What the general told me about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal in the early days of the Obama administration. During the first year of the Obama administration, I spent months in the summer and fall of 2009 reporting about the Pakistani nuclear arsenal from here in Washington; from Islamabad, the Pakistani capital; from New Delhi, the Indian Continue reading »
Media
To His Majesty King Charles III, On the coronation of my liege, I thought it only fitting to extend a heartfelt invitation to you to commemorate this momentous occasion by visiting your very own kingdom within a kingdom: His Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh. You will no doubt recall the wise words of a renowned playwright: “The Continue reading »
When the western media and politicians speak of China’s treatment of minorities it is always taken for granted that such treatment is a violation of the minority’s human rights. I would venture to differ. China has a complex framework of ethnic-regional autonomy enshrined in its constitution that is poorly understood in the West. Having worked Continue reading »
Speech at The Persecution of Truth conference According to Dr Suelette Dreyfus, Julian Assange was the most original voice in twenty-first-century journalism. She justified this claim by referencing the invention of the anonymous digital dropbox that WikiLeaks and Assange pioneered, which allowed whistle-blowers to transfer information to the public, while preserving their anonymity. This invention Continue reading »
Since I’m on the topic of Max Weber, religion and technology already, here’s a half-developed theory of Elon Musk that I’ve been nurturing for a while. I’ve trotted it out informally at a couple of meetings, and I’m not completely convinced it is right, but it’s prima facie plausible, and I’ve gotten some entertainment from […]
In Asian Media this week: South Korea nuclear guarantee ‘better than NATO’. Plus: Thaksin party just hangs on to poll lead; Asia tops world growth, with China the driver; Indian court’s progressive sex-gender rulings; Russia sees AUKUS as NATO-style alliance; Asian war ‘far worse than Ukraine’; woman arrested over Thailand serial killings As the 70th Continue reading »
The Conservative Party's huge defeats in the local elections reveal a party that is increasingly out of step with modern Britain, reports Adam Bienkov
Erin Kissane wrote a great essay on the differences between Mastodon and Bluesky (two very different decentralized social networks/Twitter alternatives). Read it! I too joined Bluesky a few days ago (no – I don’t have any invites), and I’ve some of the same impressions as she did, but not being a real tech person, I […]
With news of the Writer’s strike shutting down shows all across America, Australian TV exec’s have breathed a sigh of relief that the strikes won’t hit the local industry too hard, as they don’t hire writers on a full time... Read More ›
Just three media groups dominate the national newspaper market – and help shape our political narrative, while the Government has failed to act against 'lawfare', a new report finds