Category Archives: Politics

The monetary value of biodiversity

Posted on August 16, 2021 by odeboyz

Swiss bee colonies, for example, have been shown to ensure “a yearly agricultural production worth about US$ 213 million by providing pollination,” and the value of an improved microclimate from 400,000 trees planted by local authorities in Canberra [Australia] has … Continue reading →

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Police ‘Mafia’ in Baltimore, USA

Posted on August 12, 2021 by odeboyz

Sergeant Wayne Jenkins1 and his officers didn’t just take drugs and money from the criminals they caught: they planted drugs and guns on people who weren’t criminals (or who weren’t doing anything criminal); they broke into the homes of people … Continue reading →

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The Unflappable Harold MacMillan: Athens 1944

Posted on August 5, 2021 by odeboyz

“MacMillan seems to have taken the daily risks with a mixture of unflappability and almost enjoyment. He and the Ambassador insisted, as a matter of principle, on using the official study, remarking in his memoirs only that ‘bullets came through … Continue reading →

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Immigration: Conservative Hypocrisy 1903, 1938, 2021

Posted on July 29, 2021 by odeboyz

1903 IMMIGRATION OF DESTITUTE ALIENS. HC Deb 26 February 1903 vol 118 cc938-77 Sir Howard Vincent (Conservative)1 In the first place, I should like to say most emphatically that this motion has nothing whatever to do with any religious question. … Continue reading →

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Assassination as policy: a few examples

Posted on July 19, 2021 by odeboyz

“In the thousand years the Roman empire survived in Constantinople, 65 out of its 107 emperors were assassinated. In Venice in the 15th and 16th centuries 200 assassinations were plotted for foreign policy reasons…Other than probably the CIA, Israel’s intelligence … Continue reading →

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Two Barbaric Sentencing Regimes: England, 1723 and California, 1994

Posted on July 15, 2021 by odeboyz

Background Barbaric sentencing and moral panics are linked. “A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society.”1 The events … Continue reading →

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An Italian economic boycott, 1848

Posted on July 12, 2021 by odeboyz

….the inhabitants of Milan, under Austrian rule, followed the principle of the Boston Tea Party by giving up smoking in order to stop the Austrians obtaining revenue from a tax on tobacco. Richard Evans The pursuit of power p189

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Winston Churchill advocates the ‘United States of Europe’

Posted on July 7, 2021 by odeboyz

With this plea for a United States of Europe, Churchill was one of the first to advocate European integration to prevent the atrocities of two world wars from ever happening again, calling for the creation of a Council of Europe … Continue reading →

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Oxford University’s Toxic Political Legacy: Privilege and Entitlement

Posted on June 28, 2021 by odeboyz

Oxford University is a social ghetto, which has a toxic impact on British politics. I’ve illustrated this by looking at the school and university background of significant figures in the British political world, 2010-21. Although the list is selective, it … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnot ~ Failures of State: The inside story of Britain’s battle with Coronovirus (2021)

Posted on June 24, 2021 by odeboyz

Investigative journalists are worth their weight in gold. Clavert and Arbuthnot write for the Sunday Times about Covid-19 from its earliest manifestation. As journalists they write in a very attractive and accessible way. This is epitomised by their chapter headings: … Continue reading →

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