DUFF & NONSENSE!

God, the news these days is totally boring-snoring!

In a way, I'm not too upset at lacking the will and energy to knock out my usual stream of news commentary because the news these days is eye-stabbingly tedious!  I mean, who can say anything sensible or interesting concerning the current news cycle?  'Over here', it's non-stop Brexit which, thanks to the dim-witted woman in No. 10, is rapidly sinking to the depths of one of the old-time 'Goon Shows' but without the laughs!  'Over there' nothing much is happening as everyone waits with bated breath for 'Procurator-General' Mueller to drop his sack of indictments and handcuffs on the White House steps.

'Just over there', in the European empire, the Grand Pashas are all busy congratulating themselves for achieving what Louis XIV, Bonaparte, the Kaiser and Adolf Hitler failed to do which is to defeat those irritating Brits.  My message to them is, "Stick around, kids, you ain't seen nuttin' yet!"  None of them seem to have detected the non-British rumblings beneath their feet emanating from their "dear colleagues"!

Meanwhile, as the Russian serfs begin to realise what a crap country they inhabit compared to others, 'Vlad the Impaler' and all his gangster government will be wondering what flash trick they can pull from their Xmas stockings to make the people love them again.  Whatever it is, Russia's neighbours had better watch out!  In the meantime, Xi 'Smiley' Jinping will continue to keep smiling until . . .

Ah well, we shall see what we shall see!

 

 

Kill the Bill!

All of that kerfuffle over Mrs. May's vote of confidence was a complete and utter distraction because the truly crucial vote is yet to come when, finally, she plucks up the courage to bring her 'mess of pottage' to the House of Commons where it will be consigned to the nearest sewer.  Incidentally, I was rather taken with Wiki's definition of the phrase: 

'A mess of pottage is something immediately attractive but of little value taken foolishly and carelessly in exchange for something more distant and perhaps less tangible but immensely more valuable."

Everyone and his uncle, except Mrs. May' and her cabinet, knows that the 'Euros' will not give her the pickings of their noses to help sweeten this pile of manure and thus it is written in granite that the 'Micks' will not support her in the Commons and she will become dead woman tottering on her leopard-spot shoes!  Anyone who supports a so-called 'deal' that, in effect and reality, leaves us in the European Empire but strips us of even the minimal influence we have now, deserves everything that is heading their way.

Thank God I am an old man and if it happens I will not have to live through much of it! 

 

 

'The lady's up for burning'!

I can't say that I am very excited about 'St. Theresa of May' facing a vote of confidence tonight.  My guess is that she will win and the leopard-spot shoes will walk right on!  Apart from any other consideration, the only man I would like to see take over is the 'Moggman' but his chances are between zero and -0.1.  The rest of them, Davis, 'Boris', Gove, Javid and those various shouty 'wimmin' do not fill me with confidence.  We must just sit and wait for the Parliamentary vote on whatever (non)deal is finally presented to Parliament - that is the truly crucial vote.  If it is crushed then we can grit our teeth, and at long last galvanise the government into action to prepare for what was always likely to be the outcome - no deal, Brexit and trade under WTO rules. "Free again, happy, happy me, free again"!  Yes, there will be a few 'nose bleeds' but we will get over them and then we can set our own course for the future.

 

 

SHE MUST GO - NOW!

Hitherto, I have refrained from a full onslaught against Mrs. May.  She never impressed me as a politician but I sensed that beneath her awkward demeanour she was, in her own way, a decent and honourable woman.  No more!  With her postponement of the critical vote on her (non)Brexit deal she has displayed the worst elements of both stupidity and lust for power.

It's over, Mrs. May!  Whatever idea you had in the first place, assuming you had any idea at all, of this so-called Brexit negotiation, it hasn't worked.  It is one big FAIL!  You could have left office with some dignity tomorrow after you lost the vote but for you to now attempt to string out the inevitable indicates nothing but rank power-lust and blind stupidity.

FOR GOD'S SAKE, WOMAN, JUST GET THEE HENCE!

 

Now, about that proposed European army . . .

Courtesy of Zero Hedge (bless their little cotton socks!), this is a picture of one of the armoured vehicles deployed by 'mini-Macron' in defence of his capital city against those Parisian mobs.  How interesting that instead of operating under the French tricolour, it is bearing the EU symbol instead.

Perhaps the new European army which was proposed by 'mini-Macron' has already come into existence.  Anyone for Brexit?

 

The Sunday Rumble: 9.12.18

Sky News is degenerating!   I know, I know, I grumbled about this a few days ago but it is important to me that it maintains its former standards because the BBC News is vile!  Just one example, Sky are mounting an extra-ordinary campaign for them to be given the right to stage a debate between the leaders of the two main parties prior to any election.  Who, in their right mind, would waste even 0.1 seconds of their life listening to Corbyn and May lie to each other and to us?  Sky should spend more time getting a grip of their studio technicalities which are forever going wrong with either the wrong picture appearing or no pictures at all!  And finally, they should put a stop to the increasingly anti-Brexit tone oozing through their editorial department.

 

Trump should study FDR's history:   Further to my post yesterday on FDR's partial culpability for Pearl Harbour, President Trump should take note that it was FDR's somewhat careless application of trade sanctions against Japan that absolutely clinched the Japanese decision to attack.  As 'The Donald' tightens the screws on China he needs to do it slowly and with care!

 

What made Trudeau Jnr. man-up?   At the behest, one assumes, of the 'Ginger Ninjah' south of the border, the Canadian government arrested Ms. Meng Wanzhou, the lady president of the truly 'yuuuuuuuuge' Chinese conglomerate, Huawei.  She is the daughter of the founder of the company which is in fact simply a commercial department of the Chinese government.  The Chinese are now threating 'Boy' Trudeau with the equivalent of an attack by a thousand dragons unless he sets the lady free.  The USA want her to face trial for breaking sanctions against Iran.  So, the question is, which way will 'Boy' Trudeau bend?

 

Well done, Mr. President!   He certainly did one thing right, he fired that creepy James Comey as (so-called) head of the FBI.  This man who was praised to the heavens as a really 'smart guy' with a firm grip of his organisation has just faced some fierce questioning in Congress on his time as the boss.  One of the Representatives analysed his replies which consisted of:

‘I don’t know’ - 166 times
'I don’t remember' - 71 times
‘I don’t recall’ - 8 times

Would you give this man a job as a parking attendant?

Hat-tip to Mr. Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker

 

William Wilberforce, a truly great man:   Of course, I knew his name from long past as a leader of the movement to abolish slavery but reading my latest history book reminded me what a remarkable man he was, plus of course, the handful of supporters who urged him on.  Given the preceding 5,000-odd years of human history when slavery was 'a given', Wilberforce and his followers were truly remarkable and I am very proud that an British parliament passed it into law and enforced it round the world.

 

Traffic jams, such fun - NOT!   According to Zero Hedge, some outfit called "INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard" - no, me neither! - has measured traffic flows, or to be precise, traffic jams, and placed London as second worst in Europe after Moscow.  Why am I not surprised!

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

 

Now, about these 'interesting times'

Like most people in this country I am shaking my head in disbelief at the utter shambles taking place in Westminster.  However, we must remember that this is democracy in action which, beneath the Parliamentary politeness and tradition, is always red in tooth and claw!  Perhaps the most dangerous element is that the House of Commons is, with malice aforethought, determined to thwart the majority opinion of the very people they represent, as expressed in a free and fair referendum which they, the Parliamentarians, offered to us!  That, as the realisation sinks in, may well have a profound effect on people's belief in parliamentary democracy.  The politicians and the mandarins have demonstrated their uselessness and it will not be long before calls are made for 'a strong leader' with new powers which stand him above and beyond the pettifogging restraints of Parliamentary oversight.

We will have to wait for the history books to be written before we can find out the details of this mega-shambles - 'I should live so long my life already!' - but I am certain that many fingers will be pointed at Mrs. May's disastrous decision to have an early election which, in effect, she lost.  As for the future, sorry, I haven't a clue!  The 'ifs, buts and maybes' are myriad but, for sure, amongst them will be some highly dangerous elements.  I will add one small word of praise to, of all people, Mrs. May!  Yes, her errors have been egregious but watching her in the Commons today I could not help but admire her stamina and courage.  Of course, like most of those around her on both sides of the House, she is driven by personal ambition but even so, 'ya gotta say, the gal's got guts'!  What a pity it was better directed.

 

 

Mini-Macron melts

Oh, the exquisite torture that is politics!  Enter stage centre (or so he said!) 'Presidente mini-Macron' who was desperate to raise taxes in order, one supposes, to pay for all those 'bon-bons' he had promised 'les peeps' during his election.  As he was off to some international jamboree to do with global warming(!) what a super wheeze it must have seemed to raise taxes on carbon fuel which would provide 'beaucoup de dosh' and in time to take the plaudits and hugs and kisses from all those other crooks world leaders.

Alas, he forgot the one really important factor - 'les peeps'!  They can, on occasions - oh alright then, most of the time - be somewhat excitable.  This tax rise certainly injected a strong dose of garlic into the political ragout and the reaction has been instant and violent and potentially dangerous with Paris burning!  Of course, the next step was obvious - backwards!  Mini-Macron has quickly put the tax hike on hold for 6 months - or more likely forever!  His popularity has shrunk even smaller than he is!

Mind you, whilst I am never one to miss a chance of snorting in derision at the French (although, honestly, I really do like them and their country), the British equivalent of their 'Yellow Vest' mobs are poised to try their chances at street anarchy here at the slightest provocation.  With Parliament in melt-down, a stupid-beyond-belief Prime Minister and a cabinet which has just succeeded(!) in being the first to be held in contempt of Parliament, we are heading for those dreaded "interesting times".

Fasten you seat belts!

 

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 2.12.18

I can't take much more!   I have grimly soldiered on through the shot and shell of Brexit which seems to be nearing some sort of decision but which 'as any fule do no' will only lead to Round 2 and then to Round 3 and so on ad infinitum!  However, at least we are about to see the premiere of yet another but very different 'story-without-end' - the Trump vs. Mueller contest.  I can hardly wait, er, to catch the boat to St. Helena, that is!

 

As usual, Dershowitz is spot on:   I have long been an admirer of Alan Dershowitz, a truly Liberal lawyer in the best sense of 'Liberal' as opposed to the fakers who label themselves 'liberal' despite their tyrannical leanings.  He summarises his thoughts on the Mueller 'investigation' and it is worth a read to help clear your mind before the mass hysteria erupts.  Courtesy of Zero Hedge:

His mandate was to uncover crimes committed by the Trump campaign with regard to Russia's attempts to influence the election. It was always an uphill struggle for Mueller, since collusion itself is not a crime. In other words, even if he could show that individuals in the Trump campaign had colluded with Russian agents to help elect Trump, that would be a serious political sin, but not a federal crime. Even if Mueller could prove that members of the Trump team had colluded with Julian Assange to use material that Assange had unlawfully obtained, that, too, would not be a crime. What would be a crime is something that no one claims happened: namely, that members of the Trump campaign told Assange to hack the Democratic National Committee before Assange did so. Merely using the product of an already committed theft of information is not a crime. If you don't believe me, ask the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian and other newspapers that used material illegally obtained by Assange with full knowledge that it was illegally obtained.[My emphasis]  Not only did they use information from Assange, but also from Chelsea Manning and from the stolen Pentagon Papers. The First Amendment protects publication by the media of stolen information. It also protects use of such information by a political campaign, since political campaigns are also covered by the First Amendment.

 

Vive La France!   No, really, I mean it.  Yes, of course, they are a constant irritant but, dammit, I do like their country and - on the whole - their people, too.  Thus, it is distressing to see what is beginning to look like a breakdown in their civic structure and reports that their army might have to be brought in to control the streets is worrying.  Also, of course, there is a warning for us because exactly the same sort of evil sub-strata exists in our society and is merely waiting its opportunity.  So go for it, France! 

 

So that Bill Shakespeare was really a 'left-footer'! 'HOONOO?'  So says Clare Asquith, the Countess of Oxford and Asquith and who am I to argue with her?  Actually, I have no wish to do so not least because, according to The Telegraph, she bases her opinion on a deep reading of his poem The Rape Of Lucretia which I have never read!  Also, to be honest, I would not be surprised if it was so because Shakespeare was born into a Catholic society until Henry VIII put his boot in and stopped it!  The poor old 'Peeps' were then in a dilemma particularly as the rules were chopped and changed as his various children took over until 'good ol' Lizzie' put her beautifully styled and be-jewelled shoe down and said that from now we are 'Proddies' - get used to it!  One thing is as certain as you can ever be about that mysterious man from Stratford, he was definitely a small 'c' conservative, so the possibility that he retained strong Catholic sympathies does not surprise me.

