tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114617672011-12-28T08:29:05.188+04:00Tom Paine, expatriate Englishman, blogged here about the death of liberty in Britain, but now blogs at lastditch.typepad.comTom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.comBlogger5221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-57469946187424424122007-03-09T18:16:00.000+03:002007-03-09T18:17:09.229+03:00

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158515192979142602006-09-17T21:44:00.001+04:002009-06-26T12:18:49.817+04:00

I have been blogging happily on Blogger for 18 months, but I am going to try a new home. Follow the link in the header and please update your bookmarks to www.lastditch.typepad.com. All comments on this archive are now closed. Feel free to email tom [dot] paine [at] mac [dot] com if you have something to say.

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158481793890922682006-09-17T12:29:00.000+04:002006-09-18T22:32:13.483+04:00

Congratulations to all my fellow bloggers on UK politics who are featured in Iain Dale's various "Top 100" lists. I am sure it will do your traffic a lot of good, as Iain is an influential chap these days.I shall humbly consider what I must do to improve my blog so as to make it one day. Any suggestions? Iain Dale's Diary: EXCLUSIVE: The Top 100 Conservative Blogs

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158431766169121232006-09-16T22:36:00.000+04:002006-09-16T22:38:44.153+04:00

It is good to see two Members of Parliament actually doing the job for which they were elected. I am sure Hazel Blears is not the first, and will not be the last, Party boss to hijack government business for political purposes. But time was that, caught in the act as she has been, she - and the ministers concerned - would have had the grace to resign.Call for inquiry into NHS ploy - Britain -

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158417740884067312006-09-16T18:42:00.000+04:002006-09-16T18:42:42.370+04:00

Deogolwulf, as ever, is philosophical. I find it harder to accept with equanimity that seething is all the Mohammedans and I have in common.The Joy of Curmudgeonry: Nothing New

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158417556024411642006-09-16T18:34:00.000+04:002006-09-18T14:22:47.460+04:00

I was intrigued to find that my second biggest referrer in the past few days was a bulletin board for airgun users. There's some surprisingly political discussion going on over there. For example You live in a country where privacy has been abolished.You live in a country with 24/7 mass surveillance.You live in a country with more CCTV cameras than the rest of Europe combined.You live in a

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158416517099205732006-09-16T18:21:00.000+04:002006-09-16T19:18:29.123+04:00

I cannot help but smile at the violent reaction of Muslims to the Pope's innocuous remarks. The religious are different, of course. For those who take pride in belief without proof, it must be child's play to repudiate violence with fire-bombs.BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Pope 'sorry' for offence to Islam

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158216473409204192006-09-14T07:15:00.001+04:002006-09-14T10:50:44.386+04:00

In the courts this week, a scrap of evidence in support of my thesis that the EU is more like the USSR than the USA; the use of psychiatry as a way to suppress dissent. You need an expensive FT subscription to read the full article (and no other newspapers seem to find it interesting), but here's the gist:"A civil servant branded as mentally unstable by the European Commission was subjected to

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158213428724074322006-09-14T06:57:00.000+04:002006-09-14T19:11:53.723+04:00

As he prepares to leave power, Tony Blair understandably tries to focus on the one thing history will say he got right. We can argue over how well it is being fought, and whether we have chosen the right ground on which to fight it, but the so-called "war on terror" is a clear necessity.Islamic terrorists have no political goals which could be accommodated. Nothing short of our destruction or

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158083416874998442006-09-12T21:50:00.000+04:002006-09-12T22:11:03.343+04:00

This woman should be ashamed.BBC NEWS | England | London | Menezes police officer promoted

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1158080300817990572006-09-12T20:58:00.000+04:002006-09-14T17:55:54.663+04:00

From Joshua Rozenberg's report, one might think the Government's decision to repeal the "double jeopardy" rule had been vindicated. Yet the logic of the rule was, in part, expressed in Blackstone's famous dictum "better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."Of course people are wrongly acquitted, just as people are wrongly convicted. The rule against double jeopardy was

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157982065461172242006-09-11T07:30:00.000+04:002006-09-12T16:27:59.500+04:00

The government, even in the middle of its internal political warfare, continues to pander to the prejudices of the ignorant.For someone justly to be convicted of a crime, he should have criminal intent. I cannot believe that many drivers involved in fatal accidents have an intention to kill or even hurt the person who dies. Nor do many have a reckless disregard for the consequences of their

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157919342538174232006-09-11T00:15:00.000+04:002006-09-11T14:15:38.766+04:00

This is a brilliant idea. On this fifth anniversary, I recommend that you head to the 2,996 site and read the tributes by volunteer bloggers to the fallen of 9/11.God bless America. 2,996 List of Participants

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157877257251694932006-09-10T12:34:00.000+04:002006-09-14T18:00:13.643+04:00

