The Last Ditch

Oh dear oh dear oh dear

2009-12-16T01:50:04+03:00

The Misanthrope - Keira Knightley's West End debut - Telegraph. Well we Paines enjoyed each other's company, and the rapid reviews in the taxi home were fun. "I have never seen a corset sag before", "my that's a clavicle and a half, she'll have his eye out with that", "she...

Why can't Cameron close the deal?

2009-12-13T14:47:34+03:00

Gordon Brown tells Labour party to get set for snap election - Times Online. It is incredible that there can be any doubt about the outcome of the next election. Labour has brought us, as it always does, to the edge of the economic abyss. So far from being, as...

Which leader are you?

2009-12-12T23:31:58+03:00

I am not sure about this result, but give it a go yourself. What Famous Leader Are You? personality tests by similarminds.com h/t Man Widdicombe

On the road again

2009-12-12T20:45:48+03:00

I and my worldly goods are on the road. We shall not be reunited for a long time. The movers in Russia need a copy of my work permit for China before they can despatch them, which will take months to arrange.This small matter seems to have been overlooked by...

A curious "logic"

2009-12-08T09:42:03+03:00

Darling announces one-off shock tax to 'break bonus culture' | UK news | The Guardian. Sources close to our glove-puppet Chancellor (quite possibly so close as to be the hand wiggling his implausible eyebrows) observe; "Salaries have got out of hand. They have been paying themselves like football stars." What...

Onwards and Eastwards

2009-12-07T18:32:12+03:00

The Last Ditch was conceived in and has been mainly executed from my apartment in Moscow. It has been my home for four of the seven years I have spent in Russia and I am fond of it. I find myself strangely reluctant to leave, but tomorrow my bed will...

Let the debate continue

2009-12-05T11:21:52+03:00

Stephen Fry provides support for my thesis that atheists tend to be "a" a particular "theos." Fry is not just an atheist from the Christian God, but from the Catholic version of Him. He is, like me, a Protestant Atheist. This speech (from a televised BBC World debate) is a...

Worse and worst?

2009-12-03T09:54:38+03:00

New Details on Tiger's Prenup - The Daily Beast. I am sorry to return to a subject that upsets my valued female readers, but I am interested to know how they react to the linked story. It seems that Tiger Woods has been unfaithful to his wife. It is reported...

Sarah Palin and me

2009-12-01T10:18:31+03:00

American Thinker: Palin and the future. Sarah Palin is not my type, politically. She's no libertarian. She's a real conservative, with the sort of small town values I grew up with and could not wait to escape from. I should not like her, but something in me rebels at the...

Finally, a business the Guardian approves of...

2009-11-30T17:22:01+03:00

Why journalism needs paywalls | Tim Luckhurst | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk. All my life I have longed for the day when the truth about business would be published in the Guardian. As it happens (no doubt to the horror of some readers) I agree with Tim Luckhurst's basic...

Scent of a Woman

2009-11-30T01:46:47+03:00

Scent of a Woman (1992). This film review is 17 years late, but I do not apologise. After all, it's free. Let me explain though. I went to a reception on Saturday; to celebrate the opening of a new office complex in Moscow. The developer is an old friend of...

Tory Zac Goldsmith admits he is a non-dom

2009-11-29T20:08:24+03:00

Tory Zac Goldsmith admits he is a non-dom - Times Online. Another headline lusciously loaded with malevolent meaning. An "admission" carries the unspoken connotation of guilt, as in this headline we shall sadly never see; "Labour Gordon Brown admits whole life warped by envy" Labour has not learned from Crewe...

An inconvenient lame excuse

2009-11-25T17:08:02+03:00

David Adam on controversy over leaked climate change emails | Environment | guardian.co.uk. I am reserving my view on the "climategate" emails. Frankly, I am still finding it hard to believe that the University of East Anglia is as important as the furore suggests. Would anyone really jeopardise the global...

Too much information?

2009-11-24T14:21:44+03:00

FT.com / Columnists / Lucy Kellaway - When too much information harms the office. In the past, books were a rare luxury. Even a wealthy man's library consisted only of a collection of classics to be re-read at intervals. English language publishers today produce more books in a day than...

Rule of law, or rule of men?

2009-11-19T16:45:22+03:00

MPs' expenses: Scotland Yard chief says more MPs could face investigation - Telegraph. To me, this story is a litmus test. Do we have the rule of law in Britain in the sense of Thomas Fuller's splendid words "Be you never so high, the law is above you," or not?...

Why Normblog isn't

2009-11-18T19:22:54+03:00

normblog: Bow - wow - ow!. I read every post published on "Normblog" with interest. Generally, it is intelligent, well written and wrong. Occasionally it's intelligent, well-written and right. Sometimes it's about cricket and I can't judge. But it's never a blog. I am not being a purist. Nor am...

The fine art of ignoring elephants

2009-11-18T10:34:07+03:00

Home alone: the house where binge mother left children | UK news | guardian.co.uk. Oh, the drama. The Guardian is so much more subtle than the Sun or the Mail, but the journalistic craft is just the same. Look how deftly placed the word "binge" is in that headline. Look...