Category Archives: Politics

The Preying Fiends of Eton

Posted on July 4, 2020 by

The idea of a homogeneous, nation state is a comparatively recent development in history. Originally, mankind organised itself into a few empires, a herd of city statelets and a myriad of tribal lands with simpler cultures sprawling across the globe. … Continue reading →

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Swamped

Posted on June 17, 2020 by

There is a typically pithy American phrase about losing focus: “When you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s hard to remember that the original plan was to drain the swamp.” Unfortunately, governments seem particularly prone to suffer such distractions, … Continue reading →

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The Past is a Foreign Country

Posted on June 13, 2020 by

News in both the UK and the USA has recently highlighted demonstrations revolving around the Black Lives Matter campaign. The focus of this has been around for some time without any satisfactory resolution. The sentiment is strongest in the USA, … Continue reading →

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A Second Dunkirk

Posted on May 31, 2020 by

“Wars are not won by evacuations”—Winston Churchill, June 4th 1940 In the daily wringing of political hands over Covid-19 and unending media coverage of “our worst crisis since World War 2: we seem to have lost much balance and perspective … Continue reading →

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Shadow of the Sombrero—3

Posted on May 22, 2020 by

The Four Horse(manure)men of the Apocalypse It’s a wonder the UK government’s daily press briefing retains any audience at all, beside the journalists paid to be there. It breaks all known rules of audience engagement,  being pompous and repetitive. Flanked … Continue reading →

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Shadow of the Sombrero—2

Posted on May 17, 2020 by

The Care Home Tragedy It is always easier to criticise with hindsight but we are nowhere near the end of the present Covid-19 pandemic to analyse properly with full facts and objectivity. But, even allowing that all governments were faced … Continue reading →

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Shadow of the Sombrero—1

Posted on May 12, 2020 by

Boris Johnson, back in the saddle for two weeks after three of learning first-hand what Covid-19 is all about, has just had the roughest 24 hours of his premiership. His first attempt to ease the lockdown has been widely lambssted … Continue reading →

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Uncle Sam’s Covid

Posted on May 7, 2020 by

whole and unabridged from the Irish Times, April 25, 2020, By Fintan O’Toole THE WORLD HAS LOVED, HATED AND ENVIED THE U.S. NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE PITY IT Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very … Continue reading →

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Arranging Deckchairs on the Pandemic

Posted on April 23, 2020 by

The story of 2020 so far has been dominated by Corovirus-19. Despite global efforts to the contrary, the balance of the year will be the same. This story has been full of heroic efforts by those on the medical and … Continue reading →

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Compassion As Self-Harm

Posted on March 30, 2020 by

President Donald J. Trump and I have never seen eye-to-eye—a fact that distresses neither of us. This should not surprise readers of this blog. But that certainty shattered when he declared the Covid19 pandemic. “…should last weeks, not months; the … Continue reading →

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