History
The Birth of the Angry Young Man
In 1956 the play Look Back in Anger was first staged in Britain. Written by John Osborne, it was the story of Jimmy Porter – who came to symbolise a new force in postwar Britain – the [more…]
Islam
21st Century
Building on Sand? The Perils of Peacemaking in Sudan
After 16 months of civil war, Sudan increasingly resembles a ‘failed state’, with displacement and man-made famine driving one of the ‘worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory’. Following early setbacks, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) [more…]
20th Century
Disaster Over The Strait of Hormuz
As Mrs AWS and I flash through the Scottish Lowlands after our day trip to Edinburgh, passing through Lockerbie station reminds us of events decades ago and thousands of miles away. Nowadays the term ‘Gulf [more…]
20th Century
Near-Disaster at 39,000ft
Returning home from our day trip to Edinburgh, myself and Mrs AWS have pause for thought as we eat our Burger Kings in Standard Premium. Beyond our train window, the peaceful Scottish Lowlands flash past. [more…]
21st Century
Macron Keeps Discrediting France
At this rate, there’s no longer any credible chance that France will revive its independent foreign policy traditions after the five major foreign policy mistakes that Macron made over just the last two years. He’s [more…]
Diary
A View From The Greenhouse; Doctors, Architects, Aspiring DJ’s
They keep turning up, farm implements of indeterminate age, mostly bladed and mostly without shafts. It seems unlikely that his particular scimitar like implement is either a sickle or scythe; I’m guessing it had a [more…]
Arts
Citizens Khan And The Home Office Propaganda Effort
‘He did not know her name, but he knew that she worked in the Fiction Department. Presumably – since he had sometimes seen her with oily hands and carrying a spanner – she had some [more…]
Authoritarianism
A View From The Greenhouse; Fear & Loathing In Dumfries & Galloway, Hate Crimes….Innit?
It was great to meet up with old friends and meet some new ones at the “Northern” get together. The more intrepid amongst the august gathering braved a short, if wet, walk down (and back [more…]
Diary
A View From The (Partially Dismantled) Greenhouse; That’s Different….Innit?
Life (and concomitant jobs) continue apace, the proposed outside growing area is almost cleared up, with any amount of farmyard detritus either taken to the tip or simply moved to another area, where it will [more…]