Monthly Archives: November 2016

A Coming Storm, June 6th, 1885; e pur si muove, tre

Posted on November 25, 2016 by

In the first week of June 1885, London’s beloved horse-racing festival, the Derby Day meeting, was taking place on Epsom Downs. The era’s greatest jockey, Fred Archer, came home first in the two premier races — both the Derby and the … Continue reading →

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Cherished by the Puritans

Posted on November 23, 2016 by

This is how Chambers Book of Days in 1869 explained Thanksgiving to the British. You just have time to read this before settling down to an evening of “rustic games and amusements”. THANKSGIVING DAY IN AMERICA The great social and religious festival of … Continue reading →

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“Not a novel experiment”

Posted on November 20, 2016 by

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but it appears there are those citizens out there today who believe a majority of street people are in some way comfortable with hand-outs. Those who blame the poor often wonder why do-gooders aren’t practical-minded enough to try to … Continue reading →

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You’re not the boss of me, or are you?

Posted on November 9, 2016 by

Has not the British Constitution changed so much since the Act of Parliament allowing admittance into the European Common Market in 1972 that some old rules cease to have application — and the myth of Parliamentary sovereignty is one? EU … Continue reading →

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Diamonds are Forever

Posted on November 8, 2016 by

Though it’s by no means the full story — to find that you might want go to my book, An Infinite Deal Of Nothing — and it does not even reveal the name of the man who was actually guilty of … Continue reading →

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Even the bad times are good

Posted on November 7, 2016 by

An irony of the lust for content to fill up hours of broadcast, megabytes of digital and pages of newsprint,  is that one bad thing ‘done good’ for a Presidential candidate, while a good thing ‘done bad’ for the other. The bad thing? … Continue reading →

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Mia constitutional crisis e sua constitutional crisis

Posted on November 4, 2016 by

We are spectators as some settled precepts of democracy come unglued. It is happening in the two countries where you’d bet the farm it would not have happened. Might it be that old, comforting representative democracy is just town crier in a … Continue reading →

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Telephone’s early adopters

Posted on November 2, 2016 by

An aside into Victorian business life is the fact that when a London solicitors sent a letter on April 27 1885, its headed paper quoted the firm’s telephone number. The number was 1095 and there genuinely were another 1094 phones … Continue reading →

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