A tragedy in Austin, Texas where a man flew a light aeroplane into an office building. Reports – which may or may not be confirmed – indicate that the man set fire to his home first, and left a suicide note. The building included Federal government offices. At least the apparent suicide is dead. But [...]

I have no expertise in environmental science, and have never made an intensive study. I realise that what I write here is so simple as to be taught to a six year old. But there is a reason I write it. I am however trained as a historian. That mankind has changed the levels of [...]

Thanks to Charles Crawford for pointing out a typo. I knew Kaminsi when I was at the British Embassy in the late 1990′s, not the 1980s. Craig

I see Hillary Clinton is coming under attack for more remarks made on her Africa tour. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/12/hillary-clinton-2000-election-recount I am not a great fan of La Clinton, but I agree 100% with her pointing out that electoral fraud happens in the US too. The UK as well – anybody who thinks we don’t have electoral fraud [...]

I am in a quandary what to do about comments policy. This blog has become quite a popular internet forum. It has a very liberal attitude to free speech. But yesterday we had a car crash. It started with someone making some highly personal comments about me, to which I replied but which I was [...]

I was sitting in my study working on Alexander Burnes when suddenly shrieks came from the living room. I went to investigate and was really surprised to see Nadira’s belly dancing colleague and our friend Julia Naidenko on Britain’s Got Talent. What is more she got through! Julia is a lovely person. A few years [...]

Richard Barnbrook should be allowed to take Nick Griffn to the royal garden party if he wishes. I hope that other guests will go up to them and sweetly enquire: “And are you two civil partners?”

This won’t make any sense unless you first look at this rather good and amusing piece on Paul Staines’ blog, about the predictive suggestions Google gives you when you type “Gordon Brown is”. http://www.order-order.com/2009/05/google-knows/ Then go to google.co.uk, and type in “Paul Staines”, and see what predictive text Google suggests. FIRST PLACE GOOGLE SUGGESTION IS [...]

There is a lively debate in comments on my posting on neo-con bloggers pretending they are libertarians. Prominent among them, of course, is Paul Staines who blogs as Guido Fawkes. Paul has commented thus: I have not ever flirted with racism. I have always been anti-racist. Nutter. I would argue that proposing any kind of [...]

There has been a fashion in the blogosphere which needs to be challenged. Blogs of an extreme right wing cast have started to call themselves “Libertarian”. Brian Mickelthwait has attempted to compile a list of British “Libertarian” blogs. In the vast majority of cases, libertarian here plainly means “right wing conservative” or “neo-con”. http://www.brianmicklethwait.com/index.php/weblog/comments/uk_libertarian_bloggers_20/ The [...]

I was trying to register to vote at our new address today, but Ealing Borough Council’s website was down. So I telephoned them and got a recorded message saying they had been “forced to evacuate the building.” Presumably more than just a fire drill if the webiste is down. Anyway, I was googling local news [...]

Have flitted this afternoon to a new server. Sorry people couldn’t comment for a few hours.

I remember sitting under Caribbean skies at the Preparatory Committee for the UN Law of the Sea Convention. As we discussed thorny compromises over the regime to govern extraction of minerals from the bed of the deep sea, my friend Dolliver Nelson would break into flights of poetry. As many Jamaican weeks were passed, Dolliver [...]

I enjoyed the Eurovision song contest last night. I have more or less always watched it; great fun! Like many of my generation, I remember vividly watching live when ABBA first burst into our consciousness. In those days your musical director conducted the orchestra, and ABBA’s strode to the podium dressed as a silken Napoleon. [...]

Sorry if your recent comment disappeared. I had a massive Christian (!) spam attack overnight, and had to burn a few of the innocent along with the guilty. God will recognise his own, doubtless. I am at a loss as to why even the most eager evangelical could think deluging a site with spam references [...]

David Cameron has taken the sensible line and apologised for the tennis lawn greed of his taxpayer funded toffs. Sadly, the Tory blogs are not on message, and are concentrating on explaining why it is OK for Tory MPs to do precisely the same things that it is wicked for Labour MPs to do. Particularly [...]

Nadira and I were married this morning.

In 2003, over 10% of female prisoners in the UK’s jails were foreign women with drugs convictions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4261934.stm I can’t find a more recent number, but there has been no substantial change in the scale of the problem. A lot of them are from Nigeria, where Samantha Orabator was born. In the case of another [...]

Just heard on Sky News: “Oprah Winfrey has revealed how her heart broke when she interviewed Kate and Gerry McCann.” Great News! Oprah Winfrey’s dead! How did she reveal it though? In a seance? At the post mortem when her diaphragm was opened? This disgusting McCann couple at the very most charitable interpretation, left tiny [...]

Mrs Murray and I continue very Well, with no need of Physick. Yesterday we took our Promenade down to Gunnersbury Park. We made a picque-nique with some Roast Fowl and a quart of claret, and watched the Gentlemen of Acton in a match at Cricket against some visiting Gentlemen. Mrs Murray commented what a goodly [...]