Blog Entries
So you want green power? Read this...
2 April 2022 — I’m doing a bit of light reading this afternoon. (Well, it’s actually a hefty volume that weighs about 4 kilograms.) HVDC Power Transmission Lines Book is an Eskom publication from November 2021 and a copy has landed on my desk, courtesy of one of the principal authors. If you...
The world in sixty seconds ...
1 April 2022 — Seven years ago last night, I got on a plane from Johannesburg to London. I landed the morning of 1 April, launched this amazing product I had co-designed with the BBC, did this panel discussion as well as two TV appearances, and flew back that night. The idea of a news...
I believe in unicorns...
31 March 2022 — The news earlier today that Vinny Lingham was backing an interesting new startup triggered an entire thought process rabbit hole. Let me take you down through it. Tech Central says the startup, called Waitroom is designed as a video meeting platform – with strict time...
An example of why I distrust many media reports
30 March 2022 — Today's from Moneyweb : "Take note if you are conducting a business from your private residence — Ratepayers must comply with their zoning provisions." So I hop across to Moneyweb. Story reads: People who are currently using their homes to conduct a business, whether...
Truth, lies, and sellotape
29 March 2022 — A few thoughts around what has been happening in the world recently. You decide which is which. The EU refuses to pay for Russian gas in roubles. They have called Putin's bluff. The Russia-Ukraine war is upending world order and will end globalization. Companies and...
Tears of laughter are the best...
28 March 2022 — One of the things that my mother and I have in common (apart from the fact that 50 percent of my genes come from her) is our love of certain writers. Peter O'Donnell, creator of Modesty Blaise, is probably at the top of the list. Less well known is that O'Donnell also...
Extraordinary renditions go mainstream
27 March 2022 — In July 2021, Nigerians woke up to the news that Nnamdi Kanu, leader of a banned separatist movement known as Indigenous People of Biafra, had been arrested and brought to the capital Abuja. Kanu , who also holds UK citizenship, fled Nigeria in 2017 while out on bail facing...
Thoughts on the Lia Thomas furore
26 March 2022 — This is a transcript of my off-the-cuff thoughts on this subject on the Liberty and Friends show last week. This goes back to my most basic rule of life, which is "don't be a dick". In this case, "don't be a dick" basically means that if someone comes up to me and clearly...
Saudi Attack: brace for another oil price hike
25 March 2022 — Spectacular pictures coming out of Saudi Arabia this evening after a Houthi militia attack on an Aramco facility in Jeddah. The Saudi government has already effectively declared force majeure on disruptions to oil supplies. "The Kingdom declares that it will not incur...
Madeleine Albright: I wonder whether she will be missed?
24 March 2022 — Some thoughts on the occasion of the death of former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: "if we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation. We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future, and we see the...
The crime of being born a girl ...
23 March 2022 — I'm a hard cynical bastard. I learned well from the apartheid thugs who murdered Steve Biko in that most geopolitics leaves me cold. But this morning I was in tears. Six months ago, the United States fled Afghanistan as the Taliban marched into the presidential palace in...