The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called “universal jurisdiction.” Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to … Continue reading →

Anyone remember the Iraq War? Bush and Cheney made a bunch of claims about Iraq that weren’t true…most people didn’t believe them until they sent Powell up to make a big speech at the UN… …remember? Their source – curveball … Continue reading →

When I went to the butcher’s and asked for suet, the lady at the counter said she didn’t think they had any but the butcher was right behind her carving up a cow. “Here you go!” he shouted as he … Continue reading →

Three atheists tell their stories. Continue reading →

I’m trying to learn Objective C at the moment so I can write my first iPhone app (this time next year, we’ll be millionaires). Objective C is just about the ugliest language that I have ever come across (and I … Continue reading →

Stephen Fry loves language so much that he wants to wrestle it away from the control of the pedants who want to control it. Favourite bit: You slip into a suit for an interview, and you dress your language up … Continue reading →

Bruce Bartlett has a post explaining why the budget negotiations are futile. American Public Opinion on Foreign Aid Just based on what you know, please tell me your hunch about what percentage of the federal budget goes to foreign aid. … Continue reading →

He hovered, and stayed still, striding on the crumbling columns of air, curved wings jerking and flexing. Continue reading →

The Name of the Rose is one of those books that I read at an impressionable age and was terribly impressed by it. I read it again a few years later and it was better still. It’s firmly in my … Continue reading →