This post goes into many details which support my view, expressed a couple of days ago, that the revival of anti-Semitism in Britain is almost entirely attributable to our Muslim community.Prodicus: The Islamisation of European anti-Semitism

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157872808854045912006-09-10T11:20:00.000+04:002006-09-10T11:24:26.836+04:00

There has been a steady flow of such stories and "calls" over the last year or so. Life is hard and suicide is legal. If people want data on how to kill themselves, then they should be able to get it. Better that they find the least painful and most sure methods than that they cripple themselves and have to live in impotent regret. The suicide rate in Britain is at an historic low, so hysteria

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157823970724453942006-09-09T21:46:00.001+04:002006-09-11T03:38:58.113+04:00

This sort of thing p****s me off. By all means attack a man for what he says or does. Politics is a contact sport. But don't attack him for the things he has no control over, like where he went to school.Boris is in politics for laudable motives of public service. I think this post was unworthily snide and have had a good rant in the comments.The UK Daily Pundit: Boris the Buffoon Strikes Again

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157791566834386312006-09-09T12:46:00.000+04:002006-09-09T13:34:57.673+04:00

Dunderheadedness is a new blog to me, but this post is a cracker. Dunderheadedness: Swinging from the gallows pole...

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157638397532116772006-09-07T18:06:00.001+04:002006-09-08T16:51:02.553+04:00

"The next conference will be my last as Labour Party leader... I am not going to set a precise date... The precise timetable has to be left up to me.""I think it's important for the Labour Party to understand .... we can't treat the public as irrelevant bystanders in a subject as important as to who is their Prime Minister"Why not, Tony? You have treated us as such on more important issues, such

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157623822628266822006-09-07T18:06:00.000+04:002006-09-07T18:15:06.406+04:00

This may be the best British political blog post yet. And it's not even about the delightfully agonising public demise of Blair. Well done, DFH.Drinking From Home: BBC Screencaps from 1943

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157625604220116292006-09-07T18:05:00.001+04:002006-09-08T04:07:39.583+04:00

Years ago, I dismissed a Jewish colleague's suspicions of anti-semitism in the City of London by saying that, in my whole life, I had "never heard an anti-semitic remark" in Britain. It was true and I sincerely believed that we were beyond such nonsense.The Times is very PC in talking of "far Right groups and Islamic extremists." European anti-semitism is now almost only to be found among our

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157619579957366542006-09-07T18:05:00.000+04:002006-09-07T18:14:15.140+04:00

How ironic that Blair or his entourage should use the phrase "seize the crown" in this context. It has been obvious for some time that this vain and undistinguished little man has entirely forgotten his place. The crown of England is not to be brawled over by Blair and that other Scot. They are both the insufficiently humble and deeply unworthy servants of the lady whose crown it is - and of her

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157599576657074212006-09-07T07:26:00.000+04:002006-09-07T07:37:47.243+04:00

This is not only to avoid our opponents exploiting the impression of disintegration and division, but also to avoid the split of our party, which would have lasting consequencesHow I love the idea that as the Labour Party disintegrates and divides, what the Blairites want is to avoid giving that impression! We have had a decade of spin, and now finally we have tail-spin.It is an index of just how

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157550995768954462006-09-06T17:56:00.002+04:002006-09-07T00:00:02.926+04:00

I am afraid that, for most of us, young Mr. Moore comes into the same category as John Hampden or Clarence Henry WillcockConsidering that burglars can plunder our homes with impunity, it's, to say the least, irritating that the State defends its own property with such vigour. This young gentleman's act would be repeated many thousands of times if the yeoman spirit still lived in England.BBC NEWS

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157535235658961922006-09-06T13:00:00.000+04:002006-09-06T23:57:05.326+04:00

I read this article from The Economist on my way to work this morning. I think it sums up, in moderate language, the general point I have been trying to make on this blog for a year and a half. H/T Craig Murray for making a copy available online.The sting is in the final paragraph. One way and another, our fellow citizens seem to support, or at least acquiesce in, the draconian measures our

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157523101257752542006-09-06T07:11:00.000+04:002006-09-06T11:44:22.326+04:00

What an appropriately lame way for Blair's career to fizzle out. He will be remembered by history for one thing. He stood with the USA on Iraq, the opening, incompetent battle of Western Civilisation's war for survival. His reasons for that were typically odious: "political triangulation" (Bill Clinton's patent trick of stealing your opponents' clothes while taking your followers for granted) and

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157492324221340322006-09-06T01:38:00.000+04:002006-09-06T01:42:36.706+04:00

This is interesting stuff. Apparently several waves of human settlement were driven back by extreme climate change from what is now Britain before our ancestors finally succeeded in establishing themselves.'Britain suffered some of the most extreme climate changes of any area in the world during the Pleistocene,' said Professor Stringer.'So places in say South Wales would have gone from something

