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Continue reading →: Mr Eugenides on form
Mr Eugenides: The geek inherits the scorched earth. I enjoyed the title, but my favourite part has to be; Say what you like about David Cameron, but at least he's the most talented politician in his family. Do read the whole thing and enjoy. I do begin to wonder though…
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Continue reading →: Result!!
Ed Miliband – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia From the point of view of anti-socialist, freedom-loving voters, this is the third best possible outcome to the Labour leadership contest. It is the best one we could reasonably have hoped for. The unions' choice has prevailed and Labour is now led by…
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Continue reading →: Quote of the day
Progressivism is about selling fantastic dreams - work less, earn more, play more, become more attractive, be more admired by your peers, end hunger, end poverty, create world peace, abolish cancer, save the whales, save the planet all by simply voting once every few years and telling people, hey, I…
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Continue reading →: I am tired of the rich
I am tired of the rich, but not the same ones as Dr. Cable. Good luck to the City "spivs", I say. No-one has to give them their money to invest. Every fee they make is paid by choice. Every trade they organise is between volunteers. If either party to…
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Continue reading →: Taking my ease
How nice to have unrestricted access to the internet. Despite my multiple VPN accounts, China has totally succeeded in preventing me from accessing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many blogging sites of late. My apologies to kindly readers who have "friended" me on Facebook during this electronic purdah. No offence was…
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Continue reading →: Any ideas?
Don't worry. I am not becoming a food blogger. However there was some confusion over a (very pleasant) lunch in Shanghai today as to what exactly this – the dessert included in our set meal – was. There were excellent Chinese speakers there, but the giggling waitress was rather testing…
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Continue reading →: Is being British a skill?
Unusually for me, I have spent much of this week in the presence of Brits; first at a conference in Shanghai addressed by "civic leaders" from two Northern Cities whose football teams now contribute most to their GDP. One was an ex-teacher and the other an ex-social worker. Both were,…
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Continue reading →: If only it were true…
I write likeGeorge Orwell I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
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Continue reading →: Thoughts about silence
After more than five years of regular, wordy posting, this blog has been on a hiatus for a few weeks. It began because of a personal problem (now happily resolved, I hope), but perhaps it continued for other reasons. To be honest, my feelings were mixed. I missed the social…
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Continue reading →: A toe in the water
How I have missed you, gentle readers. My problem (see last post) is not yet resolved. Perhaps it never will be. But there is hope. Mrs Paine and I are visiting Dublin and looking forward to some time together after many months apart. Mrs P told me a revealing story…
THE LAST DITCH
Your blogger
Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.
Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.
He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that
“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
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There are many reasons they’re not passed down, Tom. The Triune code, laid out in scripture in all reputable versions…
I’ve always tried to live my life doing no wrong but life isn’t like that so you make compromised but…
Hate to tell you this, but it’s not going to end until you end it. You think people to whom…
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Blogspot Archive Mar 2005 – Sep 2006
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The Great American Road Trip of 2013
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First post (in case you want to read it from the beginning)
The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
A little bird tweeted in my ear that it was time to come over and see how things are.