The Last Ditch

So what is the other 14%?

2009-07-20T19:08:07+04:00

tompaine is 86% HeteroHow hetero are you? How hetero is Martha Stewart? Try out any Twitter name and get the real picture. Are we really the words we use? Hope to see you at Stockholm Pride! h/t The apparently 72% hetero Croydonian, without asking why he was cruising such sites,...

On the word of a self-confessed liar, the PM is a moral man

2009-07-20T18:26:09+04:00

Former No 10 aide Damian McBride breaks silence on smear scandal - Times Online. So, Mr McBride. You, a man who was prepared to spread a sickening lie about a political opponent to help your boss, now tells us said boss was shocked when you told him what you had...

Change

2009-07-19T15:32:47+04:00

Last night I was in a Shanghai club, drinking with some young friends. We were discussing how the world might change in their lifetime. I remembered having a similar conversation with my late grandfather. His generation saw more change than any in history. He remembered seeing the first car in...

Bullied City lawyer claiming £12m

2009-07-18T08:29:07+04:00

BBC NEWS | UK | Bullied City lawyer claiming £12m. Anyone weak enough to be bullied should be ashamed to call himself a lawyer, let alone a "City lawyer" (which has other connotations than the literal "lawyer who works in the City"). We may be gentle souls in our spare...

How to win an internet poll

2009-07-17T05:45:15+04:00

You Are Awesome | Sharpe's Opinion. Wow. Mr Sharpe really wants your vote. He doesn't think much of his readers' self respect though, does he? Now my readers are intelligent, confident people who would despise such flattery. Aren't you? I do hope so, because I am rubbish at it.

They lie because it works

2009-07-17T05:19:52+04:00

News Rage UK: Home Secretary statement on annual crime statistics. Fleet Street used to have a drinking culture. Maybe it's hard drugs now? How else can one account for journalists failing to connect the story linked above with the one I blogged about here? If you believe domestic burglary in...

You have a vote

2009-07-17T04:42:15+04:00

No, there's no General Election yet. Gordon Brown is still denying the people their lawful prey and his party (not that he cares) will suffer all the more for it in due course. But until that happy day, you can at least vote for your favourite political blogs. Total Politics...

Banks should publish pay and bonuses of all top earners, if they want to export City jobs

2009-07-16T15:24:29+04:00

Bank should publish pay and bonuses of all top earners, Walker Report recommends - Telegraph. Somewhere, there is a room. In it sit the chief looters of Britain; the leaders of leftist thought. Each day, over fair trade coffee, they ask themselves one question. How can we destroy Britain's economy?...

Bringing Jacqui to Justice

2009-07-16T04:26:43+04:00

Sunlight COPs Will Prosecute Jacqui Smith | Sunlight Centre for Open Politics. The Sunlight Centre for Open Politics is going to do what the Crown Prosecution Service will not; prosecute Jacqui Smith for her fraudulent expenses claim. Nothing could do more to restore confidence in British justice than to demonstrate...

Britblog Roundup 229

2009-07-15T14:18:26+04:00

Britblog Roundup 229: The Bumper Office Moving Edition | The Wardman Wire. Click on the title to innoculate yourself with the latest dose of British bloggery goodness, hosted by The Wardman Wire.

Should BA survive?

2009-07-15T11:06:32+04:00

British Airways needs job cuts to survive, CEO says. It pays to stop from time to time, look at your business and ask "If I were starting today, is this how I would do it?" If you apply this test to BA, the answer is certainly "no." In many respects,...

Difference and Similarity

2009-07-14T18:57:01+04:00

I am spending this week and next in Shanghai for my work, which pleases me greatly. It's only my third visit and the first where I have been able to stay a while. I have always been fascinated by China. This is a culture which has existed continuously for thousands...

Harriet Harman is as daft as a brush

2009-07-13T14:08:04+04:00

Discrimination against northerners to be banned under Harriet Harman plans - Telegraph. Indeed, lads and lasses, if brains were gunpowder, she wouldn't have enough to blow her bloody hat off. I grew up "oop North" among just the kind of hatred to which she is now pandering. I remember a...

Does Shahid have a point?

2009-07-12T15:03:11+04:00

Twitter / Shahid Ahmad: When Theo van Gogh was mur .... Blogger Shahid Ahmad of Suspect Paki is tweeting furiously about this shocking story. A Russian in Germany was being prosecuted at the instigation of a Muslim couple for "insult and abuse". The accused strode across the court room and...

What is libertarianism?

2009-07-12T13:09:04+04:00

Libertarianism – Counting Cats in Zanzibar. This is an interesting perspective on what libertarianism means. I am not sure I entirely agree, but it's certainly a good counter to the stereotypes of "selfishness" and "anarchism". ...what’s the difference between charity and socialism? What’s the difference between a free society and...

