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Denmark Royals – slim down unpopular down the line
Queen Margrethe of Denmark is slimming down the Royal family by removing the royal titles from her second son’s children, though they will be deemed count and countess. Prince Joachim is up in arms and publicly criticising his mother, though her actions follow a similar pattern to Sweden which in 2019 dropped titles for the … Read more
Qatar World Cup – sugarcoating abuses
Qatar heading for the controversial World Cup in November has been lambasted by the family of a UK businessman who allegedly committed suicide after being tortured in a secret detention centre. They released a statement saying: “Qatar is throwing millions at creating a veneer of respectability, which in reality hides a wholly unchanged, barbaric regime. … Read more
Anne Sacoolas – the mills of justice grind slow
Anne Sacoolas appeared in a UK court by videolink from the US to face a charge of causing the death of 19 year old motorcyclist Harry Dunn by dangerous driving in a road crash outside the US military base in Northamptonshire in December 2019. She originally had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf by the … Read more
Budget botch – Tory harakiri with collateral damage
“Britain is staring down the barrel of a self-inflicted economic catastrophe.” “We are now watching the real-time implosion of the governing party.” As commentators and economists across the globe look on aghast and EU leaders permit themselves a sour smile of schadenfreude, UK voters stand frozen as yet another thunderbolt descends after Brexit, Ukraine, … Read more
Roger Waters – enjoying the outrage
Roger Waters, musician, singer-songwriter, co-founder of Pink Floyd, has been blowing off his mouth about Ukraine blaming “extreme nationalists” there as well as Washington and the west for provoking Putin into “this disastrous war” and then demonizing Russia for doing so. Olena Zelenska, the resident’s wife, put him in his place and Poland has cancelled … Read more
Moon Jupiter – not as cosy and sugary as it sounds
Moon Jupiter mothers or childhoods evoke an image of supportive cushioning echoed in Ronald Reagan’s thoughts about his mother who “always expected to find the best in people”. A regular and involved church goer she instilled her religious beliefs in her son and left him with a strong faith in the goodness of people. He … Read more
Roger Federer – a sporting Mars on lucky Sirius
Roger Federer having faced up to the ravages of time and the realities of a chronic knee injury has waved goodbye to professional tennis after a final doubles match with Rafael Nadal. Federer has has played 1,750th competitive matches and won 20 Grand Slam singles titles. He is considered one of the best and most … Read more
UK budget – to those that hath shall be given ++ reactions
A shock-and-awe, tax-cutting budget from new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng may have favoured the wealthy but it has seriously spooked the markets and sent the pound plummeting. Even the Financial Times describes it as a ‘gamble with economic stability’ with tax cuts amounting to 2% of GDP and no concern for the impact on public finance … Read more
Hilary Mantel – a triumph of mind over matter
Hilary Mantel, the only British author to win the Booker prize twice for her Thomas Cromwell trilogy has died. She was extraordinarily prolific by any standards but more so because of the ill-health that plagued her throughout her life. She was born 6 July 1952, sadly no birth time, and had a fractured childhood … Read more