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Continue reading →: 2010 kicks off
Last night Mrs P., her mother and I were celebrating New Year’s Eve at a Cheshire restaurant. In the small crowd, one couple stood out. They were sitting at the next table. She was at least thirty years older than the man she was with; mutton dressed as a twinkle…
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Continue reading →: An English New Year’s Eve tradition, but not in England
YouTube – Dinner for one. I was intrigued to learn today (h/t Omnium) that an obscure English sketch was (a) one of the first pieces ever recorded to videotape by German television and is (b) an intrinsic part of the New Year's Eve tradition in the German-speaking world. According to…
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Continue reading →: The Dishonoured List
No place for MPs and bankers in unflashy New Year honours list | UK news | The Guardian. I have long believed that the system of "honours" is at the heart of British Establishment corruption. Of course, there is nothing intrinsically wrong about honouring lifetime achievement or social contribution. There…
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Continue reading →: Smoking doublethink
No smoking prison sparks drop in crime – Telegraph. As Dick Puddlecote points out, the media can't have it both ways. If a smoking ban can reduce the number of people going to jail, it can also reduce the number going to the pub. Personally, I give the story…
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Continue reading →: Britblog Roundup 253
Britblog Roundup #253 « Amused Cynicism. The last Britblog Roundup of 2009 is up at Amused Cynicism. It's an interesting selection. Enjoy.
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Continue reading →: Time to draw a line
Ambush Predator: Overstepping Their Bounds?. JuliaM (you won't see her coming) correctly identifies the issue. No-one should be surprised that a policeman would overstep his authority. After all, it was his desire to boss people about that drew him to the job in the first place. Everyone faced by a…
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Continue reading →: Woman of the year
2009 in review: MPs' expenses | World news | The Observer. Heather Brooke gave us our only political hope of 2009. She is what all our journalists should be. She explains her motivations for researching MP's expenses succinctly (and rather sadly) in the linked article; I was trying to make…
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Continue reading →: Quote of the day
Obnoxio The Clown: A good day to bury bad news. Not Obnoxio's post about another incompetent terrorist (sorry, dear chap) but comment #1: Good job he was a British engineering student or the ****ing thing might have gone off. I have been harsh about British education in the past, but…
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Continue reading →: A Christmas Appeal
A Christmas Appeal. Over at Anna Raccoon, NorthNorthwester explains British society in a beautifully satirical Christmas appeal. It's tragic and funny all at once. I do hope he didn't spend Christmas Day writing it.
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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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.