 

I'm still in love with 'The Little Dancer':   It was decades ago that I first saw her, 'in the flesh', so to speak in Paris  although it was probably bronze, but anyway, it was love at first sight, er, even though she was only '14 years old'!

That's the thing about art, we may try to justify our likes and dislikes intellectually after the event but mostly the reaction is visceral.  Thus it was for me and Miss Marie von Goethem who was the model for Edgar Degas.  Don't ask me to analyse why, it was just a sort of 'je ne sais pas' moment.  I even have a small tourist copy of her.  Anyway, all that soppiness is by way of telling you all that there is a very good article on her in The Telegraph.

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

In response to Mr. Warburton's letter

It seems to me that there is a confusion in the Tory party between national power and national trade.  If you forfeit power, either voluntarily or under force, you give up  ownership of the most precious entity any independent nation possesses.  By "power", I mean the ability to make and enforce your own national laws arrived at through your own traditional means of doing so.  In addition, power provides the means to refuse or ignore the law of other nations if we choose to do so.  Once your own power is surrendered, it is unbelievably hard to get it back - as the past two years have proven!

National trade is another matter.  That is a question of profit and/or loss.  A country may choose to abide by certain rules and regulations required by another nation in order to trade but there is a choice!  You can, if you wish, simply walk away from the deal.

Of course, there are international laws which, more or less, govern behaviour between national states but, like trade deals, they are voluntarily adhered to and that obeisance may be, and sometimes is, refuted by the duly elected government of any nation.  We have seen recent examples of President Trump refusing to adhere to rules and regulations laid down by the United Nations which is entirely proper for the leader of any 'free' country to do at any time.

In this Brexit imbroglio, the choice is stark.  Either we regain our independence and the freedom to run our own affairs - for good or ill - or we hand over parts of our freedom to foreigners in the sure and certain knowledge that not only will they never be returned but the pressure to acquire even more, and yet more, and still more, will increase.  Should you doubt me, then I will ask if anyone who took part in Ted Heath's referendum to join what was then harmlessly called 'the common market' thought that it would result in the birth of the Brussels monster?  (Er, well, actually, I did which is why I voted 'NO'!)

Finally, to anyone who responds with talk of economics and trade and all that, let me say that you are more short-sighted than 'Mr. Magoo'.  We have existed as an independent country for a thousand years.  There have been good times, bad times and disastrous times but eventually, despite our myriad faults, we have evolved into as good an approximation of a decent, liberal nation-state as you could wish for.  We now stand poised to chuck it all away as and when we donate our power to foreigners who have absolutely no interest in our history or culture and most of whom detest us.

If you bow the head to that you deserve everything which gradually but inexorably you will get!

 

 

I am blessed with a first-class Member of Parliament

His name is David Warburton and I can assure you that I am not one of those 'busy-bodies' who is in the habit of constantly writing to my MP, I save all that up for you lot here at D&N!  However, a few weeks back, incensed by Mrs. May's doings, I let him have my opinion.  I should add that I assured him that I realised he was an exceedingly busy man with better things to do than exchange views with old grumps like me but even so, he took the time - it's a long letter - and trouble to write back to me with a polite and thoughtful response which I reproduce below.  I think he is wrong but it speaks volumes for his courtesy and intelligence in reaching the stance he has.  I leave it here for you to read, if you are interested, and I will respond in due course.

 

Dear David

Many thanks for your email about Brexit and I am sorry to be long in responding. I’m grateful to you for sharing your thoughts with me and let me in turn share mine.

They say that time is the great healer. In the normal course of events, that may be true. But the past few years have not been normal.

The 2016 referendum was a seismically divisive event and, for many, the turbulence of the division around the issue of leaving the EU has only grown.

My postbag is split into three fairly equal parts. One: I must support the Prime Minister, back her plan and not let us plunge from the cliff or face another election and more uncertainty. Two: The Prime Minster is a traitor and must go; I must reject her plan, which is no proper form of Brexit, with the EU holding the levers of UK power for the foreseeable future. Three: I must accept that the referendum result was a fix, ill-informed, fed by lies, people’s views have changed and so we now need a second referendum - another crack at it.

I very much appreciate that there’s something to be said for each of these very different perspectives, and that’s exactly why the nation is so divided. People have become increasingly fortified in their positions, seizing upon any material evidence supporting them, while throwing rocks at the others.

And there’s no sign of this entrenchment diminishing. Time is not healing us. As we reach the final stages of agreement with the EU, the blow-by-blow diet of Brexit news fuels the flames of hysteria and ideology.

As you’ll have realised, it’s impossible for Members of Parliament to satisfy the appeals of all sides. Many people write to say that they will withhold their future votes, or will actively campaign for opponents, should their MP not acquiesce to their view. Many say that their MP has some kind of constitutional duty to represent their opinion. This though, thankfully, isn’t how a parliamentary democracy works.

In November 1774, Edmund Burke set out, with some eloquence, to the electors of Bristol how a representative system operates. And it’s his model that we’ve followed since. As he said, “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”

So what is my own judgement? These are politically precarious times, and now is not the time for ideology to override pragmatism, compromise and common sense: each qualities of British politics which have historically set us somewhat apart from the politics of the continent, and which, ironically, led those shouting loudest against the deal to wish to depart from the EU in the first place.

The consequences of the alternatives - further instability, ongoing and enhanced uncertainty and a possible Marxist government – are all too great a risk, and would put those aspects of the proposed deal which are not entirely as we would like to have chosen firmly in the shade.

In a negotiated settlement - where different sides have competing agendas and contrary aims - ground will be conceded in order to reach agreement. So some aspects of any agreement will be less than optimal, and some will be more favourable.

Therefore of course, the proposed Brexit deal – the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration which will form the basis of the future negotiated partnership – is not entirely perfect for the UK.

I look forward, for example, to more clarity over removing the EU’s backstop (our ‘backstop to the backstop’) to resolve the Northern Ireland border. Equally, we must ensure that there isn’t either an unlimited time period in which the UK is bound to the EU before a future partnership is enshrined, or an incentive on either side to seek such an unlimited period.

But I believe we must be pragmatic in how we implement the result of the referendum. This is a time for neither idealism nor intrepid imprudence with the future of our country.

Serving on the European Scrutiny Select Committee, I am deeply concerned about the consequences of leaving the EU with no deal. This would be extraordinarily difficult for UK businesses and for the whole country. It would send a tremulous shock through the City and its consequences would be far reaching and long lasting.

The clock ticks on until Article 50 is enacted and, on the 29th March next year, we leave the European Union. The deal as proposed by the Prime Minister is the only one on the table and it secures much that we want.

Voltaire rightly realised that “the best is the enemy of the good”. This deal means we will control our own borders and end free movement. It means visa-free travel in both directions for holidays and shorter term work. It means we will no longer send colossal sums of money to the EU from which we are allowed some in return. We will be able to decide ourselves how we wish to spend more on our priorities.

It means we will, at last, be able to strike free trade deals around the world, which will be good news for consumers, for jobs and for business.

It means, contrary to a torrent of misleading claims, that we will take back control of our laws, ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK. And it means we will continue to work as closely as ever with other European countries to keep people safe from crime, terrorism and other threats.

It means the integrity of the UK remains as it should be. Most obviously, it means no tempestuous bumps ahead. And that itself means certainty for us all, for business, for the economy and therefore for jobs and the security of people’s livelihoods.

As ever, this situation is extremely fluid with every day bringing new twists and turns, but should the Withdrawal Agreement be defeated in the Commons, despite anything you may have read, no one knows what would happen next. Perhaps the PM can bring more concessions back from Brussels and perhaps Parliament can then have another go. But perhaps it’ll mean a change of leader, a restart of negotiations, a consequent no deal exit from the EU and a General Election. Perhaps again, such chaos will demand another, second referendum, where the man and woman on the Somerset omnibus must stand in judgement on the 585 page Withdrawal Agreement and subsequent Political Declaration on our future relationship with the EU: more division, misunderstandings, emotive slogans, utter confusion, with the British people being led down ill-considered paths by those with the loudest, most disturbing voices.

So, while we dance on the head of a pin about the possible likelihood of the backstop to the backstop, or the desirability of any prospective ECJ jurisdiction over aspects of cross-border trade with the EU, and while one or two of the usual suspects posture, puff and present themselves as possible future leaders, the wolves circle.

Nothing has changed since Bismarck pointed out that “politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best”.

In common with others, I have concerns about the proposed deal. But, I have to say, my concern is not at all in step with the delirious rage of some. This is no sell-out. It is not May crumbling before the EU. It is broadly what was asked for: an escape from most aspects of the EU and its movement of people, laws, single market, and customs union, while ensuring we continue to work and trade with our European neighbours as smoothly as possible.

For me, the original vote was about political accountability - no more MEPs, no council of ministers, no European Council, no decisions over which we have no control. For the most part, these principles have been maintained.

As I say, from my postbag, I’ll guess that around two-thirds of my constituency will disagree with me, and a third or so will agree. Yes, many in the country will accept nothing less than the total removal of any EU influence whatsoever in any form over our country. And others want us to remain in the EU at all costs and will never give up the fight for another referendum. But I hope many others want a pragmatic outcome. They are concerned about uncertainty, understand the difficulties of the position, just want to get it done and will not tolerate endless fighting.

There is little, in my view, to be gained by holding fast to one side or the other on the basis of ideology. We need to look to those who are hoping for a sensible, practical and successful outcome, and seek something which is, as far as possible, workable for us all.

As an MP, it is my responsibility to distrust ideological targets and aim for that which lends itself most readily to securing stability and cohesion by protecting jobs, investment and the economy on which we all depend. Then we can again focus properly on our domestic agenda while time begins its healing process.

Best wishes

Yours, David

David Warburton MP
Member of Parliament for Somerton and Frome
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for International Development
House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

 

 

"Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"

You see, I take my eyes off affairs for a day or two and the slithering slide towards the stinking European swampland gains ever greater momentum.  The fact is that no-one, absolutely no-one, has a definitive analysis of what will happen.  Most observers think that if Mrs. May loses her vote there will be an election.  On the other hand, 'The Moggman' in The Telegraph says, "Not true! What is most likely to lead to a general election is if the Government were to win."  I, like most of 'the peeps', haven't a clue how this will evolve but the truly depressing fact is that none of the so-called main actors have any idea either!

What so many of them fail to understand is that 'IN' and an 'OUT' are two diametrically different states.  Anything that pretends to be an 'OUT' but which contains a myriad of 'INs' is, in fact, an 'IN', and that, if may say modestly, is a perfect description of Mrs. May's concoction.  If, as some people are suggesting, it all reverts to yet another referendum (the third one on Europe!) then I must prepare my outdoor-wear ready to plod the highways and by-ways of Milborne Port dishing out my Brexit leaflets yet again - such fun!  But I will do it because it is critical for the state of my own country, as well as those in Europe, that we break completely and utterly free of the burgeoning monstrosity in Brussels.

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 25.11.18

It's a mad world:   This morning I thought I would treat myself to a good, old-fashioned lie-in.  So, after dashing downstairs to serve all those bloody birds their morning rations in the garden - well, they make such a squabbling racket if there's no grub I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway!  So, I dashed back upstairs and jumped into a still warm bed.  Instant oblivion!  But then the other 'bird' in my life nudged me and demanded breakfast.  Naturally, I obeyed orders but I was duly grateful for an extra couple of hours 'kip' and assumed that I would be bursting with energy for the rest of the day.  Nah!  I feel absolutely knackered now.  I think I may go back to bed!

 

So now we must depend on Parliament:   "Oh, the horror, the horror!"  All the fake deal-making is over and only the 'honourable' - who sniggered? - Members of Parliament stand between us and a slow but inexorable descent into the sludge and slime of the EU swamp.  Will they have the courage, the honour, the decency to follow the democratic decision of the people of Britain and tip this "mess of pottage" down the sewer swiftly followed by Mrs. May and 'Oily' Robbins?  Put simply, I do not know. 

 

Yes, that about sums it up:   The incorrigible owner of 'IHTM' sums it up in a sentence:  

"In France they riot over gas tax increases. In California the morons vote to keep it." 

