mary beard
@wmarybeard
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Classicist (thanks to George for the pic)
Joined December 2010
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Last Seen Profiles
My daughter’s Wedding today. So happy. I hope the haters don’t pile in but they probably will.
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The uk will be doing a lot better when so many of us don’t confuse being clever (and I am all for being clever) with being a posh boy in a suit sprinkling latin. (I am all for Latin too, but not the sprinkled variety!)
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Have I just heard right? Did Gavin Williamson say THE PURPOSE of education was to get a job? Now I dont think any of us in higher ed aim to turn out cohorts of the unemployable.. but THE PURPOSE???
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If you are curious about Boris Johnson's reference to Cincinnatus in his goodbye speech - he was a 5th century BC Roman politician who saved the state from an invasion, then - job done - returned to his farm ('to his plough'). He was also an enemy of the people.
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Can we shout, once and for all, that the reason for going to uni is NOT just about getting a bigger salary. Ffs, it is about EDUCATION.
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Let’s face it. Party-gate is not really a matter of who consumed what when. It is about INTEGRITY (or not) and a wider culture of entitlement at the “top”.I was waiting to see how Gray reported on that. This last development leaves a very nasty taste indeed.
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thanks all. I'm hugely pleased to have been made Dame. sure there are things I worry about (empire? ), and I expect a twitter torrent; but i am still pleased that studying classical civilisation can make you Dame. Happy. It's an honour for all who explore the ancient world
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Thanks for all your good wishes re my retirement present. Let add that my old supervisor John Crook 40+ years ago gave me the money to get my PhD thesis typed. I asked how to pay him back. 'Do it for for someone else one day!' he replied.
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I don’t see how you are supposed to “hold your nerve” if you have no money.
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My husband just observed, as I am sure others have, that if the govt hadnt been so keen to get rid of coursework from school exams, the graders might have had more to go on this year.
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When a guy who wants to build a bridge between Britain and Ireland calls a universal broadband scheme “crazed”, it is hard to know what his standards of “sanity” are.
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I hope that everyone wanting the return to imperial weights and measures can multiply 1lb 12oz by 3!
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There is something terribly depressing (and revealingly symbolic) about a load of (mostly) posh hardline men turning up at Chequers in their (mostly) posh cars to "sort Brexit". I fear it says it all.
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If I was taking a punt on the future, I'd back Mark Carney over Jacob Rees Mogg...wouldnt you?
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Not sure it’s the best day for a birthday. But here we are. A little celebration may be in order. All the sixes. Happy birthday, me!
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Could I please swap Meaningful Vote 3 for Meaningful Referendum 2?
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There is something terrible hearing
@HackneyAbbott
being talked ABOUT and not being allowed to talk herself is .. well, horribly predictable and depressing.
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In response to popular demand! The kaftan goes to the floor.
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Today is my last day working for
@Cambridge_Uni
after 38 years. How shall I fill my time?? (That’s a joke before anyone helpfully sends suggestions.)
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i think the Romans put London on the map, strictly speaking!
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I think it might be a good idea if UK media made it rather clearer that "Africa" was not a single country.. as in "trade deal with Africa"?????
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When
@MattHancock
says that it doesn’t FEEL like Parliament is being suspended (when asked to explain his apparent u turn on prorogation), he hits the nail in the head. Erosions of democracy are often dressed up so that they FEEL quite ordinary.
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@DouglasCarswell
Sorry, hope you don’t mind if I object here. But the point of Gracchus’ subsidized grain was a very long way from Universal Basic Income. And it really doesn’t figure among the (very complex) causes of the fall of the republic. But we could start a great thread on this.
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I am still sticking at home myself, old lady ... but it is very hard to take Priti Patel telling demonstrators to obey lockdown rules, after Cummings et al.
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I am so proud ..
My daughter’s Wedding today. So happy. I hope the haters don’t pile in but they probably will.
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When you see how Trump treats H Clinton, Merkel and May (“she didn’t listen to me!”), it’s hard not to see a pattern. Doesn’t like capable women in politics? Or any women in politics?
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Do you want a load of traffic on Twitter? Here’s a tip. Suggest the ancient Romans weren’t entirely white... then duck
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Whatever your view on the BBC, the quote from a govt source is alarming “we are having a consultation and we will whack it. It has to be a subscription service”. If you are going to “whack it” and “it has to be subscription”, what’s the “consultation”?
