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Continue reading →: A sketchy celebration
Sketch Gallery Restaurant London (Mayfair). Blogging has been light because the Paines have had a tense few days. As previously mentioned, Mrs P. had a nine-hour operation last week. Today her test results confirmed, after a nail-biting wait, that it had been successful. She has a long convalescence ahead, but…
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Continue reading →: Plus ca change
I once asked my late grandfather if he hated Labour for seizing his haulage business in the 1946 “nationalisation.” He replied that he was more annoyed with Margaret Thatcher for not sharing the proceeds of its reprivatisation. Asked why, he said “My neighbours and friends voted for it. I would…
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Continue reading →: You too can look this good
Gordon Brown's make-up instructions left in taxi – Telegraph. Transparent Brush. Foam all over. Small pot under eyes, dimple, creases, blend in. Clinique. Super balanced make-up. All over again, like painting a wall, and ears. Shut eyes over lids then with make-up pad smooth over liquid. Powder (dark brush) terracotta…
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Continue reading →: It’s hard not to be a swear-blogger
MPs Expenses scandal: Hazel Blears fighting for job over £18k tax dodge – mirror.co.uk. It is hard to restrain oneself from letting fly in the magnificent style of DK or his Greek friend not only because of the lying, cheating and stealing but also because, on this occasion, the focus…
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Continue reading →: You’re blameless, Labour tells MPs
You're blameless, Labour tells MPs as poll shows damage done – UK Politics, UK – The Independent. This is the stupidest comment to date in this affair. They really must be disconnected from reality not to understand the depth of the peoples' anger. The truth is they have done far…
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Continue reading →: Not right and left, but right and wrong
politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Who will be the biggest winners from the Expenses Scandal?. This post from the excellent politicalbetting.com sums up the parliamentary expenses scandal for me. For most people (including most politicians) morality is history. It is "old-fashioned." It is something to profess semi-plausibly to get votes…
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Continue reading →: Of mischief and comeuppances
White mischief Cholmondeley gets its comeuppance – Africa, World – The Independent. Did you ever read a nastier headline? Disturbed in the act of theft, a criminal set his dogs on Mr Cholmondeley. He died after being shot in what the judge seems reluctantly to have accepted was self-defence. The…
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Continue reading →: I am feeling pretty foolish right now
BBC NEWS | UK | Time limits on innocent DNA data. Miss P the Younger says that, while Mrs P is a genuine cynic, I am merely a constantly-disappointed idealist. She may have a point. After more than a decade of Labour, I actually thought on Sunday that the government…
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Continue reading →: Great rows in the pub, remembered
Tom Paine- No explanation needed – inamdar's posterous. This, courtesy of Posterous (great name!) a communal blog I have never heard of before, is a plaque on the wall of the White Hart in Lewes, Sussex. Next time you think your bar room oratory (or your pamphleteering blogging) is a…
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Continue reading →: The smile that’s fresh as ice
John Prescott is most unfair to his embattled Leader. Just look at that relaxed, natural smile! Did ever a man look more at home?
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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The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
She may be gone but you have all those wonderful memories :-)