I can't resist posting this except of the writing of Michael Gove. Thanks to Nordlinger for including it in his Impromptus.    Its mighty nice.*

...A belief in freedom is the beginning of my politics. Buried in my soul, at a level too deep to surrender, is my passionate dislike of coercion, conformity and collectivism. I think the inherent dignity of humans depends on the free exercise of their will, and efforts to curtail, corral or conscript for the sake of a greater good not only stifle the human spirit, but also generally fail to achieve the good proclaimed.

To my mind there is a beauty in the quirky, the eccentric, the divergent, which one never sees in uniformity. And underpinning my conviction is the knowledge that progress, from Socrates through Galileo to Václav Havel, has depended on the defiance of consensus, on those who dare to be Daniels. The enemy of progress is the doctrine of knowing your place, the principle that your identity comes from membership of a group, the edict which holds that permission must be sought before you can act in accordance with your instincts.

I think 'nice' used to mean precise and accurate.   Too lazy to verify. 

Gorgeous Matt coems to town this weekend.  (hey, I don't make the nicknames, I just encouirage them).  Should be fun.