What can I say except 'Vive la France!'

 

Now, about that Pacific problem . . .   A few days ago I mentioned that I might write about an interesting aspect of Pacific affairs - about which, of course, I know next to nothing!  Also, to add to my difficulties, I only heard it very vaguely through my bedside radio ear-piece which I have jammed in my ear during the night.  With all those warnings duly posted let me explain what I thought I heard.  "As any fule do no", the Chinese are pushing and shoving and corrupting their way into the governments of just about every nation in the Pacific as they seek to extend and solidify their influence.  However, in one instance, I think in Papua New Guinea (PNG), they went too far and upset the locals who became exceedingly stroppy.  Well, if the Chinese studied the history of the British empire, this is virtually a foregone conclusion,  Nobody did bullying and corrupting better than us!  Even so, I sense that Chinese arrogance is on a scale of its own.  If anyone has any info on this story, please let me know.  In the meantime, Australia, watch out!

 

Why I 'lurve' Victoria Beckham:   She never, ever smiles!  Night after night I slump in front of my TV and at every commercial break I am confronted by scores of 'lay-dees' and they do nothing but smile and smile and smile and then smile some more!  I loathe and detest them all but I love dearest Victoria who, when-ever and where-ever remains bravely po-faced.  Well done, Vicky, darling!

 

(Sir) Lewis ended the season with another win:   Quite right, fitting and proper!  However, next season will be interesting.  I cannot see Ferrari quietly accepting Mercedes dominance and Vettel will be 'spitting zee blood' to put (Sir) Lewis in his place.  Meanwhile, that ace boy-racer, Verstappen, will be driving the Red Bull team to produce a winning car.  Can't wait for next year!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

The Editor of the Daily Mail must return to tea-making duties!

Yes, yes, I know, this was supposed to be about the Pacific region and I will get around to it eventually but another of those 'creepy coincidence-thingies' has cropped up and I need to get it of my chest, or at least, to expel it from my psyche because it's driving me nuts!  As you may know, or easily have guessed, my daily paper of choice is The Daily Mail, and yes, I know that says so much about me!  True, I only read about 15% of it but the 'Memsahib' reads most of the other 85% so from the family budget point of view it makes good sense.  Of course, courtesy of this 'internet-thingie' I read a whole lot of world-wide papers and mags but there's always something special about the 0.00000001% of the Brazilian rain forest you can peruse from the comfort of your own armchair.

First and foremost, the political slant is critical and whilst you may agree or disagree with some particulars the general direction must be roughly synonymous with your own.  In this regard, The Daily Mail has suited me excellently whilst the separate Mail on Sunday has not!  Thus, I was mildly irritated when I read that the excellent Paul Dacre had retired as editor and was to be replaced with Geordie Greig, hitherto the editor of The Mail on Sunday.  One reason for my lack of enthusiasm for the Sunday edition, apart from its enormous and eye-stabbingly tedious coverage of what I call 'the tits and tarts of showbusiness'.  However, more important to me was its soft and soppy line on Brexit.  Where Paul Dacre stood full square behind a Brexit 'red in tooth and claw', Mr. Greig, whilst lacking the courage to 'come out' as a 'Remainer', was obviously less than enthusiastic and has adopted a position of soppy centre-ism.  Or to put it another way, he worships at the leopard-skin slippers of Mrs. May!

Day by day, this has become ever more clear and has even been noticed by Mr. Charles Moore of The Spectator.  He suggests, in his country gentleman style, that hitherto it has been the NCOs who have 'run the show' at Associated Newspapers but with the advancement of Mr. Greig, the gentlemanly officer class is back in command.  It will not be difficult, then, for you to guess what this particular ex-Corporal thinks of it.  Of course, 'Chateau Duff' will continue to buy the Daily Mail because the 'Chatelaine' would not have it otherwise in order to ensure that she is right up to date with the latest fashions!  But will I still read it?  Probably my current 15% will drop to 5%! 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 18.11.18

"The Secret in their Eyes":  Some of you old-time regulars will recognise that film title because, crashing old bore that I am, it comes up for discussion as regularly as clockwork.  Last night, the 'Memsahib' went to bed early and in an idle moment I flicked through the recordings I have made over time on my TV 'do-flicker-recording-thingie'.  And there it was, so I watched it again for the 'umpteenth' time.  It truly is a great love and horror story and film which once seen can never be forgotten - quite literally, it haunts.  It covers a 25-year period and the action switches forward and back.  It is set in Argentina when their quasi-legal, police and justice system was subject to corrupt political influence.  However, that is merely the background but what strikes you to the heart is the story line.  Once seen, you can never forget these all too human - and inhuman - characters and their multiple tragedies.  If you try it, do not attempt to make sense of everything immediately, simply watch it, leave it and return to it again later.  Gradually, layer after layer of deeper meaning will be revealed.  I have never been so moved by a film.

 

'Who will rid me of this wretched woman?'  With all due acknowledgment to Henry II whose words I have not only 'nicked' but altered as well!  I am not suggesting that Mrs. May is a wicked woman but it is now clear that she is one of those unfortunate possessors of power whose very own 'virtues' - courage, tenacity, stubbornness - are bringing down the entire country.  She must go - and go quickly!

 

'Jonestown' - a name that haunts:   Every so often the name 'Jonestown' crops up, or to be precise, 'the Jonestown massacre' and every time it does, I wonder what it was all about.  As a slight excuse for my ignorant laziness, the sad fact is that there are so many 'massacres' in America that they tend to blend into each other.  Anyway, coming across the name today made me decide to look it up.  Now I wish I hadn't!  Nearly a thousand people, men, women and children, slaughtered, willingly or unwillingly, under the mesmeric leadership of a total 'nut job' called Jim Jones.  There are no words . . .

 

Dan Hodges lets me down:   As regular readers know, I have been something of a fan of Dan Hodges since I first discovered him writing in The Sunday Mail.  He is, I suspect, either 'a jolly decent chap' or 'an alright bloke', depending on your background, which probably explains his soppy commentary on Mrs. May and her predicament today.  According to Mr. Hodges, she is the epitome of decent, British virtue as she sticks bravely to her (non)Brexit policy.  Meanwhile, all those rats who grimly oppose her are cruel, malevolent rotters of the worst kind.  Possibly, Mr. Hodges, but with respect you do not know for sure.  It could be that she is a frightful, vainglorious and ruthless defender, not of this country, but of her own deeply-held and very personal ambitions.  And it may be that the 'rotters' are actually decent men and women desperately trying to stop a disaster hitting this country.  What is the truth of the matter?  I do not know and I will only find out, bit by bit, when those bloody "events, dear boy, events" play out and the history books begin to be written.  All I do know for sure, is that her solution to our Brexit problem is a stinker but that does not necessarily make her an evil woman - although she may be!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

It's that 'ennui' thing

I'm not saying that I'm pleased for a chance to use the word 'ennui', although I am, but given an opportunity to do so, I cannot resist it.  And I am aided by the fact that, at the moment, I am suffering with galloping 'ennui'!  Mind you, it is one of those words of which I think I know the meaning but, even so, given my erudite readership, I thought it best to check it out.

Ennui: a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.

"he succumbed to ennui and despair"

It also provided a list of synonyms:

boredom · tedium · listlessness · lethargy · lassitude · languor · restlessness · weariness · sluggishness · enervation · malaise · dissatisfaction · unhappiness · uneasiness 

Yes, yes, all of those and I could probably come up with loads more, er, except that I'm suffering with 'ennui' so I really can't be arsed!  You may be wondering, if you have nothing better to waste your time on, what has afflicted me with this debilitating condition?  I would tell you if only I had a spark of energy or interest but, alas, I am suffering with 'ennui', so I haven't!

I suspect, I can put it no more definitely, that the utterly shameful shambles at the top of my own country has much to do with it.  We all know - do we not? - that the vast majority of the Grand Panjandrums in Whitehall would have extreme difficulty in organising a piss-up in a brewery but so long as they just potter along doing the little things poorly the rest of us can just ignore it.  However, in the end all those little things mount up to form a really and truly 'Big Thing' and it is at that point that the 'brown stuff' hits the fan.

Of course, as a private subject to 'Her Maj', there is little I can do but even so I felt compelled to write to my Conservative MP in order to let him know what at least one of his voters was thinking.  Needless to say, I quoted a passage from that distinguished column, Duff & Nonsense, to re-enforce my point.  What effect will that have, you ask?  Somewhere between -0.1 and +0.1 is my estimate!

'Dear Mr. Warburton,
I try not to write to you too often because that would be exceedingly boring - for you as well as me! However, this is my latest blog-post which I send to you merely to provide you with one tiny example of how a natural Tory feels today. There is absolutely no need for you to reply, you have better things to do,
David Duff'

"I have kept quiet recently on the subject of Brexit - who cheered? - because I did not wish to believe what my suspicions were telling me. Now, the truth cannot be ignored. We, the majority of the British public, a majority established in an open and fair referendum, have been betrayed. Mrs. May in particular, the government in general and the higher ranks of the Civil Service have lied and lied and lied again as they combined secretly to sell us out to the European State. This is almost as rotten and foul as Chamberlain's cowardice and deceitfulness in 1938/9. The Tory party will crash and burn at the next election - and they deserve it!"

Right, I'm off to slump in my armchair and, er, 'stroke my ennui', so to speak.  Of course, I have issued strict instructions to the 'Memsahib' that under no circumstances is she to switch on TV news, I would rather watch the 'kiddie-winkie' programmes, they're more adult!  

 

 

 

Dear Diary, I have a list of targets for assassination ...

Last night I went to bed in Grump Mode Factor 10 and then this morning my Grump Mode measuring device blew up!  So I watched events in the Commons today and thought that perhaps paying a visit to one of those Swiss murderers, ooops, sorry, I mean those very discreet Swiss doctors who will 'off you' in the time it takes to drop a few grand in their hand, might not be such a bad idea after all.  But then, as the day wore on, I began to cheer up particularly as I watched it dawn on Mrs. May that that lumbering sound approaching her is not actually Boris but probably a scaffold!  Unfortunately, there were no pictures or interviews with Mr. 'Oily' Robbins, the fat-jowelled 'Sir Humphrey' who pulls Mrs. May's strings, however, I like to think of him, as he watched the sleek 'Moggman' sharpening his dagger, running his finger round his collar!

I have been mildly amused by the references to the late and utterly useless Neville Chamberlain who was forced to face a hostile Commons following the total cock-up of the Norway 'campaign' in 1940.  Of course, the really delicious irony of that contretemps was the undoubted fact that it should have been Winston Churchill in the hot seat, not Chamberlain, but instead, shortly there-after Churchill was swept into office and there-by into history as the great 'hero' of WWII.  Honestly, you couldn't make it up!

Anyway, yet again it has been made crystal clear that the vast majority of  the top of our political and civil service are totally unfit for the job, not because they are unduly corrupt but merely because they are dim, dumb and daft!  Meanwhile, 'just over there', Juncker, Selmayr and the rest of the European apparatchiks are all leaning on each other howling with laughter.  It was obvious from the start, and this blog forecast it, that the 'Euros' would give us absolutely nothing, in fact, that they would delight in our humiliation.  To which I can only say, he who laughs last, laughs longest!

 

 

Altogether now, gauche, droite, links, rechts and march on into disaster

So that well known pair of warriors, 'Mini' Macron and 'Mutti' Merkel, are urging Europe to form a unified army.  'Golly-gosh', we'll all sleep easier in our beds knowing that is protecting us, will we not?  Er, they will protect us, surely, I mean there's no chance they might set about each other to settle a few - well, quite a lot, actually! - old scores, will they?  No, no, no, of course not, I must stop being a grumpy, cynical, old Brit!  One must look on the bright side because the formation of a 'European army' will strike fear into the hearts of those meddling 'Rooskies' and , au naturel (or should that be natürlich?) it will put a stop to all that oafish 'Trumpery' when the news sinks in beneath his ginger hairline that the Europeans now have a unified army - sort of, nearly, well, almost.

In reality, of course, there is no way a European army could fight its way out of a paper-bag in order to take on a proper foe but one thing it might achieve fairly easily is to impose its will, or to be precise, the will of its European masters, on that irritating, ill-disciplined, independent-minded bunch of scallywags known as the European people!  Oh yes, no problem there, a quick whiff of grapeshot will soon sort that lot out and teach them who is in charge!

 

 

Why are Universities so 'stoopid'?

