Trendy protest: 2008 update
This is a diary of a few salient 2008 manifestations. It has been another year of young trendies doing more harm than good as they fool the media into thinking they are democracy refreshed. Read more...
Richard D North.
On culture, Nature, liberal issues, monasticism, spiritualityPage 49 of all posts
Top Ten: Economic pundits
Here in no particular order are my top ten economics commentators. Read more...
Media mayhem: McCann vs Matthews
It seems tasteless to look at the misery inflicted on two young girls from the point of view of the media coverage given to them. And yet these cases may be linked by the media attention they achieved. That is tasteless. Read more...
Top movie: “The Year Of the Dog” (US, 2007)
Look around any office. Whales wave their flukes at you. Cute dogs wear bows. Yes, there are baby-snaps and families get a look in. But animals really are it. This clever movie takes things a touching step further. Read more...
Unemployment: worse than 20s & 30s – or 80 & 90s?
Unemployment is likely to get quite or very bad. The numbers unemployed may reach 1980s or 1990s levels, or even 1930s levels. Here's a comparative sketch of the miseries ahead. In a new way, they may be worse than ever. Read more...
What’s bugging the police?
The Damien Green story is of course fascinating. But the Home Office leaks are not as extraordinary as the Sally Murrer story. And neither of those can match the bizarre twists of the Mark Kearney story. Read more...
Telling iPM how to fund the BBC
BBC Radio 4's iPM show asked me comment on their finding that people might be prepared to pay (an average of) £143 for BBC services. I replied that with a National Trust of the Airwaves they might pay less and get more. Read more...
Boris the modern Olympian
Right now the 2012 Olympics is employing people and cleaning up a dump. Soon it will refocus London eastwards. In 2012, it can be that contradiction of terms: a triumph of Britishness. The mayor is ideal as the frontman for all this. Read more...
Top movie: “Gomorrah” (It, 2008)
This is the best Mafia movie I have ever seen. City of God would run it close, as a gangster movie. But this is about a squarely European scene. This is set in our backyard. And it is about business as well as crime. Read more...
Top movies from the art-house, 1995-2005
I watch a movie most days, and my pleasure in them seems to get greater. Forget cultural decline or dumbing down: this is a great age of cinema. Read more...