Category Archives: Politics

Premium Bonds Ride Again

Posted on April 13, 2023 by odeboyz

Premium Bonds were introduced by Harold MacMillan in 1956.1 His insight was inventing a gamble where you could get your stake back, in full: Neo-gambling, as it were. MacMillan’s Premium – note the word – Bonds had monthly ‘prizes’ instead … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Oliver Bullough ~ Butler to the World: How Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals (2023)

Posted on March 27, 2023 by odeboyz

The ‘City of London’ is short-hand for financial wizardry and is, allegedly, the ‘powerhouse’ of Britain. What the ‘City’ wants the ‘City’ gets in terms of legislation and government assistance. They are free-market warriors until things go sour. Once the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Should Geriatrics be Imprisoned?

Posted on March 23, 2023 by odeboyz

A 91-year-old man [Eric Grant] has been sentenced to ten years in jail for his sexual offences against a young girl almost two decades ago.1 In 1990, a Conservative white paper concluded: “We know that prison ‘is an expensive way … Continue reading →

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Bertrand Russell on saving money: 1932

Posted on March 16, 2023 by odeboyz

One of the commonest things to do with savings is to lend them to some government. In view of the fact that the bulk of the expenditure of most civilized governments consists in payments for past wars and preparation for … Continue reading →

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Jacob Rees-Mogg: Selected Quotes

Posted on February 27, 2023 by odeboyz

On Paid Holidays and other employment benefits TUC’s Nicola Smith: “Paid holiday, paid rest breaks, rights for time off if you’ve got kids and your kids are unwell, protection from discrimination when you’re pregnant”….  “I [Rees-Mogg] don’t support all these … Continue reading →

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The birth of modern British politics, 1832-3

Posted on February 2, 2023 by odeboyz

The birth of modern British politics began in 1832 when the Whig government intervened in property rights. Firstly, ownership of rotten boroughs, which elected MPs, and secondly, slavery. Ownership of constituencies and slaves were felt to be against the public … Continue reading →

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How the German denazification policy worked

Posted on January 26, 2023 by odeboyz

After the war. Karl Höcker1 was arrested and spent eighteen months in a prisoner of war camp before being released. He returned to his old job with the same bank he’d been employed by before the war. In 1952 he … Continue reading →

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The Wehrmacht’s Campaigns of 1939, 1940 and 1941: A Guide

Posted on January 19, 2023 by odeboyz

“It is said that God is always on the side of the big battalions.” Voltaire The fast-striking motorized element of the German army in 1941 consisted of only 35 divisions out of 130. Three-quarters of the German army continued to … Continue reading →

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Rishi ‘Robin Hood’ Sunak strikes again

Posted on January 16, 2023 by odeboyz
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Book Review: Michael Dobbs ~ The Reluctant Hero (2010)

Posted on January 12, 2023 by odeboyz

The storyline is preposterous. It depends on a suspension of credulity, which I can’t achieve – not that I tried hard. Astonishingly I finished the book. The only justification for this is that I took it away for Christmas and … Continue reading →

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