Tuesday, June 29, 2010


Couple of books I need to look out for cheap - Byzantine Aesthetics, and Three Byzantine Saints.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

'I warn you not to fall ill, I warn you not to grow old....'. After the budget, how right Jonathan Freedland was to quote Neil Kinnock:

http://m.guardian.co.uk/?id=102202&story=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/05/1983-cameron-victory-kinnocks-words
I've been reading a couple of reviews of Edward Luttwak's 'Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire' on the byzans mailing list. Both quite critical, and having read it I have to agree. This is a shame because I thought his earlier book on the Roman empire very insightful. This new book however is ful of fairly simple errors. It also takes a very simplistic view of what underpins Byzantine strategy. In common with the reviews I have read, I am not convinced it all boiled down to the experience of facing Attilla. It does seem clear that there was a close relationship betwen the Byzantium and the people of the steppe, but Luttwak's Doesn't seem to bring out the complexities. All in all, a disappointing follow up.

Other than that, I have just finished Runciman's 'Fall of Constantinople'. This book is in a different league. It may be little dated now, but for a narrative telling of a truly tragic story with real pathos, I don't think you cpuld beat it.

I am also ploughing through part 2 of the old Cambridge Medieval History volume IV. Also a good read, although again a little dated.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Monday, June 14, 2010

Interesting news from Osborne's new Office for Budget Reponsibility. It strikes me that this negates the case for harsh cuts this year. Growth is fragile. but borrowing is lower than first thought. Doesn't this make the case for maintaining spending stronger - to keep what growth there is in the economy? With borrowing lower the cuts are not so pressing, but cuts risk pumping up unemployment and dragging us into a downward spiral.

Removing first class travel is a perfect example. I used to travel to London first class for around £74 each way. Now I cannot go first class. However, Virgin then restructure their fares, and the cheap tickets are no longer available. I now travel standard class for £100 each way. The end result of a public sector cut is a profits dilemma for a private supplier - and the end result a net loss for the taxpayer (I pay more for my travel).

Interesting times indeed.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Sunshine at the weekend? Must be barbecue time!

Friday, June 04, 2010

What should be made of the government's publication of the COINS data? For starters, it is obviously the spending of the last government that is under scrutiny. I wonder whether they will be so keen to release this data next year. I think it also risks another step towards government by tabloid media. This was pretty bad under Labour. With everything open to view, this will provide the cover for the government to cut lots of worthy projects under cover of the Mail's righteous indignation. it's going to make some programmes very difficult to fund indeed. I fear that what we may end up with is not open democracy but demagoguery. I hope I'm proven wrong (and I may have a go at getting it into a usable database myself - sounds like a fun project).

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Posting this from my new phone, which is an HTC S710 bought to replace my S620. Now I really liked the S620, but it was ugly and starting to age a bit. I really miss Palm, so I tried a Treo 500 but the keyboard was awful and it wouldn,t hold a data signal - although it was a really pretty phone. So now I'm on the S710. I like it, but the slider is a little loose. I'll give it a go and see how I get on with it. The keyboard may take some getting used to as well. At least it made me re-look at software. I'm posting this from moBlog.