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157367438517927932006-09-04T14:57:00.000+04:002006-09-04T14:58:37.176+04:00

Who would have thought it? Cameron in the blogosphere. Welcome, Dave.Blogging is difficult for practising politicians. They are too restricted in what they dare say. I can't imagine how our Dave will manage, but it will be interesting to see. The first post's not very promising but for now it's quite remarkable enough that he thinks it's worth doing, so let's give him a chance.David Cameron In

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157275594972684192006-09-03T13:26:00.000+04:002006-09-05T13:57:36.986+04:00

I just watched Hilary Armstrong interviewed by Andrew Marr on Sunday AM. She might have made some sense were she still a "community worker" in Sunderland, but she made none for a Government Minister. To be honest, she didn't seem to see the jobs as different.Her confidence in the Government's ability to micro-manage individual citizens' lives was creepy. Given that she was talking about teams of

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157229479196501492006-09-03T00:37:00.000+04:002006-09-03T00:38:41.146+04:00

Liverpool Evil Cabal

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157103077113296992006-09-01T13:31:00.000+04:002006-09-01T13:31:17.723+04:00

Has the Telegraph not noticed that this Government has already turned us all into "suspects?" New Labour are beyond mere control freaks, they are full-blown Stalinists, complete with Uncle Joe's paranoia. No malicious neighbour now needs to descend to injecting glue into your car-door locks to get revenge. An anonymous denunciation to "the authorities" is already enough to trash anyone's life.In

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157027474025453962006-08-31T15:36:00.000+04:002006-09-02T02:40:36.303+04:00

Mrs Paine and I had a great holiday. We talked and talked and, for once, came to some conclusions. Unless there are serious changes in Britain (unlikely, with the Conservative Party on its current tack) we want out.France tipped the balance. It is just so civilised. People are polite. The streets are clean. There are enough roads for the peoples' needs. Official notices make suggestions, they

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1157022088089654432006-08-31T15:01:00.000+04:002006-08-31T15:28:34.790+04:00

If the Government believed in (or cared about) the security of this database, it would not be exempting the children of "celebrities" (code for "nothing on there about the Blairs"). Our children are as important as theirs not to mention, by some accounts, rather better brought up.If the Social Services were the answer to the problems of our children, they might well like to take an interest in

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1156971141071294672006-08-31T00:52:00.000+04:002006-08-31T00:52:21.393+04:00

This story makes exactly the point I was seeking to make when I started this blog. A man is charged of terrorist offences, acquitted by a jury and put under house arrest anyway because the Government says so. A society which tolerates such behaviour from its government is lost.Restriction order on cab driver cleared in terror case - Britain - Times Online

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1156584889520895612006-08-26T13:34:00.001+04:002006-08-29T02:55:21.960+04:00

If Mr Boruc's reverent sign of the Cross was so serious a provocation to Scottish thugs as to merit a criminal record, why is not the public wearing of the "hijab" or the "kufi?" Scotland is truly the advance guard of New Labour's totalitarian state.I hope the Catholic Church will now help in the Resistance as it so signally failed to do at the same stage in the development of totalitarianism in

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1156333313722922822006-08-23T15:41:00.000+04:002006-09-07T16:28:14.003+04:00

I hate blogging about immigration. It's a minefield. Almost any opinion is likely to attract accusations from one direction or another. I don't subscribe to the BNP "foreigners taking our jobs" theory. Nor do I share the Guardianista view that our country's culture is so disgusting that it can only be improved by foreigners. I have the extra dimension of having lived and worked in other people's

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1156158026200141602006-08-21T15:00:00.000+04:002006-08-21T15:15:12.786+04:00

How exactly are passengers supposed to react if they observe passengers who match the profile of a typical suicide bomber dressed in clothes too bulky for the weather, talking nervously to each other and checking their watches at frequent intervals?Of course these circumstances don't mean the men in question are terrorists. There are many other explanations for their behaviours. But other

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1156160577538140752006-08-18T15:42:00.000+04:002006-08-21T15:45:20.790+04:00

God bless John Mortimer. He may be an old leftie, but anyone who has ever read his books or seen an episode of "Rumpole of the Bailey" knows he believes first and foremost in liberty and the rule of law.He has argued for socialist ideas all his long life. To his enormous credit it seems never to have occurred to him that they could be implemented against the informed will of the majority. Unlike

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1156159833826539382006-08-14T23:17:00.000+04:002006-08-21T15:30:33.830+04:00

Epernay, France.Blogging was interrupted during a stay in a beautiful “Hostellerie” with more civilised guest services than Wi-Fi. It was probably good for me. If I had the now standard-issue victim mentality, I would consider myself an "addictive" blogger. A rest will do me good; not to mention my overworked readers who shoulder the heavy burden of making my theraputic ramblings seem less

