Lord Snooty and his pals or The Serpents of The People

Snooty and his Pals This was the original crew but Marmaduke, Lord Bunkerton, and his Pals were finally pensioned off by The Thompson Press in 1991, as being irrelevant in that day and age.  Blimey! They sure got that wrong!! It certainly seems a bit premature when you study the denizens of Downing Street who … Continue reading Lord Snooty and his pals or The Serpents of The People →

The Pedants revolt

Bring on The Clowns! Picture the scene: London is ablaze; rioters rule the streets; The Speaker is sitting on a woolsack, in a woolshop, presiding over a few mangy-looking MPs, desperately hoping to qualify for expenses and a new cardigan.  Meanwhile plotters gather in dark corners planning how to exploit this state of affairs to … Continue reading The Pedants revolt →

0-40 in 15 NHS institutions or so

There’s plenty of talk about the NHS at the moment, and it made me think about my own experiences, starting pretty much from its day zero. Now, the catalogue of NHS interventions in my 72 years is just too heavy to contemplate in one mouthful, so I thought I’d break it down.   This is, … Continue reading 0-40 in 15 NHS institutions or so →

Does Average Mean Mediocrity or is that just a Median?

In pursuit of mediocrity I recently read a blog from Tim Harford, The Undercover Economist, entitled The strange power of the idea of average https://wp.me/p3jVf9-1iz and it started me thinking.  It is well worth a read by the way. I have some background in statistics, having completed one year at UCL misguidedly studying the subject … Continue reading Does Average Mean Mediocrity or is that just a Median? →

OMG! HMG joins Noah and the Doomsday Preppers!

Now that No Deal is becoming ever more likely along with all of its concomitant damage to us, our lives and our way of life, it is reassuring to know that our government is up to speed with preparations for handling any problems that might crop up.  “Prepping” for all possibilities, they call it. They … Continue reading OMG! HMG joins Noah and the Doomsday Preppers! →

Democracy, Shamocracy, Dimocracy – where are we now?

Great minds think, occasionally... The last and worst judgement? When I think about democracy, I am reminded of that old joke about the surgeon who , when asked  about an operation he had just finished, said that it had been a complete success, but unfortunately, the patient had died. Our democracy feels a bit like … Continue reading Democracy, Shamocracy, Dimocracy – where are we now? →

The middle lane sucks! or, who moved the bloody window?

Once upon a time, a long time ago... I’ve been thinking about the pace of life recently – morbid old sod that I am, and, as the world races past me, how little value there seems to be in occupying the middle of the road. When I was much younger, when the world was a … Continue reading The middle lane sucks! or, who moved the bloody window? →

Poverty? What the Dickens does the UN mean?

I have been looking at some stuff covering the recent series of reports on poverty by the UN Rapporteur, which made comparisons between the UK now, and the mean-spirited approach of 19th Century workhouses that Dickens wrote about. How much has really changed? On the face of it, there are certainly similarities in attitudes that … Continue reading Poverty? What the Dickens does the UN mean? →