A deadly sins addendum is long overdue. Life has changed since Pope Gregory the Great scribbled his initial list in the sixth century.

Excessive speed and quantity are, like chattiness and digression, besetting sins of cyber-assisted authorship.

Governments have monopolies on certain things, like eminent domain and deadly force.

The 20th century was a test bed for big ideas - fascism, communism, the atomic bomb.

The future is meant for those who are willing to let go of the worst parts of the past. When you cannot take two steps without turning around to inspect your footsteps, you are getting nowhere fast.

Sheep farming is heavily subsidized in Great Britain. Without the subsidies, the green grazing in the valley of the River Exe would be gone. The handsome agricultural landscape of which the British are so proud, carefully husbanded since Boudicca's day, would be replaced by natural growth. The most likely growth is real-estate developments.