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1155524605357148482006-08-14T06:59:00.000+04:002006-08-14T07:03:25.376+04:00

Glancing back, they saw a small cloud of dust, with a dark centre of energy, advancing on them at incredible speed, while from out the dust a faint `Poop-poop!' wailed like an uneasy animal in pain. Hardly regarding it, they turned to resume their conversation, when in an instant (as it seemed) the peaceful scene was changed, and with a blast of wind and a whirl of sound that made them jump for

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1155386856928166562006-08-12T16:37:00.000+04:002006-08-16T23:22:09.423+04:00

I am briefly in England, preparing for my motorised expedition to the Cote d'Azur. So far I have had three conversations with people outside my family. The man who drove me from Manchester Airport (proud sponsors of the Labour Party) expressed his doubts about Thursday's terrrorism alert. "You can't believe anything this lot say, can you?" he observed wearily. If the denizens of the Northern

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1155272001838246612006-08-11T08:53:00.000+04:002006-08-11T08:53:22.063+04:00

My holidays begin today, so blogging will be light, especially on driving days. Today, unfortunately, is a flying day; from Moscow to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Manchester. I am not looking forward to the possibility of being forced to check my laptop as British security goes into headless chicken mode.The Last Ditch

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1155138719925661222006-08-10T19:51:00.000+04:002006-08-16T23:24:07.300+04:00

How interesting that when our our condescending Home Secretary was making this speech yesterday and telling us that we don't "get it," he knew about today's police operation to thwart "mass murder on an unmaginable scale". It remains to be seen if the perceived threat was real. We all hope that the people arrested prove to be real terrorists, now out of circulation. Unfortunately the source of

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1155107917015404672006-08-09T07:01:00.000+04:002006-08-16T23:28:57.376+04:00

My more conventionally right-wing comrades in the blogosphere will take offence at Chris Eades' observation, reported here, that the Government has an "implausible view that increased sentence length will have a deterrent effect." They will feel no sentence is too long for a thug who offers violence to fellow citizens. They have a point. At the risk of offending them, Mr Eades has a point too.I

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1155019574540175312006-08-08T07:46:00.000+04:002006-08-08T15:47:19.966+04:00

The Adam Smith Institute blog is good at putting economic issues in context, allowing the less numerate among us to get a handle on them. Today's post by Dr Eamonn Butler is a good example. In the context of discussing the biggest Government IT project ever (and the most sinister since this one), he comments on the Government's record of controlling IT costs as follows:- "I calculated recently

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1154932408231087672006-08-07T07:05:00.000+04:002006-09-25T16:30:44.443+04:00

For me this would be the last straw. Most of the money I have earned in my life has been spent either on necessities or on goods for my family. My children's education (my finest investment, I am not complaining) has cost more than my pension fund. The only personal motivation to get me out of bed and into harness every morning has been my motor car.I am not alone. "Top Gear" is one of the BBC's

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1154847101037691412006-08-06T10:51:00.000+04:002006-08-06T10:55:05.010+04:00

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1154784755496840722006-08-05T17:32:00.000+04:002006-08-09T14:42:42.246+04:00

Here's a left-wing liberal media classic. A young black criminal kills a drug dealing rival with a gun, then shoots the man's seven year old daughter to prevent her giving evidence that he did it. He is caught, prosecuted and convicted. The judge directs he serve a minimum of forty years. It is all clear enough. The killer is an evil man and has been brought to justice. End of story, right? Wrong

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1154693067835353382006-08-04T21:04:00.000+04:002006-08-16T23:30:14.536+04:00

I feel I have no need to blog today, as I am able to link to an article which says beautifully exactly what I feel. Of course it's not in the British or European press. It's from the Washington Post. (h/t A Tangled Web ) God bless you, Charles Krauthammer.The current shitstorm in the MSM and blogosphere is horrific. We are being taken for mugs here. If you don't want Israel to win outright,

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1154627018163471162006-08-03T21:43:00.000+04:002006-08-04T11:43:53.270+04:00

Isn't it odd that, for the second time, the British police have accidentally shot a suspect, only to discover afterwards that he is guilty of something likely to lose him public sympathy? In both cases, it had nothing to do with the incident. With Jean Charles de Menezes, it was being an illegal immigrant. With this gentleman, it was child porn on his PC. What are the odds?When the police take

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1154435893643577272006-08-01T20:10:00.000+04:002006-08-02T21:08:37.570+04:00

In the watery sunshine of a fading Russian Summer, I finished reading Londonistan over lunch at my local brasserie today. I was chilled both inside and out.Melanie Phillips is a tiring read. Her style is like a jack-hammer, driving her ideas into your head. I want to find fault, because she is so bloody irritating. Unfortunately, in this book at least, she is almost completely right.Her central

