Imagine living in the past, say sometime still in the modern era but pre-WW2; how soul destroying it must have been to have been held back socially, economically, politically, or career-wise because of traits such as being female, non-white, disabled, Jewish, the wrong sort of Christian, homosexual, born of humble stock or out of wedlock […]
As if the UK Honours System wasn’t already debased enough, there are those who seek an alternative affirmation of their merit and completely bypass it. In the 60s and 70s, I lived in a small county town (Beverley, capital of the East Riding of Yorkshire – much to the nearby socialist city of Kingston upon
The Entitled ‘Titled’ Read More »
I recently returned from a visit to the United States where I noted that JFK Airport was displaying signs saying, “We respect the choice of colleagues who choose to wear face coverings.” Our visit took place over the period of Trump’s election victory. Amongst the outpourings of hate, grief and bafflement by demented Democrats was
No Maskers, Thank You Read More »
From my perspective, which today happens to be Singapore, I am halfway through a ten-flight round the world tour of international conferences. I have ‘done’ Hong Kong and mainland China; next up New York and Washington DC. I wonder how much longer I can keep this up. I do it regularly. I often reflect, and
Airport Security: It’s Time Somebody Said It Read More »
‘The first casualty of war is the truth’ – that’s as true today as it’s always been, and never more so than in the wake of the Southport riots, which have finally claimed their first victim. No, not an illegal immigrant, safely ensconced in his four-star accommodation; not the wretched Old Bill, who heroically faced
Peter Lynch: Remember His Name Read More »
There is something new in my house. Silence! For the last three weeks the telly has been on morning, noon and night. The sound of breathless commentary, banal and repetitive exchanges between yesterday’s stars all against a background of cheering and crowd roaring has dominated. Mrs Watson is an Olympics nut and there’s hardly a
They say ‘It’s never dull in Hull’. Whoever ‘they’ are, clearly haven’t yet clocked the dreadful weather that this east coast city is routinely prone to (yes, the Humber Estuary is part of the English Coast, so Kingston upon Hull is actually firmly on the English coast, albeit with no beaches but lots of lovely
Never Dull in Hull Read More »
Keen-eyed readers may have noticed my absence of late – nothing more serious than taking a chill pill (actually a long holiday). I have finally stopped reading any of the other sceptical sites (except I’m still obviously reading TNC as it isn’t so predictable, and has a spark of humour and originality) and am generally
The Insurance Racket Read More »
Like many of you, I am a sufferer of Conservative estrangement syndrome. However, it was only yesterday that I ruled out voting for them at the next election. About a year ago my attention was drawn to a consultation being conducted by DEFRA (Does everything effing rong again), into the registration of small flocks of
Tories Chicken Out Read More »
(Photograph: Spudgun67, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons) The Guardian, in its relentless and ever increasingly anachronistic crusade against something called the Patriarchy, has once again demanded that the Garrick, one of the few remaining London gentlemen’s clubs, admits female members. As the appropriately named Amelia Gentlemen, a journalist with The Guardian, tells us
Leave the Garrick Alone! Read More »
