Until a Google search earlier this evening I was unaware that Pravda, the official media organ of Russia’s Soviet regime, was still in existence. Led by two former Soviet-era editors, however, the "newspaper" continues to be published online. In an effort to explain the ‘official’ Russian perspective on the hostilities in Georgia, Pravda has today published an interesting collection of articles and quotations from a range of “experts” in an attempt to justify both their ...

Say it quietly, but I think there are signs that the zealotry surrounding the religion of environmentalism in the West might have peaked. This is not because George Bio-pot has just come over all ambivalent about nuclear power. Most people are unaware of the various arcane sections and sub-sections within the environmentalist movement. Rather, it has simply been the TV and press pictures of the quite incredible smogs enveloping the Olympic Stadium in Beijing and ...

Yesterday, in The Daily Mail, James Chapman appeared to suggest that Labour plans were afoot to force Gordon Brown to quit which could be followed by a subsequent leadership contest, in which the Foreign Secretary Mr Miliband could run for Prime Minister with Health Secretary Mr Johnson as his deputy. I agreed with his analysis. (The Times has just caught up with the story and Miliband writes for The Guardian today). Although most other parts ...

Next month, I am going to Egypt for twelve days backpacking through the sights, although in the case of Egypt, "sites" might be more appropriate. In common with tens of thousands of Britons, I have bought a Lonely Planet guide to help me along the way. Twenty years ago, when I bought my first title, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides were in their infancy, but they have since exploded into big businesses. Their basis is ...

Unfortunately, I'm unable to share Louise Bagshawe's optimism that "Brown is gone". From a Labour perspective 'no change, no chance' is a strong argument; but it is counteracted by the growing realisation that, as the next election is probably lost anyway, there's no point in turkeys voting for an early Christmas. The idea of foisting a second unelected Prime Minister on the nation is surely unthinkable without the promise of an early-ish general election; which ...

A joke to brighten up Monday morning... A driver is stuck in a traffic jam going into Central London. Nothing is moving north or south. Suddenly a man knocks on his window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, 'What Happened, what's the hold up?' 'Terrorists have kidnapped Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling. They are asking for a £10 million ransom.. Otherwise, they are going to douse them with petrol and set them on ...

How did this fascinating article get overlooked? Since I combine green and fiscal Conservatism by reading all the newspapers online and for free, I can't be sure, but my screen appears to suggest that it appeared in the Times Literary Supplement for some reason. Anyway, take a look and enjoy. One Brendan Perring infiltrates Labour's campaign HQ in Glasgow East and immediately, without any checks, is put to work. A few highlights, emphasis mine... "I ...

The first anniversary retrospectives did not make happy reading for Mr. Brown. The general conclusion was that the election that wasn't, Yellow Saturday, was what buried his premiership. He who hesitates is lost. I'm starting to wonder if Mr. Brown is not the only politically lily-livered ditherer in the Cabinet. David Miliband's PM-in-waiting act is starting to remind me a lot of Gordon Brown. Regarded by his wing of the party as the inevitable successor ...

The interesting part of this article is not the topic (a dispute on drug policy in British Columbia), but the insights into the different moral systems of conservatives and liberals (in the Canadian or American sense). Proffessor Jonathan Haidt, a University of Virginia social psychologist, has developed a system to explain the different moral systems of conservatives and liberals. In his view there are five foundations people use to define morality: Harm: whether someone is ...

Regarding Tim's post below, the New York Times politics blog has a couple of updates on the story including a partial retraction from a spokesman for Mr Maliki. It now seems that his comments had been “as not conveyed accurately regarding the vision of Senator Barack Obama, U.S. presidential candidate, on the timeframe for U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraq,” although the language of the statement is so convoluted that it is difficult to see exactly ...

I've just arrived in Washington DC and the talk of the town is this story in Spiegel. Iraq's PM appears to have endorsed Obama's plan for a sixteen month withdrawal plan from Iraq. If true then McCain's message that Obama is taking a risk with the security of Iraq becomes a much harder sell. Marc Ambinder agrees:"This could be one of those unexpected events that forever changes the way the world perceives an issue. Iraq's ...

Margaret Thatcher was a master of capturing and manipulating the news agenda to get her message over. Now heading to her 83rd birthday in the autumn the media interest remains undimmed. In March she fainted over dinner and spent a night in hospital. Sky and the BBC both broke from normal news to run lengthy bulletins from outside St Thomas' hospital. The media are all primed for the day of the 'last' story on Lady ...

This morning the TaxPayers' Alliance has uncovered the details of the extraordinary financial package that HMRC's ex-Chairman, who resigned over the loss of child benefit data, has received. "Doing the honourable thing" is rarely so lucrative. "HMRC's annual accounts, which have just been published on 14 July 2008, reveal that Mr Gray: Earned £120,000 in salary in 2007-08. Received a lump sum pay-off of £137,591 on resigning. Is currently being paid over £7,000 a month ...

I started writing this post just before the London election, when I returned from my local Waterstone's where I was struck by a special display on books about the US Presidential candidates. There were books about, and crucially by, all three of the then candidates, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and they seemed to be selling well. It set me thinking - should David Cameron publish a book, and if so, what about? ...

There was a surreal quality watching Hillary Benn being interviewed on the Politics Show this morning. The host was quizzing him on the Climate Change Bill, and the commitment to cut emissions by 60% from 1990 levels. She was asking why the Government weren't going further, and targetting an 80% reduction. What exactly a 60%, not to mention 80%, cut means in the real world was entirely ignored. To the right is the pattern of ...