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Archives for July, 2016 - Page 2
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Media Bias? Or something else? How can we tell?
English: In the political theory of the Overton Window, a new idea fills the window of what the public views as unthinkable, causing the desired idea to shift into the window of what the public views as sensible without the need to explain any benefit of the desired idea. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) We seem to hear allegations of media bias on a regular basis these days. Anytime an interest group isn't getting the glowing coverage they feel that they so richly deserve we hear the shout 'media bias!' The thing is, I don't see much media bias at work. What does Media Bias look like? In the eyes of those that shout about media bias it seems to take these forms: Negative coverage of what their leader or candidate has said Coverage of the opposing point of view Questions about…
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Article 50 – How will we Brexit?
After the referendum there's been a lot of speculation on how we invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon. Article 50 (see below) is the provision for a member state to leave the EU. Article 50 Here is Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. It helps to know what it is before giving an opinion. 1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty…
Education – Using Somme War Diaries
This post is an attempt at education using war diaries to show on what officers did and how that affected casualties at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. This, and its follow ons, was inspired by a Twitter conversation after Friday's post. I was asked about whether other ranks were sacrificed at the Battle of the Somme by officers. It was a form of Alan Clarke's fallacy Lions led by donkeys. Here's the tweet. There are three parts to answering the questions. What did officers do in WW1 battles? What are the relative numbers of officers and other ranks in WW1 infantry battalions? (and how did this change as the battle progressed?) What do the casualties tell us? Method of Education For the first question I went back to my WW1 bookshelves. There are a few relevant tomes. I also drew on…
The Nightmare Stacks by Charlie Stross [Book Review]
The Nightmare Stacks by Charles Stross My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Nightmare Stacks is another turn in the Laundry series, which has moved firmly away from following Bob Howard to being about the world that Bob inhabits. The main point of view in the Nightmare Stacks is Alex, one of the vampires from The Rhesus Chart. We also see some from Cassie's point of view (a new character) and Pinky & Brains return and play a strong supporting part in the story. We also see Pete the Vicar as Alex's mentor. The Nightmare Stacks Alex is not a cynical snarky commentator. Instead we have a primary character that is focussed on work and lacking some of the social skills, especially in dealing with the opposite sex, that are more commonplace. Alex is getting used to the changes of being…
Battle of the Somme 1916
Today is the centenary of the first infantry attacks in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Zero Hour was 07:30, and at that point the whistles blew and the infantry began their advance across no-man's land towards the German trenches. The infantry attack was preceded by over a week's artillery bombardment of one and a half million shells. A couple of minutes before H-hour several mines were detonated under the main German positions. Public Perceptions of the Battle of the Somme The Badly Shelled Road to Bapaume (21 Sept 1916) By Lt Ernest Brooks, via Wikimedia Commons This image gives the general public perception of WW1 in general, and the Battle of the Somme in particular. It is from the Battle of the Somme, but from 20th September 1916 rather than 1st July. The Somme battle was what churned…