, the sessions with Brooks and Coulson proved relatively less exciting because they are both facing criminal prosecution. As a result, … Continue reading
Why did I start blogging? Reflections after my 50th blog posts.
I finally made it to 50. When I started blogging, I decided that once I reached 50 posts I would decide whether to continue or stop. Either I would not make it, through boredom, fear, too much hard work or … Continue reading
Posted in education, FOIA, good writing, Government, local government, scholarship
Tagged Academia, blog, blogging, Community of practice, Diplo, Jiscmail, United States, Vietnam War
Leave a comment
Hyperlinks, Leo Strauss and the return of esoteric writing
I have been thinking recently about the phrase “Hyperlinks subvert hierarchies.” I argued in an earlier blog that this was not the case. I suggested that hyperlinks reflect hierarchies and those hierarchies are networks. In that approach, I only considered … Continue reading
