Disqus - Latest Comments for robpatrob

Re: In search of deep England

robpatrob — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 11:39:29 -0000

The England that still lives - as does Deep America and Deep Canada where I live in a small town of less than 10,000 people - It's a wonderful idea that explains so much

Re: The death of the landlord

robpatrob — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 10:20:56 -0000

So, to protect the renter, in a time when few people can afford to buy a house, we add ever more regulation that takes rental properties off the market. So the young person/family is left with no choices

Re: Stop misgendering my dog | The Spectator

robpatrob — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 10:13:09 -0000

Long Hair obscures the bits - making the gender hard to discern sometimes BUT it is my experience that male and female characters and presence is easily observed in dogs. You just need to pay attention

Re: You’re never too old to stay in a youth hostel

robpatrob — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 09:31:11 -0000

This fall aged 72, I stayed in the Rome Hello Hostel - in a mixed dorm! It was excellent. Clean, well equipped - laundry, kitchen, mini restaurant, wifi, great bathrooms large common rooms and outdoor courtyard + smaller semi private rooms - and great location about 10 minutes walk north of the Station. I may have been one of the snorers I regret. But as most of the young straggled back to bed between 3am and 5am - I was asleep by 10 - I felt that we were quits. Highly recommend this

Re: When flying was fun

robpatrob — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 13:30:25 -0000

Entebbe was the normal fuelling stop for the London/Joburg route - I was there in 1969. I sat next to a new mum and her infant all the way. The poor mother and I, the baby cried for most of the trip

Re: Sitges: the idyllic beach town down the road from Barcelona

robpatrob — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 13:17:23 -0000

My first visit was in 1966!! It was idyllic. Was back about a decade ago and it remains unspoiled. There is a train to and from Barcelona that is very quick and easy

Re: When flying was fun

robpatrob — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 07:30:13 -0000

I used to do the Lollipop from Accra - what fun and exactly as the author described. I even bought a 18 inch dagger in Kano that was confiscated by Matron at school. One of my regrets in life is that I lost my Junior Jet Club log book

Re: Christopher Alexander, 1936-2022

robpatrob — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 11:07:36 -0000

Such a brilliant man - sad

Re: My nights of passion with Juliette Gréco

robpatrob — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 08:11:37 -0000

Brilliant

Re: Herd immunity is still key in the fight against Covid-19

robpatrob — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 06:30:05 -0000

At 70 this is my own thinking - I can take the risk or hide away - is this not up to me?

Re: The 747 was the last moment of romance in air travel

robpatrob — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 07:46:30 -0000

One of my happiest memories was flying most of the Atlantic on BA in a Jumbo in the cockpit - a long time ago as you can imagine - chatting with the crew. When we got an hour away from LHR, I was told to not say a word and it was all business for the descent and finals. The best flight I ever had

Re: The success of British Indians is troubling for some. Why?

robpatrob — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 10:04:15 -0000

I think that the "original sin" of the Jews to the left is their great capability on business and banking - I wonder are they seen really as the originators of capitalism? Paradoxically they also are among the founders of communism but that part of the narrative has been cut away mainly by murders

Re: The success of British Indians is troubling for some. Why?

robpatrob — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 10:02:00 -0000

Just like the shot in the arm that the Huguenots gave England when 60,000 of them = to the then population of London arrived in the 17th century

Re: A statement from the chairman of The Spectator

robpatrob — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 07:30:02 -0000

Well done - I may be typical of your new subscribers - I grew up in England and read the Spectator then. I live in Canada and have become fed up with conventional media - the Spectator is a breath of fresh air - I am sure that I am not alone in seeking a "questioning" purpose

Re: Hinkley Point decision a blow for Britain

robpatrob — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 14:00:50 -0000

Tristan - I think we can look back to history and see that the idea of beams and columns stands up over time. The early Polis of Greece was a town surrounded by small farms. So was early republic Rome. So was 18th century USA. Armies were made up of these farmers who had a very local view. As Yeomen they were also very independent and had little need for large government. BUT as money grew, rich townsmen started to buy out the small farms. Enemies emerged from beyond the close region of the polis, town or state. This demanded more of a standing army that was no longer dependent on the farm year and the farm. So more of the farms were bought up releasing men to be either a mob or a soldier. As men became used to being the mob, they also stopped soldiering and foreigners or mercenaries took up that role. In the UK and in the US, most of the people have been displaced from their farms. For 100 years they toiled instead in factories. But now these have been operated by foreigners. Only a life in the mob is left. The Column people have been fucked.

