27 January 2022 Dealing with Russia The need to draw back. By John Watson It is normally annoying when Amazon pushed a book at you. However, there are exceptions and Ben McIntyre’s history of the MI6 double agent Oleg Gordievsky (The Spy and the Traitor) is certainly one of them. It isn’t just that the… Continue reading Dealing With Russia
Article Category: Comment
Pause for Laughter
27 January 2022 Pause for Laughter by J.R. Thomas Who said President Joe Biden could not handle a long press conference? There he was, looking fit and cheery, with two hours allocated for a “meet the media” session to mark his first year in office. His second solo press conference in a year! The boy… Continue reading Pause for Laughter
Lies, Damned Lies and Coronavirus
27 January 2022 Lies, Damned Lies and Coronavirus Peak or pique? by David Chilvers Today marks the end of most mandatory COVID-19 restrictions in England. It is no longer legally necessary to: Wear a facemask on public transport or in indoor spaces (although it is still recommended in tightly packed indoor environments and some organisations,… Continue reading Lies, Damned Lies and Coronavirus
It’s a Gas
27 January 2022 It’s a Gas By Paul Branch Here in the Cotswolds they say that if you stand on the elevated green of the first hole at Chipping Norton golf course, on a clear day you could see all the way through a gap in the Urals to the Siberian Steppes …. if the… Continue reading It’s a Gas
Ukraine
27 January 2022 Ukraine What is Moscow’s motivation? By Neil Tidmarsh A country faces imminent invasion. It makes desperate appeals to its western allies, who have helped to train and equip its army for the last decade or so, but it’s clear that they won’t send their own troops to fight in its defence. The… Continue reading Ukraine
Being Safe
27 January 2022 Being Safe Parties and the precautionary principle. By Lynda Goetz One of those odd little items of news last week was that of the 91 year-old in Italy who died attempting to escape from his Italian care home. Allison Pearson uses this story as an opening to an article entitled ‘Killers have… Continue reading Being Safe
Big Dog’s Big Calls
27 January 2022 Diary of a Corbynista Big Dog’s Big Calls by Don Urquhart In the USA the fashionable big lie is that Trump won the election but was robbed by the Satanist child molesters of the political establishment. It’s a tough one to beat. Here it is put about that the Downing Street lockdown… Continue reading Big Dog’s Big Calls
Angry Cows
27 January 2022 Angry Cows The message from Uttar Pradesh. By Robert Kilconner Well, at least I’m no longer alone. Many years ago in a town in Rajasthan I was pursued down the street by a cow. It was a female cow (yes, I know, the word is being used loosely) and as far as… Continue reading Angry Cows
Issue 308: 2022 01 20: Boris Functus
20 January 2022 Boris Functus Send the letters. By John Watson No, it isn’t a spelling error. Nor is “functus” the polite Latin equivalent of a much overused 16th century German word which sounds rather similar. It is an abbreviation of the expression “functus officio” used by lawyers to describe an official whose mandate to… Continue reading Issue 308: 2022 01 20: Boris Functus
Issue 308: 2022 01 20: “Sentence first…
20 January 2022 “Sentence First… verdict afterwards” by J.R.Thomas …verdict afterwards”. How readers laughed when the Queen of Hearts insisted that the Knave of Heart’s head should be removed before time was wasted on any further court hearings, in Alice in Wonderland. Was Lewis Carroll being satirical when he wrote that; or was he… Continue reading Issue 308: 2022 01 20: “Sentence first…
Issue 308: 2022 01 20: Balance of Rights
20 January 2022 Balance of Rights Freedom to act and speak. By Lynda Goetz ‘It is the duty of peers and MPs to strike a proper balance between the rights of a small number of protesters and those of everyone else’, concluded the Daily Telegraph editorial yesterday, after pondering the rejection by peers of almost… Continue reading Issue 308: 2022 01 20: Balance of Rights
Issue 308: 2022 01 20: Bit on the slide?
20 January 2022 Bit on the slide? By Paul Branch While communications media of every shape and hue, not to mention the public at large, have been salivating at the prospect of the fall from grace of several universally-acclaimed celebrities, events in the world of high finance have not been standing still. In that high… Continue reading Issue 308: 2022 01 20: Bit on the slide?
Issue 308: 2022 01 20: Boris’s Bedtime Stories
20 January 2022 Bedtime Stories for Boris Tragicomedy. By Neil Tidmarsh Dear Boris, it’s late on Friday night but you can’t sleep. It’s too quiet now that you’ve had to knock ‘Wine Friday’ on the head. The silence is keeping you awake. So why not let the Shaw Sheet tell you some bedtime stories to… Continue reading Issue 308: 2022 01 20: Boris’s Bedtime Stories
