21st Century
I See No Ships?
The quote ‘I see no ships’ is attributed to Admiral John Jervis during the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. Before giving Johnny Spaniard a black eye off the Algarve, legend has it that, [more…]
Month: February 2026
Fiction
On Dangerous Ground, Chapter Eight
Day Ten He looked at his watch, it was now after midnight. “David, I don’t know what to say to make you reconsider,” “the truth might be a good place to start.” “It’s not up [more…]
20th Century
The History of Pop Music – 1996
A History of Pop Music – 1996 Firstly, apologies for the rather long delay between these music articles. Normal service will now be resumed. This is a series of articles looking at pop music [more…]
Arts
Always Worth Saying’s Question Time Review
Question Time 26th February 2026 The Panel: Lisa Nandy (Labour) Alicia Kearns (Conservative) Jess Brown-Fuller (LibDem) Tom Kerridge (Chef) Esther Krakue (Journalist) Venue: Birmingham Ghanaian Esther Krakue came to Britain with her parents when she [more…]
Arts
Jinnie’s Story, Book Nine – Chapter Nineteen
The villa had been full of fresh flowers, the fridge was fully stocked, the grass was recently trimmed, the pool had been vacuumed, and even the A/C was on. Jinnie whispered to Paolo, “I don’t [more…]
20th Century
Labour’s bad boys – Part 7 Harold Wilson
We need to take a quick look at Harold Wilson’s 1976 Prime Minister’s Resignation Honours. This was known as the Lavender List allegedly because Lady Falkender had written the draft on lavender coloured paper. How [more…]
Economics
This is fine………
The world has been quietly and stubbornly walking away from the US dollar and US Treasuries the last half decade. Now, that walk is becoming a march, and “quietly” is turning to “loudly”. Some in the financial [more…]
21st Century
The Sharika Plan, Part Two
Kenya hosts the largest U.S. embassy in sub-Saharan Africa and has regularly ranked among the top recipients of U.S. foreign aid globally, a majority of it focused on health programs. Under the first Trump Administration, [more…]
20th Century
Letters from an Arbeitsmaid – Part Two
In Part 1, I described how in late 1943 and early 1944, Hildegard Uhl had written to her friend Eva Möller, the recipient of Feldpost from the Afrika Korps soldier Hans Coutandin of “Desert Mystery: [more…]