Category Archives: Politics

The Entropy of England—II

Is it English to Be Nationalist?  “Welsh, Irish and Scots nationalisms could all be catered for, but English nationalism, however, cannot”. —Winston Churchill, Westminster Gazette 1912            For the last millennium, English nationalism appears to have suffered from a kind … Continue reading

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The Entropy of England—I

Fragmentary Foundations  “What do they know of England who only England know?” —Rudyard Kipling Brexit and its aftermath have brought a renewed focus on what it means to be British. Cabinet Ministers giving endless Covid briefings in front of union … Continue reading

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The Two Trillion Dollar Tragedy III

On the Laws of Engineering A mere four days after the first part of this article was published, the tally of Afghan provincial capitals taken by the Taliban has tripled to nine—a full quarter of the total—and some 65% of … Continue reading

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The Two Trillion Dollar Tragedy II

On The Conquest of Quagmires Two days on, and three more provincial capitals in Afghanistan have fallen to the Taliban. None of these is from  the strategic trio of Herat, Khandahar or Jalalabad in the news over the weekend, Instead, … Continue reading

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The Two Trillion Dollar Tragedy I

On Lessons from Afvietmaliastan Readers un search of an upbeat and inspirational read are advised not to read on. These few hundred words are an attempt to place the slow car crash that is Afghanistan in context. If you are … Continue reading

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The Other Sceptr’d Isle IV

The Crunch (Part 4 of 5) It takes a brass neck and a boatload of optimism to predict what might occur in Ulster over the next decade. But one thing is clear: to continue the peace process and a prosperous … Continue reading

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The Other Sceptr’d Isle III

The Hiatus (Part 3 of 5) The North established their own parliament at Stormont in June 1921 and any sense of this arrangement being temporary quickly faded. Over a million Protestants ruled over 400,000 Catholics, as they had intended. Thanks … Continue reading

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The Other Sceptr’d Isle II

The History (Part 2 of 5) Post-1066, the Normans, who had made short work of England, tried their hand in Ireland, with less success. Elizabeth made a fair fist of expanding their East coast settlements in the 16th ©. The … Continue reading

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The Other Sceptr’d Isle I

The Problem (Part 1 of 5) With all the fuss over the Euro Final and the discussion of racism that ensued, nobody much noticed an item of non-news, a dog that did not bark in the night-time: celebrations of the … Continue reading

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There’s Nothing Surer…

…the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer” runs the old song. Here are some stats to back up that equally old assertion. This blog is a lift of the series of a half-dozen tweets by Tosten Bell (@TostenBell) … Continue reading

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