Time for a trip down the Time Tunnel, I'm afraid - and I am grimly aware that my own particular Time Tunnel is exceedingly long and getting longer!  Anyway, I will open my remarks with a single name which may, or may not, get the memory banks ticking away - Norman Geras!  I should, perhaps, put it this way - the late Norman Geras, 25 August 1943 – 18 October 2013, R.I.P.

He was an esteemed University teacher and a Professor Emeritus of Government at Manchester University.  He was also an out-and-out Marxist with, no doubt, the reddest of red underwear!  For years he ran a personal blog in which he put forward his Marxist ideas which I read and, of course, criticised fiercely - but never angrily because it was obvious that he was an exceptionally pleasant man and not one to allow his Marxist philosophy to stop him from lashing 'the usual suspects' on the extreme Left if they were more than usually 'stoopid'.  In other words he was an idealistic Marxist but one who never forgot his humanity.

I am reminded of all this by an article at The Coffee House written by Nick Cohen who has discovered that some moron at the 'University of Morons', aka: Reading University, have issued severe warnings to students and teachers that the words of Norman Geras must be treated with extreme caution under the 'anti-terrorist Prevent programme'!  The fact that Norman Geras spent his entire life in passionate opposition to any action likely to cause civilian casualties seems to have escaped these pen-pushing 'Pecksniffs'.  Read Cohen's article and be reminded, yet again, that the biggest dunces are usually found in Universities!

 

 

The last word on WWI

I meant to publish this yesterday but, disgracefully, I never quite got around to it.  It is a famous painting by one of my absolute favourite artists, the American John Singer Sargent.  It is entitled "Gassed".

Luckily, I once saw the original at the Imperial War Museum where, at some 2o feet long, it covered the entire end-wall of the gallery.  It deserves its place up there with the very greatest of war artistry such as the poems of Wilfred Owen.  Sargent was a superb painter as I learned when I went to view his work in a special exhibition in London a few years ago.

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 11.11.18

11.11.18:   Just writing that date - 11.11.18 - in my heading, gave me pause!  I have been watching the television coverage of events in Whitehall as thousands of representatives of different military associations, some of them harking back to the reign of Charles II, marched past the Cenotaph to mark, this year, the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.  The phrase 'living history' is somewhat hackneyed but in a sense that parade and what it represents is exactly that - living history.  All those men and women marching past represent the warp and woof of British history over the past century or so.   Not, I hasten to add, the entirety of British history, just a part of it but even so as you follow the threads as they weave their way to almost all parts of the globe it gives you a notion as to what an extra-ordinary and epic nation this small, North Atlantic island really was in world historical terms.  Needless to say, our history, like everyone else's,  is the usual mix of 'the good, the bad and the ugly' because that is human nature.  Even so, I think there is much in it that is worthy of judicious pride.

ADDITIONAL:  Lest my soppy words above smooch you into a mellow mood of self-satisfaction, I urge you to read the 'Heffalump's' stern corrective in today's Telegraph!

 

Our American friends live between a rock and a hard place:  I am beginning to run out of the sheer number of natural disasters that keep crashing and smashing and bashing America.  Yes, I know it is a 'yuuuuuge' country but even so they do seem to have been suffering unduly recently and the nature of their sufferings is almost apocalyptic.  I wish them well - and soon! 

 

Sorry, Mr. President, but you just 'blooped' - big time!   For the headlines to read, in effect, that President Trump failed to attend a WWI memorial event in France because he might get his hair wet is 'stoopid' beyond belief.  We all realise that you have 'a hair problem', Mr. President, but as POTUS, sometimes you have to make a tiny sacrifice to acknowledge the truly 'yuuuuuuuuuuuge' sacrifice that your own soldiers made a hundred years ago.

 

Sorry, sorry, sorry - not many rumbles today all due to - yes, you guessed - those bloody "events, dear boy, events"!

 

More rumbles later  . . .

 

 

So it is treachery

 

I have kept quiet recently on the subject of Brexit - who cheered? - because I did not wish to believe what my suspicions were telling me.  Now, the truth cannot be ignored.  We, the majority of the British public, a majority established in an open and fair referendum, have been betrayed.  Mrs. May in particular, the government in general and the higher ranks of the Civil Service have lied and lied and lied again as they combined secretly to sell us out to the European State.  This is almost as rotten and foul as Chamberlain's cowardice and deceitfulness in 1938/9.  The Tory party will crash and burn at the next election - and they deserve it!

 

The pros and cons of mass slaughter!

As we approach Armistice Day at its 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, I am deeply grateful to The Telegraph for publishing today two thoughtful and learned essays, one arguing in favour of Britain taking part, the other arguing in favour of neutrality.  I would urge you all to read both of them and make up your own minds.

Personally, I have never doubted that we were right to fight, although I will never stop believing that the way we fought it was monstrously stupid!  As I have written before, many a time and oft', perhaps, too many and too oft', no British government could allow the Atlantic/North Sea coast to be held by a foreign and hostile adversary.  Yes, it happened in WWII and look what it cost us and how very near we came to defeat because of it.  Also, and quite apart from our defence needs, we need to recognise that because we controlled the sea-lines of western Europe we had a Grand Strategic weapon in our hands which would, in fact it did, win us the war.

What we should not have done is to allow the stupid Generals to mount utterly useless attack after attack after attack on the Western Front which cost us dear and achieved little.  Instead, we should have remained on the defensive and concentrated on slaughtering the Germans wholesale as they attacked us!  In the meantime the Navy should have exerted all their strength in tightening the noose around Germany which, as it happened, eventually forced a starving German population to surrender.

There, ex-Cpl. Duff has spoken, carry on!

 

 

 

The Russians have a sense of humour - 'hoonoo?

And this, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is merely the 'biggest and bestest' joke of the lot!  I am not sure who the Russian equivalent of 'Mutt 'n' Jeff' are, let's just call them 'Muttski 'n' Jeffski'!  Anyway, they are the splendid representatives of the Russian proletariat who have contributed to the hilarious history of the (not very) good ship, Admiral Kuznetsov!

Alas, I lack the time and energy to provide you with the concise history of this doom-laden 'ship of fools' but you can read all about it over at The American Thinker but I urge you all to set your coffee mugs to one side as you do so - new keyboards can be expensive!  Perhaps the greatest virtue of this article is that it makes me feel microscopically better about the two British aircraft carriers which, since they lack any aircraft, might just as well be stuffed full of £10-notes and then sunk!

 

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 4/11/18

In which I come down off the fence:   As you may have noticed, I have been exceedingly reticent in forecasting the outcome of the American mid-terms.  Part of my reason/cowardice is because I have a long and, er, less than distinguished record of forecasting electoral results.  The other day I hinted - indicated - suggested - that possibly the Dems would not achieve the magnificent victory on which they have set their hearts.  Today, I am prepared to "boldly go where no man has gone before" and forecast that they will fail to take either the House or the Senate!  Now, I confess that I am partly driven in this by my desire that the Dems receive the kick in the crutch that they fully deserve.  You would think that having already received one kick a mere two years ago when they seriously - no, I mean it - seriously believed that 'HillBilly' was a worthy candidate for the Presidency that they would 'box clever'.  No chance!  Their stupidity, as exemplified by the Kavanaugh campaign, has obviously metastasized.  They deserve everything which - I guess! - is coming their way on Tuesday.

 

"Regrets, I have a few . . ."   But not that many, I am happy to report and anyway most of those I do have are pretty piffling in the great scheme of things.   However, one that continues to niggle away at me is that I missed my chance to direct "A Midsummer Night's Dream".  I was lined up for the job but just as I started to work on my ideas the 'Memsahib' decided that it was time for us to move house so the world was denied the chance to view my butchery and dear old Will slept easier in his tomb!  Part of my disappointment was that I had decided to use the Mama Cass version of that lovely song "Dream a Little Dream of Me" as a musical motif.  I love her version of it and I think it would have worked well but, alas, now we will never know!

 

Bring back hanging?  Yes or No?   As the murder rates in the UK drive relentlessly higher I was still somewhat shocked to see that the latest stabbing took place 'down 'ere in Bridgewater, Zummerzet, oo-ar, oo-ar'!  Dammit, that sort of thing is not permitted in our rural county, it's the sort of thing they go in for in London and 'ooooop north'!  According to a quick run through of the breaking stories, our local version of Dogberry and his Watch (aka: the 'Zummerzet' Constabulary) appear to be arresting anyone and everyone who lives in Bridgewater but no doubt they will eventually sort out who the 'perp' is.  In the meantime, I wonder if it is time for me to bring back my 'campaign' for the re-establishment of hanging for those found guilty of murder?

 

Obama is just another old publicity tart:   I thought, in my usual mixture of ignorance and old-age, that it wasn't quite the 'done thing' for retired Presidents to come out on the hustings and get involved in national elections.  Perhaps I am wrong but even so I do find it a bit distasteful for the old 'queen' to totter out and attempt to strut his stuff.  Happily, I understand that he is playing to half-empty houses but, I wonder, will he notice?  "There's none so blind as them wot can't see!"

 

And so we bid farewell to Lord Jeremy Heywood:   First, I must make clear that for anyone to die at the age of 56 of cancer that was only discovered a year ago is a tragedy for him and his family.  As for his record, mostly as the senior civil servant within the government, he quickly became 'the Sir Humphrey of all Sir Humphreys'!  Whether he was any good is impossible to say not least because how could anyone define what "good" was in such a role.  I fear the worst but, alas, I will have to await the history books before I decide and, yes, "I should live so long my life already!"

 

Sorry, I forgot to tell you:   Yes, I'm in 'lurve' again - Big Time!  The lucky lady is a Hollywood star called Cameron Diaz.  Yes, yes, of course I have heard of her but until yesterday I had never seen her.  However, clicking around the TV channels I came across a film called "Knight and Day" and, no, me neither until I saw it yesterday.  It also 'stars' the vertically-challenged Mr. Tom Cruise - and he was excellent, too!  Don't ask me what the film was about, just think James Bond on 'speed'!  It was totally bonkers but so bonkers that I never stopped laughing.  Most of all, though, I was very taken with Ms. Diaz who has a bewitching, cheeky smile which totally entranced me. 

 

Sorry, I must go into my darkened room:   Well, in just over an hour the second episode of "The Little Drummer Girl" will commence and I know from hard experience that I will need to concentrate really hard, not something I'm very good at, so a wee nap might be essential!  

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

 

Our American friends are not the only ones approaching a crunch point!

As James Forsyth points out at The Coffee House, there has been an ominous silence on 'the Brexit Front'.  Apparently, there are a multitude of 'conversations' going between 'us and them' but not a whisper as to the likely outcomes.  Even worse, Mrs. May seems abundantly cheerful - and that can only mean bad news!  The 'Leavers' in the cabinet suspect that they are about to be trounced with a take it or leave it deal which will give them the difficult decision as to whether they meekly submit or resign and risk bring down the entire government.  The fact that 'Oily' Robbins, Mrs. May's, er, 'trusted' civil service advisor seems to be 'on the missing list' fills me with foreboding.  What's the little slug up to?

Shortly, we will find out but I fear the worst!

 

Students get a lesson in Econ. 101

I really am too good to you people!  I am the 'cheerer-upper' who never stops giving and today, courtesy of Guido, I bring you the happiest of happy tidings - the National Union of Students is close to bankruptcy.  My only surprise is that it has taken so long!  Given their gormless stupidity as evidenced in their endless and utterly useless demos and their irresolute resolutions on subjects about which they know next to nothing, I am amazed that they have staggered on for so long.

I hasten to add that I do not imply that all students suffer with the sort of brain damage evidenced by their 'Union'.  I remember, back in the day, 'SoD' and his mates at 'Uni' treating the political nitwits of the NUS with the contempt they deserved.  He and his pals concentrated on the two critically important aspects of student life - the beer and the girls!  Quite right, too!

About this 'poverty' nonsense

Standby, here comes a Duff joke - in all senses!  If I had a quid for every time I heard Corbyn and McDonnell sobbing out the word "poverty", I would be a rich man!  I know, I know, it's the way I tell 'em!  So yesterday and today, following the Chancellor's Budget speech, the wailing women of the Labour party, and that includes the men, have been sobbing and beating their breasts and calling down the wrath of Karl Marx onto the brutal head of 'Phil the Pill' Hammond.  Apparently, this latter-day Scrooge will soon fill the streets with emaciated kiddie-winkies dressed in rags.  Er, well, actually, most of the kiddie-winkies I see on the streets are over-weight Billy Bunter lookalikes and, so I am assured, their rag-like appearance is actually the height of 'Youf fashion, innit?'

