The simple fact of the matter is that capitalist democracy, for all its crippling limitations, has been immeasurably less oppressive and a lot more democratic than any communist regime, whatever the latter's achievements in economic, social and other fields. - notorious communist Ralph Miliband. Hat tip to @durrant_james on the Twitters.
Author: John B
John Band is a London-raised, Sydney-based strategy consultant, data analyst and writer. He has experience ranging from blue chips to start-ups across the media, business information, strategy and technology consulting industries.
So Dan Nolan was wondering how much beer it would take to kill you. It turns out the answer (LD50) is 42.5 cans in an hour, or 61 cans in a 24-hour day for a normal drinker, or 96.5 cans in a 24-hour day for a heavy drinker who hasn't yet developed serious liver damage. … Continue reading How To Calibrate A Booze Up So You’re Halfway Likely To Die
I an a civilised gentleman with a fine reputation; my father has a reputation as a smart bastard who stirs up shit. He also introduced me to the delightful and amazing Kirstie MacColl and by proxy, Johnny Marr. I feel the need to stick up my dad's Trayvon commentary, because it needs a home. This … Continue reading Bands of distinctions
Eurovision is massive in Australia, probably more so than it is in much of Europe - despite the fact that there aren't any Australian participants, we don't get to vote, and it's shown on time-delay. Which is odd. Of course, its importance is symbolic. Eurovision was first shown in Australia in 1983, which was exactly … Continue reading Quick and unoriginal Eurovision thought
The news from the horrible (and immensely stupid: who the fuck would allow a chemical plant to be built literally next door to a school) West fire in Texas today, with its "70 injured, no I mean 70 dead, no I mean 5 dead" just reminded me of this brilliant commentary on newspaper reports of … Continue reading Thanks for all the fish
The average woman weighs less than the average man, as does the average child. This is undeniably true. By far the most important cost for the average aeroplane flight is fuel, which is directly dependent on total take-off weight. This is undeniably true. The average woman joining a passenger aeroplane flight carries more luggage than … Continue reading Consistency, aviation and discrimination
Wasn't going to blog on the demise of the most important British political figure since Winston, but since everyone else has and this blog is being archived by the British Library (I know, right - nobody tell them I'm Strine now), I thought I'd stick this originally-an-FB-comment line up there. I grew up in the … Continue reading Because you’re all desperate for JB’s views on Maggie
Tony Blair was selected to win elections for the Labour party, by giving good PR face and convincing people that Labour wasn't terrifyingly left-wing any more, despite being way to the right of most activists and MPs. David Cameron was selected to win elections for the Tory party, by giving good PR face and convincing … Continue reading PR leaders and their downfalls
If you like nerdy dissections of UK by-election results based on over-analysis of post-election opinion polling, combined with random abuse directed at almost everybody involved (but especially UKIP, because obviously), then you'll probably like my latest piece at Liberal Conspiracy.
I was Googling for an old Banditry post yesterday, as part of a discussion about that new 'people lie about their drinking' study. Eventually I found it, only to discover that I'd linked to a (London) Times article, and that therefore the paywall had ruined the whole thing (curiously, even though the Times now shows … Continue reading Pharma hackers gonna pharma hack, 2013 edition