Vivat Libertas

I was reading this article fairly recently, which talks about Britain and a "two-speed Europe" - apparently, George Osborne's flip-flopped around on the issue a bit. Now he thinks that although Britain has a strong interest in the survival of the single currency, bailing Greece out is off-limits and we should have a two-speed EU, with eurozone countries as some kind of inner circle and with us on the outside. The article explains it better than I do. Hell, some of the comments (if you dare delve into the glorified insult-slinging which makes up a fair bit of the comments section) explain it better than I do, but these are just some of my random thoughts. Firstly, a two-speed Europe is a bit of a moronic thing to do if Britain wants any influence in the world (which it should aim for if we're to get the economy back on its feet and if we're not to become totally irrelevant). We can no longer afford to isolate ourselves and hope that the colonies will prop us u

At the risk of overloading people with a low tolerance for glurge , (for those who don't know, glurge refers to those sickeningly saccharine anecdotes and media tidbits with puppies, kittens, Jesus, inspirationally disadvantaged little kids and all sorts of other equally disgusting things), I'd like to link to the Paradoxical Commandments . As downright sentimental as it is, it's still just a tiny bit heartwarming...yes, I'm a big softie inside. The thing about the Paradoxical Commandments is that they're not actually that much of a paradox - they only look that way because most of the steps have been left out. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. [sic] Love them anyway. Yes, they're all of those things, but they're also rational, reasonable and altruistic. They help you through troubled times and they'll stand behind you when you really need them. John Donne once wrote that "no man is an island" - and although the quote&

A very short, random poem I wrote about the effect Pablo Neruda's poetry had on me. It was kind of just a spur-of-the-moment thing and I hadn't posted in ages, so... Neruda With your pen and voice and sheer poetry You touched my heart, softly stroking it - Sounding a string or two, deeper and richer Than I thought I'd know. On a starless English night You swept away the clouds And let me see the bright pinpoints of a lover's dreamworld. My heart and mind were wrenched, I didn't care, I fell to it like some lovesick maniac and let loose the feelings I'd kept hidden for so long. That night, I held the pages, more fragile than a wing, between my fat fingers and came so close to love I felt I could touch its face: To me, nothing mattered More than words.