January 2010
22 posts
Andrew Martin on the demise of the chocolate... →
Reflecting on the sale of Cadbury’s to Kraft, Andrew Neill considers Rowntress and also Terry’s.
The Terrys were not Quakers, and were not philanthropists on the Rowntree scale, but they were good sorts in a Tory paternalist sort of way. Their neo-Georgian factory was a popular place to work, and positively pretty to look at. At night the clock shone, moon-like, over the south of the...
Drop Haiti's Debt →
For 200 years, Haiti has made huge payments on servicing its foreign debt. However, more than $890m remains, owed mostly to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-America Development Bank.
We think this is unacceptable. And while the World Bank’s announcement on Friday that it will waive repayments for five years marks welcome progress on this issue, what Haiti needs from the Bank...
Clip from Chris Morris's 'jihadist comedy' →
“You’ve got a beard” “I covered it”
Holocaust memorial day is a good time to draw your attention to the story of Christian X, wartime King of Denmark. Although seemingly fairly well known, I only heard this story recently when I read Carmen Agra Deedy’s childrens book, The Yellow Star.
Denmark, like much of mainland Europe, was invaded and controlled by the Nazi’s in 1940. Although Danish forces repelled the initial German advance...
iPad. →
Ignore the cynics, just enjoy the enthusiasm.
If you only see one film this year... →
If you have problem.
If no-one else can help.
And if you can find one.
Maybe you can hire
Your tagline from M&S.
UPDATE Hopefully there’ll be no reworking or re-imagining or remixing the theme tune. This will be fine.
My new favourite app
As we all know asking for information about anything in Carphone Warehouse is pointless.
Nonetheless the law of averages says that if you go in often enough eventually you’ll come out with something useful and so it was on Saturday when quite by chance I found out about the best web app yet for iPhone.
TV Catch Up for iPhone lets you watch live TV from most of the Freeview channels on...
Still waiting
Waiting for the arrival of baby 3 (working title Archibald) has been a strange experience. Samuel arrived in the middle of the night 48 hours early. Benjamin came two days early as well, though his was a much more civilised birth arriving just in time for tea. This baby is already two days late. Of course people have suggestions for how to hurry things along but walking sideways up the stairs...
Aber 2010
The brochure came in the post last week. Any other year the main draw for me would be one-man-civil-war-anecdote-factory, Dale Ralph Davis but special mention has to be given to my good friend James Sercombe who goes head to head with Geoff Thomas on the Sunday.
(There isn’t an online brochure available yet but it will probably be here)
Arms maker to remove 'biblical' gunsight... →
Some observations.
It’s interesting that the ever so hip Guardian insist on ignoring widely used modern translations preferring the King James version when giving bible verses. Perhaps they support TBS.
Then
Thousands of Muslims, Jews and agnostics serve in the US military, which prohibits proselytising by its members.
Quite apart from the laughable idea that Muslims and Jews and...
Domino's reinvent the pizza →
Apparently the crust tasted like cardboard.
Chinatown Wars now on sale in App Store →
At. Last.
Experts and Axioms →
Here’s an interesting little piece from Standpoint about groupthink.
The example is Euclid’s axiom which, even after double science from Wikipedia and my father in law, I do not understand. Nevertheless the story is intriguing.
The piece concludes by pointing out that the eminent mathematician of the day wasn’t willing to go against the received wisdom.
Gauss was a man with a...
Does God Hate Haiti? →
Whenever a disaster happens the obvious question is, Where is God and why didn’t he stop this. Looking to absolve God, Christians tend to provide one of two answers.
Liberals will look at the disaster relief and see God in the humanitarian response. “Don’t look for God in the causes” they say “God is not the author of this, he is as surprised as anyone by this. However rather than...
Need to know your only hope in life and in death... →
For your iPhone or iPod Touch, a very tidy looking Heidelberg Catechism web app that even works offline.
Mike Reeves on Bunyan
Regarding John Bunyan and The Unquenchable Flame, here’s Mike Reeves take on the man, his conversion, and John Owen’s great appraisal of his preaching.
Perhaps the most famous Puritan prisoner in the 1660’s and 1670’s was John Bunyan who languished in jail for some twelve years for illegal preaching. However he managed to use his time there to conceive what is almost certainly the...
Isn't it just an oversized iPhone? →
Assuming everything goes to plan, on January 25th our life changes again with the arrival of our third baby. For the rest of you life changes two days later when Apple unveils their tablet device.
Here, Andy Ihnatko gives some good suggestions of what it will be and more importantly why you’ll want one.
The critical difference between the [Apple Tablet] and all other tablets will be in how...
1 tag
Church Strap lines
Does your church have a strap line? A strap line is a phrase that sums up the aim of an organisation in as few words as possible. In churches these usually sound like this. “To worship God and express the love of Jesus” or “Proclaiming the love of God to a lost world”. You might think this is a modern idea but even old churches have them. Look above your pulpit next time you are in church and you...
Andrew Rawnsley on the Hoon/Hewitt plot. →
As assassination attempts go, this was not Day of the Jackal. It was Day of the Jackass.
1 tag
Church history? I would rather stick forks in my...
Riding the London Underground on my way to Paris to see in the new year with Caroline, I saw an advert for Jeremy Clarkson’s new book. The advert used a quote to give a flavour of the its content, the typically nuanced and thoughtful. “Shakespeare? I’d rather stick forks in my eyes” to which a million commuters uncharitably replied “That can be arranged”.
This attitude is unremarkable. Lots of...
Ian Jack on The Worst Journey in the World. →
They hauled their sled in almost total darkness, through blizzards and up and down crevasses and in temperatures that ranged from -40C to -57C. The sweat froze inside their clothes and the breath around their faces. Cherry-Garrard wondered why their tongues never froze, despite their lack of exposure because conversations were kept to a minimum. As it was, “all my teeth, the nerves of which...
Pilgrim's Progress →
Happy New Year everyone. After an enforced hiatus (the wifi broke down) Pundits Folly returns with this link to Iain D Campbell’s warm recommendation of a new version of John Bunyan’s classic.