I got into a small civilized spat about the 2 race-hate brits who are seeking political asylum in the US.  Surprisingly civilized, given that the people involved are clearly racist. But I started to feel cornered, as if I was somehow attacking free speech.  So I went to the Liberty website, where I found this excellent…

Marek Kohn was discussing trust on Thinking Allowed. You can see it all the time in the hospital, that patients/families seem to think that you might actually not have their best interests at heart, and would do something/not do something harmful, just because…  Well, I don't know why, out of pure badness? He pointed out…

Children add to happiness for many reasons, but one way is that they help supply a key element to a happy life: an atmosphere of growth.    Happiness Project   It's maybe too early to say, but it feels more like an adventure at the moment, than a fertile garden.  There are new discoveries (babies…

According to Louis Fischer's Gandhi and Stalin, Gandhi's view was that the German Jews ought to commit collective suicide, which "would have aroused the world and the people of Germany to Hitler's violence." After the war he justified himself: the Jews had been killed anyway, and might as well have died significantly. I like the Quakers,…

Interview with Erin Doland of Unclutterer at the Happiness Project.  Half way through, she suddenly reveals how she has a severe from of Epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica (lit. your skin blisters, falls off and leaves you with scars).  Makes her motto of Carpe Vitam rather more poignant.

I admit, I need lots of praise ("gold stars") to maintain enthusiasm for jobs.  But I'm probably not that great at giving it.  The Happiness Project advises: be specific – don't just say "Well done!  That's great!" acknowledge who did it – don't just say "that was good" be as effusive as the act deserves –…

Irena Sendler was a social worker in Warsaw who had access to the Jewish Ghetto.  She smuggled out and fostered 2500 children, recording their real names but burying the lists in her garden, so that eventually they could be reunited with their parents.  She was tortured by the Gestapo and had both legs broken. 

As Iain Macwhirter rightly pointed out in the Sunday Herald – why is there no discussion about internet porn?  We seem to be resigned to its existence, at the same time as we are totally ignorant about what effect such ready access to a wide spectrum of pornography will have on our children and our…

Grief is like open-heart surgery without the anaesthetic. Catherine Lucas

The beginner's mind/the child's mind is a classic Eastern idea. It recognizes the value of just seeing things as they really are. It is not about being simplistic or ignorant, it is about approaching life and its challenges with curiosity and enthusiasm. "It is the mind that is innocent of preconceptions and expectations, judgments and…