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1154326511441316752006-07-31T07:15:00.000+04:002006-07-31T13:37:17.893+04:00

These are dark times. Are we facing the decline and fall of the West? Even the leader writers of the Daily Telegraph have given up on our right to self-defence. The barbarians are at the gate and the toga-wearing sybarites of the West are debating the precise meaning of the word "proportionality". What can such a word mean when a nation under siege defends itself against those who are sworn to

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153979674135737962006-07-27T06:54:00.000+04:002006-07-31T17:33:25.150+04:00

Living in Eastern Europe for 15 years, I have met many older people who lived to understand that they had spent their lives on a lie or - to be polite - an illusion. There were no believing Communists in power, of course. The leaders were all Prescotts - joining the Party because it was a way for the talent-free to enjoy wealth and privilege. However, there were lots of little people who

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153827224650344742006-07-25T07:33:00.000+04:002006-07-28T12:12:53.916+04:00

Lawyers are not popular but, collectively, we are important. An independent legal profession is a hallmark of a free society. If lawyers are controlled by the Executive, then how are the rights of individuals to be defended against the State? If judges are dependent on the Executive - for example to determine their pay and pensions - then how is the independence of the judiciary to be maintained

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153723427387309932006-07-24T10:43:00.000+04:002006-07-26T14:18:29.226+04:00

It is surprising that this story is not given greater prominence. If Dr. Kelly was murdered, the question cui bono leads to some interesting suspects, to say the least. If the government is found to have ordered his death, one wonders if the ministers concerned will refuse to resign, saying they feel the need to sort out the problems they caused or that they still have something to contribute?In

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153722918860280522006-07-24T10:35:00.000+04:002006-07-24T10:35:18.860+04:00

In what sense is a family "middle class", when it treats its daughters like this? It seems more like the behaviour of ignorant peasants to me.Teenager was kept a prisoner for two years - Britain - Times Online

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153722704459544532006-07-24T10:31:00.001+04:002006-07-26T02:57:19.106+04:00

I don't believe the statement in this article that "Suicide rates among young Asian women are more than three times the national average and about 12 women every year die as a result of so-called 'honour killings'." More than 20 years ago, a police sergeant in Nottingham told me that officers routinely accepted Pakistani families' "ludicrous" claims that their daughter had committed suicide, when

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153722001951069352006-07-24T10:20:00.000+04:002006-07-24T10:21:44.490+04:00

If John Prescott's motivation for being in politics was public service, he would quit. His acceptance of gifts from businessmen negotiating government contracts may not prove him to be corrupt, but it proves him to lack judgement. His reputation (such as it was) is damaged beyond retrieval and his ability to serve in government is diminished. He knows that. He stays because, as his whole career

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153373893126626952006-07-20T08:38:00.000+04:002006-07-23T12:37:44.170+04:00

John Reid lacks respect for his bosses, the British people. How dare he tell them that rising street crime is their fault, because they are carrying such valuable items as cellphones and iPods? Crime is the fault of the criminal, not the victim, whether the item stolen is a pocket handkerchief or a laptop. The duty of the Home Office and its goons (formerly known as our police force) is to deal

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153375274778404362006-07-20T08:01:00.000+04:002006-08-06T07:55:32.990+04:00

What a nonsensical headline! How would it be in the interests of Universities to "spurn" good students? Why would admissions tutors, drawn from an overwhelmingly left-wing pool of British academics, discriminate against the products of a state education system they all profess to believe in?These statistics are a direct product of the continuing scandal of an education system which has been

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153295747758180292006-07-19T08:31:00.000+04:002006-07-19T12:57:49.816+04:00

President Putin landed a political blow on Tony Blair during the G8 Conference in St Petersburg. Questioned by the British press about criticisms of his government and asked if he would discuss them with the Prime Minister, he said "There are also other questions. Questions, let's say, about the fight against corruption. We'd be interested in hearing your experience, including how it applies to

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153292913996079242006-07-19T08:08:00.000+04:002006-07-19T11:31:39.130+04:00

This article - in the journal of record of British Socialism - unsurprisingly lacks any analysis or critique, save for the routine implication that yet more money should be spent to make the National Health Service work. It is more evidence of the disaster that is socialised medicine. It illustrates perfectly how official "caring" is not quite the same thing as giving a damn.The NHS is worse than

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153290714045055602006-07-19T07:31:00.000+04:002006-07-19T10:33:03.503+04:00

An innocent man is shot dead by what the British press would describe (if it happened in any other country) as "a police death squad." After long months of consideration by the authorities, the management of the police force is summonsed for an offence under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.Someone, somewhere is taking the piss. Police summonsed over Menezes shooting - Law - Times Online

