January 2017

Brexit taught us two things. Firstly, many pro-EU Britons fear for their red-tape careers and get a submissive thrill out of taking the side of foreigners. Secondly, we learned real Britons buy and invest more just on the strength of added freedom to come, even if they know working round the euro-quislings will take time. So rather than just trying … [Read on]

I’ve trawled through dozens of application forms. Applied for every job that will cover the rent. Graphic designer, illustrator, office sub, kitchen staff, support worker, pot washer, carer, cleaner and orthopaedic shoe maker.  My online sales flat-lined after Christmas. I cannot claim benefits for 5 weeks and therefore not much for me to do other than look for jobs then … [Read on]

In the second section of the Guardian for 16 January, there is an article about a building in Peru that has ‘just earned… the title of best new building in the world.’ As the awarding body was the Royal Institute of British Architects, it was only to be expected that the building was a complete aesthetic mess, an eyesore: for … [Read on]

The circuses division of our bread-and-circuses regime is certainly in rude health. Opinions vary as to the health of the bread division off that regime: one can find everything from predictions of imminent collapse to those of vigorous growth and expansion. For myself, I find myself unable to decide whether economists belong more to the world of bread than they … [Read on]

I am a GP. Yesterday during the height of the A & E rush hour, seven p.m. to midnight, I sent a patient to my local district hospital. She had a complex disorder requiring an MRI scan, extensive blood work, the opinion of a specialist, and a decision on admission. A mistake would have had dire consequences. Within five hours a … [Read on]

A rational voluptuary adheres with invariable respect to the temperate dictates of nature, and improves the gratifications of sense by social intercourse, endearing connections, and the soft colouring of taste and the imagination. But Elagabalus, (I speak of the emperor of that name,) corrupted by his youth, his country, and his fortune, abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures with ungoverned … [Read on]

Taxi drivers are among the best sociologists I know, and even in war-torn countries they are usually better-informed about the military situation than the generals, or at least the military spokesmen. For me they are oracles: I believe everything they say. I arrived in Loughborough the other day. It was the first time I had ever been there and I … [Read on]