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Monthly Archives: May 2016
Language
Still pondering Europe in the run-up to the EU referendum, I came across an interesting essay (my added italics): The history of multinational ventures in Europe is not a good one. Over four hundred years, the Habsburg Empire was unable … Continue reading
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A Government Response
A month or so back I wrote to my MP about smoking bans in prisons. More recently I reported on escalating prison violence. I wrote: Prisoners are now being forced to stop smoking. We are constantly told that nicotine is … Continue reading
The Hyper-Fragile New World Order
With the Brexit vote less than a month away, I guess I’m not going to be able to get away from the topic of the EU for the next few weeks. But Spiked! has a bunch of very interesting essays … Continue reading
Personae Non Gratae
After yesterday’s good news, more bad news – this time from Montreal: Starting Thursday smokers become persona non grata on terrasses and public areas throughout Quebec. The final provisions of Quebec’s latest anti-tobacco law come into effect on May 26, 2016, … Continue reading
Nothing Is Inevitable
H/T Rose, and following on from yesterday’s Czech-related post: Failure of smoking ban bill sparks coalition war of words 26-05-2016 13:06 | Ian Willoughby The latest failed attempt to ban smoking in Czech pubs and restaurants has left the country’s … Continue reading
Crying In A Restaurant
Something by Pat Nurse that I found moving: I can’t comment on this blog for some reason but it’s well worth a read. If I could comment I would have said :”That sounds great. Do you have a link to the … Continue reading
Unbelievable
Last night I started watching E-cigarettes: Miracle or Menace? on BBC iplayer, but somehow lost interest after about 15 minutes. Thinking back on it this morning, I thought that some things had seemed rather implausible about the programme. They had … Continue reading
Pink Cadillac de Ville
I’d just walked into the car park when I caught sight of it. It may as well have been a flying saucer. But it was actually a pink Cadillac sedan. It’s not often you see pink Cadillacs anywhere, never mind … Continue reading
Europe’s Natural Borders
With the EU referendum barely a month away, my attention is being drawn more and more to Europe and all things European. The question we are being asked is: Do you want to be a sovereign nation state (Leave), or … Continue reading
Lord Ralph Harris
My attention was today drawn to the late Lord Ralph Harris: An economist, and director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, and founder of the Bruges group, he also became chairman of Forest. He was chairman of and the prime mover in … Continue reading
