Conservatives
Labour’s bad boys – Part 12 Keith Vaz
This series of articles was supposed to be a lot of short scribblings. We now come to Keith Vaz who has so much previous that target has been swept aside. Keith looks to me like [more…]
Blog
Arts
The Geek’s guide to making perfect gin for £2.90 a litre bottle
It’s been a while since I wrote my last article. 4 years ago, to be precise. I have been reading all the comments for my sins and you guys have made me think and made [more…]
Capitalism
Farce and Tragedy
Once again the music has stopped, and much like the Kenyan child of the ’80s and ’90s, today’s young are watching and listening as the adults reel under the weight of IMF-driven cuts to social [more…]
Diary
A View From (Just By) The Greenhouse; Diversity? It’s Our Strength…Innit?
I arrived at the greenhouse on Saturday to find that Burt had returned from his winter sojourn in a bit of a sorry state. He’d been visiting distant relatives somewhere in central Europe (either Albania, [more…]
20th Century
The War we think ended in 1945
Most people believe World War II ended in 1945. In reality, its most important consequences were only beginning. The fighting stopped. The maps were redrawn. The narrative was presented as settled—and fixed in place. But [more…]
20th Century
Afghanistan as it was (1973)
After several requests from fellow Puffins, I finally got off my arse to rummage around in the attic and miraculously unearthed a bunch of diaries from over fifty years ago, and most importantly the one [more…]
America
Causes of Uncontrollable US Public Spending and Debt
Annual US public spending has been in deficit for decades. As a result total US debt continues to increase year after year with no end in sight. Well, the end may not be in sight [more…]
19th Century
The Scrapbook of Sherlock Holmes, 2/6: The Missing Archbishop. Part 2 of 2
The Archbishop’s housekeeper, who had been watching us from the edge of the room as we made the horrid discovery, was trembling and trying to restrain her tears. ‘Mrs Armitage,’ said Holmes, ‘we are depending [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Three Hundred And Twenty-Four
Monday Good morning, my friends. It was lovely and sunny this morning when I woke up, not too cold when I popped out, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to rain. But the forecast [more…]