Munir Attaullah

In my column of last week I ridiculed the fashionable argument, much touted these days in the media and by certain political parties, that we should tell the US to get lost because we can easily do without their aid. I did so because, I think, those arguments are — as is so much of […]

The voices of reason, sanity, and sceptical common sense, are tiny atolls in the ocean of human irrationality. Why is that so? In my youth I thought this was simply the result of ignorance, of either not knowing or not properly understanding the facts. I passionately believed then it was both possible to know the […]

As the column is written a few days earlier, I cannot be sure if these greetings are timely or in advance. For, if you combine the inherent uncertainties of the lunar calendar with some of our more futile and frivolous national proclivities (where the only certainty is that nothing is certain) then, in quasi-mathematical language, […]

The famous physicist, Professor Stephen Hawking, in speculating on the long-term future of the human species, summed up matters by saying those prospects will largely depend on “…whether the language transmitted cultural sense of responsibility proves sufficiently powerful to control the DNA transmitted sense of aggression”. There is little to quibble about that. Upon second […]

Is there such a beast as a ‘national characteristic’ or a ‘national trait’? The Germans are much admired for their fiscal prudence, and the Swiss for financial probity. The Japanese are famous for being polite and the Chinese supposed to be inscrutable (whatever that may mean). Napoleon once contemptuously referred to the English as ‘a […]

A friendly warning: this column, though not injurious to your mental health, may be a difficult read. So why inflict it on readers? I seek your indulgence on two counts. First, science for me has been one lifelong love affair; and I find it immensely satisfying to share with and communicate to others this passion. […]

In the last two columns I criticised some of those in the media who say the US is the biggest threat, both to our national security and the security of our ‘nuclear assets’. That criticism was largely based on a rational de-bunking of some arguments they present in support of their claim. Today I propose […]

Today I plan to continue with a further example of what I discussed last week. If you remember, my theme started with the assumption that the media moulds public opinion far more than reflects it. As such, and given the relationship between them should be considered a fiduciary one of sorts, the media has an […]

“Every effort should be made to speak and write clearly: its greatest advantage is that when you say something stupid, its stupidity will be immediately obvious even to yourself,” said George Orwell. But what conclusion should I draw when the inherent stupidity of such a clearly expressed view was, apparently, not immediately obvious to Orwell […]

Last week I suggested 2011 may well, in retrospect, be considered as an historical watershed in our political history. Today I want to expand on that theme. But first I wish to digress a little. I must get out of the way another of those meaningless and seemingly irrelevant thoughts that always seem to nag […]