Tuesday, 3 December 2019

Getting the public to appreciate the public good

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He wished to God the dust would settle. Why didn’t someone complain? Always the same when a lot of people use one place: no one’s responsibl...
Sunday, 1 December 2019

Emily, whose words speak to me still

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One of the benefits of retiring is that I have, over the last few weeks, renewed my acquaintance with a fascinating woman. Actually, I thi...
Thursday, 28 November 2019

BBC or Better Be Careful what you wish for

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“Democracy,” wrote the American journalist and wit HL Mencken, “is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get...
Monday, 25 November 2019

The Torture Chamber that wasn't

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What was that strange place, we wondered, each time we passed it in our walks through the local woods? One of the gates. With a Levantina...
Saturday, 23 November 2019

Yesterday: you don't have to be a Beatles fan, but it helps

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Let me start with a confession. I was never all that keen on the Beatles when they were actually making music and releasing records. It was ...
Tuesday, 19 November 2019

Retirement: an olive bough but not a bed of roses

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Retirement, I had been led to believe, was a period of life in which one rested a while and recovered from the exhaustion of working life. ...
Sunday, 17 November 2019

Canny canines and humble humans

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It’s always good to have family come to visit. The poodles like it too. Each in her own way. When my son Michael and our daughter-out-law ...