I thought I would start with some good news and head south after that…
QC brother of PM supports legal aid strike: Cameron’s barrister brother lends his backing to legal aid strike designed to undermine Government reforms: Daily Mail
Well…there we are. Siblings don’t always agree with each other.
BUT… while I am on the topic of politicians, it occurs to me that the word *Sociopath* may be a perfect description for some Tory MPs judging by their performances in the Daily Mail and other right wing rags?
An interesting note on the distinction between a Psychopath and and a Sociopath
With Britain getting back to the joys or miseries of work (take your pick) next week, I will be able to get back to podcasts and comments on the law, should I be seized of a desire to so comment. In the meantime, I am enjoying Twitter and the net and the unusual things that pop up in my timeline.
And I did enjoy this tweet vis-à-vis the above on Psycho/sociopaths…
Pleasingly bizarre, also in the ‘provenance’ of the tweet…
Solicitor, Jules Carey had an unusual letter….
While I have taken up the amusing habit of *Vaping* with my new E-cigs when faced with restrictions on smoking fully leaded Marlboros – I have not taken up nude smoking. However, should I be seized of a desire to do so, I shall be sure to invest in the natty fag pack holder pictured below.
And finally…. a wonderfully pointless talent to have… Backwards reading…
Back later, hopefully… orf to see a man about some cough mixture and cold medicaments. One can never find a Carbolic Smokeball on the high street these days.
I find it difficult to leave the topic of Lord Chancellor Grayling – here he is again, divesting himself of his wisdom on the European Court of Human Rights:
The last six months of 2013 was wiped out for me in terms of touring and sustained writing due to an unpleasant spinal injury – sustained while shaving when I tripped on a bathmat and fell backwards into the bath. The doctor cheerfully told me that I was lucky. It could have been far worse. The dark side of my mind could not resist asking him if ‘worse’ meant ‘a bit of mortal coil shuffling’. The doctor was a fine man of medicine, but I don’t think he was used to ‘gallows humour’ from patients, so I left him to do the doctor bit.
NOT so this US lawyer: ADAM REPOSA: Lawyer, Patriot, Champion – You really don’t want to get in his way. A truly astonishing advertisement – 
Some weeks ago I did a 
judgment in the Sally Bercow Tweet case (
I often listen to The Shipping Forecast on Radio 4 before heading for sleep. Here is my Drinking Forecast podcast, complete with ‘Drinking By’
Why would anyone want to bring a tree into their living room? Who cooked that idea up? And another thing… if an elderly gentleman wearing a red gown broke into my house – I would check the Judiciary website out to see which judge of the High Court had finally lost the plot. Mind you, Lord Chancellor Killaburglar Grayling would approve if I used proportionately disproportionate force and acted against the interests of the intruder – so not all bad, I suppose.
fascinating, the ducks I know are subversive and contribute greatly to my knowledge and understanding of the chaotic world many of us live in. I may also have overdone the juice when I came up with the idea of texting ducks… but, mea culpa, there we are.
Hyper-cardioid ‘top shelf’…
the tour with a Mk 6 helmet ( Which I shall spray paint ‘Rouge’) and a desert rig assault jacket with pockets for ‘kit’, gizmos and woodbines.
I am enjoying the new series from Legal Cheek where well known lawyers reflect on the reasons they went into law. So far – two reports Joshua Rozenberg: ‘
“A man can die but once”. – (King Henry IV, Part II – Act III, Scene II).
but a few hundred yards away. Rochester and Upnor are close at hand, as is Chatham itself. It is a marvellous place to set up a FOB – steeped in history and Dickens of 
An elite squadron (SDS) of particularly subversive ducks accompanied me to Chatham to train Medway ducks in the subtle arts of subversion. I felt, the last time I lived on the island, that the ducks were far too flabby, ate far too many burgers and had a far too compliant attitude to life and our government. The Medway ducks have been through a five day ‘Bootcamp’. The elite squadron have extradited themselves without the aid of lawyers milking the system back to Battersea-on-Thames (No Falcon 900 jet a la Abu Hamza for them, of course) – MISSION COMPLETED. So it is 
Rather than allow Dr Watson to run riot on my blog, I have binned his compendious, prolix, verbose and ultimately sleep inducing account and shall use his recollection as a structure. I describe the events in a form more recognisable to lawyers. I shall use numbered paragraphs:
the weekend prior to moving into my new Staterooms on the Monday morning. My furniture was in the very capable hands – or storage to be more accurate – of the truly excellent 
assistance to an irritated law blogger by providing same pro bono or otherwise. I also offered to nip down to the bank, draw out the loot, and give it to them, cash, in a sack. This offer of resolution was rejected on two grounds: (a) They had their own ‘special real legal ones’ and (b) They could not take cash. Payment had to be done on their office ‘machine’. I was told that I could move on Wednesday, possibly. I booked another two days at the pub hotel and re-scheduled the move. I incurred an inevitable and perfectly fair and reasonable penalty – in fact, Gentleman & a Van reduced the penalty from 2 hours time to one hour.
And so.. life continues and the ‘Silly Season’ ends. Rigour, analysis, rectitude, curiosity returns to our lives and to blogging – even mine…but not just yet….
red-meat for the shield munchers on the Tory back benches – that courts would sit at weekends to speed up criminal justice. I am delighted to be able to report reports in the press that criminal defence lawyers – who are not to be paid any extra for weekend duty – are wrecking these half thought out plans. Again, 
Back in March 2009 I interviewed a director of a company offering ‘bespoke essays’ for law students. I am not impressed by companies offering essay writing services to law students. I regard it as cheating. Most academics do. There are two sides to every story. Sometimes one side is not that attractive. Here is the podcast I did: 
Apropos of Mr Assange escaping to Ecuador – a country not noted for free speech – without being arrested by police when he steps onto British soil to make a dash for the diplomatic car – I had the pleasure of teaching 
French. OK – really bad French – c’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas le français and ‘tourist italian’). . My real brother – not P
Good to see that Adam Wagner of the UK Human Rights blog has 
RollonFriday has a great film of Dutch advocaats (?)
Mensch. After calling on social networks to identify internet bullies after she was stalked online, the chick lit author turned Tory MP was a touch embarrassed when it was revealed that security flaws on her own newly launched social network meant that it was identifying… everybody”
So.. that is a cheery start to my ‘Airmail from the Staterooms’… on to twitter…
Charon QC 