Net nuggets

(Since alliteration is the last refuge of the sub-editor out of ideas.)

* Voltaire's Garden: The philosopher as a campaigner for human rights, which contains the lovely paragraph ...

"Ferney watches became the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream of the later Enlightenment, a luxury good that was also a sign of progressive values."

There's nothing new about FairTrade, it seems. It has also inspired me to go in search of Nancy Mitford's Voltaire in Love, since I really must learn more about Mme du Châtelet.

* Freemasonic Symbolism and Georgian Gardens, which makes me wonder about the architectural drawings by the future George IV in the recent palace exhibition.

* The issues in translation. An explanation of how lecturers choose translations - particularly of Homer and Herodotus - provides an interesting contrast of styles, and a challenging Humanities 101 reading list.

* Women's role in technology: Did you know that Florence Nightingale invented the pie chart? (I confess that I didn't.) And the article doesn't mention Harvard once, for those who've got a bit sick of the Larry Summers argument. If you haven't, here's a lovely piece that gives his comments a C-minus grade, which seems to be about the guy's intellectual level.

* A list of George Bush's killings before he became president; you never know when it might come in useful. (Hat-tip to Media girl.)

* And a terrifying account of the behaviour of the world's rogue superpower.