True!

Very good! But where is it now?

Photo of laced leather foot covering, filled with straw to give bulk..

Have just seen what is claimed to be the oldest known shoe in the world. Perhaps 5,000 years old or more. In Yerevan, Armenia.

Having already seen the oldest butter in the world, in Cork, I’m thinking of starting a minor obsession.

Was about to use the metaphor ‘a blot on the copybook’. Now wondering how old you have to be to understand it. I suppose I’d have so say ‘a minor bug in the code’ now.

Cheered my audience in Armenia by pointing out that the time difference here means they can post sardonic comments on the news before Western Europe wakes up and sees the same stories. And as for the US …

The only time Middle England is interested in universities and values them properly is when their offspring are making applications, and it’s all they will talk about. The rest of the time we’re a lefty, out-of-touch scandal.

A small fragment of my evening here.

Hahahaha!!!

pense of the timely, but rather "to present to the American public works of lasting value, produced with the greatest care and stress on quality.Our editorial concept is to help spread knowledge and understanding of the essential questions of human life and culture."

The mission of Kurt and Helen Wolff’s publishing house Pantheon Books in the 1940s. More of this please.

Read a great line about what it is to live in a free society: not knowing where the nearest police station is. (Alexander Wolff, no relation, Endpapers, on his grandfather Kurt Wolff, publisher, fleeing Nazi Germany for America.)

Agreed on even slightly closer inspection. I still don’t have appropriate levels of instant photo-cynicism.

Hahahaha!! Ok ….

Interesting mix. There’s Soviet architecture of course but the distinctive parts of the city were mostly laid out in 1920s. Very friendly, safe, vibrant. Of course I’m only interacting with university people but it has a pleasant, proud, feel.

Really surprised by this photo. The US delegation appear to have brought some paperwork with them and none of them has a MAGA hat.

Was told today that the British made up stories about how short Napoleon was to humiliate him, but it isn’t true, though still widely believed (for example by me). I could investigate but prefer to live in a world of uncertainty about trivia.

Cheered my audience in Armenia by pointing out that the time difference here means they can post sardonic comments on the news before Western Europe wakes up and sees the same stories. And as for the US …

Hahahaha! And mine

If he wins, it’s trebles all round.

What it feels like are the fans are being treated like olives in an olive press and FIFA is collecting the oil.

A small fragment of my evening here.

They did arrive. Apparently very rare for this time of year.

Funds a Centre there, won by competitive grant, not the University.

Photo of grand square and spaced out imposing buildings.

Want to see the view from my hotel window? I’m in Yerevan in Armenia, at the very kind invitation of Maria Baghramian, Director of the EU funded Center for Ethics in Public Affairs at the American University in Armenia. I’ll be giving talks on Social Trust, and on New Technologies.

He’s not thinking of migrating over here, is he?

Hmmm. It’s much more common for authors to cite work they disagree with than work they agree with. And sometimes I find myself cited with inaccurate accounts of what I said because the author wants to make their position look more original. But if they understood me they wouldn’t cite me.

Hitler had to get an Enabling Act passed to be able to rule by decree. Trump seems not to have had to go to so much trouble.

You’re right. It’s a sort of ‘dual use’ song. I’ll delete. Thanks!

The insider trading suspicions looming over Trump's presidency The BBC has found a pattern of spikes in trades ahead of public announcements by the US president.

You’ve seen this before but the BBC has put it all together.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Very good!

He’s not thinking of migrating over here, is he?