Category Archives: Blog posts
Could Twitter be deliberately exploited to promote evil?
“Was last week a watershed week in terms of unsubstantiated online gossip?” Andrew Neil asked Richard Bacon on the BBC current affairs programme ‘This Week’ last week. On Twitter, as @richardpbacon, Bacon describes himself as a ‘minor celebrity’ (and we … Continue reading
The perverse cult of celebrity
When I was at school, we had a visiting preacher in Chapel who told us there were three things in his sermon that we would never forget. And I haven’t. They were: Don’t poison Socrates. Don’t crucify Christ. Stand up … Continue reading
Property values divide the nation
Last week Labour leaderEd Miliband spent over an hour telling us two things: that he wants us to be ‘one nation’ and that he went to comprehensive school. I quite like the ‘one nation’ thing building, as it does, on … Continue reading
What makes a snob?
In Britain, the question is did Andrew Mitchell call the Downing Street police ‘plebs’? Elsewhere it is ‘who on earth is Andrew Mitchell?’ I suspect, at the time of the incident, the police did not know who he was either: … Continue reading
A taxing idea for the people
‘Ideas don’t make you rich. The correct execution of ideas does’. So said Felix Dennis in his book ‘How To Get Rich’. He’s worth over £500 million, so I think we can believe him. As it happens, last week, I … Continue reading
When your greatest strength is your greatest weakness
I saw my doctor yesterday. Sensitive, intelligent, considerate, thoughtful and understanding, he is as kind a man as any I have met. But I have a problem with him. So kind, sensitive, intelligent, considerate, thoughtful and understanding is he that … Continue reading
Do you brighten the space you occupy?
This summer I have been listening to the audiobook ‘Life Beyond Measure‘ written and read by Sidney Poitier although, when I say ‘read’, I should really say ‘performed’ so brilliant is Poitier’s delivery. Good actors have a wonderful talent of … Continue reading
Olympic success defines a new Britain for the 21st Century
The subject of my first blog, over three years ago, was ‘Convergence and Divergence’. It discussed an observation made, over twenty years ago, at an international business conference by a heavy-hitting American banker, a breed we respected at the time. … Continue reading
When a human right is a human wrong
Sitting, lounging, reading books – as I am now – by a swimming pool overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, it is natural to absorb more sunshine than news. But the full horror of the Denver Dark Knight killings has penetrated this tranquil … Continue reading