Quote of the day

"In times of crisis, we are made to feel we should scrutinise our government’s actions less closely, when surely that’s when we should pay closest attention. There’s a feeling that after an atrocity history and context become less relevant, when surely these are actually the worst times for a society to go on psychopathic autopilot. Our attitudes are fostered by a society built on ideas of dominance, where the solution to crises are force and action, rather than reflection and compromise."

Not so very long ago I would have scoffed at the idea of turning to Frankie Boyle for level-headed, eminently sensible reaction to major news stories (in this case, the Paris attacks), but times have changed.

Meanwhile, across the pond, we've got a presidential hopeful who, if elected, would reintroduce waterboarding "in a heartbeat", on the grounds that "if it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway for what they do to us"...