Monthly Archives: June 2013

Decline and Fall

Posted on June 30, 2013 by

Following on from last night’s look at institutional decay, via ZeroHedge I came across a couple of essays on the Rise and Fall of Great Powers. … it’s not the absolute wealth and power of any one nation or empire that … Continue reading →

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Rotten To The Core

Posted on June 29, 2013 by

H/T Margo for pointing out an article by Rob Lyons in Spiked: Last Tuesday, members of the American Medical Association (AMA), the body that represents US doctors, voted to recognise obesity as a disease in its own right. The notion … Continue reading →

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An Unlikely Antismoker

Posted on June 28, 2013 by

H/T Harley, for Smoking Bans Kill Freedom. It would be unremarkable, except that it’s written by an antismoker. I’m writing as someone who hates smoking and often walks out of restaurants and bars at the first whiff of smoke. He … Continue reading →

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One Of Us

Posted on June 27, 2013 by

I was sitting outside in my favourite pub garden this afternoon. A couple of other people were also sat outside, eating. I wondered if they were smokers or not. Eventually, after they’d finished eating, one of them lit a cigarette. … Continue reading →

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Where’s Eddie?

Posted on June 26, 2013 by

The Edward Snowden affair continues to attract headlines. And now Where’s Eddie? cartoons and photoshops. Here’s one from the Guardian: It’s all getting to be just like an old Cold War spat. Snowden is still in the transit lounge of … Continue reading →

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Dolled-up Wussbags

Posted on June 25, 2013 by

Came across this a few days back. Life Was Better With Cigarettes. When I first turned 21, Wisconsin was still fending off bordering states and their push against cigarettes by still allowing smoking in bars. What developed was smoke-filled dens called … Continue reading →

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Spy vs. Spy

Posted on June 24, 2013 by

I haven’t paid much attention to the Edward Snowden affair. His revelations – that the NSA reads everyone’s emails while they’re typing them – weren’t in the least bit surprising to me, because I’ve always thought that’s exactly what they … Continue reading →

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