20th Century
Teh 1970’s & all that
One of the problems with claims that our situation is “just like the 1970s,” is that very few adults of the period are still around to share the memory. It is only later in life [more…]
DJM
Economics
A Murder-Mystery of note?
In 1910, seven men gathered on Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia, USA, to plot the establishment of the Federal Reserve Bank, in order to wrest control of money creation from the US government [more…]
America
Americas’ Queen – Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Jackie has been called America’s Queen, not least by Frank Sinatra, who – on her death – sent two dozen red roses, with the message “You are America’s Queen”. In fact, she practically said it [more…]
Business
Collapse won’t re-set Society, Part Two
Part One is here. If bureaucracy is resilient, then trade is eternal. Far from being a recent development of modern technology, archeological evidence shows global trade predating the Iron Age. In the 3rd millennium B.C., [more…]
Business
Collapse won’t re-set Society, Part One
This morning, you opened your phone and started scrolling. Your screen presented you with the usual updates: the nth wave of covid, the seemingly endless tussle in Ukraine, and all the usual suspects in the [more…]
History
Rise (& Fall) of Empire
As any fule kno, the word “imperialism” comes from the Latin word imperium. It refers to a nation or a state implanting its rule on other states, treating them as subordinates and in an inferior [more…]
Arts
Debbie Harry
My admiration for Deborah Harry goes back some time. I first met her in 1999, and again this year, both times when she was travelling to/from Glastonbury. For me, she was born to deliver the [more…]
Cooking
Steak à la carte
I set before the Puffinati assembled a little piece of nourishment backed up with some history. A story as to how a piece of steak came to be one of the most famous dishes in [more…]
Arts
Shake A Spear(e)
William Shakespeare devised new words and countless plot tropes that still appear in everyday life. Famous quotes from his plays are easily recognisable; phrases like “To be or not to be,” “wherefore art thou, Romeo,” [more…]