Prem Sikka says the collapse of Wilko shows why we need to reform insolvency laws: "In the previous decade, around £77m in dividends was paid out. Directors extracted dividends and chose not to repair the pension scheme. The stark reality for employees is that after years of making full contributions to the pension scheme, they will lose some of their pension rights because as unsecured creditors they will receive little from the sale of Wilko’s assets."
Kate Summers et al. find that anti-welfare attitudes among the public have fallen sharply since 2010.
"Big Bill Broonzy was the person who made me want to play the guitar in the first place. Play it, as I thought, properly. I could never get my tonsils around the singing but I could do a pretty good Big Bill Broonzy imitation on the guitar." Tradfolk interviews Martin Carthy with the help of celebrity folk fans and former collaborators.
Nearly Knowledgeable on the 'Nine Men of Madeley' - nine men and boys who died in a Shropshire coal-mining accident in 1864.
"One important detail to remember is that 'Allo 'Allo! was originally conceived as a parody of the BBC wartime drama Secret Army (1977-79). Written by Colditz creator Gerald Glaister, Secret Army, which ran for three series, was a ruthlessly serious drama centred around a stronghold of the Resistance operating out of a Belgian café. As much as it derived its humour from the war itself, 'Allo 'Allo! was also lampooning the tropes of serious BBC drama. In fact, many of 'Allo 'Allo!’s archetypes - the covert beret-sporting female Resistance member, the kind Nazi, the bosomy waitress - are based on Glaister’s original characters" Andrew Male speaks up for 'Allo 'Allo (though he says it only once).
Thanks very much indeed for the Martin Carthy link - I wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI read the Mark Movsesian piece. It's really good - as I'm interested in the more obscure parts of the world I've been following the Armenia - Azerbaijan conflict for a while. I've often wondered if the Azeris softpeddled on Nagorno-Karabakh because of the Nakhchivan exclave, which is surrounded by Armenia and Iran. Armenia could've really make life difficult or invaded Nakhchivan if the Azeris went too far in N-K when the power balance was roughly level. The little I know about Nakhchivan is that unfortunately the Azeris are smashing up ancient Christian infrastructure there, just like they are in N-K.
ReplyDeleteOn the face of it Armenia is part of the CSTO organisation so is nominally allied to Russia, though that doesn't seem to count for much. What a poor wretched country Armenia is - landlocked, lacking in precious resources and surrounded by powerful neighbours that hate it!
Further to Movsesian's point about Armenia being the oldest Christian country in the world - religious historians might be interested in various clips on YouTube about the Mren Cathedral, on the Turkey-Armenia border. This is thought to be the last great cathedral of the ancient world in an area fought over by Byzantines and Persians until the near East became dominated by Arabs really fired up by Islam.
Thanks to Matt Pennell and the item he commented on. These are the first references I have seen in public since the current conflict emerged which expose what must surely be one of its basic causes: religious differences. The big broadcasters have either been too fixated on political ideology, or too timorous, to report on what is surely a significant factor.
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