I rarely write about Northern Ireland because not many people are interested in it, since it was a daily diet of murder and mayhem, but now I am urged to say something because I believe our local and international politics are going down the tubes. 40 years on, we are not the country we were,… Continue reading Now I am even more confused
Author: jp
Just one more voice in praise of the Ghurkhas
The Internet holds a very fine history of the relationship between the British Indian Army and the Gurkhas, and later their relationship with the British Army. 200,000 of them fought in World War I, they were in Burma in World War II, and I always thought that the British nation as a whole not only… Continue reading Just one more voice in praise of the Ghurkhas
I am not surprised, I am aghast.
Everyone will know that I sound off from a basis of ignorance, and am doing it again, this time about Swine Flu. Before I explain why I am dazed, amazed and think the government crazed, I want to set down a few basic thoughts. Ever since the Falklands War, when it was bruited abroad that… Continue reading I am not surprised, I am aghast.
The book has been overtaken
When you get to my age, if you are a hoarder, you can become unpopular with the rest of the household, as they think they can see a day when they will be turfing all your rubbish into a skip. In consequence I have started to part with things that I have treasured, but that,… Continue reading The book has been overtaken
I not only think it is unfair, I think it is illogical
Almost on my doorstep is a company that is being wound up, after being in business for 45 years, and surviving through the Troubles. The whole workforce is now in a sit-in, because it was made redundant, with terms that were totally unfair, and it would seem, by the way the discussion is progressing, that… Continue reading I not only think it is unfair, I think it is illogical
A possible opportunity
I don’t think I am being chauvinistic when I say that I believe the British Armed Forces are equal or better than any in the world. I can remember men telling me of the excitement they experienced in the First World War when whole batches of them went to the recruiting centres, it was like… Continue reading A possible opportunity
If I were an MP
I would be taking a very serious exception to Brown’s broad brush. Not only would I take it as a personal slight, I would object to the fact that he is telling the world, whether truthfully, or making a general statement, that I, and the rest of my colleagues are thieves. When I was young… Continue reading If I were an MP
How our money is spent
It all started roughly around the time that I was on honeymoon with Sophie, November 1944. She was frightened out of her wits when she heard her first Buzz-bomb, I was used to them, teaching in the South England, with them flying over everyday. If you heard them you were safe, once the sound stopped,… Continue reading How our money is spent
I thought forewarned was forearmed
Yesterday I watched a film made in the 80s, by Jane Fonda. As the picture unfolded I discovered that I was watching a prediction of this credit crunch in which we find ourselves. I sat through it enthralled, Sophie slept through most of it. It was broadcast early in the day, when I had recorded… Continue reading I thought forewarned was forearmed
Read’em and weep
Yesterday, the Daily Telegraph had a headline ‘Death of the traditional family.’ I have been writing about the fact for three years. They were quoting the national statistics, which have recently been published. I won’t bore you with them all, just say that the extended family died in the 70s, and they’re only waking up… Continue reading Read’em and weep