Arts
Where the river rages
This is NOT about the Wuhan virus, but it is about Wuhan. In spring 2013, I travelled by train across China from Guangzhou to Qingdao in the north. Wuhan was more or less the middle [more…]
Blog
20th Century
A Different Class of Murder, by Laura Thompson
We Brits love a mystery, and they don’t come much more mysterious than Lord Lucan. There are lots of books out there about the Lucan case – those of us who were around then will [more…]
Animals
The telephone rings
Scammer (for it is she): “Hello Sir, I’m calling about the accident you had recently which wasn’t your fault” Grimy Miner: “Yes”? S: “Can you tall me something about the accident”? GM: “Well lass, Ah [more…]
Health
Corona Virus and Reactions
There seems to be a number of different reactions to the situation we face. Most fall in to not believing there’s a virus, believing there is but that it’s just flu, to thinking we’re all [more…]
Fiction
Joe Malone, Part Fifty-Five
“You had better come up Inspector.” Then she pressed the button and even from up on the landing Sir Alan and I could hear the electric motor begin to turn the chains to pull open [more…]
Economics
Savings must come first – cash is a mere diversion, part two
I am writing this in South Africa, where its currency, the rand, provides a useful illustration of the effects of monetary inflation described in Part 1. When I was last here, three years ago, the [more…]
Business
The Business Cash Flow Cycle & the Current Economic Heart Attack
By chance and then a modicum of success, I ended up with a career helping companies going through times of change, needing a new strategy, or in crisis. I’ve worked in hospitality, wholesale, IT and [more…]
Fishing
Flies Undone
Ah the joys of British weather. There we were in Bakewell, on a bitter February day. My husband and I had gone across by bus and, when we’d left home, it had been a nice, [more…]
Authoritarianism
Two Distinctly Different Approaches to Crisis Resolution
There are two very distinct approaches to crisis resolution. One is the socialist approach, adopted by most governments of the world in the latest coronavirus crisis. The other is the individualistic approach, used by few [more…]