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I have been attacked in the last 48 hours for objecting to the citizenship of S Begum being removed, and for suggesting that Giles Fraser (with whom I disagree) was The Enemy. Ffs we can disagree about this stuff without this “outrage”. Can’t we?
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I am struck by the fact that New Zealand can replace their Prime Minister within a few days.
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Ok. This could be a memorable day. I am on the way to the Guildhall to get the Freedom of the City of London!!
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Blimey..after a short notice about me in today's Times, try this under the line (insignificant etc but who are these people): "Well what about her eyebrows...How can any little lady expect to be taken seriously without spending some time first on her eyebrows!" Is it a piss take?
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Oh well I’m 67 today! Shall be celebrating by getting my head around Julia Domna and other Severan women followed by a glass or two of champagne!
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Hearing Trump Junior saying that Biden would turn US into a 'socialist utopia' cheered me up no end. Hope he's right... most of us would love to live in a utopia!
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Oh dear oh dear... Emily Thornberry is being given a needlessly hardtime on
@BBCr4today
. The idea that we might have a political leader who is RELUCTANT to go to war or use nuclear weapons is a bad thing beggars belief. (Sure it is not necessarily a good thing either, but...!)
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I want this country to do things well & decently.I dont give a toss if we're 'world beating' ('Test & Trace') or 'probably the most scrupulous country in the world' (exporting riot gear).How on earth wd we know anyway?Let's just do things properly (in the full sense of that word)
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Doesnt seem to me to matter a jot whether I have “sympathy” for Shamima Begum (law is above sympathy) She’s a uk citizen & was 15 ffs when she went off to join ISIS. Trying to deprive her of uk citizenship can’t surely be right/legal and (let’s hope) can’t end well for Home Sec.
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Gavin Williamson telling us on
@BBCr4today
that there was no problem having ex-civil service jobs done by political appointees... because it was done elsewhere, like the USA .. wasn’t exactly reassuring!
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Another day off Twitter in interests of calm. Still hammering goes on. Thx to all for support. In case you missed
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Let’s sing it from the rooftops, one and all. The democratic mandate was NOT for Boris Johnson as individual, president or even mayor. That is not how parliamentary democracy works. God help us all if the prime minister doesn’t understand that!
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I don’t often sign petitions but I have just signed the “revoke article 50” petition. Do consider it. Https:
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It might be to logical to say that many people are 'angry' that the government has not delivered Brexit for which they voted. But let's not forget many others feel 'angry' that an unrealistic proposal was put before the electorate, as if it was simple to deliver, when it isnt.
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Wish people wd stop saying gloomily that it took Tv to get the subpostmasters to the top of the agenda. This is (as Libby Purves has said I think) the real power of arts and drama (expertise that is being starved of funding) Message is: we need to fund the arts.
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I have just had a little nostalgia-fest with a photo taken of me aged 18 by my mate Diana Bonakis Webster, on a 'dig". I think I did once look like this and still see myself somewhere here (or do I?)
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My elegantly elderly husband is on a hugely overcrowded train from York to Newcastle (after incident on line). He is standing, surrounded by under 3Os in seats, usually on their headphones, not even offering him a seat.
@LNER
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can I clarify.. i am a great fan of learning by rote.. was made to learn Prufrock at school (for a bribe of 50p). dont regret it, but it isnt a sign of intellectual acumen. And the truth is the Iliad aint that hard to learn.
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Can I say thank you to everyone for such warm support over the BM thing. I am touched. I should in fairness point out one thing: in this, Boris is innocent. It was before his time in No 10.
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Don’t imagine I am the only one who won’t vote Labour in Euro elections unless they clearly back 2nd referendum. 2 reasons 1) I think that is what shd happen 2) their vacillations on this shows party in a right mess.
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So low have my expectations fallen, that - if we are not to have a general election now (which we should) - I wd settle in the interim for someone who is broadly competent, knows the difference between truth and falsehood, and usually tells the truth.
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T May still shocks, talking about Tory MPs who 'didnt deserve' to lose their seats. Sorry sunshine, it's up to us, citizens, to decide that.
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Welcome to grandchild number 2. Ayodeji Odeleye and he’s almost 4 kilos (for those interested in metrics)
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OK one and all, let's have the future exam questions that might get set on Brexit... 20/50/100 years hence. Any level from GCSE to degree! Make them smart and challenging!
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Anyone reflecting on the menu (turbot) of last night's dinner of BJ and von der Leyen should read Juvenal Satire 4 (on a turbot presented to emperor Domitian). It's a satire on power, corruption & the unwillingness of the lackeys to speak truth to power.