Now whet will happen? History tells us that in Greece and in Rome, there is no going back. There is only in the end a collapse into small farms again. No a design thing but the result of the key systems failing - the global food system being at the core.

Re: Now Even Wheat Has Terroir

robpatrob — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 13:07:09 -0000

The other show to drop is local or even home milling. The machines are now easily available - the result is a flour that has all the goodness and none of the industrial process

Re: How Orapa was discovered

robpatrob — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 16:12:23 -0000

I was a field officer back in 1968/69 and remember Doc and Jim very well. After 9 months of prospecting Doc posted me to Orapa where Jim was digging pits so that I could see how this might turn out. If my memory serves Jim had a pet monkey??

Re: http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/double-jeopardy-lusitania-double-victim.html

robpatrob — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 13:56:34 -0000

Dear Senan My name is Robert Paterson. I am the great Nephew of Frances Ballantyne - her husband Uncle Murray - was my maternal grandfather's brother. I am writing a weekly blog on Montreal families in WW1. It is May 7 soon. Frances Stephens was in the Lady Allan - my other great great great Aunt party. I would like to use please some of the images that you have here. Namely the identified remains notice and the memorial. I am off to Montreal in a couple of weeks for Aunt Frances internment

Re: Heuristics needed not booklets - Cognitive Edge Network Blog

robpatrob — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:35:00 -0000

I also found that as I have very little will power that it was essential that I rid my house of all the worst things that I loved. All processed food gone.

Re: The Future of Work is The Future of Leadership

robpatrob — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 06:59:34 -0000

Well done

Re: Menopause Sucks! Even on a Paleo Diet

robpatrob — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 15:32:33 -0000

My wife is not a bog social media fan - but this is a great topic so as a husband I will answer for her. She is 62 and went right into menopause after chemo. Her hot flashes are extreme and remain so. We had largely been paleo for 5 years. This has helped her joint pain but has had no impact on her hot flashes. But her figure is great and she has lost her cellulite! So some wins but not over the HF's.

Re: For the diseased

robpatrob — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:33:13 -0000

Yea! Jeff

Re: Snippets - This is a totally amazing video!! Here’s some...

robpatrob — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 09:21:39 -0000

Seb Paquet has juts posted his social network - it is remarkably compact - I am not a super close connection but a long standing one and see a remarkable number of common connections - it would appear that our group who have "Known" each other for 10 + years and who have a particular view - that we must return to a way of living that fits nature and our nature - is very stable. The group then scales out from this Seb Paquet Core. Each main node in the core has its own network. And each node in that has again its network. So "Naturally" each cluster remains human in a small scale bounded by trust and grooming over years. But the network can scale without limit.

What makes this so, I think, is that this network has a common purpose. For many people using SM, I suspect that they add people at random. So they get instead juts a crowd.

My 5 cents. More anyone please

Re: Is It Time To Rethink Co-Sleeping?

robpatrob — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 11:38:39 -0000

Yes for the reasons that you state, a human baby is in effect about 6 months premature. In traditional societies they are kept close to their mother's body at all times night and day. They do not "adapt" well to separation at this vulnerable point - it is not how humans have been for all but maybe a century in large numbers. I say all of this as an old man who was brought up in a nursery and who was adamant about separating as a result. I have learned a lot since then and have many regrets. My now kids have been much more attuned with their own kids

Re: Is It Time To Rethink Co-Sleeping?

robpatrob — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 11:30:46 -0000

I ask the same question - what is the risk? What are the statistics that support this as a high risk activity?