adrian monck

Month: March 2008

  • Nassim Taleb’s Black Swan – a Turkey

    I have just finished Nassim Taleb’s Black Swan. What a crock. There is a lot wrong with Taleb’s book, not least the dismal neologism of the Black Swan. History is littered with less esoteric (i.e. banal) examples of Taleb’s restatements of the bleeding obvious – Montezuma’s reception of Cortes, anyone? Still, let’s ignore the hackneyed…

  • When to keep your mouth shut

    A tale to sour the lingenberries on your meatballs (yes, Scandinavian story coming up). From the Guardian News Blog: The Telegraph reports that academics in Denmark found the furniture chain [Ikea] was naming its cheaper products after Danish towns.

  • ITV News: Behind the scenes in Afghanistan

  • Britain’s public diplomacy: BBC Arabic

    The BBC is about to launch its new Foreign Office funded, 12-hour Arabic channel. This exchange between Asharq al-Awsat’s Faisal Abbas and the BBC’s Nigel Chapman sums up my feelings exactly. Reporting the status quo is not reporting. Q: You stated that you always strive to be impartial, but don’t you think that what many…