: About Me

I was born in 1966 in Bromley, Kent, UK. I was the first in my family to attend college, which raised the question: "Who did he get his brains from?" The answer settled upon was my great grandmother who, as a poor London child of Irish background, won a scholarship to a private school for girls in the very early 1900s. A fine comparison indeed, with a sharp mind and a penchant for dirty jokes. My only hope is that I can live up to her intellectual standards, although I readily share her taste in jokes, usually courtesy of my Dad.

It was during my school years that my English teacher helped me develop my writing skills, which, as is often the case, were then abandoned when real life took over: college, work, leaving home, career pursuit, nightclubbing, dinner parties, holidays to far-off places, political demonstrations etc. Personally I blame London life and the folly of youth - a rather lame excuse really. Meantime, I diverted those writing skills to proofreading and then editing, then back to proofreading again, mostly in the dry subject of law and the somewhat more intriguing subject of psychology, despite having no formal training in either. Throughout, various friends and relatives have insisted I should write. So here I am, tentatively testing the waters with a size seven big toe.

My passion is ...

food, hence the constant yo-yo dieting.

I know too much about ...

taxation.

My parents always told me ...

to face the consequences of my actions.

My childhood ambition ...

was to become an artist.

My favorite memory ...

is my granddad dancing around the dining room with cherries over his ears.

Why I write ...

Opinion, creativity, cathartic

My first job ...

part time was as a bakery assistant for a supermarket; full time was as a VAT officer for HM Customs & Excise (as it then was).

My best moment ...

was walking out of my last job because I'd had enough of the boss - it was so utterly liberating to just walk away and not look back. The best thing I have ever done.

My inspiration ...

... my family, my friends, my life, my lovers, the utter social and political madness around me.

Politics, News & Issues > US News How should America respond to BP?

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America’s response to the BP oil spill should be undertaken with great care – not because BP is free from guilt, but rather because so much finger pointing will naturally lead commentators to look more closely at the oil and other disasters US companies have caused. Let’s face it: the only reason BP is getting so much stick is because America is big enough to throw its weight around, and a currently unpopular President Obama has had to shout loud to save face and sound tough. But I do not hear him shouting so loudly about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in India, which occurred in...

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