Monthly Archives: July 2012

I’d been reading a History of Rome, and I’d got to the bit about the infamous Caudine Forks. A Roman army marching through Italy in 321 BC decided to take a short-cut through a narrow pass. When they got to … Continue reading →

H/T Rose for this. Just two weeks after voting through a law requiring smokers’ homes to be identified ( a story I covered here), Santa Monica town council has climbed down. The City Council failed to put on the books … Continue reading →

I’ve always understood that one day I’ll die, and that I live out my life in a journey from the entrance gate of birth to the exit gate of death. When I was a boy, I once asked my father … Continue reading →

Following on from last night’s remarks about how the culture of government and of citizenry diverged during periods when most people felt sufficiently contented to not bother taking an active interest in political events, clearly at some point discontent starts … Continue reading →

I used to be content with life. But these days I am no longer content. The discontent began on 1 July 2007, and has remained ever since, just like those overcast English summers we seem to have had every year … Continue reading →

Tobacco Control regards smoking as a disease, and sees the prevalence of smoking as an epidemic that claims millions of lives. In their view, it’s essentially no different from typhoid or dysentery or bubonic plague. But, in my way of … Continue reading →