Mary Beard's blog reflections on a successful reunion with some old college friends and public cuts
http://timesonline.typepad.com/dons_life/2011/01/old-girls-reunion.html
provoked a reactionary outburst from "Anne":

"So why this unanimity?"Because you're all knee-jerk left-wingers who are typically intolerant of anyone who disagrees with you. I went to Cambridge and I know your type: seemingly likeable and intelligent, but underneath you are actually very narrow-minded (cf "crap arguments" and the spiteful attack on Toby Young) and genuinely think you are cleverer than everyone else. Wake up and take a look at our horrendous schools, appalling healthcare and bankrupt economy and then at least have the respect not to silence and dismiss your opponents.

I commented:

Happy continuation! (of the New Year) as they say here in Sweden.When you're with friends you talk from the heart, and that's refreshing and revitalizing.When you're with acquaintances or colleagues you spice up the platitudes with the odd shared in-joke, but not much more.So the intimate reunion is what I go for. The "official" one might release lots of very unpleasant feelings (especially if the context is somewhere as schizophrenic as Cambridge).I say "intimate" cos "private" smacks too much of Anne's ideological single-mindedness right now. Perhaps Mary could give us a riff on the real meaning of the word "public" as in "public-minded/spirited" or "open to the public".One of the things that galls me about Anne's self-righteous and strident preaching is her obvious contempt for the vast majority of her fellow-citizens and fellow human beings. She and her ilk strike out their own humanity and promote the inhumanity of the war of each against all. If everything human except this selfish part of herself and a select few other individuals is alien to her, then her life doesn't deserve to be called human. But at least she isn't spewing the "Western civilization", "humanitarian principles" hypocrisy of the smoother brand of Conservative."Homo sum: humani nil me alienum puto""No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main".