19th Century
John Scott Russell
Imagine, if you will, that you have decided to go for a horse ride along a canal towpath. You see a canal barge making its way along the canal and in front of the barge [more…]
Blog
Biography
Sailing my life away, part 9
I still scan comments on an article recently published because I enjoy the opportunity to have a dynamic exchange with folk of widely varying knowledge of the sea in a much less time-consuming way than [more…]
Arts
Rough Gardening In A Pandemic (Laying The Ground) RIP Norman
It’s no secret that, by now, we’re all heartily pissed off with this whole Covid business. I could write a litany of woes, some deeply personal, some widely shared and others purely observational that would, [more…]
America
The Glorious Adventures Of Freckle Faced Meg
Speaking of happy couples, it is our silver wedding anniversary this week. You may think that after a quarter of a century it might be difficult to surprise a spouse. Think again. When my other [more…]
Fiction
The Tortures of the Quarantined
Simon Marmeladov was in Greece learning Greek. Because Santorini tends to be rather hot in June, the lessons started at seven in the morning and finished at eleven. This arrangement suited Simon who had become [more…]
Economics
“Back to Basics” – International Trade
Trade Surpluses and Deficits Any country’s trade balance is the difference between the totals of its exports and imports respectively, as measured in its own currency. To the extent that its exports exceed its imports, [more…]
Democracy
Racism – The Root of All Evil
There was a time when the love of money was the root of all evil. Then socialists in schools tweaked that lesson ever so subtly and suddenly, unnoticed, money was the root of all evil. [more…]
Fiction
The Man Who Played Ross – Chapter 9
January 1997 – Salisbury Plain It could have been anywhere, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, but this time it was Wiltshire. The C130 rattled the window frames as it passed 200 feet above the houses below, leaving [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Eighty Two
Monday At breakfast this morning Bozzie was still ecstatic from hitting the 15,000,000 vaccination target with yesterday’s announced numbers. He keeps muttering about doubters and distracters. He was asked why in some places they had [more…]