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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…
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Continue reading →: Drawing a (dotted) line
Until the Great Writ of habeas corpus runs again in the land that conceived it; until the presumption of innocence applies once more and "suspect" means only what the dictionary says; until the right of silence applies again, I cannot promise not to write here. But a line has to…
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Continue reading →: £7bn of ‘outrageous’ databases will be scrapped
Clegg: £7bn worth of ‘outrageous’ databases will be scrapped – Public sector organisations – ComputerworldUK. As there was no true liberal option on offer at the General Election, I had to content myself with hoping that Labour would crash, burn and die horribly of its injuries. I was disappointed. If…
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Continue reading →: I have a new name for my pain
uknn: Now independent thinkers are considered diseased by psychiatry. I am suffering from "oppositional defiant disorder," apparently. But it could be worse. Children who exhibit unique eccentricities in accordance with their unique personalities, in general, would be categorized as having a mental illness. If this criteria had been used in…
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Continue reading →: Motoring peace, cease-fire or truce?
Coalition will "end war on the motorist", Transport Secretary pledges – Telegraph. This is a wonderful time for the optimist. New ministers set out their stalls in a positive light, saying the things we want to hear and – possibly – setting us up for disappointment. One reason I may…
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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Almost. I think Archbishop Sarah is a Christian. I just think she’s at a loss to know how to reach…
It’s almost as if they are not actually Christian but simply a person being advised by woke PR people in…
She may be gone but you have all those wonderful memories :-)
I miss the more traditional Anglican services that I remember from my younger years. I haven’t regularly attended church services…
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The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
I’m sure there are a few fire and brimstone types they could have had instead of a woke woman. Putting…