Notes and Comments: No. 8

I haven’t been feeling too well of late – a cold that refuses to develop – hence the lack of new material here.

Don Berry at First Post reckons Tony Blair will have a legacy after all, in the dictionary:

Blair/verb intrans.

Make an intentionally false statement, tell a lie or lies.

For, as he says, ‘absolutely nobody believes what is being said. And this includes the person making the statement. The English language needs a new word to describe this trope succinctly.’

‘Faith’ schools are a bad idea, aren’t they? Of course, they are. Well, sign this then.

I got bored with watching international football during the World Cup 2006. Of course, England’s woeful performance didn’t help, but this could be the real reason. The thing is though, not being a fan or a supporter of any team means that these days I don’t really care about club football that much either. This is especially true at international club level, like the Champion’s League where – it seems – the same pool of players flit from club to club, and the stakes are so high that every team plays to avoid losing rather than playing to win.

Far from according respect, the multiculturalist censor treats people not as autonomous beings but as incapable victims needing special protection. The result is an auction of victimhood as every group attempts to outbid all others as the one feeling most offended.

From an excellent article by Kenan Malik at Eurozine.