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People must have been saying this.. but there seems something strangely inconsistent in British parliamentarians listening hard (& rightly) to a 16 year old Swedish campaigner talking about the future, while denying 16 year-olds a vote for their future in elections.
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After 63 years I have my first pink streak in the hair. May do it again I warn you. This is to celebrate
@BBCFrontRow
late on Friday 11.05 bbc2. Do watch (Clive James, Joan bakewell, Lola young, richard Wilson) watch !
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an illicit PS: If you actually want to know, I am sitting here crying. I am not really not the nasty colonialist you say I am. I speak from the heart (and of cource I may be wrong). But the crap I get in response just isnt on; really it isnt. Back soon.
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The truth is that if you know any Ancient Greek (which BJ certainly does) it is not hard to learn chunks of the IIiad by rote. Not knocking the PM’s knowledge but this is quite an easy party trick.
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The current CV-19 guidelines state that you should continue to work from home if you can. MP's can (indeed a system was specially set up so they could). It's a no brainer. Parliament shd follow its own rules (and not deprive particular groups of MPs of their vote).
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Glad Starkey resigned from Fitzwilliam Coll. Was afraid we were going to waste energy, that cd be better spent, debating whether to get rid of him; & so give him, his words & Darren Grimes far too much oxygen. I watched whole i/v. The short clip is not untypical of the whole.
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In race for stupid under the line insults,Telegraph beats Times! 'Mary Beard probably considers shampoo elitist.' 'Mary Beard needs a wash and a check of reality' 'Is that why my TV smells when she appears?' 'Mary Beard is a silly woman,' Why do they bother?Listen to what I said!
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For me I feel irritated. I shant see kids & will be living off turkey for months. But who’s going to step up for people who stretched to buy rail tickets & supplies when we were told it was Xmas more/less normal. Not just disappointment, it’s kicking people when they’re down
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belatedly goodnight. final thought:I will argue forever not just about truth of Roman Britain, but for privilge of debating it with courtesy
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this is indeed pretty accurate, there's plenty of firm evidence for ethnic diversity in Roman Britain
Thank God the BBC is portraying Roman Britain as ethnically diverse.
I mean, who cares about historical accuracy, right?
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Listening to Obama on
@BBCr4today
and thinking about what and who replaced him.. It's not that he was perfect but was a grown up and could embrace complexity.
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wasnt it only recently that we were being encouraged to turn to small energy companies? and now..? I have never really understood why basic energy and supply was not in public ownership...?
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I really love this pic (sorry if that is a bit vain). And particularly because it was so easy to have taken. Only took 30 mins or so start to finish!👇
To celebrate
#WomensHistoryMonth
, we will be highlighting women who have made their mark on history through their professional accomplishments and NOT their relationship to men.
Starting with the legendary
@wmarybeard
.
📸 by Cristina de Middel, 2022 © Middel /
@MagnumPhotos
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Anyone who claims that the Death Penalty has a 100% success rate, hasn’t thought about history or (even assuming that he had a limited definition of it) about the nature of “success”. I hope that the many Tories who must be squirming at this will make their unhappiness known.
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When Kate Hoey on
@BBCr4today
talks about the Irish having to pay for putting up the border between N and S Ireland if there is to be one, she sounds to me dangerously like Mr Trump and Mexico.
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Clarity here! I voted LibDem in local elections for 2 reasons 1) manifesto of LD candidate addressed local, ward issues (rather than generalising stuff on 'Cambridge/UK') 2) LD had clear message on Brexit with which i agree. Dont think vote shows we just want to get on with it.
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I do find the title “Professor of Evidence Based Medicine” very odd. Call me naive but I like to think that all medical science is “evidence based”!
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Don’t we need a way of making it clear to Boris Johnson that we strongly disagree with somethings that he has said WITHOUT letting him dominate the headlines for days?
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Can I say, I appreciate modern politicians having an historical perspective. But it’d be a woeful misunderstanding of the “fall” of Roman Empire (in the west) to suggest that it was because of uncontrolled immigration, or that the consequence was the west forgot how to draw.
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Gosh. Camilla Long in Sunday Times review of Civilisations has become AA Gill. Says she couldn’t watch more than 20 mins of my episode (review??) as it was “nonsense”. But at least I had had a”boil wash” & was thankfully wearing “someone else’s clothes”. Intelligent critique eh?
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It is hard to square Johnson’s rhetoric about ‘friends and partners’ in Europe and about ‘surrender’ to the EU. Since when did you surrender to your friends?
