-
Recent Posts
- Write a letter if you want to defeat the NSA surveillance state
- In defence of PRISM: why we need governments in cyberspace.
- What Lord Tebbit shares with Islamists: Woolwich, Islam and the struggle with Liberalism
- Prosecution and the art of social media writing: reflections on McAlpine v Bercow
- Tentative thoughts on Woolwich Attack
Archives
Category Archives: statesmanship
Write a letter if you want to defeat the NSA surveillance state
In reading the title, you may be expecting me to suggest that you write a letter to your government representative to protest the NSA’s surveillance. Instead, I want to suggest something radical: write a letter and not use email. If you want … Continue reading
What is the university in an age of social media?
Clay Shirky has posted an intriguing article on the future of the university in the social media age. He argues that social-media technology, in particular the MP3 and technology to enable sharing, which has changed the music industry, is changing … Continue reading
Posted in philosophy, scholarship, statesmanship
Tagged Allan Bloom, Clay Shirky, Democracy, Education, Massive open online course, philsophy, Politics, research, Social media, technology, university
3 Comments
The death of Daniel Morgan and the (im)possibility of Justice
A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time.” —Socrates, in Plato’s Apology, 31d–32a Daniel Morgan died with an axe in his face. We … Continue reading
Posted in Government, local government, philosophy, public sector, statesmanship, transparency
Tagged Crown Prosecution Service, current-events, Daniel Morgan, Leveson Inquiry, Metropolitan Police, Natural justice, police investigations, Political Justice, political legitimacy, political repression, Politics, United States
18 Comments
Leveson’s fatal flaw: the Queen
Looking back on the Leveson Inquiry, it is clear that the review was fatally flawed from the start. Although the terms of reference focused on the press, media relationship, the underlying issue was the way power is distributed and used … Continue reading
Posted in Government, philosophy, republicanism, statesmanship
Tagged Crown, Leveson, Leveson Inquiry, Monarch, Monarchy, News of the World, Queen, United States
1 Comment
Political discourse in the age of always on recording devices: the death of statesmanship?
When Mitt Romney’s speech with the comment about the 47% was disclosed to the media, it changed the campaign. The way the leak occurred revealed the perils of political speech in the age of always on recording devices.[1] Political discourse … 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
What is the public interest in an undeclared war? Leveson Inquiry connection to the Iraq War
Was the Iraq war a declared war that demonstrated an existential threat to the United Kingdom against which the public had to be consulted? Lord Hennessy in his testimony to the Post Legislative Scrutiny of the Freedom of Information Act … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA, Government, statesmanship, war
Tagged government, Iraq, Leveson Inquiry, Lord Hennessy, Public interest, Rupert Murdoch, United States, World News
Leave a comment
A modest defense of democracy: three cheers for Blair, Cameron, and Clinton
I am not convinced that Leveson Inquiry shows a diminished democracy. Instead, we have been treated to an eye opening view of how modern democracy works. In the past, much of this would not be known or understood. Like the … Continue reading
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
