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Continue reading →: Where I stand on the US political spectrum
As ever please click on the images to enlarge them and, though the Pew Research Center is a serious body, take the results of all such pop quizzes with a pinch of the proverbial condiment. You can find the quiz here, if you want to try it yourself. I guess…
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Continue reading →: Hysteria. His or ours?
How do we escape the hysteria that threatens to erode public debate? | Peter Beaumont | Comment is free | The Observer. The linked article by Peter Beaumont cheered me up immensely. If the control-freaks of the left-wing press, so intent on setting every possible parameter of public debate, fear…
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Continue reading →: Now I have only one hero left
I was much moved by Neil Armstrong's family's dignified statement on his death. Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend. Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot,…
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Continue reading →: A question
This used to be my local when I lived in Cambridge. I remember it as a rowing pub and recall being targeted as soon as I entered on account of my height (6' 7") and (then) general fitness. I declined the proposal to take up the sport and rather regret…
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Continue reading →: NHS exports
NHS to export death in a corridor. The Daily Mash is being funny. But why not? The NHS already exported C.Diff and E.Coli around the world. In that context, isn't the idea of "exporting the NHS brand" rather flawed? Humans are mortal, fragile and in many cases neurotic. There is…
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Continue reading →: A message from the 1970s
A message from the 1970s on state spending – Telegraph. The 1970s were when my political views were formed. In that decade, I was suspended from my bog-standard comprehensive for my revolutionary activities. I was a member of a Maoist school students union, which organised the only pupils strike in…
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Continue reading →: Inflation rises “unexpectedly”. Well duh.
Inflation rises unexpectedly | Reuters. In what possible universe was inflation not "expected" to increase? Are we naieve enough to think that the economic gods would not notice the printing of money unbacked by value? Or that they are so stupid as to be fooled by the euphemism "Quantitative Easing?"…
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Continue reading →: A belated thank you note, one year on.
The Last Ditch: 'Mrs Paine' – 1956-2011. It is the first anniversary of Mrs Paine's death and I won't be blogging today except to say this. Among the unhappy memories of that time is also the recollection of the kindness shown to me and my family by the readers of…
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Continue reading →: Government “savings” in perspective
Government savings infographic in perspective | Burning Our Money | The TaxPayers' Alliance. This (click to enlarge) is the tool we need in our everyday conversations with the Thoughtless. The method to show them, in terms they can understand, that there are no cuts. No austerity. Just a fractional slowing…
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Continue reading →: Justice vs Social Justice 2
One of my old posts most found from Google et al is this one. People are curious about what "social justice" really means and rightly so. It is one of the most dangerous and deceptive phrases in current use and it pains me when even a "Conservative" like David Cameron…
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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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.