Anyway, it sort of drove my mind back to my childhood, the first five years of which were spent during WWII.  I, of course, was evacuated from London to the green fields of Surrey and I can't say I ever experienced a pang of hunger.  Then my Mum picked me up and we moved back to London and then back to Surrey again.  She (and I) had to exist entirely on her weekly wage.  Again, I may not have been the most fashionably-dressed schoolboy and I was a bit on the thin side but again, I never went hungry.  I sort of sensed that money was always tight but it never bothered me - or any of my similarly situated mates.

The screeching hypocrisy, if not down-right lying, of the Labour MPs is a disgrace.  In their world, if a kiddie-winkie does not have the latest X-box and an endless supply of burgers and chips to fill their bulging bellies, they are impoverished!  Judged by their appearance, some of the fatties on the Labour benches could do with a dose of impoverishment!

As for Hammond's budget, it was, of course, a typical 'mandarin' construct in which dollops of dosh were carefully weighed and then handed out to different sections of - dread words! - The Peeps!  How they must have congratulated each other on their masterful cleverness but I can't help wondering if the junior office boy didn't pipe up at some stage and ask where all the dosh was coming from?  If he did, I strongly urge him to look for a new career!  There was only ever one aim for Hammond to attempt and that was to reduce our nation debt.  His budget will send it even higher and the undoubted fact that Corbyn/McDonnell would have sent it to Mars is neither here nor there.  All around the world national debts are driving ever upwards and it is unsustainable.  When it stops, they will spin to earth like a shot-down aircraft and the resulting crash will be - dare I say? - yuuuuuuuuge'! 

If I had spare money, I would buy gold!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 28.10.18

Needless to say, on this morning in which some looney turned the clocks back an hour, I am all over the place.  Even so, I will endeavour to keep all my faithful readers supplied with the wit and wisdom of Cpl. Duff - don't say it!

 

Brexit - the 'clincher'!   For all those who still cling to their soppy-soft love for the EU - and yes, that includes you, 'SoD'! - the tin-pot dictators of Brussels have shown the mailed fists that hide beneath their soft kid gloves.  The European Court of Human Rights (no sniggering because that's probably an offence as well!) have now proclaimed that critical comments aimed at Islam and/or Islamists are verboten!  An Austrian lady who gave two seminars on Islam including the information, as written in the Koran, that Mohammed married a 6-year old girl and consummated it when she was 9-years old, was fined.  The ECHR has now extended that decision and it has forbidden any critical Islamic commentary whether it is true or false. You can read all about it at The National Review.

 

We'd be better off with Dogberry and his pals:   Or, to put it another way, the Police Force should be locked up!  As always, Peter Hitchens says it all so much better than I ever could:

Many of us who have had dealings of one kind or another with the modern police suspect that, if we go to them, they will probably manage to mess up the case, ably assisted by the CPS, while also giving our full personal details to the suspect.
Even if they get it right, the criminal will be ‘spared jail’ by a feeble judge. Simpler to let it go.

And by coincidence, The Mail reports today that three police officers involved in the Stephen Lawrence case of 25-years ago are to be interviewed under caution for possible misconduct in public office.  It carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment but I strongly advise you not to hold your breath!

 

More Mohammed:   Dammit, I have only just stumbled on Douglas Murray's article on the 'Cocklecarrots' who sit on the ECHR who have forbidden us all from being rude about Mohammed and his 'religion'.  His final paragraph says it all and I, for one, endorse it:

For my own part I don’t care a jot for the ruling of the ECHR and will continue to say what I like when I like. I trust that across Europe many other people will respectfully reserve the right to do the same.

 

Ok, I surrender!   Well, I have just read the latest review of Max Hastings' monumental history of the Vietnam wars - and yes, there was more than just one of them.  I have resisted buying it, despite the 'rave reviews', because I am still plodding my way through The Story of England by Sir Roy Strong and I have only just reached the Georgian period, er, not that it isn't a terrific read but there's a lot of it!  Anyway, I have just read the review of Hastings' book in The American Spectator by Roger Kaplan and I have decided to give it a go.  I will have to buy a hard-back edition because I suspect there is will be several maps and whilst I worship my Kindle it's just not very good with maps.  Of course, if my ever-lovin' son reads this perhaps he will save his dear, old Dad a few quid by buying me a copy for Christmas!  

 

Alas and alack:   I lunched not wisely but too well!  A short break will be required to allow me to rise up to the seventh level of inner awareness.  When I descend, I will re-join you.

 

We're doomed, I tell you, doomed!   According to WUWT, 'The Graun' is cutting back on its global warming blog spots mainly run by Dana Nuccitelli, a West Coast nutjob prophet of 'The End is Nigh' because of AGW.  'Little Georgie Moonbat' was unavailable for comment - so not all bad then!

 

Sorry, had to pop over to Mexico:   Thank God for my private jet that whisked me across the Atlantic to Mexico so that I could cheer (Sir) Lewis Hamilton on to his World Championship victory!  (Well, dammit, a man may dream, may he not?)  Jolly good show, (Sir) Lewis!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

Give that splendid 'Yankee-Doodle' a Knighthood!

It might be a busy morning for me today but before I put on my chauffeur's uniform and drive the 'Memsahib' to the shops (such fun!) I just had to record my immense gratitude to Mr. Matt Delacambre from Louisiana.  He it was  who spotted some nutter trying to smash the glass that protects one of the only four copies of the Magna Carta on display in Salisbury Cathedral.  He grabbed the man and held him down until help arrived.

I must confess that I was truly shocked at this example of vandalism because, whilst I am not usually given to emotion over the historic detritus that litters our old Kingdom, I do believe that the Magna Carta is an unbelievably important document.  It is important not to over sentimentalise it, after all, it was just the recording of deal struck between some 'robber' barons and an even bigger 'robber' king but it is the greatest example of one of those 'damned unexpected consequences' that constantly riff through history.

Pushed and pulled, this way and that, over the following centuries the fundamental essence of the document was never quite lost and then, gradually, they were built upon and it evolved into the foundation of our system of law upon which our liberties depend.  Perhaps of even greater importance was that its principles were taken across the Atlantic and lodged in America so that as we have gradually declined, America has grown and perpetuated its essence.  It is, perhaps, singularly appropriate that this precious document was safeguarded by an American citizen.

Thank you, Mr. Delacambre, I am truly grateful and should we ever meet, the drinks are on me!

 

 

Why are sex pests so ugly?

Should you doubt the veracity of my question - you wouldn't dare! - would you? - just take a look at this latest Lothario, Sir (for how long one wonders?) Phillip Green.  Actually, he looks a bit like me when I played Falstaff!

 

I will not ruin your day by printing a photo of Harvey Weinstein but to me, they could be cousins at least!  Mind you, and this is important, nothing has been proven against (Sir) Phillip but according to the Telegraph he induced several ladies, upset, apparently, by his unwanted sexual advances, to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in return for 'loadsa' money'.  Alas, the 'dandruff-ridden, smelly socks brigade' from Fleet Street (or thereabouts) began nosing around and poor (well, actually, stinking rich) Sir Phillip was forced to fork out half a mill' to buy the services of some top-class 'silks' (no, no, they're not tarts, they're lawyers - behave!) to enforce an injunction against the Telegraph and stop them publishing.

Alas and alack (or goody-goody according to your taste!), up pops Lord Peter Hain (and he's no angel either!) in the House of Lords and lets the secret out of the bag.  Cue: a re-enactment of a Bateman cartoon, everyone was shocked, I tell you, shocked!  Well, not me because one of my oldest friends was in the 'rag-trade' years ago when he and 'Phil' were just beginning.  Suffice to say, my pal was not impressed!  The good news, I suppose, is that the ladies concerned banked Phil's money and because they have not broken their NDAs they get to keep it.  Simply too, too delicious!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 21.10.18

There goes Sunday!   I was in quite a good mood when I got up this morning - but then I read a column by Col. Tim Collins in The Mail.  In it, he describes the British Army, in fact, all the British services, as "chubby, drug-addled and right on".  One picture is worth a thousand words!

As usual, the fault lies with that collection of ambitious, smarmy, creeping bunch of wankers who constitute our High Command, none of whom has the guts to tell our effete politicians that Political Correctness might be OK for the Civil Service but has no part in a fighting army.

 

Is it time to reset our opinions of  'The Donald'?   I am not going to indulge in a forensic examination of his two years in the White House but where-as I began by flinching at some of his behaviour and trembling at some of his decisions, gradually, as I have peeped out from behind my fingers, I sense that perhaps, just perhaps, he is getting things more right than wrong.  His re-action to the hysteria over the Saudi murder has been a fine example of real-politik and up in heaven, or perhaps down in hell, the likes of Bismarck and Talleyrand are raising a glass in support.  Still early days, of course . . .

 

The 'Hefferlump' goes all out DD:   No, no, not David Duff but David Davis!  In a brief but pointed article in The Telegraph today, he urges Tory MPs who are hesitating over sending in letters urging Mrs. 'Muppet' to resign, to just get on with it and rid us all of that dim-witted woman.  Somewhat to my surprise, he throws his support behind David Davis as a new Prime Minister.  Well, Boris cannot be trusted and the 'Moggman' would not go down well in the country.  Davis, however, comes across as a fairly normal 'one of us' and his service in the SAS can only help. 

 

This made me giggle:    The American Thinker site is always worth a visit, not least for the witty cartoons they publish:

 Spot on, methinks!

 

Not sure I could cope with this one:   I refer to the latest history book produced by Max Hastings which, normally, I would snap up in seconds.  Alas, the title of this one is "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975" and the prospect of wading through that unmitigated bloodbath is more than I can contemplate.  To be honest, the fact is that it will remind me in the most painful way of how wrong I was to support it 'back in the day'!  It also reminds me that whilst I am fascinated by the war at sea during WWI, I cannot read very much about the 'slugfest' that took place on land.  It shares with Vietnam an enormous casualty list and a cornucopia of stupidity from both the commanders and the politicians and, er, me!

 

"How high the moon?"   'I dunno' but apparently it's getting higher!  Or to be more precise, it's moving away from us, according to Prof. S. Fred Singer at The American Thinker.  He, being a proper swot, offers some scientific explanations but, with all due respect, I put it down to JK's habit, on full moon nights, of hurling empty bottles of 'Barney Magroo's Finest' in its direction as he bewails the loss of all those 'gals' in every port he ever visited!  Well, you can't blame the moon, I mean who wants to live next door to noisy neighbours!

 

Right, pay attention, all you 'Yankee-doodles'!   Your Commanding Officer, er, well, your ex-Corporal, actually, is about to give you your orders.  This afternoon you will stop watching all that 'stop 'n' start' version of rugby you play 'over there' and instead you will retune your TVs in order to watch (Sir) Lewis Hamilton waltz off with the F1 World Championship at the American Grand Prix.  (Actually, that was damned difficult to type given that I had all my fingers crossed as I did it!)  If any of you live nearby and you are handy with a Winchester rifle, please feel free to shoot out the tires of that damned Hun! 

 

(Sir) Lewis, Her Maj will not be amused!   My goodness, what an excellent race!  And what an excellent circuit!  So, decision time moves to the Mexican Grand Prix to be held at a circuit named after the late Rodriguez brothers, both of whom were killed at different times in motor races.  I once knew, very slightly, Pedro Rodriguez, a quiet man but a terrific racer.  Meanwhile, (Sir) Lewis remains poised to take the championship but we will just have to wait!

 

 

No more rumbles today!

 

 

God bless (Sir) Mark Zuckerberg!

Let me start by owning up to the fact that I know next to nothing about (Sir) Mark Zuckerberg and even less about his 'whizzy-do' company Facebook.  I have never used its, er, 'services' and have absolutely no desire to do so.  Everything I read about it convinces me to remain aloof, up here in the tranquil heights of D&N.  Mind you, I am happy to offer my congratulations to (Sir) Mark for, in effect, making 'gazillions' of dollars out of bugger all!  That's true American 'get up and go'!

Not, of course, that he is universally admired, just the opposite, he is subject to an almost non-stop barrage of criticism, although I can't be bothered to dig into the detail.  Mind you, if the 'incoming' is really heavy, he can always take cover behind his stacks of 'dosh'!  However, today I am prepared to put my head above the parapet and say loud and clear, but not on 'Facebook', "Jolly well done, (Sir) Mark!", you have done me and all the peasants in this 'our septic Isle', an enormous favour for which we are all deeply grateful. 