Note to Chris Bryant: the British Empire ended some years ago

2009-07-07T12:47:40+04:00

They're Joking. Aren't They?: Goldfinger. The English cliché I miss most is "it is none of my business." It is a wonderful phrase, but one which Labour ministers seem not to know. Government derives its power from us, the people. Unless you believe in Divine Right, what other source of...

Adding the barbed wire

2009-07-06T10:49:19+04:00

Is the state guilty of child kidnap? - Telegraph. The gentleman in the linked story approached his child's school with a request based on a perceived risk (he is related to European royalty) of her being kidnapped; He asked that he could be allowed to drive into the school grounds...

Obama hits CTRL-ALT-DELETE; Russia declines to reboot?

2009-07-05T18:43:02+04:00

Obama heads to Moscow for reset summit | World | Reuters. I shall be in the same city as "the One" for a day or two. Yawn. I shall work from home tomorrow. The traffic in Moscow is quite bad enough without the POTUS motorcade. I fear Mr Obama's hosts...

Is it democracy they don't understand, or the English language?

2009-07-05T15:46:46+04:00

Drivers back bans for using mobiles | Metro.co.uk. So, I glean from the linked article, less than a third of motorists are nanny's boys who think the state should ban - for an unemployment-inducing six months - those caught using a mobile phone while driving. Hurrah for common sense, you...

Web site story

2009-07-03T16:06:36+04:00

This is from the sporadically-brilliant Collegehumor.com. It should send you off smiling to your weekend. See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor. h/t Theo

How to call a liar a liar without making a personal attack?

2009-07-03T10:39:17+04:00

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Is this getting a little personal?. The success of the New Labour Project is based on lies. The mother of all these lies is that Labour has changed. That it is no longer the party of profligate "tax and spend." That it is no longer...

The political lies capital of Europe

2009-07-02T11:27:45+04:00

UK is violent crime capital of Europe - Telegraph. No-one who is paying any attention could doubt this. For goodness' sake, even Henley Regatta has suffered hooliganism. I hear that the city where I have my pied à terre in the North of England suffers one murder every time there...

This seems like a good idea

2009-06-30T16:54:41+04:00

10 Drowning Street by Lord Elvis: The Truth Is Back In Business - Sign Up Now!. What do you think? Collective blogging? Not sure it's my style.

All blacked up and nowhere to go

2009-06-29T18:26:54+04:00

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Kent | School bans black-face Morris Men. Sir Thomas Beecham said one should try everything once, except incest and folk-dancing. I quite agree. Nonetheless, God help us, Morris dancing is part of England's cultural heritage. No matter what colour face paint the dancers...

The "right" to talk?

2009-06-28T15:42:44+04:00

Anglican Mainstream » Blog Archive » Doctors want right to talk faith. This article is distressing. In my opinion, the NHS has no right to discipline its employees for discussing anything with patients. The patients are the true employers. The NHS is merely a monopolistic state agency between them and...

A line has been crossed

2009-06-27T16:30:06+04:00

Benefit payouts will exceed income tax revenue - Telegraph. How can Britain's taxpayers fail to erupt in rage at this information? Their income taxes are not enough to cover defence, education or health any more. Every single penny ripped from their hard-earned income in tax now goes to those on...

Friends vs "Friends"

2009-06-26T17:58:38+04:00

With the growth of social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, all of which revolve around the idea of "friends", I have to wonder what the word really means now. Apart from my "friends" on such sites (both in my capacity as Tom and as my alter ego...

Unsentimental education

2009-06-26T14:52:55+04:00

Labour to junk Tony Blair's flagship school reform | Politics | The Guardian. What Labour seems now to be saying, with such announcements, is this; "When deciding whether to vote for us, please forget what we did in the last 12 years. Please judge us on these policies we have...

Housekeeping

2009-06-26T12:11:25+04:00

I have been with Typepad for a while now and I find it more elegant and easy to work with than Blogger. As it should be. It costs money. Blogger is free. I have had complaints from readers who find it hard to comment here. That's bad. Reading my own...

I have only one question about this...

2009-06-25T13:56:14+04:00

Money Central - Times Online - WBLG: Gordon Brown's 10 worst financial gaffes. Why were the financial journalists silent when these gaffes were being made? It's a bit late now. h/t The Crown Blogspot

Sticks, stones and sexism

2009-06-24T10:45:38+04:00

Quaequam Blog! » Iain Dale calls Lib Dem candidate a “whore”. I don't usually cross-post or refer to my contributions elsewhere but not all my readers may visit the Quaequam Blog by LibDem James Graham. I recently took him mildly to task for accusing Iain Dale of sexism, earning this...

Truth in comedy

2009-06-22T09:37:36+04:00

YouTube - Steve Hughes on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow. Michael McIntyre is funny and his Comedy Roadshow is a good programme. Of course, most of his guests are right-on, politically-correct comedians, but not this guy. I cheered as well as laughed at his set. Dick Puddlecote (to whom, a tip...