Inventions by my friends

I have talented friends. At least two have book deals and are furiously writing while living off their advances. A few have been elected to Parliament. Some are advising ministers or writing Middle East peace plans. On balance, this is a good thing, even if it does make me feel rather inferior by comparison. Some are inventors. […]

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Two-Tier Exams

One of the commonest criticisms of Michael Gove’s proposals to reform England and Wales’ examinations is that it would recreate a two-tier system: more prestigious O-levels and less-good CSEs, instead of the universal GCSE that exists today. The problem with this argument is that many commentators don’t seem to realise that GCSEs are themselves a […]

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Thoughts on the Arab revolutions

A few thoughts after sitting in a panel discussion on the Arab revolutions, with speakers from Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, the USA and Israel, as part of the Israeli Presidential Conference. Jordan Though Jordan isn’t undergoing a violent revolution (or a violent repression of a peaceful revolution), there are now weekly protests against the King and […]

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A note from the management

You might have noticed that it’s a bit quiet around here. There’s a reason for this: I’m not a blogger – well, not a proppa blogga (© Sion Simon). There was some point a few years ago when I wanted to rant about something but needed a platform a bit bigger than Twitter, so I […]

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