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Continue reading →: Of sheep and cyclists
Traffic and why "I Hate Cyclists" :: A Very British Dude. A few friends have flatteringly complained that I don't blog enough now. I occasionally try to exert myself with my old enthusiasm, but it's gone. There's no denying it. I miss morning news discussions with the late Mrs P.…
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Continue reading →: My week in a single graphic
Nourishing obscurity » Vintage posters Magpie mind James Higham is running posts on vintage posters. This one sums up my week in and around Cap d'Antibes, Cannes and Mougins. I drive home today and tomorrow, so blogging will be non-existent.
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Continue reading →: What use is eternal vigilance if you’re unarmed?
Sean Linnane: GUN CONTROL. As a man who never saw military service, I can only be respectfully grateful to men like Sean who have put themselves in harm's way to protect us. Orwell said "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit…
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Continue reading →: OTT or what?
The Last Ditch is not going to become a food blog. You should still look to Sicily Scene and others for your culinary fix. However, I thought this photo of a few spoonfuls of granita served in a tower of ice might amuse you. Bruno Oger's presentation of food is…
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Continue reading →: Greece is not the word
I heard Jim O'Neill speak yesterday. He's the Chairman of Asset Management at Goldman Sachs and the macro-economist who coined the expression "the BRICs". He pointed out that while the European press is full of the Greek debt crisis, on a global scale it simply doesn't matter. The Chinese economy…
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Continue reading →: A peaceful interlude
Last year a very kind reader of this blog (whom I have never met) arranged for mass to be said for the soul of Mrs Paine at an Abbey in Provence. She was a French teacher by profession and a lover of that country. Provence was where we most liked…
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Continue reading →: God’s words
Discussing my last post with a religious friend, I listed various things I would want to say to God were I to find myself mistaken in my atheism. Mostly they were complaints, most prominently to do with my late wife's unecessary suffering. Smiling, she asked me what I thought God…
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Continue reading →: Militant Agnosticism?
Am I alone in being disturbed by the tone of current public discourse on religion? I am – as I have explained before – an atheist, but rather wish I wasn't. I can see that religion meets a basic human need. I would be a fool not to see that,…
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Continue reading →: Speechless
I have been quiet I know. With the aid of family and friends I have been unpacking my chattels in my new home. I am now permanently and comfortably installed. My broadband is up and running. No excuses. I could have taken a break to blog if I had chosen.…
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Continue reading →: Life is not fair to women: Discuss
CARPE DIEM: Women Have Less Political Ambition Than Men. So? Why does this issue matter to a libertarian? Because special pleading by lobby groups is a primary cause of unnecessary legislation. As law is an evil to be avoided unless the alternative is a greater evil, unnecessary legislation saps liberty;…
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…