Author Archives: odeboyz

Cooking for Slackers: When parents come to tea

Debris in the kitchen/living room must be removed. Not doing so is sub-optimal. To business. Offering a cup of coffee1 is standard unless they’re hard-core and want tea. But you will spring a surprise. There will be wonderful plates of … Continue reading →

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A Trade Unionist has a Nightmare

Jim is reporting back to a mass meeting. “Brothers! I think you will want to approve the outcome, which was the result of many hours of gruelling discussions.” First. The management have agreed an 8% pay rise with three months … Continue reading →

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Nigel’s Triumph

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A Windfall Tax on Owner-Occupied Houses

Why are we taxing working people more than billionaires? Tax wealth, not work.  Gary Stephenson author of The Trading Game (2024) Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is paid on houses that are usually called buy-to-let.1 When sold, they are subject to … Continue reading →

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Frankie Howerd at the Oxford Union*

“Because you are students, so naturally to you I’m not what you call an academic, and no way at all could you call me an intellectual. Which is why I feel so at home here tonight.” *The Oxford (University) Union … Continue reading →

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India’s justice system

Three years ago, after pondering a dispute for 16 years, the supreme court sent back a 60-year-old land case for fresh adjudication to a lower court, which had already taken over 30 years to give its judgment in 2006. Source: … Continue reading →

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Cooking for Slackers: A bacon sandwich

The ‘Mission Statement’ of Cooking for Slackers says food should be cheap, quick and cheerful. A bacon sandwich is a multi-purpose meal. It cures hangovers, it’s one in the eye for food fascists, it’s incredibly tasty, minimalist, fast, cheap, and cheerful. No Slacker … Continue reading →

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Hidden homelessness?

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Book Review: Ben Elton ~ Inconceivable (1999)

Sadly, I read this book the same week it was announced that fertility levels in Britain were at a record low. All of which means that this book is apposite. Thousands – tens of thousands – of people are going … Continue reading →

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War Studies: Britain’s Civil War (aka The Troubles), 1968-98

The British civil war was centred in northern Ireland and later migrated to the mainland. Assassinations, atrocities, the breakdown of law and order, internment, loss of civil liberties and state repression occurred over 30 years. These techniques had failed when … Continue reading →

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