-
Continue reading →: The scientific application of state force
How one family were brought to their knees by the taxman – Telegraph. This appalling story gives the lie to those who claim the British state is not funded by force – that there is, in effect, some "social contract" by which we all agree to be taxed. As regular…
-
Continue reading →: Leery about Leveson
It's too soon to react properly to the Leveson Report, as has been graphically illustrated by the meanderings of people trying to do so on TV in the past hour. Two thousand pages of judicial prose are hard to digest. He has played a canny political game. By declaring he will…
-
Continue reading →: The Free Society: Punishing the poor, the moderate and the sensible
The Free Society: Punishing the poor, the moderate and the sensible. Over at the Free Society blog, economist Eamonn Butler states what used to be the bleeding obvious before welfarism rotted the national brain. As to his immediate point, he is quite right that the only people whose behaviour will…
-
Continue reading →: A dangerous day
Today is a dangerous day for freedom. Lord Leveson's report has been read overnight by the politicians and civil servants and will be revealed to us this afternoon. All we know is that it's 2,000 pages long and composed by, and under the advice, of people who trust the state…
-
Continue reading →: More children should be in care, say MPs
BBC News – More children should be in care, say MPs Where do the men and women responsible for the institutional child abuse that is state "care" for children get their arrogance? Even leaving aside the extreme examples of the North Wales childrens homes or those in Islington under Margaret…
-
Continue reading →: Just what is the point of the Conservative Party?
I know many of my liberty-minded friends have little time for Liberty (fka the National Council for Civil Liberties). At times in its history it has been little better than a leftist front falsely associating highly illiberal people with the idea of freedom. Sometimes, however, it gets it right and…
-
Continue reading →: Thank you, Dr. Ron Paul
Few men have done their fellow countrymen greater service than Dr. Ron Paul. In making his farewell speech to Congress, he articulated his vision and expressed his hope that, despite all his worst predictions having come true, the next generation will rebuild America. Apart from his repeating the common…
-
Continue reading →: I, Pencil
I, Pencil | A Project of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Anyone who thinks politicians can ever make things better should consider this; everything they do obstructs the beautiful process illustrated in this movie. A process that is breathtakingly complex, even in relation to one of mankind's "simplest" products. So…
-
Continue reading →: And when they are not immoral, they are incompetent
This is a direct quote from a note sent today to all the students on a post-graduate course at a particular English university. It is from the programme director of the course, who teaches English. Can I also empaphise the imporatnce of arriving at lectures and seminars so that you…
-
Continue reading →: Sometimes, Auntie, “sorry” doesn’t cut it
BBC News – BBC apologises for Newsnight child abuse report. Has there ever been a better demonstration of the BBC's political bias than this story of sexual abuse in North Wales children's homes? It happened, years ago, in a solid Labour area. I grew up there. I was standing at…
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.”
Socials
Subscribe
Receive content by email
Latest comments
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…
[…] – Tom Paine […]
ARCHIVES
Blogspot Archive Mar 2005 – Sep 2006
TypePad/WordPress Archives Sep 2006 – date
The Great American Road Trip of 2013
The Great American Road Trip Posts
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.