What I write here is a cryptic account of what I’ve posted before concerning life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. I do so because now there is an upsurge of terror yet again, but this time denounced by the greater majority of the Catholics and all of the Protestants. I am an Englishman who… Continue reading Northern Ireland, then and in the future
Responsible selection
I am constantly writing that the government makes legislation with a broad brush which affects almost everyone, in circumstances where the need is only with respect to a small minority. What is also evident is that instead of a calm, reasoned approach to matters, they are dancing instead to the media tune, rushing to sound-bites,… Continue reading Responsible selection
Let us stop and think.
What started this train of thought, was the BBC programme, The Politics Show, unusually a complete waste of time, because all the politicians were ducking and weaving. Alistair Darling, at one point, stated that all the major countries were borrowing large quantities of money to plough into the world economy, thus justifying the fact that… Continue reading Let us stop and think.
Self control and hype
In the 20s and 30s children were regularly admonished with the phrase ‘behave yourself’, or ‘behave’. In shops they would have been no more allowed free range to rush about the shop, than they would have been allowed to steal. Today this is not the case. Crime generally is a case of lack of self-control,… Continue reading Self control and hype
The light under the bushel
The radio Times has made it abundantly clear that a program that I thought was unique, almost an epic, and fascinating, if a little drawn out, was unworthy of publicising in its weekly paper, and only refered to it on the schedule in about four lines. It was a re-enactment of the Premier of Handel’s… Continue reading The light under the bushel
Comparisons are not always odious
There are still a few of us around, born just after the First World War, living through a number of credit crunches, highs and lows, that has given us a different perspective to those who govern us today. Born into the tail end of the Victorian era, people were straightlaced, talked of being gentlemanly, ladylike,… Continue reading Comparisons are not always odious
The fundamentals of banking Part 2, an alternative solution
To simplify my thinking I take the theoretical case of a man who successfully opened a television shop, and built up an empire throughout the UK. At 65 he retired and his son took over with disastrous results from bad management, with the consequent debts. No public body would dream of bailing him out. In… Continue reading The fundamentals of banking Part 2, an alternative solution
The fundamentals of banking applied to the credut crunch, Part 1
When reading this, you may disagree with what I say, or you might think I am wired to the moon, but at least I have made you think. Today in politics, when things go very wrong, those responsible no longer resign, they talk their way out of trouble in sound-bites. The press and I, three… Continue reading The fundamentals of banking applied to the credut crunch, Part 1
To my regular readers, this is a reason not an excuse
I suspect that some of you think I have given up, others might think I’m dead, but the fact is, I and Sophie, my wife, have had an horrendous five months. We mutually shared the virus in November, which put her into hospital on Christmas Eve for 16 days. The doctors required us, for future… Continue reading To my regular readers, this is a reason not an excuse
Greed
It’s a fair comment if you say I’m a reactionary. A lot of what I write has that implication. I constantly compare our lifestyles today with those, of the even and relaxed 30s. While acceding to the fact that some of the aspects of our lives have been improved by progress, I believe that that… Continue reading Greed