On Reconnaissance

It is May 2018. Six serving British soldiers are in the Republic of Ireland with weapons and live ammunition. This is not the beginning of a new career for me as a thriller writer. This is true.

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Wagner Night

Wagner Night was a Proms tradition that was revived on Monday. Marc Albrecht conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He seemed an appropriate choice: Albrecht/Alberich.

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Marks and Sparks

I don’t know why I bought Astra Zeneca in July 2010, maybe for the yield, but I did. The shares were about £32. The following summer they were £30 so I topped up. Since then it has been a bumpy ride but now they are circa £72 with a P/E over 25 and yielding 3%.… Continue reading Marks and Sparks

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End of an Era

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the first edition of The New Peerage published in 1769 by a bookseller and stationer, John Almon. He passed on the editorship to one of his assistants and, perhaps unfairly, it became known as Debrett’s after its second editor, John Debrett.

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Aurora Innovation

This is the not too distant future. This is a level 4 driverless car. Level 5 will be completely automated with no steering wheel.

Follow the Money

I prefer to talk to the organ grinder, not the monkey; as a shareholder I talk to the CEO.

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What 3 Words

I read about What 3 Words a few years ago and thought it was pointless – I was wrong.

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The Great Game

This picture, in the British Library, was taken at Jamrud Fort during the return from a Durbar at Umballa. Amir Sher Ali Khan is in the centre with Colonel Frederick Pollock standing, Colonel Crawford Trotter Chamberlain sitting on the right and to the left, Henry Walter Bellew, Indian Medical Service, acting as interpreter.