Monthly Archives: April 2009

Derek Draper, psycho therapist, and his friends McPoison and Whelan

“There are 17 people that count, and to say that I am intimate with every one of them is the understatement of the century” Derek Draper, 23 June 1998.
There is little I can add to the well-published facts surrounding the odious activities of the head of Downing St. Strategy and Planning Unit, Damian McBride, except [...]

Did police brutality kill Ian Tomlinson and do we care?

. . . . . The answers are yes and yes. It matters that we know and that the police and government know that we are not prepared to tolerate any more abuses of our lives and liberties. Avaaz.org, with whom Thus is not affiliated but thoroughly admires, have launched a petition, which I hope [...]

Thus predicts at least some of these predictions will come true

. . . the problem is we don’t know which and in what order  . . . . 
A close friend, far richer and better-informed than I (not difficult) sent me some completely speculative global economic notes, which he admits depend upon force majeure and all that. See how many you agree with. I personally think [...]

UK anti-terror chief resigns after literally losing the plot – four months too late

Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, Metropolitan Police anti-terror ’supremo’ ‘promptly’ resigned yesterday after he was photographed outside 10 Downing St clutching a top secret document listing UK Al Qaeda suspects atop a sheaf of papers. “YOU CAN’T QUIT QUICKER THAN A THICK QUICK QUITTER” screamed the Sun, referencing the cheery advertising slogan of KwikFit, a tyres [...]

Turkey is a key Middle East bridge between East and West, not another Strasbourg Uncle Tom

Turkey is a key Middle East bridge between East and West, not another Strasbourg Uncle Tom. By John J Kelly
“Let me say this as clearly as I can. The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. . . America’s relationship with the Muslim world world cannot and will not be [...]

Hyena men and Ethiopian young entrepreneurs

A couple of months ago I went to Eastern Ethiopia with my friend Simon Biltcliffe. It was mind-altering in many ways, not least because we travelled from London to the eastern region, near(ish) to the Somalian border and back to London in four days. Economy all the way, I might add.
We landed in the middle [...]