Category Archives: Politics

Book Review: Wes Streeting ~ One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry up: A memoir of growing up and getting on (2023)

Posted on October 9, 2024 by odeboyz

To be honest I was repelled by this book before reading a page. I assumed he was presumptuous.1 I believed he was careerist student politician who’d got lucky. Wrong! Streeting is fascinating. He comes from a working-class background. (Most Labour … Continue reading →

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Kier Starmer’s Cabinet ~ Shirkers and Strivers, October 2024

Posted on October 2, 2024 by odeboyz

George Osborne divided Britain into ‘Shirkers and Strivers’.1 Keir Starmer is a Super-Striver, who has had two stellar careers. Firstly, as a senior lawyer and latterly as Prime Minister. He’s a Super Striver but what is his cabinet like? The test: … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Rory Stewart ~ Politics on the edge: A memoir from within (2023)

Posted on September 21, 2024 by odeboyz

Political memoirs are exercises in self-glorification. This makes them tedious unless well-written with colourful ‘assassinations’ that are stiletto sharp. Stewart’s book is successful. His critique of David Cameron and Boris Johnson is masterful. His pen portraits of fellow MPs doesn’t … Continue reading →

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Selected Quotes: Winter Fuel Debate, 10th September 2024

Posted on September 14, 2024 by odeboyz

Mel Stride (Con) The decision to remove winter fuel payments has come as a complete shock to millions of pensioners—pensioners on as little as £11,500 a year. We have had no adequate explanation as to why this measure is so … Continue reading →

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P J O’Rourke on government

Posted on September 11, 2024 by odeboyz

“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”

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Bob Dylan on democracy

Posted on August 21, 2024 by odeboyz

“Democracy don’t rule the world, You’d better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that’s better left unsaid.”

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The Israeli Strategy in the Gaza War, October 2023 – August 2024

Posted on August 14, 2024 by odeboyz

Israel was humiliated by the Gazan incursion, which was the result of a major security failure by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Gazans live, ‘in a prison camp’ designed to prevent just such an event.1 Israel controls the air space, … Continue reading →

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Britain’s £100bn Trident missile showing off

Posted on August 10, 2024 by odeboyz
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Robert F Kennedy Jr: Politician, Conspiracist and Contender for the 2024 Presidency

Posted on July 17, 2024 by odeboyz

“He has a strong claim on the conspiracists, the 16% of Americans who agree with the statement that, ‘the government, media and financial worlds in the USA are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping paedophiles who run a global child … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Sue Townsend ~ Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)

Posted on July 17, 2024 by odeboyz

Unlike Amazon second hand bookshops are a thing of joy and wonder.1 They don’t have brutal efficiency but their customers happily browse. Titles, long forgotten, catch the eye and stimulate the curiosity bud. Was that book as good as remembered? … Continue reading →

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