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I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol. - Alexandre Dumas
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IP theft .. in the great American tradition
11/12/2018
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There is currently great hysteria about IP theft  by China. Even reasonably sensible Americans loose all sense of reality on this topic. For example WIRED wrote 11 October 2018″From US companies, Chinese hackers and spies have purloined everything from details of wind turbines and solar panels to computer chips and even DuPont’s patented formula for the color white. “ You cannot steal a patented formula !! You can only  infringe it. The purpose of patents was to spread knowledge around the…

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Tariffs and why china might say ‘bring it on’
10/12/2018
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| Policy

Tariffs have a tendency to be symmetrical. US tariffs could cause China immediate disruption but what would be the long run ? If China weans itself of the USA market then US producers will have to relocate to China. Since many chinese goods are intermediate the cost could be borne by US producers. However large the US market is today it cannot compete with the future Chinese market. Foreign competitors will seek to steal US lunch. If the US…

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[:en]V& A Video game exhibition 26 Oct18[:]
27/10/2018
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| arts

Spent an enjoyable evening at Victoria  & Albert Museum viewing their exhibition on the video gaming industry with my son who loves video games. It was well curated and revealed how influential the video gaming world was and how it would soon be invading the world of art through the power of its immersive experience. Its power to spin a narrative will soon attract the most powerful and talented artists of the future. Clearly there will be a two…

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[:en]An evening with Bill Bryson – 25 October 2018[:]
25/10/2018
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Spent this evening listening to Bill Bryson at the London Library. The London Library is an august institution founded in St James’ Square London  and has associations with many great British writers whose ghosts are seen happily strolling along its arcane alleyways, browsing along the shelves, brimming with delight when their books are NOT on the shelves because they have been taken out to be read! Bill gave an enchanting talk about how he came to England (note specifically England…

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[:en]The Economist – certified brain dead[:]
24/10/2018
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| Politics

It is  hard to believe  that The Economist  could outdo their last fiasco on Africa but believe it they have and  it is true. Readers may recall their report that stated that everyone in Tanzania was earning less than $2 a day, even the richest Tanzanians!!! (Note 1) Now they have  a piece explaining why Trump is so popular in Africa. (Note 2) “Nigerians, Kenyans and South Africans are twice as likely to hold pro-American views as the average…

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[:en]Boston Museum of Fine Arts discovers Ancient Egyptians were Europeans- shame on you![:]
14/10/2018
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| history

I visited the Boston Museum on a recent trip to US. It was a very pleasant experience as was the general trip to Boston. Many of my friends were caught up in Red Sox vs Yankee game. Well done Boston! My great disappointment however was listening to an audio track which described the ancient Egyptians as having pale skins. This particular track was so absurd it really brought into question the quality control at BMFA.  This track claimed that …

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[:en]Black Unity as a path to de-politicisation and self destruction[:]
08/10/2018
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One often hears the call for Black Unity and underlying many platforms is a belief that together we are strong. People will recall days of civil rights struggle and the apartheid struggle as evidence. This is an example of selective memory and dangerous pseudo politics in so far as it substitutes ‘feel good ‘ factors for real political analysis. Our first step is to understand that Black and African political struggles  are NO DIFFERENT  from any other. Western academia’s…

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[:en]Carnival – Notting Hill 27 August 2018 – under appreciated contributions[:]
30/09/2018
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Carnival in the summer in  Notting Hill is an annual fixture. It has been an event attracting visitors from all over Europe. It is a joyous celebration of Caribbean spirit. Quite fabulous costumes (Fig 1 -2 ) are on display as are sounds systems blaring calypso, reggae and other Caribbean music. There is an important  political  issue here – the amount of foreign earnings  arising from the music produced by those of Caribbean descent in UK and the failure…

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[:en]Denise Ferreira de Silva – ICA talk – 25 August 2018[:]
25/08/2018
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| literature

Saturday 25 August 2018 – Went to Institute of Contemporary Arts in The Mall, London to listen to Denise Ferriera da Silva. Quite a good sympathetic crowd. She was seeking to interface between Western philosophical canon and Black oppression, seeking interstices and cracks in the facade to reconstitute and expose the hidden oppression. She began her tale with a long disquisition on Marx’s theory of value. Here she focussed on the formula: $price =P = c +y +z Where…

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[:en]Amartya Sen, immigration, identity and self reflection[:]
19/08/2018
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| fun and trivia

There is a widely broadcasted event of Armatya Sen being interrogated at Heathrow by a some what slow and ill informed immigration officer. In Sen’s immaculate wit we can all enjoy the moment. Well of course we would recognise the great man, have read his books or columns about him. Recall the 2016 event: “Mr. Sen, now a professor at Harvard, was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in economics for his contributions to the field of welfare economics. He…

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