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Cryptocurrency – a breakthrough or a sellout
Cryptocurrencies regarded by one sceptic as “ a bubble, a Ponzi scheme and an environmental disaster” and by Jay Powell of the Fed Reserve as “vehicles for speculation” took one step out of the shadows into the mainstream with the arrival this week on the stock market of Coinbase, the world’s largest cryptoasset trading platform. … Read more
Helen McCrory – a special talent
Helen McCrory, the extraordinarily talented actress has died tragically young at 52 of cancer. Although best known as Aunt Polly in Peaky Blinders, she was a mesmerising presence on stage as Medea and Lady Macbeth. She was married to Damian Lewis, of Band Of Brothers, Homeland and Billions renown, with two children and they managed … Read more
Tracey Emin – a tortured creative life
Tracey Emin, the controversial artist known for her confessional and autobiographical creations has announced that her bladder cancer is “gone” after her three-monthly scans were “all clear”. She was diagnosed with aggressive cancer last year and had her bladder, urethra, lymph nodes, half of her vagina and part of her intestine removed as well as … Read more
David Cameron – opening a can of worms
David Cameron’s questionable welcome when prime minister and subsequent lobbying for the collapsed financial outfit Greensill is creating ripples of concern around the government, Whitehall and the Tory Party. Boris has announced a no-holds-barred inquiry, leading to speculation that his Oxford Uni rivalry with Cameron is still alive and kicking. Though it appears the inquiry … Read more
Bernie Madoff – giving Taurus a bad name
Bernie Madoff has died in prison who ran the biggest Ponzi scheme in history with victim losses estimated at $20 billion in original investments and $65 billion in recorded paper wealth. He was jailed for 150 years in 2009. Since then trustees have recovered almost 82pc of the total lost by those customers who filed … Read more
Afghanistan – a lurch into more of the same
Joe Biden has taken the damned-if-he-does and damned-if-he-doesn’t decision to pull US troops out of Afghanistan after two decades. Critics predict civil war may erupt, lead to the collapse of the Kabul government and the struggling army; and al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups could re-establish havens within two years, using them as launch pads to … Read more
Shirley Williams – the ‘pearl’ of UK politics
Shirley Williams, one of the most influential and popular political figures in the UK in the 20th Century – “Shirl the Pearl” – has died aged 90. Originally a Labour MP and one of the first women cabinet ministers, she was in the “Gang of Four” who split away from Labour in 1981 to found … Read more
Ukraine – pawn in a bigger power game
Russian troops massing on Ukraine’s border, reportedly 83,000, the greatest show of force since Putin’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014, has provoked NATO, the EU and the USA into issuing warnings indicating their support for Ukraine. Two US warships are due in the region this week. There have been hostilities recently between Russia-backed separatists … Read more
Patrisse Cullors – moving away from her roots
Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, is under scrutiny for her purchase of several properties, including a recent million dollar plus one in Los Angeles. Local BLM chapters have been raising questions since she’s a self-proclaimed Marxist and BLM’s finances appear to be opaque, despite raising $90 million last year. … Read more