April 2011

  • New Patron, anyone?

    Wouldn't it be wonderful if the new Duchess of Cambridge were found to have a closet interest in the environment?   Well, NGOs in need of a Patron take note: Kate Middleton has a keen appreciation of the natural world...

  • William, Kate, and those Welsh Fish

    Well, eventually I managed to find an environmental angle to the wedding.  It seems that the use of Welsh gold for the wedding rings might (just might!) pose a threat to trout and salmon spawning.  As TIME notes: Conservationists and...

  • The Web of Hope

    I've written two blogs now for the Web of Hope.   The latest, about to appear, is about teaching –  the idea that we are all teachers now whether we like, or know, it or not.  We teach through our...

  • I, being Born a Sinner and Distressed, ...

    If you've been a sinner but have now seen the light, there's nothing like a public confession to let the world know of your repentance, and to show off your shiny new anti-whatever-it-was credentials and zeal.  St. Paul has a...

  • Hobson's choice: Osteoporosis – a Cat's home – and Friends of the Climate

    Shopping in Waitrose today (I know!), I was, as usual, faced with deciding which local charity to support with my solitary little green token.  The choice was between a local osteoporosis support group, a cat's home (actually: Kat's), and the...

  • Globaloney

    The most recent Schumpeter column in The Economist discussed a recent book: World 3.0: global prosperity and how to achieve it.  The column's headline is: The case against globaloney: at last some sense on globalisation, which gives the reader a sense...

  • A Grand Occasion in Plymouth

    I was in Plymouth on Thursday night to be at Stephen Sterling's professorial inaugural lecture.  It was a fittingly splendid few hours.  Stephen was welcomed formally to his new role with an appropriately generous appreciation of his human and professional...

  • Cut off from the World

    Back on line after 3 days with no home broadband, and now recalled to life – but the first thing I learn is that Catherine Z Jones has depression!   Well, I'm off to Plymouth for Stephen Sterling's Inaugural –...

  • Take a Mary Baker Schools Mix

    An article in Local Government Lawyer [LGL] at the end of last week reports on a review of capital investment in schools that has criticised the system as "not fit for purpose” and suggested that the public sector had consistently failed...

  • Campus Fugit

    I watched [part of] the first episode of Channel 4's new "comedy" Campus which was filmed at Bath last year.  I was a bit confused though as I didn't find it funny.  Whilst i know that universities are not supposed...