29/08/2008 by admin.

Conflict is now joined and the focus shifts to the McCain rejoinder. This will undoubtedly focus on experience, the need for a continuity of foreign policy and the need for entrenchment in view of the economic situation. But will this be enough to counter the challenge which Barack Obama has thrown down? An interesting 10 weeks lie ahead. And of course it will vitally affect what happens in British politics, where the scene focuses on the economic situation and how near recession we are.

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23/08/2008 by admin.

The GB medal total and the number of golds were both terrific. This is an achievement for which all the participants should be acclaimed. The euphoria of the Bank Holiday weekend should be enjoyed whilst we all can.

Last, but not least, let us celebrate that the Games in Beijing have also been a triumph for Chinese organisation, flair and economic management so, for a moment, let us pause to acclaim this too and welcome China to the community of nations. Let us hope also that this heralds the opening up of China to all visitors.

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20/08/2008 by admin.

When I burst on the world of work in 1952, more-or-less straight from Cambridge I still had a strong Yorkshire accent. Cambridge had modified it a bit but not too much. The rest of my department was staffed entirely by people with received pronunciation so I strove to emulate them and, I guess, succeeded. Of course today I wouldn’t have done that. But I find, in an entirely prejudiced way, that some accents that one finds on TV grate a little, mainly, I am sorry to say, a Geordie or generic North Eastern accent, prevalent on the BBC (even on London Today for some obscure reason)  . I wonder why this is so? Asian, Carribean and the accent  reviled by Simon Heffer of the African American announcer on BBC4 bother me not the slightest so why am I so bothered by our friends from Newcastle?

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19/08/2008 by admin.

Where is Mr Brown? Not literally of course - we know he was in Scotland yesterday but he seems to be keeping out of the limelight. So far at least he has made little comment on Olympic success - Blair would have given a full interview to milk this for all it was worth and whilst this may not be GB’s style in a curious way we are beginning to miss it. It’s almost as if he is in a state of paralysis so far as the economic situation is concerned but on the other hand his highly-paid advisors may have told him to keep quiet before he unveils his Grand Economic Plan in … well when? September / October? It’s gotta be worth waiting for !

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10/08/2008 by admin.

Like everyone else I was bowled over by the opening ceremony. But the “West” always seems to be surprised by Chinese excellence. We already know how outstanding they can be in  other spheres; for instance western music, the fine arts, archaeology and increasingly western medicine in spite of the persistence of strange folk medicine. Sport too although they have seemed to excel in sports such as tennis, table tennis and badmintion. But if the Chinese were to take up cricket in a big way they would doubtless be contenders, if they were allowed to be, in world Twenty:20 games.

Perhaps we should cease to be surprised at the ingenuity and application of the Chinese and a little more understanding of their slow progress to our views of human freedom and diversity. China works !

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06/08/2008 by admin.

Well it had to be! The latest web craze. I joined it today. At least it will give my bons mots a bit of a wider audience. This blog has been neglected these summer days.I chiefly wanted to write about the extraordinary Machiavellian state of Labour Party politics. I wonder how much research is benefitting from all this. Who is conducting Mr Miliband’s private polls? Perhaps there is a twitter somewhere on the subject. Does he have a backer not far from the old Blairite seats of power?

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