Passion pays

It pays to follow your passion – article and survey results from the UK Leadership Academy.

Recent riots in London and elsewhere

My thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by the recent riots in the UK.

Here’s a couple of interesting videos as an alternative to those of the events themselves.

Hackney woman slams rioters.

24th April 2010 Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, predicts further riots if the Conservatives get in to power.

And some analysis from the Daily Telegraph, and here.

‎(“We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a… net. Our constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”

This quote comes from the reader comments under The Telegraph article, and is of John Adams commenting on the American constitution. It seems to me it applies just as well to our British situation just now. I’ve heard political scientists speak of how a people need to be mature enough for a mature political system such as democracy. I’ve often commented that as technology advances ethics need to advance alongside it – so as political systems advance, morality needs to advance alongside it.)

Banksy’s comment on the riots?

The British ‘Schindler’ who saved Austrian Jews

A British vicar saved hundreds of Jews from the Nazis by baptising them as Christians to help them escape Austria, BBC article.

Random postings

A collection of some interesting postings from sites I’m following…

Phil Simpson on the undefended leader (Simon Walker’s books).

Institute for the Study of Genocide. A crucial and harrowing resource. I was unaware how much genocide is going on. “In the 20th century, genocides and state mass murder have killed more people than have all wars.” The newsletters on this site are worth reading, including “Winter 2010” which includes an insightful piece on Islamic Extremism.

Dreaming of a Caliphate Interestingly this article also addresses Islamic hopes of Islamic rule, from an economic perspective rather than that of the Institute for the Study of Genocide.