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153209747030190362006-07-18T18:45:00.000+04:002006-07-18T12:03:18.303+04:00

Patricia da Silva Armani, a relative of Jean Charles de Menezes, said - commenting on the Crown Prosecution Service decision not to take any action agains the police officers who killed him - "The authorities here . . . don't have any shame. I feel sickened by that."I feel sickened by it too. So should we all. This story is a disgrace to our nation.'They are using this law to cover their mistakes

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1153203683157831962006-07-18T06:20:00.000+04:002006-07-18T11:02:14.523+04:00

This is another signature "initiative" from this most pointless of governments. Everything that "gangsters" do is already illegal. If caught and convicted, there are laws enough to keep them in jail for as long as the government's sentencing guidelines allow. We are not suffering from a shortage of laws. On the contrary, we have thousands too many. We are suffering from a failure of enforcement.

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152936690464422632006-07-15T08:11:00.000+04:002006-07-15T08:26:49.650+04:00

Every day in Britain at present is a sad day for those with liberal values. I am sorry for my blogging colleague Doctor John Crippen because if these proposals go forward (and when does this Government ever pause for mature reflection?) he will no longer be a member of a learned profession.Doctors should walk out of the health service en masse rather than submit to this ignominy. Only a group of

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152935404240527402006-07-15T07:50:00.000+04:002006-08-01T05:20:55.000+04:00

This is an inexplicable decision by the Crown Prosecution Service. I do not even accuse them of succumbing to political pressure, as it is inexplicable politically as well as legally.If there are insufficient grounds to prosecute the officers who shot Jean Charles de Menezes, the CPS should say why. I have no doubt that you or I, were we to have shot him under the mistaken belief that he was a

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152890901140346702006-07-14T19:28:00.000+04:002006-07-15T17:28:18.516+04:00

I am cool with this, libertarian that I am, provided that communists and other totalitarians (e.g. New Labourites) are also excluded.'BNP members must not work as teachers,' union warns | the Daily Mail

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152852658072433212006-07-14T08:50:00.000+04:002006-07-17T17:47:03.736+04:00

Polly Toynbee's article is barely worth the irritation engendered by reading it. There are no new insights to be gained into the psychological state of one of Britain's two best arguments for the restoration of the 11+But the comments are fascinating. To watch Guardianistas in full denial is most entertaining. I love the phrase "...a law that no one even knew existed..." in mitigation of Lord

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152742264411920642006-07-13T02:11:00.000+04:002006-07-13T02:12:06.500+04:00

Only Big Government could simultaneously deliver a shortage of a drug in a State hospital, combined with an irrepressible abundance of the same drug, sold illegally on the streets outside.Another proud moment for socialised medicine | Samizdata.net

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152733170137800672006-07-12T23:39:00.000+04:002006-07-14T00:08:11.356+04:00

I think it is despicable of Professor Fitzgerald to trash the reputations of dead men by "diagnosing" them with conditions which "explain" beliefs they held which were contrary to his own.I met Sir Keith Joseph. He was intelligent, articulate and perfectly rational. I was part of a group of students at an NUS conference who defended him when a bunch of leftists tried to push him off a balcony.

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152607676355035322006-07-11T12:47:00.000+04:002006-07-11T12:55:38.260+04:00

I have not blogged about the "Natwest Three" because I have been waiting for the clamour of anti-Americanism to abate. I am not angry with the American authorities for using a British law which entitles them to extradite suspects. Why shouldn't they? I am angry with our incompetent Government for enacting a law to give effect to a treaty which had not been ratified by both countries and was

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152603632539157122006-07-11T11:40:00.000+04:002006-07-11T11:40:32.606+04:00

In as sense, the NHS managers are right. It is "all too easy" to blame them for the NHS SNAFU's.The NHS is intrinsically inefficient; a massive "producer cooperative" where there are no career consequences for inefficiency. If a manager in a private company were to overrun his budgets by anything like the amounts which are common in the NHS, his career would be over - and not just with that

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152599176217859092006-07-11T10:26:00.000+04:002006-07-11T10:26:16.430+04:00

How far London has come since the "Summer of Love". SOCPA is amongst the most badly-named of all New Labour's deceptively-titled legislation. Our police are now political enforcers, not protectors of law-abiding citizens. Any police officer with a conscience should resign, rather than be part of the apparatus of the New Labour police state.UK Indymedia - SOCPA - serious police assault once again

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152533124304943302006-07-10T16:05:00.000+04:002006-07-11T23:30:26.520+04:00

Even when Dave Cameron is right, he's wrong. His political judgement in leaving himself open to the "hug a hoodie" sneer from the NuLabour/Daily Mail authoritarians was weak. Of course hoodies are irrelevant. Virtually all young people wear them. I attended my elder daughter's final speech day at her highly respectable school on Saturday, and the school and its various houses had had "Leavers

