01 December 2016 Black Friday Buying a discount. By Chin Chin The word “black” has sinister connotations. The eponymous villain of the 1987 film “Black Widow” is a lady who marries rich men, murdering them once they have made wills in her favour. The black spider trout fly has proved fatal to many a feeding… Continue reading Issue 82: 2016 12 01: Black Friday (Chin Chin)
Category: Features
Issue 81: 2016 11 24: Rather A Jumble (Chin Chin)
24 November 2016 Rather A Jumble Are Christmas presents the front line in the struggle between the sexes? By Chin Chin The last thirty years have seen women burst into areas which were traditionally reserved for men: the military front line; the boardrooms of industry; the public bars of pubs. Now they kill, make decisions… Continue reading Issue 81: 2016 11 24: Rather A Jumble (Chin Chin)
Issue 81:2016 11 24:The Last Emperor (J.R.Thomas)
24 November 2016 The Last Emperor The lessons from Franz Joseph for Mr Juncker. by J.R.Thomas In Vienna there is a sight which few visitors go and see; yet to students of pre First World War history it must be one of the most evocative of all those places in the great Imperial Capital where… Continue reading Issue 81:2016 11 24:The Last Emperor (J.R.Thomas)
Issue 81: 2016 11 24 Worth the money? (Frank O’Nomics}
24 November 2016 Worth the money Time to investigate fund management fees. by Frank O’Nomics Do you really know how well your investments are performing? What is an acceptable profit margin? Clearly, this differs from industry to industry, with energy providers having been castigated for achieving profit margins of just 4%. In a free market… Continue reading Issue 81: 2016 11 24 Worth the money? (Frank O’Nomics}
Issue81: 2016 11 24: What about our wine (William Morton)
24 November 2014 What about our Wine? An EU Fantasy By William Morton Several newspaper articles caught my eye in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. They dealt not with issues such as the passporting of financial institutions or the need to attract foreign investment after our departure, but with something which really matters –… Continue reading Issue81: 2016 11 24: What about our wine (William Morton)
Issue 81: 2016 11 24: Shopping and Benches (Lynda Goetz)
24 November 2016 Shopping and Benches Will benches and loos really make the older generation spend more? by Lynda Goetz The International Longevity Centre is, according to its web site, ‘a futures (sic) organisation focussed (sic) on some of the biggest challenges facing Government and society in the face of demographic change’. According to an… Continue reading Issue 81: 2016 11 24: Shopping and Benches (Lynda Goetz)
Issue 80: 2016 11 17: Christmas Preparations (Lynda Goetz)
17 November 2016 Christmas Preparations What should I be doing now? by Lynda Goetz For all those of you who, like me, swear every year that they will be more organised next year (and of course fail each time), here is a list of what you should be focusing on in the next couple of… Continue reading Issue 80: 2016 11 17: Christmas Preparations (Lynda Goetz)
Issue 80: 2016 11 17:Hallelujah (J.R.Thomas)
17 November 2016 Hallelujah Leonard Cohen, poet, song writer, singer: 1934 – 2016 by J.R.Thomas Everybody knows the fight was fixed. The poor stay poor, the rich get rich. That’s how it goes. Everybody knows. An extraordinarily pointed juxtaposition of events in the USA on Thursday last. President-elect Donald Trump and family rolled up to… Continue reading Issue 80: 2016 11 17:Hallelujah (J.R.Thomas)
Issue 80: 2016 11 17: The Paxman Doll (Chin Chin)
17 November 2016 The Paxman Doll A tale of perversion? By Chin Chin Offended, and quite right too. The complaint (see Week in Brief UK) may have been a little late, but who could deny that Jeremy Paxman’s joke about Reading University’s University Challenge team taking a hand-knitted doll modelled on him to bed was… Continue reading Issue 80: 2016 11 17: The Paxman Doll (Chin Chin)
Issue 79: 2016 11 10: Madagascar Today (Lynda Goetz)
10 November 2016 Madagascar Today (Part 2) A fascinating and tragic country. by Lynda Goetz “Madagascar has become the world’s poorest country,” asserted the guide with whom I stood watching the out-of-control fire approach closer and closer to our very basic lodge on the edge of the Ankarana Special Reserve. “It shouldn’t be, because it… Continue reading Issue 79: 2016 11 10: Madagascar Today (Lynda Goetz)
Issue 79:2016 11 10:Military Manoeuvres (J.R.Thomas)
10 November 2016 Military Manoeuvres Noise in quiet places by J.R.Thomas Maybe you live in one of the wilder places of Britain; maybe you just dream of moving there; or merely you satisfy yourself with a week’s walking in August or on odd weekends (most of it spent on the motorway, stationary). But many of… Continue reading Issue 79:2016 11 10:Military Manoeuvres (J.R.Thomas)
Issue 79: 2016 11 10: Drinking and Using (Chin Chin)
10 November 2016 Drinking and Using An exhortation By Chin Chin We all leave our footprints on the planet. In the case of Hadrian it was Roman walls and gateways; in the case of Shakespeare, plays written in immortal verse; in my case it will be a collection of wine bottles full of what was… Continue reading Issue 79: 2016 11 10: Drinking and Using (Chin Chin)
Issue 78:2016 1011 03:Fading Icons-The Pea Souper(J.R.Thomas)
03 October 2016 Fading Icons – The Pea Souper by J.R.Thomas In the early years of the Second World War, James Lees-Milne, socialite, secret diarist, architectural historian, and at the time, junior member of Britain’s armed forces, was driving from his parent’s home in Worcestershire back to his house in Chelsea. It was November… Continue reading Issue 78:2016 1011 03:Fading Icons-The Pea Souper(J.R.Thomas)