What has he done, you ask?  Well, he has given Nick 'Cleggeron' Clegg a job and the ineffable 'piss-drip', plus his snooty wife with the fancy Spanish name, are departing these shores for 'Kal-i-forn-i-a' which is about as far away as he can go without us having to send him to Australia - and be fair, the 'Aussies' don't deserve him!  'The Cleggeron' will be very happy on the West coast where they are all drippingly wet, liberal petals, except, of course, the multitude of hard-working immigrants eager to do the bidding of the 'Sahib' and 'Memsahib', you know, just like in the smart boroughs of London that the Cleggs are so used to!  

Finally, there is the reputation that in the high ranks of all those Silicon Valley outfits, lying is thought of as a virtue, so the fact that he has a considerable number of public quotes from his past slagging off his new employers should earn him a bonus!  Also, and this will definitely earn him some prestige in the corporate hierarchy, he is a promise-breaker, as in for example, the time when he promised students, absolutely promised them, not to increase tuition fees.  They probably believed him - suckers!

Now, my advice to Mr. Zuckerberg, if he is desirous of being gently tapped on the shoulders with a sword by 'Her Maj' as she grants him a knighthood, is to quickly offer 'Dim Dave' Cameron a job, as well, and there-by get him off our shores, too.  That might get him a Lordship!  In the meantime, I would strongly advise any of my readers with shares in Facebook to SELL, SELL, SELL!

 

 

 

 

Should we shoot one in three of our senior civil servants?

Now, before you shudder at the thought, just remember that splendid French phrase 'pour encourager les autres'!  Also, to put a bit of determination in your spine, let me remind you that it is now blindingly obvious that, apart from the soaking wet Mrs. May, the main reason for the utter shambles of our Brexit (non)negotiations are the massed ranks of our civil service.  Of course, I am certain that there is a minority, a very tiny minority, of civil servants who are in favour of Brexit but the devilish cleverness of my scheme is that in only shooting one in three we are bound to get far more 'remoaners' than 'Brexiteers'!

As Charles Moore points out at The Coffee House:

Whitehall thinks Brexit is dreadful, so it tries to accomplish it not with maximum success, but with minimum damage. Its definition of damage is anything which separates Britain from the EU. It is an overwhelmingly negative and fearful frame of mind, and I am afraid Mr Robbins exhibits it.

The Mr. Robbins he refers to is that oily individual who has guided our utterly dim-witted Prime Minister into the 'slough of despond' in which she, and the rest of us, find ourselves today.  No doubt he plays on her very English desire to achieve a 'fair deal' based on sensible compromise.  Some of you may recall that when all this kicked off I pointed out in fairly blunt language that the Brussels hegemony had absolutely no intention of giving us even the pickings of their noses by way of compromise, a word whose meaning is unknown to them!  Quite apart from their instinctive dislike for Britain which drives many of them to take any available chance to give us a slap, they are also driven by rage that we had the impertinence, nay, the treachery, to damage their version (and please don't giggle) of "a shining city upon a hill"!  Well, I suppose if you are some dim-witted, mittel-European (I leave you to fill in the names!) barely qualified to run, say, Luxembourg, and you are suddenly jumped up into a position of power with an enormous salary and pension and expenses, then you would be cross at anyone seeking to de-rail your gravy train!

However, none of that excuses the behaviour, the treacherous behaviour, of our senior office boys 'mandarins' in condoning a lick-spittle approach to the Europeans.  Severe action needs to be taken against them.  I would suggest calling in the Saudi Arabian security services to do the job but perhaps that is a tad extreme, so perhaps instead, we should simply put Mr. Olly Robbins and his ilk in charge of the Dept. of Drains and Sewers where, I suspect, they will feel entirely at home!

 

 

I HATE 'hate crime' laws!

Before  all those hateful idiots in parliament pass a law banning 'hate crime' perhaps they should spell out in very clear English exactly and precisely what constitutes 'hate crime' - don't hold your breath waiting, it could damage your health!  If, for example, I mutter under my breath that I 'hate' that titchy, little twerp, Bercow, who squats like a poisonous dwarf in the Speaker's chair in the House of Commons, what, exactly, have I done?  I haven't threatened him with the contents of an over-full sick-bag, nor have I encouraged anyone else to do so.  I have merely expressed my opinion of him.  If you are deaf, dumb, blind and lack a sense of smell, or, you are a Labour party MP-drone who loves to lick his little booties, then go ahead, it is after all, merely your opinion, and like most opinions, it says so much about you!

Perhaps all those legalistic, little 'Goody-Two-Shoes' who want to pass laws to control what we think, as opposed to what we do, should just sod off to North Korea and see how they like it in 'Fat Boy Kim's' paradise where the, er, 'Glorious Leader' is the only one permitted to indulge in hatred which he expresses by shooting you dead if you disagree!  As it happens, I don't really hate anyone very much, certainly not to the point of doing anything about it, although I must admit that when it comes to strongly disliking people I do not think it would take long for me to fill Wembley Stadium!

 

The Sunday Rumble: 14.10.18

Eeeeks! Who would want to be a POTUS?   Well, if the 'Big Don' was unsure what it entailed being 'Mr. President', he sure as hell is finding out the hard way today.  The whole silly world is 'shocked, I tell you, shocked' over the mysterious disappearance of some Arab journalist called Khashoggi who is, of course, being a journalist and also for working with the 'WaPo', nigh unto sainthood!  The fact that he is a former friend of bin Laden and a dedicated supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood has not yet reached the MSM, particularly the WaPo!  Still 'n' all, as they say 'over there', something must be done, Mr. President, to those horrid Saudi 'murderers' even if it means losing not only a much needed ally but also '$illions' in arms deals which will put tens of thousands of American workers on the dole.  Incidentally, that non-stop cackling you can hear is the Iranian mullahs laughing their socks off, er, they do wear socks, don't they? 

 

Enough, my life already!   I have today issued an edict from here in Chateau Duff that henceforth all Royal weddings are forbidden!  Or at least, the details are to be withheld from all media outlets.  If I see one more utterly tedious story about the latest Royal nuptials I will go mad, I tell you, mad  . . .  Oh, and that goes for 'Strictly Come Dancing', too!

 

Les temps perdu:   Sometimes, and on a selective basis, it is nice to revisit past times and I am exceedingly grateful to Mr. Silvio Canto, Jnr at The American Thinker  who reminds us that yesterday was an anniversary of the birth of 'that woman' who was born in 1925.  Sorry, but from my meagre memory of poetic quotations, all I can think of to write is "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive" when Maggie Thatcher's government began.  I am tempted to compare her to the present incumbent but it is too, too depressing!

 

Ah yes, Paul R. Ehrlich, remember him?   No, I thought not and I must confess that I had forgotten him which is a pity because there is nothing funnier than a genuine, er, 'scientific' swot who is always and forever completely and utterly wrong in all his predictions.  I can vaguely remember years ago in my early blogging days sneering at his ludicrous predictions, and cheering when I learned that the late (alas) Julian Simon had won his bet with Ehrlich who, being an apocalyptic, shroud-waving forecaster of the very gloomiest kind reckoned that the price of several different metals, which he chose, used in a variety of industries would rise through the roof due to scarcity and depletion.  Their prices actually fell!  Ehrlich also said that the greatest threat to the population was, er, well, population and that unless strict rules were imposed to control the growth then, well, it was the End of the World!  All total 'blx', of course!

 

Is Australia real?   Oooops, that was rather clumsily put, let me explain before the wrath of AussieD and Andra descends on my innocent head!  Last night I watched half of an Australian movie called "Goldstone".  The setting was in the middle of Australia, than which you could not find a more totally empty place outside of a vacuum!  The long shots showed a zillion acres of nothing, absolutely nothing, but sand and more sand, some rock and distant - very distant - mountains.  Every ten thousand acres or so, there was a single, weedy looking tree but how it got there and how it survived I do not know.  I was reminded of "Waiting for Godot" and any minute I expected Vladimir and Estragon to wander in!  Frankly, being something of a anti-Peeps grouch these days, I was tempted to emigrate.  However, in the film, from time to time in the, er, storyline, a police post would suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere.  Then a bar, equally empty but where its customers would came from was a mystery.  Then, and this made me giggle, in the middle of all this empty nothingness, a 'knocking shop' appeared manned, or perhaps 'womanned' is more accurate, by five oriental girls.  In my admittedly brief meetings with 'Aussies', I have found them to be very sociable, particularly when the beers starts to flow, but the Aussies in this film could barely put more than two words together.  So, my appeal to my Aussie friends, if I have any left, is simple - is that the way things are in deepest, emptiest Australia?

 

Beware La France!   So there was this very decent British chap, wearing bright clothing and cycling along a well-used mountain cycle path in rural France and minding his own business when - bang! - suddenly a local hunter shot him dead!  I don't wish to make light of it because it was a double tragedy for the man on the bike - and the man with the gun.  Even so The Telegraph reports:

It is the latest in a series of hunting accidents in which people have been killed or severely wounded.  Last year a 59-year-old hiker was shot dead by a hunter in the southern Drôme department, and a woman sitting in her garden was killed by a stray bullet fired by a hunter.  In 2016, 18 fatal hunting accidents were reported in France.

Mon Dieu!

 

"O, wad some Power the giftie gie us":   To hear oursels as others hear us!  Yes, I think I need some advice from my old e-pal, 'Jimmy Glesga', on this story of a bust-up on Medway Council when an exceedingly Scottish councillor was asked to speak slower by an English councillor because he couldn't follow the words.  Needless to say, the Jock, originally from Glasgow (need I say more?), went off on one and whilst he didn't threaten to "put ma heed in wi' ma bonnet on' he did become exceedingly cross.  My sympathy is entirely with the other man who is, like me, half Scottish.  I listen regularly to 'TOOOORKSPOOOORT' in the mornings which features the very Scottish Alan Brazil sometimes accompanied by the even more Scottish Ally McCoist.  I would understand more listening to Radio Bulgaria!

 

What's the Chinese for 'I told you'?   Fascinating piece at Zero Hedge reporting that there have been sporadic outbursts of violence by ordinary home-owning Chinese because of the falls in property values.  The government is now scrabbling to do what it takes to stabilise prices but we all know how good governments are at that sort of thing!  Here in the west we are familiar with the ups and downs of market forces but in China where they are enjoying wealth undreamed of hitherto, the anger could be exceedingly rough!

 

'Mutti' Merkel might not feel too well tonight!   According to early reports based on exit polls, the voters of Bavaria just gave her and her party an almighty kick up the backside.  What's the German for 'ohdearwhatapitynevermind'?

 

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

Mary Midgely, 1919-2018, R.I.P.

I picked up this obit as I cruised The Telegraph and the name, sort of, rang some dim bells in that yawning chasm that is my memory.  As I have mentioned before, in my 40s I drifted into philosophy.  Alas, I did no more than paddle in the (very) shallow end because I lacked both the time and the brain to cope with the deep end!  At about the same time, I also became fascinated with Darwinian theory which, of course, has enormous philosophical ramifications.  It took that rather silly man, Richard Dawkins, to pick up the Darwinian 'ball' and attempt to kick his 'Selfish Gene' nonsense over the bar to score a goal.  Alas for him, amongst his very many intelligent critics was Mary Midgely who applied some much needed corrections to his theory - good for her!

I am severely tempted to buy one of her books but I dare not, my Kindle, already full to bursting, might explode!  Anyway, farewell to an exceedingly intelligent lady.

 

 

Yet again I bow to the superior wisdom of Mr. Quentin Letts

Dammit, these professional commentators can wrap up a ragbag of proposals, counter-proposals; policies, counter-policies; hot air, cold air, into as neat a parcel as you could wish for, and no-one does it better than the highly intelligent and very witty Mr. Quentin Letts.  Today, in The Telegraph he summarises the giant - Obscenity Warning! - 'clusterfuck' that Mrs. May has led us into in the so-called Brexit negotiations.  I confess that I have rarely held a high opinion of any government but the pathetic, cack-handed, amateurish and almost traitorous stupidity of her and her non-government is almost beyond parody.  The woman is not capable of running a Parish Council let alone Her Majesty's government.

Mr. Letts sums it up thus:

The Brexit drama has reached Act V, its denouement at hand. Mrs May’s aides spoke of the past seven days as ‘Hell week’, though every week for them must be a torment and the next may be even worse. She is finally having to make up her mind. Proper leaders embrace decision-making with a show of mastery.