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152470370824326802006-07-09T22:39:00.000+04:002006-07-10T18:18:03.690+04:00

The police officers involved in this story should ask themselves why they joined the force. Did they want to protect and serve the public, or did they want to be part of the apparatus of a police state?Londonist: Opinion: Freedom Of Speech Does Not Extend To Criticising The Police

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152213954652631612006-07-06T21:11:00.000+04:002006-07-07T16:13:29.466+04:00

I am pleased for Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale whose contribution to the sum of human knowledge about the odious Prescott is being widely acknowledged. I am also worried. Prescott's friends are urging him, it has been reported, to sue them and have their sites closed down.Britain's libel laws have a chilling effect on public debate. People long knew that Robert Maxwell was a criminal, for example.

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152031552144976602006-07-04T20:45:00.000+04:002006-07-04T20:45:59.386+04:00

Who can argue with Johnny Cash? H/T An Englishman's Castle.4thJuly

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1152009283543387672006-07-04T14:13:00.000+04:002006-07-04T14:34:43.726+04:00

We invented the English language and the Common Law. We will always be proud to have bred Shakespeare, though - like the language he shaped - we now share him with the world. However, we should acknowledge the American Declaration of Independence as one of the best pieces of prose in Shakespeare's language. "We hold these truths to be self evident...", it began, and a nation's history began with

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1151911611121840902006-07-03T11:26:00.001+04:002006-07-03T22:39:26.930+04:00

I wonder if the welfare state may have something to do with this story. After all, it allows a citizen to live in child-like dependence on "Nanny", just as he once depended on mother.I fear that the burgeoning state in Britain is infantilising large numbers of citizens; institutionalising them so that real adult independence strikes them as a "survivalist" nightmare; something far too scary for

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1151638039455739632006-06-30T07:27:00.000+04:002006-07-03T11:49:14.023+04:00

If these accusations are true, then they should be substantiated and the men convicted and jailed. If they cannot be substantiated - i.e. they are based on the same reliable "intelligence" that brought us imaginary WMD in Iraq, an imaginary bomb belt on Jean Charles de Menezes and imaginary chemical weapons in Forest Gate - then the government should shut up. The men are innocent until proven

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1151606067645360842006-06-29T22:34:00.000+04:002006-07-05T04:18:35.696+04:00

The answer to the question in the headline is - of course - in the text of the story. This is a difficult issue for a libertarian. I don't believe the State has the right - generally - to conceal information from the public. It exists to serve the public and whatever its servants know, they know on the public's behalf. However, the State also has a duty to protect the privacy of private

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1151525822388749882006-06-29T00:17:00.000+04:002006-06-29T00:17:02.653+04:00

How sad that we need European law to protect us against detention without trial.BBC NEWS | UK | Judge quashes anti-terror orders

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1151319114694589132006-06-26T14:51:00.000+04:002006-06-29T04:28:02.853+04:00

This links to an exchange of comments at "Opinionated Voice", on a post where the blogger, a young Muslim named Jamal, asked the reasonable question "Why is it that when the Metropolitan Police receives dodgy evidence an immense operation is launched and a suspect gets shot, but when correct evidence is received it gets ignored?"Comments on: The Metropolitan Police

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1151229249708294342006-06-25T13:54:00.000+04:002006-06-25T13:54:09.733+04:00

No surprise here. Was there ever a Government IT project that EITHER came in under budget OR worked, still less both? In France, patients keep their own records in a folder and take them to the doctor or hospital when they visit. How hard is that? People care about their own health more than any doctor (and if they don't, well that's their problem). No I.T. costs. No "clinical risk" from computer

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1151168650254460212006-06-24T08:00:00.000+04:002006-07-14T11:05:49.536+04:00

My "smash the goldfish bowls" experiment has not been a success. The only "hostile" bloggers seriously to engage were Matt over at "The Dirty Leftie", and Jamal at “Opinionated Voice”. I thank them for their cooperation. I direct my contempt at the cowardly leftist bloggers who simply deleted my critical comments; restoring their blogs to ideological sterility. May they continue to swim alone in

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1151082837913011662006-06-23T21:13:00.001+04:002006-06-23T21:16:59.286+04:00

Like so much of what this meretricious politician says, this sounds fine - perhaps even reasonable. "Balance" is a good thing, so a "rebalancing' must be positive, right? We are in the 21st Century, so anything from previous centuries must be old-fashioned, right? Old-fashioned things like "innocent until proven guilty", for example?"Criminals" don't deserve our sympathy, but an accused person in

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150949824340959422006-06-22T07:17:00.000+04:002006-06-23T15:24:30.603+04:00

