For more than 25 years now, I have been convinced that the second best beer in the world is Fuller’s Extra Special Bitter despite all evidence to the contrary. ESB took the title from its little brother – London Pride … Continue reading →

So I had my first guitar lesson last night. Just like shopping for a guitar when you know nothing about guitars, choosing a teacher is tough. Likes the Blues? Check! Pink Floyd? Led Zep? Check? Little bit of theory? Check! … Continue reading →

Nicholas Kristoff felt obliged to apologize for comparing The Best Health Care System in the World to Slovenia’s. In several columns, I’ve noted indignantly that we have worse health statistics than Slovenia. For example, I noted that an American child … Continue reading →

John Derbyshire’s cuts to the chase in his commentary on D’Souza’s new book. To judge from the extracts — and of course, if this is the kind of thing that interests you, you should read the whole book — D’Souza seems to … Continue reading →

Remember, remember The fifth of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason Why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot. A long time ago, there was a King of England called King James I. In the years before James … Continue reading →

Olivia Judson explains that science is not a succession of facts, facts facts and why Rosalind Franklin did not discover the structure of DNA. She had the data. Why didn’t she reach the solution? There are several answers to this; … Continue reading →

Why I enjoy reading Conor Friedersdorf: That’s why I am sympathetic to the “conservative dissidents,” despite my many policy differences with them. Unlike the base, I don’t think politicians who are squishy on substance did in Republicans. I think what … Continue reading →

What should a government do if science shows that it’s policies are misguided? Why, fire the scientists of course! Professor Nutt was the British government’s chief advisor on the harm caused by illegal drugs and he wrote a paper showing … Continue reading →

FrumForum (formerly New Majority) has an article comparing the Republicans circa 2009 with Michael Foot’s Labour party. There are a lot of parallels. In the wake of Labour’s 1979 election defeat, the party entered into a period of prolonged crisis, … Continue reading →