Mrs May retreats into her hermit’s cave, bilious liquids seeping under the boulder she has rolled in its entrance. She is resentful, ineloquent, remote. What a deadly cabbage. Her lackeys in the appeasing Press accuse pro-Brexit Tories of being disloyal. She is the disloyal one. She is plotting to chain us to a hostile Brussels. She has betrayed the electorate and her party.

Her only success thus far is to make me think that perhaps, after all, Neville Chamberlain wasn't that bad!  Next week the Tory party, that is, the Tory MPs, must 'man up' and put an end not only to her all too obvious misery but ours as well.  Yes, I realise the dangers of a Corbyn government arising from the ashes but I'll grin and bear it because within a couple of years his chronic stupidity will be obvious to everyone.  However, better still would be for Boris, or someone, anyone, to take over the government and just head for the European exit no matter what!

 

Do NOT read this if you are of a nervous disposition!

No, I am not, as 'that woman' once put it, "frit" but I am becoming distinctly uneasy.  All around the globe the political tectonic plates are shifting and no-one has a clue where they will eventually end up and how much damage will be wrought as they crunch and crash against each other.

At home, here in 'dear old Blighty', our less than distinguished Prime Minister fumbles and stumbles her way through the morass of Brexit and her party appears to be in complete disarray.  I fear an election is imminent and, though I can hardly believe it, there is a very real chance that Corbyn and his 'praesidium' of ultra-Marxist maniacs might seize control.  If they do, I may well emigrate to St. Helena!  

Europe continues to be nothing more than "a mess of pottage"!  Quite apart from their arrogant stupidity in trying to humiliate us as we seek a reasonable Brexit, they are laying into the newly elected and highly passionate Italian government which is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. At the same time they are, unbelievably, trying to bully one of the biggest bullies in Europe, Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary.  The chances of him, a 'wannabe' dictator, bending the knee to Brussels is less than that of an ice cube in hell!  Other East Europeans are already looking East rather than West preferring 'Vlad the Impaler' to EU fanatics like 'Junck the Drunk'.

Meanwhile, 'over there', the tensions mount and when our 'Yankee-doodle' friends lose their tempers, so to speak, you had better take cover!  The 'deserving' Dems, by which I mean that the Dems always believe they deserve everything all of the time, have found it impossible to reconcile their loss of the Presidency in 2016.  Their fires are now being stoked by the woman who really and truly thought she deserved to win because, well, it was her turn.  As the old saying has it, always beware a woman scorned!  Of course, 'The Donald' is not exactly a man to accept his victory quietly and to extend the gentlemanly hand of friendship to the woman who lost.  On the contrary, he struts his stuff across the headlines and the internet of the world, never losing an opportunity to rub it in.  Where will it end?  I do not know but the imminent result of the mid-term election will be critical.  If the Dems lose 'big time', or even if they only achieve a 'no-score' draw, their fires will be stoked even higher and the more extreme elements will indulge in even greater and more dangerous stupidity.

Needless to say, this is the worst of times for America to be obsessed with internal warfare as, what I call 'the Chinese creep' slowly but inexorably extends around the globe backed up by an increasingly powerful military.  There was a time when I had some hopes for Chairman Xi Jinping, the 'Mr. Smiley', or should that be the 'Mr. Smirky', of China.  Alas, no more!  It is obvious that he is just another wannabe ruler of the universe with the sort of insane ambitions that nearly always end in tragedy.  Whatever one might think about 'The Donald' I am totally glad that he is leading the push back against Chinese ambitions and not that utter drip 'Obamarama'!

In the meantime, the South American 'hacienda' is crumbling to dust, including, I am sorry to say, the once mighty Brazil which, you may remember, was the leading initials in the collective noun 'BRICS'.  According to a report I read today, the Brazilian people are having to choose between two utterly useless and extremist politicians of the worst type to be their next 'el Presidente'.  The rest of South America seems to be collapsing into financial disaster.  Across the oceans, Africa is now an A1, prize basket-case from top to bottom and from east to west.  Anything useful in that continent has already been bought up by the Chinese so the impoverished Africans will not even get a smell of it!  Finally, there is India, a country of truly enormous possibilities which, God help it, is now seeking friendship with Russia - yeeeees, well, good luck with that one!  In the meantime, their big - no ENORMOUS - cities are stinking cesspits in which, quite literally, the air you breathe will kill you!

So there you have it, my friends, 'Doomster Duff' strikes again!  My only advice is that if you have been saving up a rare bottle of Scotland's finest tipple for Christmas, fageddaboutit, knock the top off and drink it now!  Er, have a nice day!

 

 

In defence of Churchill

Regular readers will be aware that over recent months I have expressed some exceedingly critical thoughts concerning Winston Churchill which has irritated some of my readers.  However, I would like to re-emphasise that my criticisms were centred on several decisions he took as a minister in a WWI government and as the Prime Minister in WWII.  Others, such as those who were 'outraged, I tell you, outraged' when an American astronaut quoted Churchill and was well and truly pounded on the internet, dragged up the other, and more famous, accusations held against him.  I have never raised these because I simply do not know the facts - but I know a man who does - Mr. Andrew Roberts, the historian who has just published his biography of the Great Man which must bring the total number up to near a million biographies!

I will not try to paraphrase Mr. Roberts retaliation to these accusers, as published in The Telegraph, but merely cut and paste the essence of it:

There [in my biography] he would find that the gas Churchill wanted to use in Iraq was tear gas, not the lethal mustard or chlorine gas. He would find that Churchill insisted on cashiering the general responsible for the Amritsar Massacre, and risked his career in the House of Commons defending that decision. Mr Kelly would also discover that the Irish Churchill wanted to attack were armed IRA terror-gangs, not innocent protesters. And so on, and so endlessly on. 

[…]

Nor was he in any way responsible for the Bengal Famine, which began after a terrible cyclone hit Bengal in October 1942, destroying the rice crop on which the inhabitants depended, as well as many of the roads and railways needed to bring in supplies.  […]  When one goes to the original documents, one reads letter after letter from Churchill to the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India suggesting measures to alleviate the suffering, and asking for grain shipments from President Roosevelt.  […]  The distinguished American historian Arthur Herman is not alone among historians in believing that ‘‘absent Churchill, India’s 1943 Famine would have been worse.”

Read the whole thing.  Happily, none of it crosses my criticisms of the old boy!

 

 

In which *our* Supreme Court 'done good'!

I cannot recall any words of praise from me to the 'Lordly Cocklecarrots' who sit on our judicial benches.  Usually, all they get from me is a pile of insults mixed with ridicule because all too often they appear to be as thick as the benches upon which they squat!  But today they get a full-blooded cheer from me for demonstrating some good sense, and more important, some good law.

In 2014, a homosexual ordered a decorated wedding cake on which he asked that the words "Support Gay Marriage" be 'written' in icing.  The owners of the bakery refused.  They were happy to make the cake but because the sentiment expressed in the message was against their fundamental beliefs, they refused to write it.  

The outraged homosexual then began, and pursued, a 4-year legal campaign against the bakery.  It has finally reached the Supreme Court who have come down firmly in support of the bakers.  The fact that Lady Hale presided raised my eyebrows because, although I can't quite remember the details of why, she remains in my mind as 'Cocklecarrot' of the first order.  If I am wrong, I apologise but in this instant 'the Lady done good'!

 

The Sunday Rumble: 7.10.18

I start the day with three hearty cheers!   And here is why.  First, the sun is shining which, I must admit, it has done pretty steadily for weeks and is yet another example of the truth that the sun shines on the righteous!  Second, (Sir) Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix by a mile - so what's new?  And third, and far and away the most important, those dim-dumb-Dems 'over there' found that their stupid, contrived plot which they undoubtedly thought was the 'cleverest clever thing' ever, collapsed on their silly heads.  Truly, it is good to be alive this Sunday.

 

Sorry, more Kavanaugh:   The last few days have been - and I choose my word deliberately - momentous for the USA.  Now there is a solid (small 'c') conservative majority on the Supreme Court which will not, I suspect, lead to any retro-active, revolutionary changes to existing law which is a pity because the despicable Roe v. Wade ruling needs to be changed in order to stop the wholesale massacre for profit of unborn children. However, what it will do is to provide, for considerable years to come, a safety barrier against the unconstitutional, socialist diktats likely to emanate from any Dem-controlled Congress in the future.  Now, if only old Granny Ginsberg, 102 (actually 85), could be induced to retire to her knitting then the 'Trumpeter' could seal his success in concrete with yet another constitutionalist on the Supreme Court!

 

My last word on the subject, er, until the next time!   I am grateful to Ms. Clarice Feldman at The American Thinker for publishing this summary of the trustworthiness, or otherwise, of Ms. Christine Blasey Ford:

She refused to hand over the results of her polygraph

She refused to hand over her 2012 therapist's notes

She said she was afraid to fly, but has flown dozens of times.

Since she did in fact fly, she offered no other reason for the delay

She said she wanted anonymity but contacted [the Washington Post] multiple times

Said she got advice from "beach friends" but didn't mention that the primary one was a former FBI lawyer, Monica McLean, who worked for Preet Bharara, a man Trump fired. She also failed to mention, when talking of her Beach friends at the hearing, that Monica was sitting right behind her.

She had a perfect memory of 1982 but couldn't remember basic things from the previous 10 weeks

She'd been drinking.

She changed the year of the alleged attack

She named 4 people, but had no backers

She couldn't remember how she got home even though her story had her escaping the house far from home, pre-cell phone.

She gave no location or any details that could be researched for verification.

She never told anyone and never claimed PTSD prior to Kavanaugh's name circulating 30 years later.

She said that she put the 2nd door on her house because of PTSD, but evidence shows it was to get around zoning laws to create a rentable apartment.

She said she didn't know that Grassley offered to come to her, even though it was broadcast nationally.

She feigned no knowledge of polygraphs even though her ex's sworn statement said she'd coached Monica McLean how to beat it in the 1990s, and in any case her profession should have at least well acquainted her with it.

She co-authored a paper on repressed memory creation years before she claimed to have one

Nothing is known of her pharmacology, but given her past alcoholism, her visits to a therapist and her general presentation, odds are high that it's extensive.

She scrubbed her social media. We know from a pussy hat photo that she was rabidly anti-Trump.

She had zero family or friends with her, not from the 80s nor from today. She was surrounded only by Democrat Party handlers.

Constant cries of bravery & "nothing to gain" vs a $700,000 GoFundMe and a career boosted a la Anita Hill

Literally all there is her word vs all of the above. Not a shred of evidence.

The defence rests, m' Lud!

 

Not all 'luvvies' are loonies:   Take Michael Caine, for instance.  The Telegraph did an in depth interview with him and this passage sums him up:

He’s self-made in the purest sense, surviving slums and trenches, pushbacks and heartbreaks, failure, discrimination, alcoholism and grief. He has strived, thrived, succeeded – professionally and personally.

I have mentioned before that he did a tour in Korea during that vicious war and he was as far 'up the sharp end' as you could get.  He has suffered more than his fair share of vicissitudes, including a brush with alcoholism, but has managed to achieve great success and wealth which he has used to benefit his family.  In other words, 'a proper geezer' as our Cockney friends might put it.

 

Now, about these bloody mince-pies:   It's wicked, I tell you, wicked!  On the very first day of October, practically three months before Christmas, my local Sainsburys put on display stacks of boxes of mince-pies.  And do you know, no matter how fast I eat them - which, of course, I only do to remove temptation from others - they keep replacing them.  What's the fancy Latin name for 'death by mince-pies'?

 

I'm not sure I have the courage to read it!   The formidable Peter Hitchens has written a book entitled "The Phoney Victory: The World War II Illusion" which, as I understand it, amounts to a major demolition of the myth that Winston Churchill was a great war leader.  Well, I lost that idea years ago, I think it started when I read the memoirs of the late Lord Alanbrook who served as his Chief of Staff for most of the war.  Churchill had some superb qualities but as a 'hands on' war leader he was almost criminally inept.  The only saving grace he had was that most of the people around him (but not Alanbrook) were even more useless! 

 

 

No more rumbles 

 

 

When ladies start spending - hide your wallet!

