There’s nothing quite like the Muslim call to prayer. I heard it earlier this afternoon while walking through an open air market. The air was full of the sharp scent of citrus, the earthy smell of fresh vegetables, and the spiky odour of fish out on display. Mothers and grandmothers manned their stalls, haggling with […]

I don’t think anyone ever thought there was much love lost between Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone. The explosion of expletives that Johnson let fly at Livingstone in a lift yesterday merely confirmed matters. It’s unedifying to say the least: London is an ancient and venerable city, and yet it finds itself potentially in the […]

What a difference a panic makes. Last Thursday, I decided I’d go shopping on my way home. As I approached the turn, I noticed that there was a queue of cars going the same way; they were coming in from every conceiveable direction. Reluctantly, I joined the stuttering, coughing procession and turned up Radio 3 […]

George Galloway shouldn’t be a Member of Parliament. Apart from his overblown theatrics, his comic turn as a cat on Big Brother, and his incessant desire for the limelight, he simply is not an effective representative for his constituents. As the non-partisan “They Work for You” website makes clear, when he was the MP for […]

On Monday, David Cameron made a rather rambling and long winded speech; my other half and I watched snippets of it on the BBC News at Ten. I sighed; she said, “I’ve been to so many of these,” with a touch of weariness in her voice. While I don’t have her experience of working for […]

[AMAZONPRODUCT=B007A3OZ9C] In December 2010, former President Bill Clinton and current President Barack Obama held a joint press conference at the White House. The topic was a proposed framework agreement intended to extend tax cuts and unemployment benefits. After about 10 minutes, President Obama had to leave so as not to be late for an appointment […]

It didn’t get much notice, but this small news item caught my eye: on Thursday, the rather bloodless sounding International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s Determinations Committee met to decide whether Greece had actually defaulted or not. They judged that Greece hadn’t, because although private bond holders had taken a loss of 53.5% on the face […]

I haven’t written much through the course of 2011 as it has been a year of massive change. As I type out these words, I’m living in a different home than I was a little over a week ago. On Monday, I’ll be starting a new career with a new company. And all this is […]

My self-imposed vacation from blogging fell at the first hurdle. Admittedly, it has been a rather steep obstacle, indeed one that is impossible to ignore. The British have a penchant for complaining about the weather: seldom has that habit been more justified. I thought I might be in trouble as I watched the snow come […]

I intend this to be my last blog post for 2010; shortly, I will be going on an extended holiday, and hopefully I will feel reinvigorated afterwards. If so, I am likely to have a lot more about which I wish to comment. This year concludes with more than a tinge of sadness. On my […]