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Continue reading →: Less is more
I am enjoying Carol Ann Duffy’s online poetry classes. She is an easy listen and a very good communicator. She described how she used haikus to write a poem about Dorothy Wordsworth. Its tight structure of three lines comprising 5 syllables 7 syllables and 5 syllables means that every word…
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Continue reading →: Spend and cut
While I am pondering the problems of Keir Starmer’s government, a comment or two about mixed economies might be timely. If you are a party with socialist principles you are expected to maintain the safety net for those in need. That comes with a cost and finding the money for…
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Continue reading →: New political party
In Eastern Europe there has been an interesting development and a shift in far right or populist politics. A new party has been started by a former soldier, Jaroslav Svejk. The Party of Moderate Progress (within the bounds of the law) may well command the centre ground in the Balkans.…
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Continue reading →: Happy birthday Keir
Yes, it’s the UK Prime Minister ‘s birthday today. He’s 62 and is already showing signs of assertiveness. Before the landslide election victory he marshalled his MPs to toe the party line and is now having to make the hard decisions about where cuts will be made. As a pensioner,…
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Continue reading →: The blame game
Political leaders and their parties when in opposition find fault with practically all decisions made by the government. Should they gain power they are frequently faced with the same decision-making dilemmas. Economics and the choices about scarce resources is not an exact science. There are ethical dilemmas when prioritising which…
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Continue reading →: Richard or rugby?
I have checked the Ulster Rugby home fixtures for 2024-2025 and there are eleven home games I could attend as a season ticket holder. Unfortunately there is one home fixture that clashes with a performance of Richard III at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. Maybe I’ll wait to see what the…
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Continue reading →: Keeping it simple
Our youngest son is a bit of a dab hand at carpentry. He deconstructed the bunk beds that he and his brother had outgrown and fashioned two garden twin-seater benches. That was a decade or more ago. Since then the benches have stayed out in the back yard in all…
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Continue reading →: The authentic Italian experience
La Bottega is a restaurant café on the Lisburn Road in Belfast. Their focaccia with a variety of fillings is delicious, the coffee is excellent and the Italian music well chosen. Jeevan really cares about their coffee and is keen to create the perfect cup of espresso, cappuccino, latte or…
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Continue reading →: Inspiration
A useful tip I learnt from Carol Ann Duffy’s online course (BBC Maestro) was to keep a store of words or phrases that have caught your attention. In my case it was the word drudgery. I managed to write a poem based on that theme which you will find on…
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