America
Let’s All Eat Maggots
“We now eat in two weeks the amount of sugar our ancestors of 200 years ago ate in a whole year” John Yudkin 1963 All WW2 Far East Prisoners of War were heroes, but in [more…]
Communism
Communism
Role Reversal
Starting around 1989 the Soviet empire started to crumble. The time period between the forming of NATO in the late 1940’s and the retreat of Russia from Eastern Europe and the eventual collapse of communism [more…]
Authoritarianism
The price of energy
The rise in energy prices has been confusing me. With standing charges being increased three or more fold and the cost per unit heading for the stratosphere, what on earth is going on. There is [more…]
20th Century
Somalia – Western Economic Colonialism
Somalia’s recent history is also a tale of grave miscalculations made by foreigners in a very foreign land. Knowing nomads happily demonstrated their supremacy and disdain for outsiders, the so-called fruits of civilization were not [more…]
Authoritarianism
Year of the Rabbit
When I first arrived in Hong Kong, many years ago, I bought a microwave grill for the new flat from Park and Shop, a big supermarket chain. Could it be delivered? “Yes, when do you [more…]
Communism
Rainy Island gets Universal Basic Income
Elias Jevola is momentarily distracted from the diversity and inclusion training on his computer screen as he gazes through the window beside his 42nd floor desk in the heart of the city’s central business district. [more…]
Authoritarianism
What are they doing in our name
The fat Turk in a very recent interview with CNN has said that the Germans wanted the war in Ukraine to be over quickly. This has since been denied by the Germans but remember, this [more…]
Communism
Elected Lords
Sir Keith Starmer’s call for an elected House of Lords brings to mind the conundrum caused when you replace an essentially toothless institution with an elected one. This applies equally to an elected President replacing [more…]
Arts
I DON’T Love Lucy
I used to be OK at chess but reluctantly I have had to turn down commentating on the Todd Wellington (USA) vs Sven Magnusson (Sweden) international chess match in Wreck Yer Vick. That’s disappointing because [more…]