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I may well have missed it. But has someone actually asked Mr Johnson how in a few weeks we have gone from No Deal being a million to one, to a Deal being touch and go? What was the answer?
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I assume now, that in the interests of being the same as the rest of the UK, the DUP will be leading call for other differences to be ironed out (eg same sex marriage, abortion)
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There appear to be a load of people out there on twitter who think that 'Romans' were 'white'. Some were and some weren't. We have been here before folks.. it really isnt worth it!
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There might be many reasons for not having a second referendum, but that it is anti-democratic is surely not one of them. Thus spake the husband on listening to news this morning; and I agree!
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Please please can we stop talking about THE SCIENCE We kid people (and ourselves) if we make it look like there’s a single scientific view.
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People keep saying on the radio this morning that Boris Johnson has a real “mandate”. I wonder what that is? And from whom?
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Sorry that David Starkey feels he isn’t getting enough airtime. Didn’t actually realise it was a beauty competition. And AA Gill must be turning in his grave to think he had launched my career. But hey we can all say silly things “ in a party”.
Historian David Starkey claims that only 'old, ugly women' such as
@wmarybeard
make it on TV now. via
@DailyMailCeleb
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Dont want to say who shd be on Board of Office for Students,but when Dept of Education defends Toby Young appointment,saying his experience includes 'POST ..at Cambridge',am puzzled.So far as I know he started PhD here & like most grads did some casual teaching. POST? Am I wrong?
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thought i had retweeted thisalready, so sorry if i repeat. but please all young ladies, take Jess's advice!
Man alive
@wmarybeard
takes some crap on here. Remember women keep being clever and opinionated that's what decent people see and admire.
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Surprising that when a senior female academic says how many hours she works each week, many (inc. academics) scoff she is lying, virtue signalling, structurally abusing junior colleagues. Maybe the girly swot is telling it how it is. Maybe the scoffers are the problem?
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Well Matt Hancock was the struggling politician of tne moment on
@BBCr4today
this morning. I was left utterly baffled at where these 5000 new GPS are coming from & I don’t imagine Baroness Warsi was too pleased to hear that others are “more balanced” than her on Islamophobia!
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I hate it when people assert (like Kate Barker on
@BBCAnyQuestions
) that 'academics dont like teaching'. It's one of pleasure of the job AND hard work. I'm now sitting down writing lectures for next week, happily. But hearing that feels like slap in face
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The government’s proposed Turing scheme to replace Erasmus will not bring students from overseas to uk. The advantages of Erasmus was that our students benefited from European experience & here we benefited from European students joining us (different perspectives, contacts etc)
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This week I fulfilled a life’s ambition - I did a stint as a Gallery Attendant
@britishmuseum
. Blimey it is really hard work. But it gives a whole new perspective & you learn a huge amount about museum visiting, which we will discuss on
@BBCFrontRow
Late bbc2 Friday 11.05
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The idea now being floated that we'll have temporary fudge on Brexit, so that whoever wins next election can try to readjust, leaves me speechless -- if true. This is no way to set up the future of the country. Irresponsibility gone mad.Where is the Labour party when it's needed?
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My thought for the day! "The keyboard age makes it easy to sit in yr comfortable sitting room & have v strong views about the world, without ever having to think about difficulty & ambivalence. It’s easy to be morally virtuous in your own sitting room."
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If you wonder about PM's quote from Cicero ('the health of the nation shd be the supreme law'), it's in an 'imaginary lawcode in 'On Laws' Bk 3, on duties of politicians. Sadly it follows 'they shall obey nobody'! ('Health'/'salus' doesnt refer to sickness, but political disease)
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Re today’s interesting Thought for the Day .. referring to my debate with Boris Johnson on the Greeks and Roman. Is is too immodest of me to point out that Mr Johnson LOST our debate?
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I believe that Boris Johnson has qualities but they are not those of being a PM. The rush of tory MPs to support him suggest they have forgotten why he was pushed out. It suggests self interest (my seat?) over national interest & true patriotism. Can the patriots stand up PLEASE
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I have to say that I am rather pleased (sorry for smugness) with my tulip planting.
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Can we sit back and reflect that a representative democracy sits awkwardly with a direct (referendal) democracy ... and wonder who got us into this mess. (Cameron in his hut?)
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Many reasons NOT to vote Tory; one is not to reward a campaign that has smeared, dealt dishonest platitudes, refused to engage in argument.
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