I have started digging a hole in my garden in order to bury my life savings - and it's no good coming round here with your metal-detectors because the tin containing the 'booty' is very, very tiny!  The reason for my fear is simple, Mrs. May, our beloved PM - er, she is beloved, isn't she? - has declared that "austerity" is over.  When PMs say that sort of thing you just know that they are going to emulate the infamous 'drunken sailor -  no, no, not you, JK! - and start spending money - my money, as I fondly think of it! - with tremendous enthusiasm in order to prove that they are not mean-minded 'nasties' grinding the faces of the poor into the ground.  They believe that by making such announcements they will suddenly become beloved of the dreaded 'Peeps', and they may well be right, given that the average level of intelligence amongst the 'Peeps' is smaller than the square root of -1.

I should add quickly, that I do not rate my own intelligence much higher but the advantage I have over most 'Peeps' is that I am an old geezer!  I have seen it, and felt it and suffered for it, all before.  This Tory government hasn't done much in the last few years but it can make one boast to the effect that it has inched very close to achieving a balanced budget and thereby reducing our need to borrow.  Of course, our national borrowing is 'yuuuuuuuuuge' and getting 'yuuuuuuuuger' because each minute of each day the interest racks up.  However, if we allow Mrs. May out on her own in the 'international High Street' with carte blanche to spend, spend, spend and borrow, borrow, borrow then all I can say is "be afraid, be very afraid!"

'Still 'n' all', as they say 'over there', it could be worse because letting a middle-aged, middle-class lady like Mrs. May out on a spending spree is one thing, but letting a decrepit, daft, old nincompoop like 'Jezza' out with the national credit card accompanied by a gang of Trots with the average age and acumen to be found in any Polytechnic students' club would see Britain closed and shuttered in double quick time. 

 

 

Carry on up the Kremlin!

Normally, I would not look to Russia for laughs.  The impression it gives is one of endless, dour, sad misery.  A lot of Russians would agree, you only need to listen to some Shostakovich to sense how deep the misery has sunk into their psyche.  Even so, they are more than capable of providing endless giggles to outside observers as the recent antics of their, er, Security Service  - who sniggered? - demonstrated.

First, we had the farrago of their attempt to murder one of their own which they cocked-up and instead succeeded only in killing a totally innocent English woman.  Her tragic death apart, the rest of it was pure 'Carry On' and all it lacked was Charles Hawtrey.  Now we have the hilarious report of the 'four Russian stooges' who came over to eavesdrop electronically on the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.  They were nabbed because, apart from actually hanging "I am a Russian spy" sign round their necks, they made every possible error in the book!

The Dutch and British security forces picked up all their computers and phones and are now in possession of a veritable gold-mine of information about the workings of the GRU.  As the late, great Sid James would have put it in his deep-voiced, throaty chuckle, "Heh, heh, heh!"

 

 

The BBC is BS!

The other day I mentioned my deep desire for the BBC to be sold off to the highest bidder.  For years now it has been living off its old, former and decent reputation as a strictly neutral purveyor of news but that was then.  Now, it is a heavily slanted, opinionated purveyor of metropolitan group-think which the British people have to pay for whether they like it or not.

Today, Guido offers the demonstrable proof of BBC bias in the Brexit debate by analysing the political nature of the 'guests' who feature on the three main news discussion programmes - Question Time, Politics Live and Any Questions.

Since the start of the political season in September, 72% of the official panel guests across the three shows have been Remainers, while a mere 28% have been Leavers. A whopping 87% of the panels had a Remainer majority – only 13% of shows had a panel equally balanced between Leavers and Remainers. Not once have Leavers outnumbered Remainers. [My emphasis]

Sell it off to my ex-best friend, 'Rupe', or better still, just give it to him!

 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 30.9.18

Never mind the Mocking Bird, let's all kill Kavanaugh:   I am grateful to Ms. Ellen Anthony at the American Thinker who reminds me of the famous story of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and thus prompting me to this thought.  She reminds me that the, er, 'heroine' of the story is 'Miss Mayella Ewell' who is a lying-liar of the first order when she makes up the story of an innocent man sexually molesting her.  Am I right in thinking that she is now the spiritual head of the #METOO movement?  Jes' askin'!

 

'Fauxcahontas' announces her run for the Presidency:  Er, well, sort of, you know, like, maybe but then again, maybe not!  Personally, I hope she does because American politics is desperately in need of some laughs and they don't come much more comical than 'Big Chiefette Fauxcahontas' who is, of course, 'a heap big squaw'!

 

Germany in the Scheisse:   See, it's not all bad news!  Apparently Germany has failed to meet EU climate targets which makes them sehr ungezogene Jungs (very naughty boys - do brush up on your languages!)  Apparently that will cost them 2 billion euros to which one can only reply, oh je, wie schade, vergiss es which translates, of course, as 'oh dear, what a pity, never mind!'

 

I'll pass on the cake, Mrs. West, if that's OK:   According to The Mail, Mrs. Rose West, currently serving life in F-wing at HMP Low Newton is proving to be something of a cake-making wizard and has won the prison 'bake off' competition.  She and her late husband, Fred, raped and murdered their own daughter and then went on to kill another nine girls.  At least Fred had the good manners to kill himself and thus save us tax-payers some money but she lives on.

 

"Pack of Lies" by Hugh Whitemore:  As I mentioned before, during my London excursion I went to see "Pack of Lies" by the late Hugh Whitemore.  A little diamond of a play which was once lucky enough to have me playing one of the roles - and I heard that!  It re-tells the real story of the 1960s operation in suburban London which led to the arrest of Helen and Peter Kroger who were deep-cover agents for the Soviet Union.  The title of the play sums it up because virtually everyone in it is practicing deceit of one kind or another.  It is running until November so if you have an idle evening in town it is worth seeing.  Interestingly, the lady playing the lead, Ms. Finty Williams, is the daughter of Dame Judi Dench who played the role when the play first opened in the early '80s!  Ms. Williams is excellent, and so is Ms. Macy Nyman who plays the teen-age daughter of the central characters - a talent to watch out for!

 

Car/train/plane crash ahead!   The Conservative party conference is opening and "there will be blood"!  Mind you, that will be nothing in comparison to the oceans of blood likely to be spilled as the move to Brexit reaches the terminal - or should that be 'terminator'?

 

Sorry, America, but we won - BIGTIME!   As I have mentioned before, my one and only attempt to play what I call 'Hockey at the Halt' ended at the 7th hole, well, actually, well short of the hole!  Even so, I have considerable admiration for those who have (sort of) mastered it because it is damned tricky.  So it is with some pleasure that I learn we have won, and by a stonking margin, the Ryder Cup.  Jolly good show, chaps!

 

The young 'thruster', er, thrusts!   Mr. Gavin Williamson MP, 181/2, who is our new, dashing Minister of Defence is sending 800 British troops into the arctic, er, well, northern Norway, actually!  It is designed, apparently, to send a warning to 'Vlad the Impaler' - bet he's shaking in his boots!  Actually, the first field exercise I ever did in the army was in the Norwegian arctic circle and I thought I was going to freeze to death - until, in the morning, I saw dozens of Norwegian 'kiddie-winkies' skipping along to school in shorts!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

 

The Corbyn cornucopia

Well, at least 'Jezza's' programme for his future government is as clear as crystal, no 'ifs', 'buts' or 'maybes', it can be summarised in a single phrase:

'Whatever you want we will give it to you,

no matter what it costs'!

 

There you are, couldn't be clearer, could it?  In the unlikely, nay, impossible, chance you don't quite grasp it, then 'Jezza' has two assistants on his Left - and boy do I ever mean LEFT! - to make things crystal clear because they are both steeped in Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist philosophy, er, well, if you can call ramming communism down peoples' throats and murdering anyone who complains a philosophy!

The first is Comrade Seamus Milne who is, of course, a privately-educated (Winchester), son of a toff who has breezed through life at the top with nary a care in the world and has never done a real job in his life because editing sundry Left-wing rags does not qualify you for anything.  The second is Andrew Murray, yet another privately educated, son of a stockbroker/banker ' who is a 'red in tooth and claw' Marxist who only left the Communist Party of Britain and joined the Labour party in 2016.  These are the two men 'Jezza' has sitting to his left because - natch! - he does not want anyone sitting to his right!

I will leave it to you, dear reader, to use the links to their Wiki entries and thus better judge the men likely to have extreme influence over 'Jezza' in the truly ghastly, and frightening, possibility that the people of this country go mad and vote him into power.

 

HOUSE NOTICE:  Tomorrow morning I am off to London for an over-night stay and I will be back Friday evening.  And, yes, I am taking the 'Memsahib' with me because you cannot believe she would let me loose in London all on my own!

 

 

He's a very silly Sikh - and a naughty one, too!

I refer to Guardsman Charanpreet Singh Lall of the Coldstream Guards who made a name for himself at the Trooping the Colour this year by being the first guardsman to parade wearing a Sikh turban.  Good for him, I thought, and good for the Guards, too,  because Sikhs have an exceedingly warlike reputation.

Alas, he was caught out in a surprise drug test which the army spring on the 'Toms' from time to time.  Apparently he had been indulging in cocaine.  Of course, his RSM (Regimental Sergeant Major) will no doubt have a few words to say, er, well, not 'say' exactly, more like bellow into his ear from very close quarters.  My advice to Guardsman Lall is to keep his turban on to protect his ears!  Mind you, what the RSM has to say will, I suspect, pale in significance to what his Mum, Dad and sister have to say when he gets home - especially Mum who looks like a lady one would not wish to cross!

It's all a great pity because he looks like a very smart soldier so I hope the Army give him a second chance because, of course, getting into trouble, in way or another, is what 'Toms' do so awfully well!

 

History, heh!

The problem with history is that it's just like the present, absolutely stuffed full of those damned "unknown unknowns'!  However, to be fair, at least today we can discern - just about! - where and how they gradually became 'known knowns'!  Yes, as you will have guessed, I am still diligently working my way through "The Story of Britain" by Sir Roy Strong.  I have now reached what I suspect is the fulcrum of the story - Henry VIII.

He, of course, was far more than just the "very naughty boy" we were all taught about at 'skool' because he was, in fact, a monstrous, murderous maniac, although to be fair, so were most of his predecessors!  However, such was the monumental nature of his - dare I say? - revolutionary actions that the entire history of Britain shifted to a new axis.  Much of what he wrought was in fact the work of what might be called Britain's first 'Head of the Civil Service', a certain Master Thomas Cromwell.  (So no change there then!)  I mention all this because a new, and apparently definitive, biography of the man has just been issued:  "Thomas Cromwell: A Life" written by Diarmaid McCullach.

‘The likeness that has shaped the tormented afterlife’: Hans Holbein the Younger’s 1532-33 portrait of Thomas Cromwell (detail). Photograph: Fine Art/Corbis via Getty Images

I am pleased to say that Ms. Hilary Mantel, whose very fictional novel of the man captured the public imagination, has written in praise of McCullach's ultra-realistic book despite it being a very different portrait.  Anyway, dammit, that's yet another book I just must have!

 

 

Oh God, yet more books!

I'm getting to the age where I am wondering if I'll live long enough to read them all!  I am still progressing gradually through 'The Story of Britain' by Sir Roy Strong, superb book but there's awful lot of it!  Waiting for me in my super-duper Kindle, the greatest invention since sliced bread, is the 'LA Quartet' by James Ellroy who is, I suspect 'a very naughty boy'!  But this week the bloody Spectator - which I urge you to subscribe to - has a couple of book reviews which I am quite unable to resist.  All I wonder is whether or not my titchy, skinny, little Kindle will be able to squeeze them in?

The first is a 'must have' - and if SoD is reading this he should buy a copy quick!  It is called "Our Boys: The Story of a Paratrooper" by a lady, Ms. Helen Parr, who is the niece of the late Dave Parr, a 19-year old private in 2 Para who was killed in the Falklands in 1982 by incoming artillery fire.  I gather that the book is part biography of Pte. Parr but also part history of the Parachute Regiment and it's development, including the 'naughty bits'! There is one particularly galling fact that Pte. Parr's eventual funeral in England, attended by many of his comrades who knew the secret that he had been killed by 'friendly fire' but the family did not!

Then, I'm afraid, it's 'more war' in the form of the latest book by one of the very best modern historians, Max Hastings.  It is on the subject of arguably the most devastating war since the end of WWII - "Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy".  Well, any war is a tragedy but it is amazing how the Vietnam war, which absolutely dominated the world when it was raging, has sort of sunk into oblivion.  Possibly, or probably, because no-one came out of it with much credit!  Anyway, I don't know that much about it so I will have to buy it.  You can read Saul David's review at The Spectator.