| Along Hadrian’s Wall, at regular intervals, there are guard-posts. Small stone residences from which a watch could be kept. They’re set at regular intervals along the wall, and most of them, perhaps all of them but one, have a very good view to the North. It’s that one that sticks in my mind. It is built down to one side of a rise in the ground – the wall goes up and over the top. If this guard-post had been built at the top of the rise, the guards inside would have been able to see everything, everywhere. As it is, they would have had, at best, only a partial view of any incursion by the Scots. Not good. The interesting thing about this guard-post is that it is exactly equidistant between its neighbouring guard-posts. On paper, it is exactly in the right place. Back in 2013, a businessman was convicted of fraud for selling fake bomb-detection equipment. Heard this morning – that kit is still in use in Iraq, and perhaps elsewhere. On paper, the good guys can detect bombs. But. | 
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What happens here
This site is updated weekly, usually on a Friday although I might change that (again). I write it because (1) I like writing it and (2) I like having a deadline. More often than not, it works out as a commentary on the week just passed*.
There are no ads, no pop-ups and no tricky business with cookies. I don't take money for my own opinions. [Except when they come out in book form.] I write this for myself, without a set agenda, on any subject that catches my attention. If you're interested enough, it's not hard to work out my interests. Not impossible, anyway. *Although I seem to have gone away from that recently. Normal service may or may not be resumed. No data is kept on this website overnight. Blog posts are shared to my Facebook author page. We can discuss them there if you feel so inclined.
There's a page for this, but maybe you'd like to see the cover here?
Where are we now? We're hurtling round the sun, held to the ground by a weak force that we don’t begin to understand, arguing about trade deals between the land masses on a planet mostly covered by water.
The dolphins must think us ridiculous. No wonder they only come to the shallow water to play with us, not to signal their most complex philosophies. More. Riddle. It takes two to make me, but when I'm made, I'm only a memory. What am I? Scroll down to find out.
Is that a catastrophe I see before me? Could be. There was a clear sky earlier, but now clouds are encroaching from the North. We could be in for a storm. More.
You found me!
Welcome. Thank you for coming. But am I the right William Essex? Click here to meet some more. Read My Shorts?
Here is yet another page of old blog posts and other writings. Sorry, but I need my metaphorical sock drawer for metaphorical socks. The link to the page is right at the end of the paragraph here.
Roads without end
Here is a passage from a review of the book The Road to Somewhere by David Goodhart. I haven't read the book (yet), but the collected reviews would make a worthwhile set of political arguments in their own right. More.
Also available in English. 'Can I Quote You on That?'
State of the Union
Several commentators today saying that they've lost confidence in the US. Making their point by talking up the glories of the past. After two weeks of this administration, they're not going back.
Were they wrong, and they've seen the light? Or has the US changed? I guess the latter is the intended meaning. But we should at least acknowledge the possibility... More. Categories
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