“I am damned sorry for it . . . I didn’t know but I might live to see Lord Castlereagh’s head on a pole.”::ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1…
I subscribe to the @nytimes online less for the words on the page than for the pages::nytimes.com/2015/05/31/mag…
UNESCO World Heritage Committee to take Barrier Reef off “endangered” list. Recent FT “Long Read” story misleading::theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/gr…
Global governance a choice between upright, narrow oligarchy & corrupt inclusive leadership acc. to Branko Milanovic::glineq.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/the-re…
“Almost all studies agree [#TPP] is not big enough. Specifically, the exclusion of China is costly”::economist.com/cge15 (H/T @sdonnan)
Clear from this that Xi is unlikely to be interested in #TPP. Still, an #FTAAP wd. likely offer China bigger rewards::jamestown.org/programs/china…
dikenson @sdonnan Shoe tariffs among the most regressive taxes in US law, but what better way to save 19th century jobs in a 21st century agreement?
Cameron’s problem:”years of infighting and financial chaos have not been a compelling advertisement for [Europe]”::ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9…
The British Library’s “Don Juan” collection::madbaddangerous.com/2015/05/the-br…
An appreciation of Peter Cochran (@CoherentCrap)::madbaddangerous.com/2015/05/an-app…
Sad to learn that Peter Cochran (@CoherentCrap) died a few days ago. He was a great editor of Byron and a valuable guide to Don Juan. Vale.
The Sound and Sense of Don Juan (madbaddangerous.com/2015/05/the-so…) including a link to an experimental, narrated PDF (dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5517445/DonJ…).
Coming in a day or so: an annotated, audio excerpt of Don Juan in a PDF file. Looking for a better way to distribute the recent recordings.

Byron, too, exaggerated his role RT @1815now: Kinnaird… tells me he and Byron are managers of Drury Lane: Hobhouse, pic.twitter.com/aAXVqr0D44
@SincDavidson You mean GRRM’s books are not this dull?
@KevinPGallagher The FT ‘barrier reef’ story is editorial. An unbalanced beat-up of green-lobby briefs & FUD. FT editors should be ashamed.

EJBrand A rather lovely image of Isabella Howard, Countess of Carlisle (1721-1795) & also the great aunt of Lord Byron pic.twitter.com/DTLxGruDj2
Byron’s Dedication to “Don Juan” is even more scandalous than the poem #toldwithvoice voice.adobe.com/a/2mxZV
In his last months Byron, too, was totally exasperated by the Greeks. economist.com/news/europe/21…
“Abbott doesn’t want ‘predator behaviour’ in iron ore”. Not a clue about markets; all his instincts to micro-manage::theaustralian.com.au/business/minin…
@snlester ‘Expropriation’ gets a pretty broad reading, no? (Plain packaging). Art II.6.2 (a) & Annex II-A assert bounds set by CIL.
@snlester “Fair and equitable” in II.6 = (chiefly) “due process,” but bounded. Even if you drop II.6, II.7 brings it back. But w/out bounds.
@snlester But those obligations re-import min. standards e.g. ‘due process’ (Art II.7.1 (d)) in a form not bounded by stipulations in II.6.
@snlester If Art II.6 of the ‘leaked’ investment chapter of TTP were dropped would that constrain ISDS tribunals more, or less?
The same old wretched story: industrialising-urbanising ctrys “progress” from taxing, to subsidising the farm sector::ictsd.org/bridges-news/b…
As an attack on Govt’s budget this is pathetic. But Govt’s failure to produce details of China FTA is still worse::au.finance.yahoo.com/news/labor-wan…
With Canto III of Don Juan ‘in the can’, I’m starting on Canto IV. Composed at the same time; the complement and conclusion of III.
@snlester No. Can’t speak for PL. I am guessing — hence the query — that he might risk the experiment, as I wouldscmp.com/comment/insigh…wj).
@snlester asks if ISDS is a mistake (cato-unbound.org/2015/05/11/sim…). I say, a risk worth taking. As does Patrick Low (?)(scmp.com/comment/insigh…)
Don Knuth’s nomination for the best novel of the 20th C. - Perec, La Vie Mode d’Emploi (@3’55”) Yes!::youtube.com/watch?v=e_1a6b…
bill_easterly What happened in that British election? Here’s a great explainer bv.ms/1F4xxOR
Historic irony If Cameron scrapes home on “Victory IN Europe” day.
Overlapping USA, CHN regional trade deals a waste rather than a clash. Should be jointly promoting global free trade::cato.org/publications/f…
CoppetainPU 2100 WTO officials around world? Only 650, only in Geneva. RT@ipwatch Anonymous hacks WTO, leaks personal info thehill.com/policy/cyberse… …
Who explained why “All tragedies are finished by a death; all comedies are ended by a marriage…”? Why… who ELSmadbaddangerous.com/2015/05/heaven…xczP
“Heaven, hell and marriage”… a clip from my new recording of Canto III of Don Juanmadbaddangerous.com/2015/05/heaven…zP
SincDavidson Cut spending and economy will grow theaustralian.com.au/opinion/cut-sp…
Bar charts fudge continuous data sets. Excellent paper on alternatives (instructions in supplmts) H/T @chneukirchen::journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ar…
“Don Juan” & “8 1/2”: great comedies where the author-hero stumbles thru (from) childhood memory, sex, muddled relationships towrd narrative
Is there a film of Byron’s “Don Juan”? No, but Fellini’s “8½” is strangely similar::en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8%C2%BD img.ly/BMou
snlester Is the TPP a regional free trade agreement, or a group of bilateral free trade agreements? worldtradelaw.typepad.com/ielpblog/2015/…