This story perfectly illustrates our problems in modern Britain. A situation like ours today does not develop overnight. The stiff upper lip, the "sang froid", the calm and rational approach to life has died. We could see that at the time of Princess Diana's funeral. The ignorant sentimentality of the mob has taken over everywhere. Tony Blair's fake emotional choking when speaking of the dead

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150915737164349582006-06-21T22:48:00.000+04:002006-06-21T22:48:57.486+04:00

Clearly the Witanagemot Club is beginning to have an effect...English MPs call for Scottish MPs vote exclusion | the Daily Mail

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150701889129316212006-06-19T07:24:00.000+04:002006-06-19T23:41:55.666+04:00

In the present dangerous situation for our country, I cannot think of anything more calculated to worsen our position than Trevor Phillips' proposal for yet more "positive discrimination". He has called for "debate". Please let him have it.How many more of these ex-university politicians, still living the closed, unreal life of the student union, will inflict chaos on us? Jack Straw, Charles

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150703385514847242006-06-19T06:49:00.000+04:002006-06-20T11:26:36.586+04:00

Can the heads of Britain's intelligence services fail to resign, if this story proves to be true?US 'issued alert' on 7/7 bomber in 2003 - Britain - Times Online

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150668230300496752006-06-19T02:03:00.000+04:002006-06-19T02:03:50.336+04:00

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150649188770487462006-06-18T20:46:00.000+04:002006-06-18T23:04:44.776+04:00

Have a look. Very interesting stuff about the treatment of Muslims - most of it entirely unmoderated by exposure to other points of view. Head over there and chip in.Opinionated Voice

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150641483284538102006-06-18T18:38:00.000+04:002006-07-15T15:01:24.246+04:00

Lots of bloggers are writing indignantly about this Order. What is it exactly, and what does it actually say? The links in the heading and below go to the official text, but I will try to talk you through it.It is already law. It came into force on 6th April 2006. It is a "statutory instrument" which is a form of "delegated legislation." Delegated legislation is made by a Minister without

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150557912068228742006-06-17T19:25:00.000+04:002006-06-18T06:33:08.590+04:00

Wat Tyler's "Burning our Money" is one of the very best British blogs. I have never understood why the British media don't do "what the government does with your money" slots, as routinely happens in the US. Wat fills that gap. Today, he demonstrates statistically what a balls-up comprehensive education has been. As a victim, I can only say "hear, hear". No nation is so rich in talent as to

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150456453505119702006-06-16T15:14:00.000+04:002006-06-16T15:19:32.266+04:00

The experiment continues. This from the civilised (if occasionally rather touchy) debate at the Dirty Leftie's blog."I apologise unreservedly if I seemed condescending. I am trying to stimulate debate. I really do appreciate your politeness in not deleting comments (as most Left-wing bloggers do) and I did not intend to abuse it. I would sincerely like to get Britain’s political bloggers out of

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150403491359085472006-06-16T00:31:00.000+04:002006-06-16T05:02:18.396+04:00

The "smash the goldfish bowls" experiment continues. I have found some polite Leftists who don't delete non-Leftie comments. Why not wander over and join the debate. It's really quite interesting. Because equality is obviously Disgusting

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150214542367422752006-06-13T20:02:00.000+04:002006-06-15T22:28:51.020+04:00

How, precisely, does the conduct of the police during this raid differ from that of a Gestapo or a KGB? Since reading this account, I have been asking myself how I should have behaved, if the police broke into my home in this way. I would previously have been inclined - if I heard someone break in - to investigate. That is what these two young men did - only for one of them to be shot without

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1150016680103257482006-06-11T13:04:00.000+04:002006-06-12T15:49:47.293+04:00

Cases such as these are at the heart of the debate over the balance between "anti-terrorist powers" and civil liberties. Ignore for the moment the ludicrous whingeing of Muslim groups. Are police "targeting Muslims" in looking for terrorists? Oddly enough, since Islamic terror is the current threat, they are not looking for it amongst Buddhists. During the IRA's long campaign on the British

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1149739772599664762006-06-08T06:09:00.000+04:002006-06-08T08:35:52.010+04:00

Equality is not, of course, always a bad thing. It is important that everyone has equal rights in law, for example. It is right that different ethnic groups, different age groups and that men and women have equal rights. It is a good thing to promote more equal opportunities in education (e.g. by giving poor children access to scholarships and by having sensible selective education which allows

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11461767.post-1149741151115514502006-06-07T06:16:00.000+04:002006-06-16T05:04:39.440+04:00

There have been fewer entries on my blog in the past week, but I have been writing just as much. I noticed that there is a lot of political preaching in the blogosphere, but very little political debate. On Left-wing blogs, there are left-wingers reinforcing each others' views. On right-wing blogs, there are right-wingers reinforcing each others' views. The way blogging works seems to promote

Tom Painehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01254163054362676487noreply@blogger.com3