Boo and Hooray 2

Just misunderstood

A man's called a traitor - or liberator
A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist
Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader?
It's all in which label is able to persist
There are precious few at ease
With moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don't exist. (from Wicked)

"Uncompromising revolutionary spirit" or "revolutionary adventurism"? There's no objective distinction: it's "Stalin likes" and "Stalin dislikes" (and Stalin, of course, reserves the right to change his opinion at a later date). Ditto "maximum flexibility and manoeuvring ability" as opposed to "opportunism". (friend JP)

“Religion: A large popular cult. Cult: A small unpopular religion.” (Peter Craig/@M_Pete)

“I hate innovation, but I love improvement.” (Writer and Rev Sidney Smith, paraphrasing philosopher Jeremy Bentham)

“Bedroom tax on the poorest and most disadvantaged is ‘austerity’ but a tax rise for the rich is ‘politics of envy’.” (@woodo79)

“Up until the age of about 15, I was a self-confident (some would say arrogant), opinionated (some would say overbearing), incautious (some would say idiotic) extrovert (some would say shameless exhibitionist).” (Robert Crampton, The Times, 22 March 2014)

The Planning Decisions Unit of the Greater London Authority, the body responsible for greenlighting these schemes, begs to differ. "It is simply not true to say these towers haven't been planned," says director Colin Wilson. "They have been very carefully planned. But we prefer to use a flexible framework, rather than a rigid masterplan. This liberty is what makes London successful." (Guardian, April 2014)

More here, and links to the rest.