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Noes Out of Jaunt
The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost, has told his opposite number, Michel Barnier, not to bother coming over for the final bout of trade talks unless the EU fundamentally changes its position. In response, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission’s head Beurocrat has noted that her own team will go to London anyway,…
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Tiers for Fears
Who are the most relieved people in the UK right now? No, apart from the Russian currency speculators? Retired epidemiologists. Like many other academics, epidemiologists have merrily nurtured careers and pontificated on their theoretical expertise, their forecasts, and their models, and then it all came crashing down. They became relevant as reality kicked in. Worse…
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Mealy-Mouthed
Congratulations to Marcus Rashford on his MBE for his work to alleviate child hunger in a first world country. In these times, we might very well celebrate altruistic star leverage of personal influence. Most of them are out sharking social media and spouting fatuous twaddle in order to scoop up a sackful of Twitter or…
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Dread Locked
So, batshit albino-bear Johnson gave his conference speech, which was less of a serious manifesto and more that of an acid-dropping ‘Generation Game’ contestant with a limited time to recall as much as possible on the political conveyor belt before the breathing walls closed in around him. And ‘Didn’t he do well?’ Well, no. The…
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Nacho Concern
I had thought that the demise of Debenhams – entirely self-inflicted but precipitated by the COVID catalyst – would rest at the pinnacle of premier-league self-pity. And then I read about Cineworld who are temporarily battening down the hatches, ostensibly owing to further delays to the release of Bond 25, No Time to Die. Now,…
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Bitter Ex
I made a trip to the opticians recently, which considering the now mandatory COVID re-engineering of processes went essentially smoothly. Professional and organised staff, hassle-free, and frames that nestled peacefully on my asymmetric features. To top it off, I saved a hefty chunk on my last similar purchase. A fat, juicy tick in the customer…
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Down in One?
Momus, the god of satire and mockery, must be sitting on a cloud somewhere, pleased with his day’s work. President Trump, who had reportedly played down COVID, has acquired the germ. And it was confirmed on The National Day of the People’s Republic of China. The old Kung Flu is not so funny now, I’ll wager.…
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Lacquer Integrity
So now we know why Donald Trump didn’t want his tax information in the public domain. The whole caper reflects either a colossal commercial car crash or some egregious, cynical loss generation in order to avoid IRS liability. If he’s gone cap in hand for bailouts, I wonder who would be propping him up? I…
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Collars and Cuffs
Tragic news from Croydon where a Police Custody Sergeant has been shot dead in a secure custody suite. Nothing can detract from the awful reality that a man has lost his life. Most telling, though, is the gamut of reactions on social media. Pro-police commentators have trumpeted that the Sergeant was ‘murdered’. Others are beyond…
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The Golden Shirk-All
The plot of the second ‘Kingsman‘ movie centres on a psycho drug dealer holed up in the jungle, who infects her product with a deadly virus and blackmails the world for in exchange for the vaccine she’s already developed. Her gang is the self-styled ‘Golden Circle’. All those who believe in conspiracy theories, snag a…
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Fighting the Good Fight…
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