Category Archives: Uncategorized

The coalition government, 2010-15, agreed Chancellor George Osborne’s ‘Age of Austerity’. The first phase, 2010-3, froze benefits and public sector wages. The impact was startling for child benefits and the state pension for different reasons. Conservative chancellors have reduced child … Continue reading →

Slackers have a rich and varied diet but it is fattening. As a consequence, due to social pressure, many feel the necessity to diet. But most, if not all, diets involve effort and pain. Who wants to Suffer! Absolutely no-one … Continue reading →

NetFlix Original Series ~ The Queen’s Gambit (Anya Taylor-Joy) (2020) The NetFlix series is brilliant and compelling TV. In general I prefer to read a book rather than watch a series or film. On this occasion the series was better. … Continue reading →

An airliner was having engine trouble, and the pilot instructed the cabin crew that passengers should take the brace position for an emergency landing. A few minutes later, the pilot asked the flight attendants if everyone was ready. “All set … Continue reading →

Education (Provisions of Meals) Act 1906* In 1906 welfare was the ‘workhouse’ which the impoverished voluntarily entered, because it was preferable to starvation. Millions of people lived just above this poverty level. They were the working poor who couldn’t guarantee … Continue reading →

This book trampled on my intellectual pretensions. Sutherland’s 23 chapters whittle away confidence until you wonder how you managed to get out of bed successfully. His case studies are stunning. Chapter 10 Ignoring the evidence concerns Admiral Kimmel’s belief that … Continue reading →

A sound technician, a lighting designer and a stage manager found an old lamp. The sound technician gave it a rub, and out wafted a genie! “Since you all found me, you all get a wish!” The sound technician went … Continue reading →

Introduction Roosevelt informed Churchill that an American general had to be Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in December, 1943. Churchill accepted this fait accompli even though Britain ceded sovereignty during a war. Britain was no longer in control of its … Continue reading →

“In what may be one of the most Italian things that has ever happened, the Italian State Police rushed a donor kidney from Padua to Rome for a transplant in a Lamborghini Huracan. Last week’s journey is around 300 miles, … Continue reading →